Assignment objective
The main objective of this report is to select an existing firm, investigate its internationalisation strategy up-to-date, and develop a strategic plan for expansion in a new foreign market or expansion in an existing foreign market. You may select any company: multinational or local; small, medium, or large; operating in any industry segment; a manufacturer of goods or a service-provider; headquartered in any country of the world. The choice of foreign market must be justified by linking this choice to the firm’s objectives. Reports written on general topics, not focused on a real firm, will be failed.
Assignment task
Select an existing company, investigate its internationalisation trajectory, and develop a strategic plan for a new market entry in a foreign country. Evaluate alternative market entry strategies and select the strategy which your IB data analysis proves to be the most optimal, i.e., one of the three entry mode strategies:
- FDI: Wholly-Own Subsidiary (WOS) and Joint Venture (JV).
- Contracts: e.g., Licensing and Franchising, or other contractual modes.
- Partnerships and other Strategic Alliances.
Assignment structure
Please follow the structure below:
| Report Section | Marks allocated | Word count | |
| 1 | Cover page | business presentation (2.5 marks) | not included |
| 2 | Executive summary | business communication (10 marks) | not included |
| 3 | Table of contents | business presentation (2.5 marks) | not included |
| 4 | Introduction | 5 marks | Included |
| 5 | Strategic plan | 65 marks* | Included |
| 6 | Conclusion | 5 marks | Included |
| 7 | Appendices | *Counts toward marks given in part 5 (Strategic plan) | not included |
| Company choice | 10 marks | not included | |
| Total | 100 marks | 1,000 words | |
Executive Summary
Briefly justify:
- the innovative side of the firm’s operations and its positive impact in the foreign market, which you selected for the firm’s internationalisation.
- how your strategic plan may resolve the major challenges that the firm has been facing in foreign or local markets.
- the main points of your strategic plan and the value which your strategic plan will bring to the company.
Introduction [~15% of word count]
Briefly and clearly define:
- the strategic problems or challenges that your company is facing in its current markets and industry.
- the need to expand its operations across borders.
Strategic Plan [~70% of word count]
Clearly outline your recommended course of action for all 5 strategic decisions related to your firm’s internationalisation in a foreign market. You need to justify all your 5 strategic choices (shown in the table below) with the data evidence in the Appendix.
| Question no. | Strategic question | Evidence/data
(presented in Appendices) |
| 1 | whether to become multinational or further expand in foreign markets? | Firm-level |
| 2 | which foreign market to enter (location choice)? | Industry-level
Country-level |
| 3 | which entry mode to choose, based on the analysis of alternative entry modes? | Answer these questions using the evidence/data collected for questions 1 and 2. |
| 4 | which ownership mode to choose? | |
| 5 | timing of entry? |
Please refer to the table templates uploaded in the Data Workshop 2 (on SurreyLearn, week 4) and the Panopto recording, where the tables were explained.
Conclusion [~15% of word count]
Briefly outline:
- what risks your firm may face in the selected foreign market, if your company were to implement your recommended plan of action; state the risks specific to your market entry strategy and your firm, not merely generic country risks.
- how your company could mitigate the identified risks in the foreign market.
