BUSI 2701

Assignment # 1 – Business Report - Country Analysis

You are an executive working at a large Canadian company that is considering expanding
its foreign operations. The CEO has asked you to do an analysis of one of the target countries and
provide a recommendation as to whether or not to proceed. The CEO is a very busy person so it
is important that the report be written in a clear and concise manner. It will be judged on the
factual information it contains, the clarity of your argument and the depth of your analysis. Please
note that you should not try to gather data that supports only one side or the other of whether or
not to proceed. Rather, you should gather all the pertinent data and let your analysis guide you to
the best recommendation.
The report is to be a maximum of seven (7) pages (doubled spaced, Times New Roman,
12 pt font, 2.54 cm margins) plus (i.e. not including) title page, bibliography (i.e. a list of your
references - use my referencing guidelines posted in our cuLearn) and appendices (expected). The
title page must contain your name, student number, name of course and professor, date, and the
country you have chosen from the list provided. The first half page (maximum) of the report will
be an executive summary of the report’s highlights and your recommendation. The remainder of
the seven pages will cover the material noted in the grading table below with marks allocated as
shown. Please use the items (left-hand column) listed in the rubric as headings in your report. You
must number the pages in your report.
The report must cite at least six different sources (not including your textbook) which could
include those listed in the library course guide, the globalEDGE Website referred to in the
Hill/McKaig textbook (http://globaledge.msu.edu), the World Bank (http://data.worldbank.org/),
the International Monetary Fund (http://www.imf.org/external/), the CIA World Factbook
(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/), country websites, business
journals, business newspapers, business websites, etc. Be wary of relying too heavily on any one
source, especially a country’s own websites as they will most certainly put a positive spin on the
material. Do not use Wikipedia. Ensure that all data is cited. In this report, there should be few if
any quotes. If you do use a quote, ensure that it is in quotation marks and properly cited. If a
quote is not in quotation marks and properly cited, it is plagiarism.
Only the first seven pages in your report will be read and graded. You may include relevant
appendices at the end of the seven-page report (Appendices go after the list of references. You
must mention them in the body of your report).
Please note that Carleton University offers a Writing Tutorial Service through the Student
Academic Success Centre that provides free face-to-face sessions to help you with your writing.
This may be especially helpful for those for whom English is a second language. Information can
be attained on their website (http://www1.carleton.ca/sasc/writing-tutorial-service).

Late submissions will not be accepted.

No in-text citations = zero on the assignment.
 Assignment #1 Rubric

Item Item % Sub-item Sub- Breakdown

of Grade item %
of
Grade
Executive 10 This should be a concise and very well written 10
Summary summation of the whole report. Approx. length
one-half page.

Country’s Macro 40 Country description: such as level of development 10 9-10 Excellent

Environment and wealth, infrastructure including physical and 7-8 Good
IT, important industries, economic ties to other 5-6 Satisfactory
countries (e.g. NAFTA or EU), history of inward 1-4 Below exp.
foreign investment, large multinationals with
operations there, level of corruption, etc.
Political situation and stability 5
Legislation that affects inward foreign investment 5 5 Excellent
(e.g. tariffs, subsidies, informal trade barriers, 4 Good
intellectual property protection, etc.) 3 Satisfactory
0-2 Below expectations
Economic conditions and stability including growth 10
statistics and currency stability

Cultural issues that may affect business and social 10

stability. Workforce skills.
Factor 20 An analysis of the basic and advanced factors of 20 18-20 Excellent
Endowments production in the country and the sorts of business 15-17 Good
opportunities they might support. 10-14 Satisfactory
1-9 Below expectations
Analysis 15 An analysis of the risks and benefits, inherent in 15 14-15 Excellent
doing business in the country. This section must 11-13 Good
be a logical distillation of most important facets of 8-10 Satisfactory
the macro environment and factor endowments 1-7 Below expectation
discussions.
Recommendation 5 Your recommendation regarding the company 5
& Conclusion expanding into the country. This section must be a
logical follow-on from the summary of benefits,
costs and risks.
Presentation and 5 Structure & format. Spelling, grammar and clarity 5
appendices of writing. Quality and relevance of appendices.
Referencing 5 Use of at least 6 sources. Accurate use of 5
academic style citations / endnotes.
Total=100 100