Global business

5

Country Analysis Report Task Guidelines

Task:  Assume that you are an international business consultant to B-Health, an Australian firm based in Queensland which specialises in the production and exporting of baby food. You will analyse the market potential for their products in New Zealand and Hong Kong.

Your task is to write a report that analyses and compares the socio-economic, political and business environments of New Zealand and Hong Kong. Your report will conclude with a country recommendation, and justification for your selection based on a weighted index.

Submission: Submit your report via Safe Assign before 11.59pm on Friday 3rd May (Week 9) 2019. Use Word to compile your report but submission is often easier if you then save it as a PDF file. Do not include this task guidelines document or the criteria sheet in your upload.

Recommended Length: 1,500 words from Introduction to Conclusion (title page, references and in-text citations, words in tables and graphs are not included in the word count).

Note: B-Health is not a real company. This is a simulated firm used only for the purpose of this assignment.

Country Analysis Research

Getting started: Begin by considering the company and its products. Although B-Health is not a real company, it mimics a number of Australian baby food producers and you can gain a better understanding of this type of business by taking a look at their websites.

Research quality academic and industry resources for broad country indicators, as well as specific variables particularly important for the exporting of baby food. Some suggestions to start with include broad macroeconomic variables such as the size and features of the economy; tariff and non-tariff trade barriers; trade relationship with Australia; levels of political risk, Ease of Doing Business, etc.

Available via the QUT Library:

Passport GMID: Global Market Information Database provides business oriented statistics, analysis and forecasts for countries, companies, markets and consumers. As well as country profiles for both countries, this database has relevant reports for both countries.

Marketline Advantage: A respected source of business information on countries, industries and companies.

EIU Country Data: An analytical database of worldwide economic indicators and forecasts. The database covers over 300 economic series for more than 200 countries. 

PRS Country Data: Assesses political risk for most countries.

Available online:

World Bank: Has data and analysis of a wide range of socio-economic indicators as well as its Ease of Doing Business rankings (http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings).

The Handbook of Country Risk: http://www.coface.com/Economic-Studies-and-Country-Risks.

Transparency International: (www.transparency.org) Transparency International is a global organisation which aims to fight corruption, and rates countries on a Corruption Perceptions Index. 

The World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Report: An annual report on the competitiveness of nations, ranking and analysing how a nation’s environment creates and sustains the competitiveness of enterprises. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2017-2018/05FullReport/TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2017%E2%80%932018.pdf

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: http://dfat.gov.au/

Austrade: http://www.austrade.gov.au/  

The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom: http://www.heritage.org/index/

IBISWorld Industry Report: Baby Food Manufacturing in Australia http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au/reports/au/industry/default.aspx?entid=5058

The QUT library provides access to many academic journals, which include articles on global business, via ProQuest. Avoid online Factbooks, Encyclopaedia, Trading Economics, Infoplease, Wikipedia and lecture slides as these are not considered proper academic references.

Note:- Hong Kong is not an independent state but is a special administrative region (SAR) that exists as part of China’s “One Country, Two Systems” doctrine. For research purpose, Hong Kong is treated as an independent market that is distinguished from China (as seen in library databases like EIU).

Writing the Country Analysis Report.

Title page: In general, this has a descriptive title, date, the name of your company and usually your name and position within the company.

Table of contents: - Place the major headings and sub-headings down the left side of the page. On the right, put the page number where each can be found in the report. 

Introduction: Includes the context, purpose and significance of the report. (eg. This report analyses the economic, political and business environments of New Zealand and Hong Kong and their market potential for baby food products). Include a very brief company and product profile (50 words or fewer) to introduce your business.

Report Body: Following the introduction, the remainder of the body section is presented in logical sub-sections. Your final headings and sub-headings will depend on what your analysis has uncovered. Aim to find quality information and evaluate it in relation to the relevant business objectives of B-Health. Make some visuals (tables and graphs). You could include the graph of % Change in GDP you made as part of Assessment One.

Country Choice: Present here your choice of country. This section is particularly important and will include your weighted index and the reasons you included the variables and their weightings; a discussion of the major report findings; and the advantages (and disadvantages) of your choice of country over the second country. 

Conclusion: Provide a very brief synopsis of your country choice and perhaps a recommendation for how to proceed (50 - 70 words). Note: in some texts on report writing Conclusions is treated as a large section following presentation and discussion of data; in your report, however, you will have already presented your conclusions in your Country Choice section, so the Conclusion section signals the end of the report.

List of references:  List the sources cited in your report using APA referencing. See QUT cite/write (http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/). 

Suggested structure for BSB119 Country Analysis Report

Title page

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Economic Environment

2.1…………….

2.2…………….

3.0 Political Environment and Risk

3.1 ………..

3.2 ………..

4.0 Business Environment

4.1 ……………..

4.2 Market Potential

5.0 Country Choice

5.1 Weighted Index

6.0 Conclusion

List of References

What information can you potentially cover in a report like this? Some ideas to get started...

Economic Environment

Snapshot of the economy, strengths and challenges, major economic indicators such as % change in GDP (already completed in Assessment One), unemployment and inflation trends, social/demographic data such as population and GDP per capita, etc.

Political Environment

Political system (briefly), current government priorities and challenges, trade relationship with Australia, political risk factors such as levels of corruption and political stability, etc.

Business Environment

Ease of Doing Business ratings, Trading Across Borders and Enforcing Contracts, relevant industrial and consumer trends, quality of infrastructure, potential for online business, etc.

From your perspective as International Business Consultant to B-Health, think about what the business is likely to be most interested in understanding if they are trying to make a choice between two export markets.

Please check the Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs) document available on Blackboard (“Assessment 2” folder) prior to emailing questions about this assignment to your lecturer or tutor.

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