Students, in groups, will be required to provide strategic analysis of a business with an international orientation. The group will investigate the internationalization of the organization across international borders, analyzing their entry and growth in developed and emerging markets. Based on the analysis, the group will recommend a further expansion strategy to complement or improve the current international growth strategies of the organization.

The firms’ initial internationalization may have been to a developed market, and then within the next 10 years it subsequently entered emerging markets. OR. The firms’ initial internationalization may have started from an emerging market, and then within the next 10 years it subsequently entered developed markets. Either scenario is acceptable.

For clarity consider the following example.

Company: Boost Juice. Country of Origin: Australia. Started operations in Australia in 2005. Then it started to internationalize in 2007.

Year 2007: it entered the UK, by signing a Master Franchisee agreement with Richard O’Sullivan and Mario Budwig. (Both are known management leaders in the retail industry in the UK). The UK is a developed market.

Year 2009: it entered Malaysia, with their first store in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is a developing market.

Once the above points are made, the next step in the project is to analyse the considered factors for their selection, and to assess their growth strategy in the respective market. Afterwards, the group is to recommend a further international growth strategy, be it targeting another emerging market or a developed market. For further information on Boost-Juice, visit their website to learn more about their internationalization, and visit reputable news websites reporting on their internationalization activities from interviews with their management team.

The group has to explicate the considerations given at the time of the internationalization, and to provide logical reasons for the firms’ respective internationalization. You will do this, using the concepts and frameworks you learn as part of the lectures/readings/discussions as you thoroughly conduct an analysis of their internationalization strategy. Your analysis should aim to clearly bring out the relevant factors influencing the company’s internationalization strategy. You will not be expected to apply all the frameworks/concepts you learn, but only the most appropriate ones (elements of it) according to you. The depth and soundness of the analysis, conciseness and clarity, creativity and originality and the proper usage of English language will be important determinants of your final grades. Based on your analysis, you will provide some recommendation but that should only occupy a small portion of your report and presentation.

You may start thinking about the project in the following manner. Please note that the following questions are provided as preliminary questions to start thinking about the project. You need to think beyond these questions. These questions also do not represent the structure of the report.

• Why did the company/organization decide to start its internationalization by entering into a developed/ emerging economy?

o Is it because the home country of the organization and the host country it is entering have similar culture, consumers, economic development, infrastructure?

o Is it because the organization wanted to learn from the new market they are entering?

– Has it changed its internationalization strategy?

o Has it changed its from focus from developed to emerging markets? OR

– Has it changed its focus from emerging to developed markets?

o Why did it change its focus?

• How should the organization continue its international expansion? o Should it continue to focus on only the market it is serving (e.g., emerging)

o Should it change its focus?

o Why is the change in focus required?

In regards to what may appear to be a challenge with the word-count limit, and to provide sufficient breadth and depth to the report. Consider the following as a reference,

3,500 words is the limit.

– Introduction and analysis of first internationalization – 1,300 words

– Analysis of second internationalization – 1000 words.

– Recommendations for future international expansion – 1200 words