8. Global Business Plan --  Exporting products to another country requires a great deal of work and exposes you to the intricacies of international business.  The major segments of developing an export business to another country can be found in the following list.  These section topics in bold must be included in your business plan and each well-developed section is worth twenty-five (25) points each.  PLEASE NOTE:  The questions contained in each segment are not all-inclusive, but merely a place to start.  The questions that follow the section topics in bold are suggestions of areas that you may need to research to develop a well thought out business plan.    Identify the Global Business Opportunity:   Who is the target market? What are the demographics of the target country? Does the target market have sufficient income to afford your product? What marketing activities will assure success? What will those marketing activities cost? What cultural obstacles might be expected? Develop a marketing plan for the target country and the product.  Will you use social media?  If so, how?  If not, why not?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of social media?   Analyze your Competition:  How will you compete against these products? What are these products? What are the distinguishing advantages and disadvantages of your product versus same or similar products already found in your target country? Where is the “white space” that allows entry of your product into the country? Consider other products which may not be exactly similar but for which a consumer might see similar use. Develop a report detailing the competitive market and how you will respond. Assess the Economic and Geographic Environment:  What are the geographic issues that may affect the distribution of your product?  What are the economic factors that may affect your business opportunity? Develop a report assessing the economic and geographical environment of your host country.   Assess the Social and Cultural Environment: What cultural and language barriers exist? Is there a particular color that should be avoided or used? Do the customers in your target country have any religious, political, or cultural obstacles to the product you intend to export to the target country? Detail the cultural and language barriers and how you will overcome those barriers.   Assess the Political and Legal Environment: What trade agreement(s) is your target country already a member of?   Import Rules, Tariffs, Product Registration – what are the restrictions imposed by the target country? What regulatory agencies must you deal with? How will you work with these agencies to approve importation of your product? What are the tariffs set by the country? Will those tariffs change over time? Develop a written plan to resolve issues of trade with your target country.  Is your target country stable?  If not, how will you evaluate and hedge against the political instability?  Detail the political and legal environment of your target country.  Be sure to include any treaties, tariffs or product registration required by your host country. Select a Company Structure and Market Entry Strategy:  How will your company enter the country? Will it enter by Greenfield or joint venture?  Will you franchise your brand?  Does your company structure work well in your target country?  Finance – What source of funding will you need? How much? What are the long and short term expectations of currency fluctuation between the US and your target country?  How might you offset the expected currency fluctuations and protect cash assets in this business? Will you repatriate the profits? If not, how will you invest the profits outside of the US? If manufacturing will be needed in the target country – how much will that construction cost? What about permits? Where will it be sited? Develop a written report detailing the expected costs and profits over 1 year, 2 years and 3 years. Human Resource Management - Will management move to your target country to establish and/or run the business?  If so, what cultural things must you fully understand if you move to this country to manage the business?  What resources can you find to  help train you in proper etiquette, cultural taboos, religious restrictions, and other cultural issues? How will you make the transition to a new country and culture easy on your family and children? What safety precautions would you need? What needs to be in place to repatriate employees you send to this country? How will you master the language?  or  Will you hire locals to run and / or work for the company?  Are there labor laws that require you to hire a certain percentage of locals?  Develop a written report covering the issues of moving to the target country and what resources can be found to make the move as successful as possible.  Develop a Human Resource Plan for your target country. Product Distribution: Supply Chain – How will the product get to the target market? What are the costs? Would it be better to manufacture the product in country? What barriers to manufacturing the product in country exist? What damage can be expected during shipping? How will you ship and distribute the product to the end user?  If manufacturing will be needed in the target country – how much will that construction cost? What about permits? Where will it be sited?  Sales – Who, How, What, When, Where will sales activity take place and what kind of sales activity will be most effective in the target market. Should this be a joint venture with another sales force? If so who?  How will you manage the sales training team for your target country?  Develop a  product distribution/supply chain analysis for the target country and product. Ethics and Success:  How will you measure the success of your firm? Will it be simply by financial means or will it me a combination of both financial and social contributions to the community? If you turn a profit in ten years will you consider that a success?  Five years?  One year?  What is the normal amount of time a new-start up for your product in your target country can expect to turn a profit?  Will you hold your company to a higher standard than that of your host country or will you allow your firm to violate environmental standards etc that are in place for the good of the health and environment in the United States?  Develop a plan as to how you will measure success of your firm in your target country. Students will have until the end of  week 1 to  make a decision as to the country that their international business plan will target.  The body of your  final paper must be a written report consisting of 15-20 pages in length.  It must be typed and follow the MLA format.  Your paper is due on December 23, 2018 (the last day of class)  at 11:55 p.m. CST.    This assignment is worth 250 points so start early!   [Show Less]