Final Project Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a country competitiveness audit.
Analyzing international market competitiveness is an important skill for global managers and employees. Global organizations are looking for research and analytical skills in aspiring practitioners in international business. This final project will exercise your ability to make recommendations to stakeholders based on real-world data.
For your final project in this course, you will utilize theories and resources in conducting a comprehensive country competitiveness audit for a given international market. Your ultimate goal is to determine whether or not entering a specific market and specific industry is not only feasible, but also profitable for a company of your choosing. You will select the company, the industry in which it operates, and the international market with approval from your instructor.
The project is supported by three milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three, Five, and Seven. The final submission will occur in Module Nine.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
- Determine trade policies conducive to company business in international markets by assessing their implications on business, the economic environment, company operations, and consumers
- Suggest alternative trade barrier options that facilitate international trade and increase country competitiveness based on country competitiveness audits
- Evaluate advantages and disadvantages of trade agreements and foreign trade zones in international markets for determining their impacts on specific industries
- Forecast the ramifications of tariffs and quotas on specific industries using appropriate economic calculations
- Evaluate the overall competitiveness of international markets and industries in determining their value for prospective companies
Prompt
Your country competitiveness analysis should answer the following prompt: Imagine you are an international consultant. You are working on providing a client with a highly specific analysis of a particular international market, while keeping in mind the industry that the client is in. Your project should answer three major questions:
1) Are the trade policies in your selected international market sufficiently competitive to attract new companies in a particular industry?
2) Are the trade barriers in your selected market low and beneficial in order for new companies to succeed in a specified industry?
3) What changes in trade policies, trade barriers, or new trade agreement alliances would make the country more competitive and desirable for your particular industry and company?
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Overview: Provide a general overview where you select a specific international (non-U.S.) market, an industry, and a company within that industry.
Introduce the country, industry, and the company, including key details such as the location and general statistics of the country and the competition of the market.
II. Trade Policies: Describe the country's specific trade policies geared toward foreign multinational corporations (MNCs).
A. Define trade policies in your specific international market. Consider drawing from multiple sources in your definition.
B. Determine the implications of the trade policies on your company. Do these policies ease or hinder your company's business? Why?
C. Determine the implications of the trade policies on your industry. Do these policies ease or hinder the industry within the specific international market? Why?
D. Determine the implications of the trade policies on consumers. Do these policies hinder the consumer's purchasing power within the specific international market? Why?
III. Trade Barriers: Describe the country's specific trade barriers geared toward foreign MNCs entering the market.
A. Define trade barriers in your specific international market. Consider drawing from multiple sources in your definition.
B. Determine the implications of the trade barriers on your company. Do these barriers hinder your company's business? Justify your response.
C. Determine the implications of the trade barriers on your industry. Do these barriers hinder the industry within the specific international market? Justify your response.
D. Determine the implications of the trade barriers on consumers. Do these barriers hinder the consumer's purchasing power within the specific international market? Justify your response.
IV. Recalculating Parameters: Select the previously identified trade barriers and change their parameters for your selected industry, making appropriate economic calculations and representing the changes in charts.
A. Calculate the effect of the change of a tariff on your particular industry. Illustrate the change visually in a chart.
B. Calculate the effect of the change of a quota on your particular industry. Illustrate the change visually in a chart.
C. Calculate the effect of the change of a government subsidy on the overall GDP. Illustrate the change visually in a chart.
V. Trade Agreements and Foreign Trade Zones
A. Describe your country's specific trade agreements and applicable foreign trade zones.
B. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the trade agreements on the specific international market. What is their impact on the industry in which your company operates?
C. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the foreign trade zones on the specific international market. What is their impact on the industry in which your company operates?
VI. Competitiveness
A. Evaluate the overall competitiveness of your specific market based on the World Competitiveness Yearbook. For example, how attractive is this market to foreign direct investment? Support your response with evidence.
B. Evaluate the overall competitiveness of your industry in the specific market based on the World Competitiveness Yearbook. For example, the
produce industry in Chile has restrictive accessibility and therefore a low competitiveness. Support your response with evidence.
VII. Recommendations
A. What existing trade policies would help the company to succeed in their industry and market? Support your answer with your findings from the previous sections of the report.
B. Suggest alternative trade barrier options based on your findings to help your company succeed. Should any barriers be changed? Support your answer with your findings in the previous sections of the report.
C. Recommend whether or not your company should enter the industry in your particular market. In other words, what is the value of this opportunity for your company in terms of feasibility and profitability? Support your recommendation with the data from World Competitiveness Yearbook.
Milestones
Milestone One: Overview and Trade Policies
In Module Three, you will submit the Overview (Section I) and Trade Policies (Section II) sections of the final project. This milestone should be submitted as a short paper that provides an overview of your chosen country, industry, and company and a description of your country's specific trade policies.
Milestone Two: Trade Barriers and Recalculating Parameters
In Module Five, you will submit the Trade Barriers (Section III) and Recalculating Parameters (Section IV) sections of the final project. This milestone should be submitted as a short paper that analyzes in detail the trade barriers in your selected international market that impact your chosen industry, and recalculates the parameters of the trade barriers of your selected industry.
Milestone Three: Trade Agreements and Foreign Trade Zones; Competitiveness
In Module Seven, you will submit the Trade Agreements and Foreign Trade Zones (Section V) and Competitiveness (Section VI) sections of the final project. This milestone should be submitted as a short paper that analyzes and describes trade agreements and foreign trade zones, indicating which ones would be more beneficial for your company and for your industry, and provides a detailed analysis of competitors in your chosen global market and industry.
Final Project Submission: Country Competitiveness Audit
In Module Nine, you will submit your country competitive audit. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. For this final submission, you will be writing Recommendations (Section VII) and combining those with your revised milestones.