The Final Paper should demonstrate your understanding of the readings and other course material. By creating an international business or an international business venture, you will utilize your subject knowledge expertise in discovering and overcoming the challenges of expanding a business to a new host country. In a 2,000- to 2,500-word paper, you should integrate readings and class discussions, and you may include explanations and examples from previous experiences as well as implications for future applications. All opinions or ideas should be supported with credible and recent data. All data used must be cited with in-text citations and a bibliography on the references page.
In this paper, you will
- Create an international business or international venture outside of the U.S. (e.g., export/import, franchising, manufacturing, joint venture, etc.)
- Define the name, nature of the business, and brief background of the company and industry. Be sure this venture is created and is unique and innovative.
- State the specific target market for the venture.
- Create a strategic plan that includes the following (in any order you decide):
- An analysis of the competitive advantage of your venture (Why will it be successful?).
- A PESTLE analysis, or a similar business analysis process, of the host country.
- A 6-to-12-month timeline of your venture’s expansion.
- A list of SMART goals.
- A summary of startup human resources and marketing concepts.
- A SWOT analysis of the venture that evaluates at least four challenges and advantages and/or opportunities and threats (e.g., cross-cultural, foreign currency, legal, etc.).
- Suggest recommendations to overcome the challenges and threats from the SWOT you conducted.
Please note each step of the strategic plan is worth 1 point.
The Final Paper: Strategic Plan
- Must be 2,000 to 2,500 words in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style.
- Must include a separate title page with the following:
- Title of paper in bold font
- Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page.
- Title of paper in bold font
- Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
- Must use at least five scholarly and recent sources in addition to the course text.
- Must have minimal direct quotes (no more than 10% of the paper).
- Must not be a narrative (no first person or storytelling).
- Must include, at least, level one APA Style headings.
- Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style.
