International Business Plan

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MBA 670: Strategic Decision Making

Project 5: Creating an International Business Plan Start Here Before you begin Project 5, take two minutes to watch this course touchpoint video.

Scenario You continue to provide promising global strategy advice for MediCorp, Inc. The company has been so pleased with your contributions to their strategic planning and development that they would like you to assist with a new endeavor. Leveraging their strength in manufacturing genetic testing devices, MediCorp now wants to diversify their offerings and expand within the field of medical diagnostic devices. This is a large field that extends to a myriad of products, such as thermometers and blood sugar monitors, which are commonly used in the home, as well as MRI and X-ray machines, which are used in clinical settings. MediCorp has asked you to identify a medical diagnostics device that the company can use as a vehicle for expanding into China or Germany. Choose either China or Germany as a location for MediCorp’s expansion and create an international business plan that guides the company’s operations in that country and grows MediCorp’s business within the selected device’s NAICS industry subsector. You will need to employ the lessons from your simulation to develop a strategy that examines MediCorp’s potential customers, business operations, financial projections, and implementation metrics. As this client’s business grows, Maryland Creative Solutions CEO, Jillian Best, emphasizes that it is critical for you to provide clear and concise analysis in your reports to MediCorp. She remarks, “Success with these reports could mean big things for MCS as well as for each of you. Let’s finish strong.”

Transcript MBA 670 Touchpoint Video Transcript Speaker: Subash Bijlani, Collegiate Professor, Business & Management Programs, The Graduate School, UMUC I hope you are enjoying your experience in the capstone course thus far. It is our goal to expose you to the demands business leaders face on a daily basis. Strong collaboration and communication, integrity, and strategies based on analysis guide successful companies. As you draw near to the conclusion of your MBA journey and approach graduation, consider the value of what you have attained. You have taken into consideration the effects globalization and the digital marketplace, while successfully navigated business challenges; considering ethical, legal, and practical implications, producing portfolio-ready deliverables, and expanding your knowledge of business. I hope you will take away greater confidence in your professional and career pursuits as you conclude the capstone. This program was designed by business leaders for emerging business leaders. Our learners are shaping the marketplace and pushing the boundaries of business innovation and expansion. Be excited about the completion of your MBA; it is well earned, and will prove its value throughout your career. We celebrate with you in this time of success and look forward to seeing you at graduation.

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Introduction Building on your Capsim simulation and your analyses of MediCorp, Inc. in the global and local markets, you will now craft an international business plan that calls on you to devise a marketing strategy, develop financial projections, and create a strategy implementation plan for the company to market a new product in China or Germany. estimate the investment required to relocate one or more activities from MediCorp’s value chain in the United States to your selected country, China or Germany. You will have two weeks to develop your international business plan. To get started, Click Step 1: Assess the Characteristics of MediCorp’s Potential Customers in the Selected Country.

Step 1: Assess the Characteristics of MediCorp's Potential Customers in the Selected Country

When you have assessed the characteristics of MediCorp's potential customers in either China or Germany, continue to the next step, where you will continue to work on your marketing plan by accounting for MediCorp’s value chain, distribution channels, modes of entry, and digital strategy. You will incorporate your recommendations from Step 1 and Step 2 into a six- to seven-page marketing strategy that will be submitted for feedback at the end of Week 9. Step 2: Develop a Marketing Strategy

INBOX: 1 New Message

Subject: Marketing Plan From: Jillian Best, CEO, MCS To: You Hi, Let us continue crafting an international business plan for China or Germany by developing a marketing plan. First, select either China or Germany as a new market for MediCorp to expand into, and decide on a medical diagnostic device that MediCorp can use to drive expansion. To help with your analysis of the industry, you will need to identify the NAICS code for the industry subsector to which your selected device belongs. Then, begin to develop a six- to seven-page marketing strategy for MediCorp. As you begin your marketing strategy for MediCorp, first analyze the characteristics of the company’s potential customers in the new market and address the international cultural differences. I’ll send additional instructions shortly about how to analyze MediCorp’s own characteristics and how those characteristics will influence this marketing strategy. Thanks for your hard work! Jillian

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By the end of Week 9, submit your six- to seven-page marketing strategy to the dropbox located in the final step of this project. (This submission is optional, but useful if you would like feedback.) Your marketing strategy should include all components outlined in Step 1 and Step 2. Then, continue to the next step, where you will consider the client’s financial projections and the accounting standards in the selected country.

Step 3: Make Financial Projections in the Selected Country As you continue to work on your international business plan prepare market share estimates for MediCorp’s product(s) in the selected country and revenue forecasts for the next three years. This analysis will form a portion of your final international business plan. In the next step, you’ll examine another element of the business plan, strategy implementation.

Step 4: Prepare Strategy Implementation Plan The next step is to specify the major factors to be tracked for strategy implementation using the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard: the learning and growth perspective, business process perspective, customer perspective, and financial perspective. Next, you will combine your marketing strategy and your financial, governance, and implementation analysis into a final report.

Step 5: Complete Your Final Business Plan

Inbox: 1 New Message Subject: Marketing Strategy From: Jillian Best, CEO, MCS To: You Now that we know more about MediCorp’s potential customers, we need to examine some key attributes of the company to adequately prepare it for international expansion. Include the following components in your marketing strategy:

• selection of new product for MediCorp to introduce in the selected country

• MediCorp's main competitors in the medical diagnostics devices industry in the selected country

• market and segment growth over the next three years

• Where does MediCorp add value as a way of gaining a competitive edge?

• the legal business entity to market the products in the country (review Modes of Entry for help)

• impact of the country’s legal, ethical, and cultural standards on MediCorp’s operations in the country (review Governance and Accountability for more information)

Jillian

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Your final international business plan should include key findings from your marketing strategy (Steps 1–2) and financial projections and strategy implementation (Steps 3–4). It should also include an executive summary. Submit your final business plan to the dropbox located in the final step of this project. Then proceed to the next step.

Step 6: Complete Skills Gap Analysis As you push through your final report deliverables, you are contacted by your MCS leadership coach, Rebecca Sterling.

INBOX: 1 New Message Subject: Final Business Plan From: Jillian Best, CEO, MCS To: You It’s been a pleasure working with you on this project. I’m looking forward to seeing the final deliverables. The international business plan should be 10–12 pages, excluding cover page, executive summary, reference list, and appendices. Any tables, graphs, and figures should be included as appendices. Your plan should have one-inch margins and be double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. In-text citations and references should abide by APA format. The plan should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability. Your final international business plan should include the components outlined in the international business plan template. Congrats! Jillian

INBOX: 1 New Message Subject: Skills Gap Analysis From: Rebecca Sterling, Life & Leadership Coach To: You I hope you are well, I’m reaching out to let you know that MCS’ Human Resources department is conducting a post - project self-evaluation of your skills. Using the same skills gap analysis file that you completed in Week 1, please self-evaluate your own project-related knowledge and skills accounting for you growth during your tenure within our organization. The skills gap analysis will help you identify the skill areas you have enhanced by completing your recent assignments and will reflect any changes in the way you see the importance of those skills to your career success. Thank you for your attention to this request. Looking forward to hearing of your progress. I’m sure you’ll be surprised by your how far you’ve come. Sincerely, Becca

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Select the Project 5 worksheet in the bottom left of the skills gap analysis file you used in Project 1. After completing your self-evaluation, take the time to deeply assess your progress by writing a 400- to 500-word reflection that describes two to three gaps you worked to reduce over the past 10 weeks and discusses whether and how much you improved. Also think back on the learning activities you pursued to help you develop course competencies. By the end of Week 10, submit your final skills gap analysis to the submission dropbox located in the final step of this project.

Step 7: Complete Leadership Development Plan Take note of the recommended delivery dates and file-naming protocols in the following table:

Submit your leadership development plan to the dropbox located in the final step of this project. Satisfactory completion of both the skills gap analysis and leadership development plan are required to pass this project.

The next step provides recommended delivery dates and file-naming protocols for Project 5 deliverables.

Step 8: Submit Your Work By the end of Week 10, submit all Project 5 work to the dropbox below. Take note of the recommended delivery dates and file-naming protocols in the table:

Recommended Project Delivery

INBOX: 1 New Message Subject: LDP From: Rebecca Sterling, Life & Leadership Coach To: You Hi again, Looking ahead, it is useful to continually reflect on your leadership goals, the ground you have covered to accomplish them, and the steps you still must take. In a final measure to assist you with your career objectives, please fill out the attached leadership development plan (LDP) template. This document captures your career goals and skill development needs and asks you to consider your personal impact on your organization’s performance. Thanks in advance for completing and submitting this LDP. I believe it will be a useful tool for you as you move forward with your career. Sincerely, Becca

Tip The culmination of this project and your UMUC MBA capstone is an important benchmark in your career development. Transitions like this one are opportune moments to update your professional resume. Remember to keep your resume up to date as you achieve other important milestones throughout your career. For help with resumes and cover letters, keep in mind that University of Maryland University College Career Services is an effective resource.

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Steps Submission Week

Deliverable File-naming protocol

Steps 1–2

Week 9 Marketing strategy lastname_firstname_Project5_Marketing_strategy.docx

Steps 1–5

Week 10 International business plan

lastname_firstname_Project5_International_business_plan.docx

Step 6 Week 10 Final skills gap analysis

lastname_firstname_Project5_SkillsGapAnalysis.docx

Step 7 Week 10 Leadership development plan

lastname_firstname_Project5_LDP.docx

Check Your Evaluation Criteria Before you submit your assignment, review the competencies below, which your instructor will use to evaluate your work. A good practice would be to use each competency as a self-check to confirm you have incorporated all of them in your work. To view the complete grading rubric, click My Tools, select Assignments from the drop-down menu, and then click the project title 1.1: Organize document or presentation clearly in a manner that promotes understanding and meets the requirements of the assignment. 1.2: Develop coherent paragraphs or points so that each is internally unified and so that each functions as part of the whole document or presentation. 1.3: Provide sufficient, correctly cited support that substantiates the writer's ideas. 1.6: Follow conventions of Standard Written English. 2.2: Locate and access sufficient information to investigate the issue or problem. 2.3: Evaluate the information in a logical and organized manner to determine its value and relevance to the problem. 2.5: Develop well-reasoned ideas, conclusions or decisions, checking them against relevant criteria and benchmarks. 3.1: Identify numerical or mathematical information that is relevant in a problem or situation. 5.1: Develop constructive resolutions for ethical dilemmas based on application of ethical theories, principles and models. 5.3: Create, implement, and evaluate a personal leadership development plan. 6.2: Evaluate strategic implications for domestic and international markets of an organization's industry. 6.4: Develop and recommend strategies for an organization's sustainable competitive advantage. 7.1: Analyze the legal forms of business organization and make recommendations to support business decisions. 7.4: Analyze the impact of international and foreign laws on US organizations acting domestically and abroad. 9.1: Design organizational structure, systems and processes that support the strategic goals of the organization. 10.1: Apply relevant microeconomics principles to support strategic decisions for the organization. 10.3: Determine optimal financial decisions in pursuit of an organization's goals. 10.4: Make strategic managerial decisions for obtaining capital required for achieving organizational goals. 10.5: Develop operating forecasts and budgets and apply managerial accounting techniques to support strategic decisions. 13.2: Create and implement new initiative or enterprise. 13.3: Create and manage new enterprise. 12.3: Prepare marketing plan for a new product/service.