Charlie Bighams – Internationalisation Report
Order Description
Growth by international expansion is one of the most important strategic decisions
for both small and large firms. Due to various transformations, including continuous
regional economic integration and the expansion of faster communications,
transportation and financial flows, the world economy has never been more
globalised and connected, adding further reasons as to why companies may no
longer afford to pay attention only to their domestic market, regardless of its size.
Many industries are global industries, and firms that operate globally may have many
benefits (e.g. lowering costs, higher brand awareness). At the same time, global
Marketing is risky considering largely uncontrollable and constantly changing
developments in the international business environment. Given the potential gains
and risks of International Marketing, companies need a systematic way to make their
global Marketing decisions.
Within this context, your task is:
To devise an individual International Marketing plan for the UK-based firm “Charlie
Bighams” producing and selling homemade convenience food meals throughout the
UK via major retailers such as Waitrose, Tesco, etc. Within the Marketing plan you
should provide sound justifications as to why the company should seek to
internationalise its business/or part of their business and make suitable
recommendations on the following key elements:
a) Market choice: Selecting a country/countries to enter for international
expansion. Provide ample justification of this choice.
b) Researching the internal and external environments of the company. This
research phase is essential since marketing decisions made are only ever as
good as the information on which they are based (Tookey, 1964). Thus, the
possession of information will be crucial to the quality of the international
marketing strategies ultimately developed, which must constantly refer to
exact sources of information. However, no descriptive summary of the
research findings will be requested in the final report. Instead, an analysis of
the information uncovered (for example, using a rigorous SWOT procedure,
and/or Porter’s Five Forces model) will be warranted.
c) Developing actionable, realistic, measurable international marketing
objectives, which are directly in line with the research results. These should
be adequately justified.
d) Designing international marketing strategies (Market entry modes) aimed at
achieving the set objectives. At this stage of the report, creativity, realism, and
precision will be rewarded. The theories, models, and concepts presented in
the recommended textbook(s) and in the lectures will have to be applied to
derive international marketing decisions. Indications of how to implement the
plan and control for its success should also be included (e.g. concerning
product, pricing, distribution and communications operations).
Guidelines:
You need to make sure that the following guidelines are carefully and thoroughly
met:
• Your assignment should be presented as an individual report (14-point Arial
for titles and subtitles, and 12-point Arial, double-spaced, justified alignment,
for main body) with a word limit of 2,000 words (plus or minus 10%, and
excluding references and executive summary). You are allowed to use
appendices.
• To provide a rigorous analysis of both potential market(s) to enter and the
International Marketing environment of the firm as well as designing suitable
international Marketing strategies that are in line with set objectives, you are
expected to read beyond the core class textbook and reference a minimum
of six quality academic sources (i.e. journal articles, Market Intelligence
Reports, academic textbooks) throughout the assignment, but this should be
seen as a minimum, not a benchmark. Recommendations on further
academic literature will be provided after each lecture and can be accessed
via the reading list made available on Blackboard.
• Use quotes taken directly from a journal paper/Market Intelligence
Report/textbook sparingly, only when the key meaning would be lost if you did
not use the original wording. If you decide to quote directly, make sure that
you cite the page number from the original document as well.
• The report should be presented in an appropriate academic style with section
headings and sub headings. Your work must have the following:
Title page:
This is the typical cover page that you include in all your assignments.
Executive Summary:
This is a vital part of the report. It helps the reader to understand the report
more readily. It also helps busy readers, who do not have the time to read the
complete report, to gain an overview of the contents. It should include a brief
summary of each main section of the report but the most important
components are a clear statement of the purpose of the report and a
summary of the conclusions and recommendations (not longer than one
page max – this section is not included in the word count).
Contents List:
Here you should show the main sections and, if appropriate, sub-sections of
the report and the pages on which the reader can find them.
Introduction:
You should smoothly introduce your work to the reader by telling them what is
in this report and how it is structured. Do not use long introductions filled with
irrelevant and general discussions (e.g., globalisation, etc.). Keep this section
simple and remain focused on what your assignment is about and what
structure it follows.
Main Body (including a) analysis part: justification of internationalisation of
CBs (motives/drivers); ample justification of country selection; Analysis of
international Marketing environment and internal environment considering
selected market(s); SWOT; objectives
and b) concomitant recommendations on international Marketing strategies
to pursue, i.e. finding suitable entry mode(s); indications on how to implement
the strategic recommendations made):
Do NOT use ‘Main Body’ as a heading. Use appropriate headings and subheadings
to systematically organise your assignment.
Conclusions:
Wrap up your work by highlighting the key issues you addressed in your work.
Conclusion is NOT summary; it should be authoritative and should give a
strong indication of your in-depth understanding of the topic.
References (this section is not included in word count):
All data must be sourced and relevant references cited. THOROUGHLY
follow the Harvard Referencing System (HRS). Neglecting established HRS
conventions – citations in main text as well as the end references – will impact
negatively on your mark.
Appendices (this section is not included in word count):
Here you may include information, often in the form of tables, charts, cuttings,
illustrations, etc., that is not essential for the first reading of the report but that
supports points raised in it. Be careful in making the choice of what to include
in the report and what to put in an appendix. If, for example, a diagram
illustrates the results it may be more “reader friendly” to place it close to the
text that it supports rather than oblige the reader to search for it in an
appendix.
Assessment:
The quality of your work will be assessed based on the breadth and depth of
analytical discussions and strategic recommendations developed in the light of solid
quality academic literature and practical examples. Your assignment must
demonstrate a high degree of analytical thinking. Therefore, avoid presenting a
descriptive piece of work which is less likely to produce satisfactory results. Your
assignment will be assessed using the following criteria:
• your ability to apply taught concepts and theories to comprehensively analyse
the International Marketing environment of Charlie Bighams and recommend
future strategies for managerial action, which can be validated through well
researched evidence
• your ability to provide a coherent, authoritative argument and present it in a
logical form.