INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TERM PAPER: This assignment involves making a clear and logical international business proposition. A list of possible topics will be provided. The proposal topic must be previously approved by the instructor before going ahead on the research. Students will explore the topic in reference to assigned countries. The Term Paper will be developed through a process of drafts that build on provided analysis and feedback. The paper should be at least 5 pages (no more than 7), typed, double spaced, with a cover page, and a list of sources cited (your references).
In your paper, underline the thesis and put the main arguments in italics. Do keep in mind that in your paper as opposed to this example you do NOT say, “I think” or use any other personal pronoun (I or me)! The reader knows it is your opinion.
The final version will therefore be organized as follows:
Part I. COUNTRY BACKGROUND:
Name of the country:
Neighboring countries:
Territorial size of the country:
Size of the Population:
Type of Political System:
Who is the Prime Minister, President?
What political party is in power?
Derivation of the form of law: Common, civil, other.
How would you classify its economic system?
What are the GNI and the GNI per capita PPP?
Major Natural Resources:
What major products are exported and to which countries?
What are the major imports and from which countries?
Member of what economic integration organizations:
Name of the currency:
Is it freely exchanged?
Part II. BUSINESS PROPOSITION: It is recommended to follow the following format:
It is a good opportunity for U.S. companies to ( export, invest, launch a product or service ) in (indicated the country that was assigned to you) because ( Indicate three reasons why).
Part III. EVIDENCE: Outline three reasons and the evidence for your conclusion. Site your sources. Include in your evidence at least one article from a newspaper/media source in the country you have been assigned. Do not use the following sources for your local media source: AP, UPI, Financial Times, New York Times, WSJ (all editions), Deutsche Welle, Kyodo, Bloomberg, International Herald Tribune or CNN, unless you cannot find an English-language article and have your instructor’s approval. Critically evaluate the sources as to coverage and potential bias.
Part IV: CONCLUSIONS: Show that your thesis has been proved.
Part V: SOURCES
The following are the key attributes that will be evaluated to grade your individual paper:
1. Clarity and persuasiveness.
2. Organization and coherence.
3. Support. (Evidence to support your recommendation)
4. Style (Choose the right words and uses an appropriate level of specificity)
5. Mechanics ( Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors)
6. Timing (Deliver your assignments on time)
The feedback for your proposal is already available in the feedback section of the dropbox where you uploaded your proposal. There are three different types of feedback. The first reads: ” Your proposal looks preliminary fine to me. Now, you can write your paper. However, please keep in mind that you can change your reasons why if after implementing further research you discover that one or more of them are not appropriate. Please keep in mind that your paper should be composed as follows:
Page 1: Country name and your contact information
Page 2: Background information about the country written in bullet points. For example: population, bordering countries, name of the President, main exports, main imports, etc. You can find examples of information at syllabus
Page 3: You begin by writing the business proposal based on the suggested format (It is a good opportunity for U.S. companies to export, invest, launch a product or service – specify product or service category) because – indicate three reasons why). In the same page, you should begin writing the evidence that supports each reason why using reliable sources. Your evidence pages should finish at the end of page 6. Please see syllabus for additional information about how to write evidence part of the paper. There is also an example available at the file “Syllabus and Other Important Documents”
Page 7: Indicate sources. No specific style is required. The important factor is that the reviewer can find the source (so indicate webpage link, name authors, publication, etc.) Also, the sources need to be linked to the statements in the copy where information is being used with a number. Please keep in mind that as it is indicated in the syllabus, one of the sources, need to be from the country. However, I will be flexible with this requirement since there are countries which is difficult to find local sources written in English.
You will receive feedback from my teaching assistant after you upload your paper and prior your submit your paper for grading. You will receive TA’s feedback within 7 working days after due date. The due date to upload paper for teaching assistant revision is February 21 at 11:59 pm.”
The second is the same text that it is indicated for the first + some advice about how to improve the proposal. The third type of feedback reads: ” Thanks for uploading your proposal. Please talk to me next class.”
Next class, we will finish earlier for those students that receive the first and second feedback types. For students who received the third type of feedback, you will stay in class and I will review your proposal together with you.
It is recommended for the students to follow the following structure when writing the IB proposal:
“ It is a good opportunity for U.S. businesses to ( export, launch a product or service, invest ) in ( indicate the country which was assigned to you / Please check the feedback section at the DropBox where you uploaded your Bio Form to learn about your country for this assignment ) because ( Reason 1 ), (Reason 2) and (Reason 3).”
Examples of CTW proposals
• Good opportunities exist for U.S. companies to invest in Dubai because of its tax incentives and governmental support, its well developed infrastructure, and because of economic growth in the region.
• U.S. businesses should increase their level of investment in Taiwan ROC because of its well developed communication technology infrastructure, its political stability, and its ties to other Asian countries.
• Good opportunities exist to launch a line of low cost cars in India because the level of penetration of cars is still low, the average income of consumers is lower than in developed countries, and there are still few competitors in that segment.
• Excellent opportunities exist for U.S. retailers operating in Brazil to expand their operations using franchising. Franchising is a more efficient method of raising capital, invites a greater level of commitment from operating partners, and speeds time to market.
How to site with numbers
Reason Why to Invest in France: Well Developed Pharmaceutical Industry.
“….Talking about pharmaceuticals, France is one of the leading nations in just that. France has a universal healthcare system, but spends thirty five percent of its government’s cash on healthcare. “France third biggest export is pharmaceutical products and medical equipment. France is the sixth largest nation when it comes to exporting pharmaceuticals. Seven percent of the GDP in France comes from pharmaceuticals. (4) …..”
Sources
(4) Word Top Exports Latest Statistics & Research: https://monkessays.com/write-my-essay/worldstopexports.com/drugs-medicine-exports-country/
Note: Please keep in mind that you should write about one to one page and a half per reason why of evidence. You should use at least three sources per reason why. This page is intended to illustrate how to use the references. Please remember that the reference must be indicated in the last page of your seven pages paper.
US Companies to Venture into South Africa
Part I: Country Background
• Country: South Africa (SA). Region: Africa. Subregion: South Africa
• Capital City: Pretoria (Located in Gauteng Province. Seat to the government executive branch). Cape Town (Seat to the National Parliament). Bloemfontein (Capital to the judiciary and the capital of Free State Province)
• Currency: South African Rand (ZAR).
• Population: 57,150,525 million people. Area. 1,221,037 km2. Population Density: 47
• Head of State: Jacob Zuma (Resigned after being disowned by the ruling party).
• Languages: English, Southern Sotho, Zulu, Xhosa, Tsonga, Venda, Tswana, Swazi, Afrikaans, Southern Ndebele.
• Neighboring Nations: Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, and Namibia. Party: African National Congress (ANC).
• Form of Law: SA has a mixed legal system which is formed by interweaving number of legal traditions. The civil law system, customer law, and the common law.
• Economy: South Africa’s economy is majorly centered on the service sector. It is among the second biggest economies in Africa. South Africa accounts for over a quarter of African Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The nation is ranked by World Bank as an upper-middle-income economy. SA is advanced and well-established infrastructure. South Africa is the only nation in African member of G-20.
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (PPP): $743.22 billion.
• Human Development Index (HDI): ranked 116 with 0.67 HDI in 2014.
• Gross National Income (GNI): $ 5,490.00.
• In 2016. GNI (PPP): 12,880 ranked 114 globally.
• Natural Resources: SA is a nation blessed with massive deposits of natural resources. The nation has massive deposits of Gold, Platinum, Diamonds, and Vanadium.
• South Africa is a member of African Economic Community (AEC), member of G-20, member of South African Development Community (SADC).
• Exports: Major exports are: Steel and iron, slag, ash and ores, wool, mineral fuels, copper, nickel, gems and precious metals, and fruits. Destinations; US, China, UK, Japan and African nations like Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique.
Part II: Business Proposition
South Africa (SA) is currently among the promising and most sophisticated emerging marketplaces in the globe. The combination of emergent market economy and a highly advanced infrastructure gives rise to strong entrepreneurial and dynamic investment environment in the region (3). US firms ought to invest in SA due to its vast deposits of natural resources, economic growth, and the booming in franchising for the US companies. SA Africa is the economic powerhouse of Africa with a GDP (PPP) of $743.22 billion which comprises of over 30% of the African economy (6). The US firms can take advantage of the geographical location of SA. SA is described to be the trade route or corridor to the Southern part of the African continent. It is the anchor of the southern region of Africa. There is the presence of skilled labor hence no outsourcing of the labor which in turn will reduce the cost of production. Additionally, the large population in the region poses a good market for US franchising US companies (3). Moreover, the political stability in the region acts as a boost to attract more investors into the region. The financial infrastructure in the nation poses a good opportunity for US firms.
Part III: Evidence
After the abolishment of the apartheid regime, the nation has tremendously attained economic growth (2). Over the last twenty years, South Africa has attained a level of macroeconomic stability. This advances in the economy create an ideal opportunity for real increment in the expenditure on social services as well as reducing the risk and costs for investors. This lays the foundation for increased growth and investment. The government of South Africa has implemented macroeconomic stability successfully by the implementation of the macroeconomic policies which are directed at the promotion of domestic growth, employment, and competitiveness (6). The nation has an open economic system which attracts investors from all corners of the Earth. With the pre-existing macroeconomic stability, US firms ought to consider investing in the region.
Furthermore, South Africa is currently one of the emerging markets which offer investors with exceptional investment opportunities and sophisticated financial infrastructure. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is tasked with overseeing the banking industry in the country while the non-financial industry is primarily directed by the nation’s Financial Provision or Service Board. The country has standard financial services markets such as the Alternative exchange (ALtx) and South African Future Exchange (SaFex) as well as the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) (6). These financial firms are self-regulated internally. With the good financial infrastructure, the US firms should not be worry or fear of investing. This offers a perfect opportunity for the foreign investors such as those in the US to invest heavily in the country.
South Africa is a nation of its own. It has the most significant deposits of ores or natural reserves (9). Currently the nation mines and exports diverse ores or precious mineral such as gold, diamond, Ferrochrome, Platinum, coal, and vanadium amongst other metals. South Africa produces approximately 14% of the global gold (9). It is the second world producer of platinum and gold after China. Apart from these precious metals, they produce other base metals such as iron. The depth to which the gold mines are extremely deeper (9). Thus, the cost of mining the gold increases. The US can venture into the mineral sector in the country. They can major in producing massive machinery which will aid the production. For instance, the designing of skips and shafts. By investing in machinery and entering into partnerships with the South African companies, the firm is prone to success. The booming franchising in US companies leads to demand for natural resources such as gold for construction of equipment to be used in space exploration (10). By investing in South Africa, US government can enter into an organization with the South African government to reduce or limit import duties. US companies will in turn easily import goods from the country hence leading to more growth in the region.
South Africa enjoys a stable political climate (4). The nation sees a peaceful transition of power or presidency. Most African nations are associated with political violence. For instance, there has been a political war in Kenya, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Nigeria as well as Egypt amongst other nations in the continent (4). When a president is not elected for a second term, violence may arise. The political war discourages investors and is not favorable for investing. South Africa is among the only nation in Africa which instance independence has enjoyed a fair and excellent transition of power (7). When Nelson Mandela was the president, he only ruled for one term before stepping down by himself. This is contrary to other African leaders such as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Yoweri Museveni (4). On 14th February Jacob Zuma resigned after his political party African National Congress (ANC) disowns him and forces him to resign (5). His resignation portrays a clear picture of South Africa’s political stability. Unlike most African countries whereby when one is in power he or she will not resign unless coup or military action is carried on. The US companies can invest heavily in South Africa without fear of political turmoil or war in the region.
South Africa is the anchor of the Southern part of Africa (6). The nation is bordered by Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, and Namibia. The country is geographically located and is not a landlocked country. Atlantic Ocean bounds to the west while Indian Ocean bounds to the East. Therefore the transportation of goods to the nation is cheap (7). There are tariffs and import duties. This ensures that the cost of exportation of goods to the country is reduced. Hence a firm will enjoy more profitability in the long run. Africa is one of the most promising emerging economies in the 21st century. China has been a major competitor for US, Germany, and other European nations. To get access to the Southern part of Africa, the US companies ought to invest in South Africa. By doing this, they will grow their ventures into the other areas in the region.
The cost of doing business in South Africa is cheap as compared with other nations or emerging markets. In 2016, South Africa had the lowest cost of electricity (6). Though many challenges are facing the electricity industry, the nation has been able to stabilize its production and ensure reliable sources of power. , the cost of rental, land, labor, transportation and human resource, as well as the living expenses are affordable (6). The government of South Africa has introduced regulations to ensure that the skills of the people in the country are buffered. Thus, the nation has available skilled labor (8). This eliminates the factor of outsourcing labor hence ensuring that the cost of production remains as low as possible.
Moreover, the rich agricultural produce of the country poses a good opportunity for US companies to invest in the country (1). For instance, US firms such as McDonald can venture into these new emerging markets to ensure their organic production are enhanced. By investing in the African continent, US companies will ensure their global market share increases and improves their competitive advantage in the long run.
Despite the gains which can be obtained from the venture into South Africa, the subject of corruption can lead to tremendous impacts. Corruption is a vice which has hindered development in the African nations. Jacob Zuma was accused of corruption. This lead to him stepping down. The venture into the continent can be impacted by the corruption menace.
Part IV: Conclusion
In conclusion, due to the political stability, an abundance of natural resources, rich agricultural resources, franchising US companies and geographical location of South Africa, US companies can massively benefit from the venture. They will improve their maker share and the competitive advantage in the long run. Despite this, corruption is the major vice which can impact the company’s progress in the region.
Part V: Sources
1. Awokuse, Titus O., and Ruizhi Xie. “Does agriculture really matter for economic growth in developing countries?.” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d’agroeconomie 63.1 (2015): 77-99.
2. Bond, Patrick. “Elite transition: From apartheid to neoliberalism in South Africa.” (2014).
3. Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro, and Ravi Ramamurti, eds. Understanding multinationals from emerging markets. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
4. Fortes, Meyer, and Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard. African political systems. Routledge, 2015.
5. Johnson, R. W. “The fall of Jacob Zuma and the Crisis of South Africa.” Quadrant 61.3 (2017): 39.
6. Kaseeram, Irrshad, and Darma Mahadea. “Marginal Employment Growth Effects In The South African Economy.” The International Business & Economics Research Journal (Online) 16.2 (2017): 143.
7. Marks, Shula, and Stanley Trapido. The politics of race, class and nationalism in twentieth century South Africa. Routledge, 2014.
8. Masterson, Vanessa, et al. “Culture and development: social-ecological dynamics in the former Transkei, South Africa.” (2016).
9. Rees, Judith. Natural resources: allocation, economics and policy. Routledge, 2017.
10. Venables, Anthony J. “Using natural resources for development: why has it proven so difficult?.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 30.1 (2016): 161-84.
