j.khan@mmu.ac.uk          0161-247-3882

Task

As an economist working for a hypothetical multinational corporation with a given home market you are charged with the responsibility of identifying TWO new markets for a specific CONSUMER good or service that is produced by your firm. (You choose the product) One of these markets has to be in a high-income economy as defined by the World Bank and the other has to be a low or middle-income economy. As the MNC is hypothetical, you can assume that all economies are potentially new markets apart from your home market. (Your home market is excluded from the process, i.e. if you are from the UK then your home market is the UK market). Your research has to be presented as a 4000 word report.

Report format

Your report should be word processed, have a cover sheet, a contents page, page numbers and be clearly structured using headings. The standard of English should be appropriate to a business setting, with correct spelling and grammar and formal in style.

For this report, you should use non-personal language i.e. do not use ‘I’, ‘We’ or ‘You’. The following example should explain this more clearly:

Here is an extract of writing which uses ‘I’, ‘We’ and ‘You’:

I think that this report has major flaws as it only looked at hospitals in one area of the country. You can see that this is a problem as the report was supposed to consider the cleanliness of hospitals throughout the country.

Here is an extract that implies the same opinions but does not use ‘I’, ‘We’ or ‘You’:

The report by smith et al. cannot be used to draw conclusions about the cleanliness of hospitals throughout the country as it only focuses on investigating hospitals in one region.

Content – NOTE these headings are for guidance only, students can change the headings to suit their own style and content.

1.      Abstract

2.      Introduction Write a few paragraphs explaining the purpose of the report and the specific nature of the product – be as specific and detailed as you can. (250 words approx.)

3.      Overview of current domestic and international markets for your product Briefly outline the size, growth and nature of current markets for your specific product, provide as much data as possible. (500 word approx.)

4.      Outline the nature of the screening process to be adopted Highlight the approach you are going to adopt and the reasons for the order it will take. By identifying likely consumers you will be able to focus on the key variables you will need to use. (250 words approx.)

5.      Undertake an initial screening process to generate a short list of markets with good potential Apply appropriate values to the selected variables in order to eliminate economies with little potential. Size of the short list will vary according to the nature of the product and process. There is no right amount but too many will make further screening difficult too few may mean economies with potential have been overlooked. This is one of the most important elements of the report. (1200 words approx.)

6.      Undertake a detailed screening in order to identify the two best markets Use further screening variables to reduce the short list step by step eliminating those with the least potential. This stage should also evaluate whether the potential markets can be profitably exploited. This process will continue until the final two markets are selected. (1500 words approx.)

7.      Provide an overview of your selected markets explaining clearly why you think they are the best markets This should not be a general macroeconomic overview but a clear explanation of why you think they are the best markets for your product. Reference should be made to the factors that are related to the market for your product. (400 word approx.)

8.      Conclusion A clear overview of the key points of your report. (200 words approx.)

Bibliography

1.      Key points and perspectives are appropriately framed and contextualised

2.      Key assumptions and limitations are identified and theoretically explored

3.      Identify data and interpret information through analysis and synthesis with literature

4.      Conclusions are based on evidence and analysis and appropriate recommendations made

1.      Explain key international business concepts and issues

2.      Undertake individual research related to the international business environment

Referencing

Source:  Pears, R and Shields, G (2010). Palgrave Study Skills. Cite them Right. The Essential Referencing Guide. 8th ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. p.1-3

Harvard Reference Generator. http://www.neilstoolbox.com/bibliography-creator/reference-email.htm. Harvard Reference Generator. 14th August 2012.

Why reference and include a Bibliography?

A Bibliography is a list of the books (or other sources of information) that you consulted when writing an essay, report, thesis or dissertation.

When doing research, we very rarely come up with our own theories. These take time to develop, and involve putting them out for debate. By researching the theories of others, we include ideas in our works that have already gone through that academic testing.

However, you have to be aware that you are using someone else’s work for your own benefit. You will get the marks, but the author of the ideas may have put in decades of research to come up with the concepts. Therefore, you need to ensure that you reference your sources – essentially giving credit to the person whom you are citing.

Books have a standard layout (front cover, copyright material, list of chapters, the chapters, index, back cover). This is so that you can walk into any library in the World, and very quickly be able to access what you were looking for. You could open a book, turn to the index (arranged alphabetically) and then find the page where the information is included.

When academics are citing sources, it is important that the same principle applies. Someone should very quickly be able to relocate the work you are referring to, either to check it’s authority or legitimacy, or for more information.

Harvard University developed their own formula for how these should be arranged. This usually involves the year of publication, the surname and initials of the author, the title of the book (and chapter, if needed), and the page/s. Some of this text appears in brackets, some in italics. The result is, someone can quickly locate exactly what they are looking for with just a glance.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is a specific form of cheating and is generally defined as presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own. These may be in printed or electronic format and, in all cases, giving credit to the original author by citing and referencing your sources is the only way to use other people’s work without plagiarising. All the following are considered forms of plagiarism:

–       Using another person’s work or ideas (for example, copying and pasting text or images from the internet) without crediting (citing) the original source.

–       Passing off someone else’s work as your own.

–       Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks; quoting, summarising or paraphrasing material in your work without citing the original source.

–       Changing words or phrases but copying the sentence structure of a source and not crediting the original author.

–       Citing sources you did not use. It is even possible to plagiarise yourself if you paraphrase or copy from work you submitted elsewhere without acknowledging the fact through citation and referencing.

Examples

Referencing a book

Griffiths A and Wall S (2011). Applied Economics. 12th ed. London: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. p.1-2

Referencing a chapter of a book

Sloman, J and Wride, A. (2009). Money and Interest Rates. In: Economics. 7th ed. London: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. p.502-531.

Referencing a journal article

Henneberry, J. (1998). Transport investment and house prices. Journal of Property Valuation and Investment. 16 (2), p144-158.

Referencing a website

Klein, E. (2012). Spellbinding Tax Reform That Doesn’t Even Work on Paper. Available: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-08/spellbinding-tax-reform-that-doesn-t-even-work-on-paper.html. Last accessed 9th August 2012.

Referencing an email

Khan, J. j.khan@mmu.ac.uk. IBGC. 9th August 2012.

Text Books

Ball D & McCulloch W et al      International Business, Irwin/Mcgraw Hill, 2007.

Daniels J D                             International Business: Environment and Operations.

Radebaugh L H                          14^th Edition, NY, Prentice Hall, 2012.

& Sullivan

Peng M &Meyer K                   International Business 2^nd Edition 2011

Rugman A M &                     International Business. 6^th Edition

Collinson S                                Prentice Hall 2012

Wild Wild & Han                      International Business The challenges of globalization

Pearson Education, 2007

Electronic

World Bank

IMF

OECD

Eurostat

WTO

CIA world fact book

Company reports

The Economist

See Moodle Area

The introduction explains the purpose and subject of the report.

Detailed description of current domestic and international markets for your product. Up to date data is essential

Description of the process to be adopted and explanation of the variables selected and values set. Appropriate short list to be derived

Selection of appropriate variables to assess greatest potential and for the potential to be profitably exploited

Clear explanation of why the two markets are the best

The report concludes with an overall reflection on the task

The report is written to a high standard of English, with no errors of spelling, grammar or punctuation. The language used is appropriate to a formal business report.

Report is word processed to a professional standard, with a cover sheet, a contents page, clear headings and page numbers. Layout is clear and easy to read.