SOE09702: Sainsbury’s Supermarket Plc a Major British Supermarket Chain has Appointed you as a Consultant: International Business Coursework Assessment, ENU, Singapore

Coursework Brief –
Sainsbury’s Supermarket Plc a major British supermarket chain has appointed you as a consultant. Once the current coronavirus pandemic is over, the company is considering investing overseas as global expansion is perceived at this time to be a potentially important element of the company’s long-term strategic goals. Therefore, Sainsbury’s Board of Management has requested you to compile a report regarding the attractiveness of New Zealand based on the potential return of investment.

Guidance:

Some general points on the coursework assignment in relation to the allocation of marks. The analysis you conduct should always be in the context of what your findings mean for the company and the impact it may have on them.

1. Presentation and Structure

• Your report should be typed with a font size 12, 1.5 spacing and it must look professional. Paragraphs in the document should be justified. The report needs to be well-structured, divided into numbered sections that correspond logically to the coursework brief. Include an overall introduction and conclusion.

2. Analysis of political, economic, cultural, legal, and ethical risks in the country selected

• in relation to the country risk analysis you might consider/address the following issues in your analysis including:
• What form of political system exists? (totalitarian/democratic); what kind of economic policies exist? (Government controlled/regulated/free market); what kind of social system? (regulated/controlled by govt.)
• For political risk… the Root Model, applied in terms of instability risk; ownership/control risk; operations risk; transfer/repatriation risk. If you do not apply Root you should make use of other political risk indexes/indicators.
• What incidence of cultural/ethical risks exist, as evidenced by the existence of fundamental cultural differences between host and home (UK, in this case) countries – such as the extent of govt. influence in business, product offerings, the significance of religion, the existence of an ethnic mix, the degree of toleration of differences, the extent of censorship of information.
•  Legal risks – i.e. different legal systems and/or weak legal systems.
  Ethical issues such as bribery/corruption, poor working conditions/low wages, oppression of minorities, environmental concerns if any.
• Ensure you do not simply describe the aforementioned. You must identify what risks exist to the business, as a result of identified systems, policies, cultural, legal, and ethical risks.

3. Identification and evaluation of business opportunities

•  In relation to the analysis of business opportunities, you might consider/address the following issues in your analysis including:
• Key economic/market indicators – not limited to, but perhaps including GDP, GDP growth, GDP per capita, inflation rates, unemployment data,
• exchange rate issues etc. – importantly what are the implications of this data for the company?
• Levels of competition – domestic and/or international.
• Evaluation of income levels (in terms of ‘poor’/middle class/rich elites), demographics, education systems… and what they imply for the company.
• Consumer buying habits
• Whether foreign industrial products/service provisions are in (rising) demand in the country.
• Whether the country is a free market economy and of the degree of government ‘welcome’ afforded to foreign investors.

4. Use of appropriate examples of companies to support arguments (10%)

• In relation to the use of corporate examples of businesses to support your argument you might consider/address the following issues in your analysis:
• Which companies can be identified as having been either successes or failures in the country selected for the analysis?
• Further corporate examples to illustrate particular points say, in respect of negotiation with governments/involvement in bribery ‘issues’/alliance
• formation with (or acquisition of) domestic companies, management of local workforces

5. Conclusion, recommendations, and proposed market entry based on findings (20%)

• In relation to the conclusion, recommendations, and proposed market entry strategy you might consider/address the following issues in your analysis including:
• Do you recommend that the company you are representing should invest? Has the country got more opportunities than risks – clearly, your conclusion has to be consistent with the analysis which you have done, so that you can provide reasons for your choice of the country into which the British retailer should invest? You should reinforce the recommendation with advice as to the market entry strategy which should be chosen.
• In terms of proposing a market entry strategy while this section carries ‘only’ 20% of the marks you should consider what method of entry might be most appropriate for the recommended country as an opportunity to enhance your overall answer.
• You should use examples to support your comments e.g. foreign company X has successfully used a joint venture/alliance with a local retailer, or cite a foreign company that has acquired a local operator – but remember that market entry may not always take only one form (as with Tesco in some Asian countries, with wholly-owned subsidiaries, alliances, and acquisitions all being used)