Couse:international Business Environment, Required at least 5 reference, reference information do not use before 2011 resouce
1 BUSS 2067 International Business Environment Assignment – Case Study Report An International Business Plan M&S Textiles Australia is a manufacturer of quality cotton fabrics. Due to increased competition from cheaper imported goods, the company is contemplating the establishment of a manufacturing plant in Asia to reduce the cost of manufacturing at home. The company has identified Bangladesh, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia as potential countries for the establishment of the overseas manufacturing plant. As a complement of the current production in Australia, this new facility will supply products to customers around the world (include Australia), but it will not sell products itself. The headquarters of M&S Australia is responsible for sales and marketing at home and abroad. You, as the task force of International Business Department in M&S Australia, are required to choose ONE of these countries, and write a report to the Board of Directors. In the report, you need to identify the advantages and disadvantages of operating in that country. Based on your findings, some relevant strategies should be suggested to benefit from the advantages and mitigate the disadvantages. The Board of Directors will decide where the company will go. When preparing your report, you are required to link your arguments to the course content, and to use relevant data to support your suggestions such as why you would select the country, why you would choose an entry mode, and how the new foreign manufacturing plant would enhance M&S’s current sales, etc. Students are allowed to complete this assignment either individually or in a team of up to 5 students. Both team-completed and individually finished reports follow the same requirements. An assignment group should only have students from the same tutorial class or the same external class. Grades of students in the same group are determined by the entire assignment submission and the peer evaluation of group members. The report will be due 23:30pm 29 April 2018 Marks This assignment weighs 40% of your final marks of this course. Assessment of this task follows Marking Guideline (Appendix 1). If you complete the assignment with other students, your marks may vary in the assignment group, because other group members will evaluate your contribution with a peer-evaluation form (Appendix 2) Suggestions: Make a plan at the beginning of this study period • Choose a country; • Break the assignment down into tasks and divide amongst group members; • Make a plan of a due date for each task; • Fill in the form “Assignment Plan” (Appendix 3) and talk with your teacher about the plan 2 Requirements: Format: • Be aware that the assignment is in the style of a report (see an example on page 3 and talk with your teacher if you are not sure). • You may use both real information of M&S Textiles Australia and “presumed” information to complement the real information for supporting your arguments. Wherever “presumed” information is used, some reasonable justification is required. • This report must be prepared using 1½ line spacing in Times New Roman 12pt font. • The report is to be 2,000 ~ 2,500 words in length. The word limit excludes the executive summary and the list of references. • All information resources used in your report must be dated no earlier than 2010, and no undated resources may be used. Preferred resources are listed in this webpage: http://guides.library.unisa.edu.au/c.php?g=169967&p=1634758 • The Harvard system of referencing is to be used. Failure to use or adequately use the Harvard system of referencing will result in a grade of fail being awarded for this assessment. • It is suggested to use 15 to 18 references in the assignment, although more or less than this amount will not influence your marks. “Executive Summary”: • Provide an “Executive Summary” prior to formal sections (e.g., Introduction) • The executive summary is not part of the word count. • The executive summary provides an overview of the report. Hence, it should state the purpose of the report (topic etc.), the key findings in the report, and the key recommendations made in the report. • The executive summary does not replace the introduction part of the report. The introduction should still state the topic being covered in the report, and the structure of the report. General Expectations: • The report should be well written and well referenced. Ensure that you follow the Harvard referencing style as required by UniSA. Your report should present a strong argument by identifying the key issues related to the topic. • Taking a critical view, your report should highlight the positives and negatives of the issue, and argue for which perspective you believe is stronger. This should be highlighted in your recommendation in the report. • Your arguments should be based on facts and evidence. So it is important that you have used relevant reports, articles, and figures from reliable and reputable sources, and appropriately acknowledged them. The quality of your http://guides.library.unisa.edu.au/c.php?g=169967&p=1634758 3 sources of information is important. As discussed earlier, please avoid using sources like Wikipedia for information. • Please thoroughly check your report to ensure that it complies with the academic integrity requirements of the university. All submission will be checked for plagiarism using text comparison software. • In accordance with the Division of Business guidelines, assignments submitted late without permission from the course coordinator will lead to a penalty of 10% of the total possible marks for the assignment per day for each day late, or part thereof, after the due date. An Example of a Report Structure: • You do NOT have to follow the example structure, but you may use it if you cannot construct another one. For example, you may add an extra section to discuss an issue that is very important for your group. Likewise, you may remove one or several sections, if you do not think the issues of these sections matter. - This is an example only. - Your report does NOT need to include all points in the example. Your group is allowed to choose and highlight contents that are important for you. - Reports that have creative structures and innovative ideas will result in better marks than those simply follow this example. Table of Contents Executive Summary Introduction and Background Business Environment (Culture) Business Environment (Ethics) Business Environment (Trade) Potential in Emerging Markets …… …… Conclusion and Recommendation Appendix 1 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA Assignment Feedback BUSS 2067 International Business Environment Assignment: Group Report Student Names: _____________________________________ _____________________________________ Key components of this assessment % Grade Structure A clearly written Executive Summary A creative way to organize information and discussions A good flow between sections All references are complete, accurate and comply with the referencing requirements. 20% HD D C P1 P2 F1 F2 Discussion of the topic Identifying key issues Providing in-depth discussions Using relevant data and facts to explain and justify your arguments Arguing key issues by acknowledging the various perspectives Applying relevant theories and concepts covered in the course. Using high-quality sources of information (e.g., data, references, quotation) 70% HD D C P1 P2 F1 F2 Conclusion Concludes strongly by building on the discussions and providing meaningful recommendations. 10% HD D C P1 P2 F1 F2 Summary comments: Assignment Grade: Appendix 2 BUSS 2067 International Business Environment Confidential Peer Evaluation Form Tutorial Day/Time: Tutor’s Name: Group Number: Your name & Student ID: As a confidential form, this evaluation will not be shared with other students. The teaching team will keep all comments confidential, and use them for the assessment only. Your individual marks of the report will be adjusted, if your individual peer- evaluation assessment is lower than 24 points (out of a total of 40 points). Should you fall below an average of 24 points, you would receive only 60% of the total marks allocated to your group report. You are requested to indicate a point out of 10 for each criterion and for each member of your group including yourself. You should submit this form via assignment submission (learnonline) by the due date. Failure to do so means that you think all group members equally contributed to, and performed in, this assignment. Group Members (Student ID) Yourself Suggesting ideas [0~10 points] Participating in group activities (e.g., attendance at group meetings, contribution to discussions) [0~10 points] Performing tasks (0~10 points) Helping the group to work as a team (eg. Communicating with others, Timely completion of tasks) [0~10 points] TOTAL [0~40 points] Comments: (If you give any member 7pts or less on any item, please provide reasons) 1 P a g e | 1 1 Appendix 3 BUSS 2067 International Business Environment Assignment Plan GROUP NUMBER (Your teacher will complete this as Class No. & Group No.): COUNTRY TO CHOOSE TEACHER Member Name Individual Task(s) Due Date 1 2 3 4 5 Please note that all components, including products and brands of the M&S Textile Australia, as well as any other website and material you may use for the BUSS 2067 International Business Environment, are protected by trademarks and copyright