International Business Portfolio

Identify a local United States business that you will propose should venture into new a new foreign market. (If you are a foreign student, you may use a local business in your own country.)  For example: A local microbrewery, a high tech start-up in the mobile area (new app), an eco-friendly new packaging product, a medical service for medical tourism, a corporate wellness program, a new building material, etc. You may choose one of these, but you are encouraged to focus on products or services that you have a personal interest in.

Your Portfolio Project should be a comprehensive proposal, written now as a seasoned executive to your company’s executive management. It should include your analysis and recommendations supported by current research findings.  As you progress through the course, you will be assimilating your newly gained knowledge into the re-writing and expanding of your idea, culminating in the final delivered assignment, which will be written as a seasoned executive who is certain of those choices and their merits for the company.

Your written report should follow this outline:

• Executive Summary
• Table of Contents
• Introduction

Company/Industry and Product/Service:

• Barriers to market introduction
• The unique selling point or direct competitive advantage
• Transportation and logistics
• Product modifications
• Product maintenance

Country Situation Analysis:

• Cultural and Social Considerations
• Economic Considerations
• Political and Legal Considerations

Rationale:

• Target Market and Positioning
• Market-Entry Strategy(ies)
• Competitive Analysis
• Analysis of Market Demand
• Marketing Mix
• HR Resources and Organizational Structure
• Manufacturing and/or Distribution
• Financing the Entry Strategy
• Selection of Host-country Partners
• Critical Success Factors

Future Directions and Conclusion

Additional requirements for the final written proposal:

• Use the 5 references you prepared in Module 3, Step 2. Ten sources are the required minimum to be used in the paper. Extra references are welcomed and encouraged but use no more than 15 sources.  
• You may use your text as an additional reference.
• The paper must be well-written, well-reasoned, and supported with good sources, specific details and examples. Proper grammar, spelling, punctuation is, of course, required.
• The paper should be 8-10 pages total; a separate cover page and reference page are encouraged but not required.  You must have a reference page but it may begin at the end of the last page of the paper.
• The paper must be double-spaced using 12-point “Times New Roman” font and standard one-inch margins.
• The paper must be correctly formatted and documented based on APA formatting guidelines.

The company is Backcountry, www.backcountrycorp.com This is a local outdoors equipment supplier. They have areas in Europe, but the porpasl will be written for expanaison into South American markets.