Country Screening Project

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project is intended to give you first-hand experience in objectively selecting an attractive country market and developing an export plan for your chosen product. Assume that you are a US based (production in the US) company looking to export your product profitably to a foreign country.

Part I - Country Screening [4-6 single spaced pages] {15%}

1). Choose a specific product item from a product category/group (examples below) to focus your efforts! (If you work a company that produces in the US, you can use its product)

Cameras Machine Tools

Construction Material Medical Equipment

Cell Phones Mountain Bikes

Cosmetics & Toiletries Running Shoes

Diapers Snack Foods

Electronics

Exercise Equipment Surfboards

Clothing Tractors/Farm Equipment

Jeans Telephone Equipment

Lingerie Wine Coolers

*****NO BEER, LIQUIDS, COMMODITIES, or SERVICES please******

2) Select countries to screen: You can screen countries in two ways – all countries from one geographical region or about two countries from each region. A range of 6-10 countries should be screened.

Western Europe Middle East and Africa

Asia/Australia/New Zealand Russia, Eastern Europe

Latin America North & Central America, Caribbean

3) Determine indicators to use*: Select indicators that are indicative of a country’s attractiveness for your product (i.e., key success factors). Richer information can be garnered from ‘growth/trend’ or averaging multi-year data as opposed to one single data year. You will need to be selective in your choice of indicators (approx. 8-10 indicators should be adequate). Be sure to include both macro (country specific) and micro (product specific) variables, equally split. Do not forget that the indicators are intended to provide the basis for selecting the country to export. Select indicators to evaluate the attractiveness of a country (macro indicators) i.e. inflation rate, currency trend, growth rates, as well as indicators of market potential for the specific product (micro indicators). Do not forget that these should include indicators relating to factors which constitute: barriers to entry, e.g., tariffs, expropriation risks, product regulation, exchange controls; as well as infrastructure requirements, e.g., media, banks, distribution channels, which affect the feasibility and profitability of exploiting market potential. The specific indicators will depend on the product you have selected. Hint: think of indicators related to specific product market e.g., product usage data, product sales, sales of competing or substitute products. For example, climate-average low temperature would be a key success factor if selling fur coats, or if selling mass-market items (e.g., pencil) use population growth rates.

*DO NOT USE absolute “ GNP/GDP”, “POPULATION”, “IMPORT/EXPORT” data! However, growth/trend rates of all 3 can be used!

4) Collect your data: You should then collect data on the indicators to evaluate potential marketing opportunities throughout the world. Data on these indicators can be obtained from sources such as the http://data.un.org; http://fita.org; http://www.alibaba.com; Business International, International Marketing Data and Statistics, Euromonitor, Africa Guide, Asia Yearbook, Demographic Yearbook, Europa Yearbook, Encyclopedia of the Third World, European Marketing Data and Statistics, Handbook of International Data on Women, Predicasts, among others.

5) Write up screening report! (4-6 pages single space) evaluating these opportunities. Three pages will be your matrix tables (see examples in ‘syllabus’ toolbox!)

The following format/subheadings (in bold) MUST be used (be brief);

i. Introduction (why product, country screening method, where manufactured

in US, country chosen, etc.)

ii. Indicators; For each numbered indicator, identify the indicator’s name &

type (e.g., macro or micro), year of data, explanation/description, how measured (units), why chosen, interpretive direction (e.g., higher is better) and source (full citation).

iii. Raw data matrix (country by indicators) 1 page

iii. Scored data matrix (country by indicators) [indicate scales for scores and

weights] 1 page

v. Decision matrix (country by indicator [ ∑wt. x score]). 1 page

Based on this analysis, select a country to focus your efforts (show decision matrix).