Instructions:

The Global Business Strategy Report is a report to be presented to the CEO of a multinational company. In this report, you should compare and evaluate two (or more) alternative strategies or management practices that the company could choose from in order to obtain a competitive advantage in either a particular market or a global industry they are currently operating in. You should determine which of the alternatives would best:

o exploit the external opportunities and manage the external threats presented by the competitive and institutional environment in that country market or global industry,

and

o exploit the internal strengths and weaknesses of the firm.

This analysis should apply the ideas, concepts and research covered in the course to the context of the actions of a specific firm. The conclusions of the report should be informed by the evidence-based management approach discussed in the course. You should conduct research that goes beyond the data/information contained in the textbook for this course. A list of useful sources can be found on the course outline.

In sum, you are required to:

1. Choose a multinational company (could be Australian or non-Australian)
2. Focus on a particular strategic choice or problem that the company faces either in a particular country market or across its global operations (e.g. choice of entry mode, or choice of organizational structure, or choice of hiring strategy, or choice of HR selection practices, or choice of international production strategy, or choice of overall international business strategy). The strategic choice you focus on could be one of those discussed in-depth in this course, but could also be another strategic choice (e.g. choice of communication strategy, or choice of marketing strategy, or choice of corporate social responsibility strategy, etc) that has not been considered in-depth in this course. You should consult your tutor before choosing strategies not covered in this course.
3. Compare and evaluate two or more strategic alternatives that could potentially help the company meet this strategic choice or problem (e.g. entry by joint venture, entry by acquisition, and entry by greenfield investment, if the strategic choice is ‘choice of entry mode’) and recommend one of them to the CEO of the MNC. One of the alternative strategies you examine could already be in use by the company, but you could also compare strategies that are not currently being used by the company.

Word limit: 2000 words (+/- 10%), excluding the executive summary, tables, figures, reference list, and appendices. An indicative break up of this word count across sections is provided below. This break up is only meant to be suggestive.

Format: Assignments are to be word-processed. The use of strict, professional expression is expected. The Harvard referencing style is to be used.

Structure and contents:

The report should follow the broad structure outlined below. The key is to ask and answer the right questions. The questions listed below are indicative of the kind of the questions you could address in each section.

0.Executive Summary (maximum of one page, not included in word limit): Provide a brief summary of the report’s contents and key recommendations for the CEO.

1. Introduction (about 250 words):
   • Introduce the company and the industry

• Describe the strategic choice you want to focus on and the strategic alternatives you are comparing and evaluating.
• Outline the rest of the report

1. Comparing the strategic alternatives:

(Two parts:1. Literature review + 2. Company assessment)

1. Review of the literature on the strategic alternatives (about 750 words):

The goal of this section is to use academic research to answer the question: What are the external and internal conditions under which a strategic alternative is likely to work better than the others? The literature review should be brief and, among other things, reflect the following:

1.1 A brief summary of what the academic literature says about the choice between the strategic alternatives you are focusing on and the conditions under which each is more likely to succeed than the others.

1.2 An organization and synthesisation of this body of knowledge in order to make sense of it. For this, you could:

o Classify the studies by themes/sub-questions/subproblems that would be relevant to the strategic choice you are studying

o Compare and contrast the studies you have chosen to discuss

1.3 An assessment of those particular gaps, problems and paradoxes, if any, that would be relevant to your overall report

1.4 A discussion of the key lessons this scholarly research offers your report

Tip 1: Use this literature review to help you make the choice between the strategic alternatives later in the report. Remember the case of Cisco, as discussed in the first lecture. The company reviewed the academic research on the subject of company growth. It found that in this academic literature, on average, mergers and acquisitions have been found to be less likely to work than other strategic alternatives, such as greenfield investments and alliances.

But it also found, on the other hand, that the academic research suggests that under certain conditions, mergers and acquisitions might actually work better.

They then decided to adopt the risky mergers and acquisition route to growth by making sure that the conditions under which each merger and acquisition was conducted matched those identified in the literature as necessary for the strategy’s success.

Tip 2: To identify the conditions under which a particular strategic alternative is likely to work better, you could look for the following in the articles you read:

• External conditions:

o Look at the types of industries in which the strategy has been found to work (or not work). What is it about these industries? (e.g. Does it work more for manufacturing industries than for service industries? Does it work more for industries with pressures to globally integrate? Does it work more for industries with pressures to adapt to local conditions?)

o Look at the types of country markets in which the strategy has been found to work (or not work)? (e.g. Does it work for mature/developed country markets? Does it work more for

developing country markets? Does it work more in Asia?)

• Internal conditions:

o Look at the types of organizations these strategies have been

found to work (or not work). What is it about these companies (e.g. Does it only work for large companies, and not small ones? Does it work more for older companies rather younger ones?)

Note:

• You could follow the guidelines mentioned in the resources put on the Wattle site on how to find and select good quality research
• No specific minimum number of studies to be discussed, but the studies should be representative of the research out there that is relevant to the strategic choice being considered
• If the academic literature on your chosen strategic alternatives is sparse, with not many articles, don’t worry. Do a good job with what does exist and discuss the ways in which the gaps in the literature affect or qualify the conclusions of your report.

2- Company assessment (about 750 words):

The goal of this section is to examine the MNC and the situation it faces to answer the question: What external and internal conditions does the company actually face?

Among other things, you could consider:

1. The external environment
2. Overall competitive and institutional environment:

What key competitive and institutional factors affect profitability in this industry or in this country market? What is the basis (cost or differentiation) on which above average profits can be experienced in this industry or country market? What sorts of strategies are most likely to exploit the opportunities and manage the threats given these conditions?

1. Differences across markets

• Overall, what kind of pressures does the company or do the companies face: (1) How strong is the need to adapt to local conditions, and (2) how strong is the need for global integration? How difficult is it to respond to both these pressures?
• If you’re focusing on one country market: How does the competitive and institutional environment in this country market differ from others in the industry? What special adjustments would the company need to make in order to adapt to this market, given the company’s other operations?

1. Internal resources and capabilities
2. What kind of internal company resources and capabilities would be required to exploit the opportunities and threats presented by the country market or global industry under consideration?
3. What kind of resources and capabilities would be needed to deal with differences across markets and to deal with integration and coordination across these markets?

iii. Does the company have the resources and capabilities needed? If not, could it obtain them?

Tip: Keep the discussion as focused as possible on the particular external and internal conditions identified in the literature review as key factors affecting the choice of strategic alternative.

IIII. Recommendations and conclusion (about 250 words):

The goal of this section is to combine the lessons of the literature review and the company assessment to answer the following questions: Out of the conditions identified in the literature review as important for the success of each strategic alternative, which conditions does the company’s actual situation match? Which strategic alternative, therefore, should be adopted by the company? Are there steps the company needs to take to ensure the greater success of the recommended strategy?

You could include a brief mention of some ways in which the company could make sure that these changes are working. For example, what sort of evidence can it gather for this over time?

Purpose of assessment:

The main purpose is to apply concepts and frameworks related to International Strategic Management in the course to real world settings. This task is also designed to help you refine your research skills, particularly the application of academic evidence to a practical setting, and your ability to compile a coherent and comprehensive report on the strategies most appropriate to the situation faced by a company.