Problem
Sainsbury's Supermarket Plc a major British supermarket chain has appointed you as a consultant. Once the current coronavirus pandemic is over, the company is considering investing overseas as global expansion is perceived at this time to be a potentially important element of the company's long-term strategic goals. In particular Sainsbury's have been looking closely for some time at a number of diverse markets including Singapore. In order to help with their decision marking, Sainsbury's Board of Management has requested you to compile a report regarding the attractiveness of Singapore based on potential return of investment.
Task
Analysis of political, economic, cultural, legal and ethical risks in Singapore:
In relation to the country risk analysis you might consider/address the following issues in your analysis including:
A. What form of political system exists? (totalitarian/democratic); what kind of economic policies exist? (Government controlled/regulated/free market); what kind of social system? (regulated/controlled by govt.)
B. For political risk... the Root Model, applied in terms of instability risk; ownership/control risk; operations risk; transfer/repatriation risk. If you do not apply Root you should make use of other political risk indexes/indicators.
C. What incidence of cultural/ethical risks exist, as evidenced by the existence of fundamental cultural differences between host and home (UK, in this case) countries - Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions can be applied, other factors such asthe extent of govt. influence in business, product offerings, the significance of religion, the existence of an ethnic mix, the degree of toleration of differences, the extent of censorship of information.
D. Legal risks - i.e., different legal systems and/or weak legal systems.
E. Ethical issues such as bribery/corruption, poor working conditions/low wages, oppression of minorities, environmental concerns if any.