b Ministry of Higher Education Colleges of Applied Sciences Department of International Business Administration

International Business Environment (BUSN 3401)

SPRING SEMESTER (2011 2012) This assessment contributes to 15 % of the final mark. Submission Date: Wednesday 9th May 2012 by 2pm Note Late submissions will be penalized by 5% per day. Assignments should be word-processed as per the instructions given.

OUTLINE OF ASSIGNMENT: The assigned task is to analyse the international business environment impacts on a representative company (focal firm) in a particular industry. The report must trace the global environment impacts on the representative company. The company may be a locally owned enterprise or a subsidiary operation. It is expected that you will consult firstly newspapers, trade/industry reports, and magazines such as The Economist, Commerce, Business Week, Fortune, etc to identify international business trends, forecasts and changes. A possible outline that includes major topics for your report is: 1. 2. 3. 4. Introduction Political Environment (political system, structure, political parties, political risk) Legal environment (legal system, legal issues in international business, legal risk) Economic environment (economic system, main products and services, economic risk) 5. Monetary environment (currency system, currency risk) 6. Trade environment (major exports/imports, main trading partners, regional economic integration, tariff and trade barriers, government incentives for conducting business there) 7. Cultural analysis (cultural determinants, cultural dimensions, norms)

8. Outline of challenges and opportunities of doing business in the country (i.e. analysis and integration of information from other parts of the paper and other country data) 9. Guidelines for success when doing business in the selected country (i.e. not in general) Length: Maximum 2,000 to 2,500 words. General Instructions for Assignment 1. Check spelling and ensure consistency of layout, headings, typestyles and sizes: Font should be Times New Roman, 12 Assignment should be 1.5 line spacing Main Headings Size 16, Capital and Bold Sub-Headings Size 14, Underlined, Bold Page Margins 1.25 on all the sides.

2. Produce a Cover page, which should have the College Name, Department Name, Assignment Title, your full name and ID number. Border the whole page . 3. In addition to the main content, all written reports must include a cover page, a table of contents, page numbers, a list of current references (minimum of 10), and an appendix of key figures, charts, and the like. References should be written in American Psychological Association (APA) All inside pages should include your student number at the bottom left of each page and a page number on bottom right. No header and footer should appear in the Cover Page and Table of Contents Page . Plagiarism: Do not plagiarise Plagiarised coursework could result in a no grade being awarded for the subject.

EVALUATION & MARKING CRITERIA: WRITTEN REPORT-15 MARKS Student Name: ........................................................................... Evaluation: 5 Strong/4 Good/ 3 Average/2 Weak/1 - Very weak A: FORMAT (2 MARKS) 1 1. 2. 3. Introduction, key issues, purpose, main body covers key aspects & conclusion Structure, logical flow and grammar Appropriate length (2000-2500) 2 3 4 5

B: CONTENT (`10 MARKS) 1 Process 1. Analysis is provided & gives direction to the study Application 2. Theory incorporated with practice 3. Broad knowledge contribution Self-thought 4. Creativity 5. Interpretation C: RESEARCH (3 MARKS) 1 1. 2. APA style referencing procedures Source material used 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5

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