Assessment item 2
Country/Product Opportunity Brief
Length: 2000 words
Submission method options
Alternative submission method
Task
You are expected to research market opportunities, develop a ‘Country/Product Opportunity Brief’ highlighting the opportunities and challenges that exist for product entry into a given country. Countries will be allocated to each student in Week 1, on a list posted under Resources on our Interact site.

The objective of developing a country/product brief is to identify international marketing opportunities in your focus market for an existing Australian organisation and complete the early sections of a comprehensive international marketing plan. The selected company should be considering (a) entering a new country, or (b) considering the entry of a new product/service to an existing international market, or (c) both. You may NOT contact the organisation during the completion of this assessment.

You will need to conduct research on products/services with which they plan on entering the market, as well as research the most current issues that their company may face in entering a specific country. Issues include, but are not limited to legal/regulatory concerns, political risk, cultural nuances that require adaptation, entry/importation procedures/policies, competitive nature of industry, suppliers/channels of entry, and tariffs/taxes.
You will also need to analyse the skills, resources and capabilities of your chosen organisation with respect to entering this new international market.

The brief should be a maximum of 2000 words. It is strongly recommended to use headings/sub-headings to highlight changes in topic. A suggested structure would include:
• Introduction
o Explain the specific market opportunity you have identified – what is it, how did you determine
• Situation Analysis
o Business environment - Information on aspects of the macro and micro environment (PESTLE) relevant to this opportunity
o Market Analysis - Customer segments/profiles relevant to your product in that market, size, growth rates
o Competitive Analysis – who are the major competitors and what is their competitive advantage
o Organisational Analysis – evaluation of the Australian organisation/product you recommend for this opportunity – what is their competitive advantage?
• SWOT Analysis – a summary of key points discovered in the Situation Analysis.
Detail on the suggested content of each section can be found in the Project Guide in the Resources folder.

All information within the brief should be managerially oriented and directly applicable to the specific opportunity/product you are recommending. Students who simply download country profile data without analysis will be penalised.
You are expected to identify a company within the first three (3) weeks of class. The company may be large or small, local or international, have existing products/services or considering new products/services. You must NOT contact these companies, instead relying solely on secondary data. You are expected to utilise numerous data sources in compiling your project, such as government (country) and non-government sources (UN, World Bank, IMF, etc.), company records, consulting, legal and advertising firms, country-specific internet sites, trade statistics, and embassy resources. Any use of Wikipedia as a source for the assignment will result in an automatic zero mark, as it is not a reliable source.
By the fourth week of class you should submit to your lecturer a project proposal that includes: overview of the company partner, product/services involved, country into which company is considering entering, sources of information expecting to be used, and schedule of tasks to complete your project. This proposal should be no more than three (3) pages in length. While this proposal is not assigned project assessment marks, the lecturer uses this proposal to determine the feasibility of your project, and reserves the right to ask you to revise your proposal and/or clarify certain aspects of the proposal prior to commencing data collection.
Rationale
The country/product opportunity brief is designed to encourage you to engage in independent and reflective learning, as well as develop the skills to locate, evaluate and use relevant information for a specific international marketing problem.
This assessment has been designed in order to:
• assist you to develop and demonstrate your learning about the nature of international marketing and the importance of macro-environmental scanning and research, focusing on Topics 1-5; and
• allow you to develop your information searching and critical thinking skills.
On successful completion of this assessment, you should:
• be able to analyse the elements of the global marketplace;
• be able to critically evaluate global marketing opportunities;
• be able to interpret and assess the impact of marketplace variables on marketing practice in the global marketplace;
Marking criteria
This brief will be assessed based on the quality of information presented, how well it is specifically applied to the product and market, the soundness and logic of the opportunity/product match, and the overall expression of ideas. Support for your conclusions from applying theory covered in the lectures / chapter topics and within additional academic literature is encouraged. This should not be a general descriptive report, but rather must be a report that applies relevant international marketing theory to analyse the market.
Criterion Fail Pass Credit Distinction High Distinction
Critical evaluation of international marketing opportunities – Student applies and integrates critical analysis when researching the country context
Value 30% No evidence of independent investigation, original questioning and analysis. No attempt to take and understand multiple perspectives Little evidence of independent investigation, original questioning and analysis. Attempts to take and understand multiple perspectives Some evidence of independent investigation, original questioning and analysis. Takes and understands multiple perspectives and through these can provide a critical discussion of the relevant issues Evidence of independent investigation, and original questioning and analysis. Independently takes and understands multiple perspectives and through these can provide an insightful critical discussion of the relevant issues. Strong evidence of independent investigation, original questioning and analysis. Independently takes and understands multiple perspectives and through these can provide an insightful and/or exhaustive critical discussion of the relevant issues
Application skills - This criterion is about linking theory to a specific context
Value 30% There is no or limited application of theory to the context or case study The case study or context was connected briefly to theory. The case study or context was connected to theory with clear links. The case study or context was connected to theory with clear, logical and explicit connections The context is connected to theory with exceptional, logical and meaningful links.
Realism – This is about practicality/realism in the country contextValue 15% Is not supported or linked to country context Supported by real world information Well supported by connections to the real world context Well supported with explicit connections to the real world context Realistic and supported with explicit connections to the real world context
Communication - This is about the presentation of the work including: Structure, Format, Grammar
Value 20% Poor grammar, spelling, punctuation, concepts were not clear, materials difficult to read - no tables or figures, inconsistency in style and content between sections. Word count is 10% over or under limit. Some grammatical errors, sentences were clear and complete, clear structure and formatting, some diagrams, but not explained and only decorative, some inconsistencies in style and content. Adheres to word limit. Minor grammatical errors, sentences were clear and complete, structure and format were used to aid the audience including relevant graphics, style and content are mostly consistent. Adheres to word limit. Free of grammatical errors. Structure and format were clear. Sentences were well constructed. Language was concise. Excellent use of relevant graphics Clear consistency in style and content. Adheres to word limit. Free of grammatical errors. Structure and format were clear, logical and consistent. Sentences were well constructed. Exceptional use of clearly relevant graphics. Obvious consistency in style and content, with relevant links between sections. Adheres to word limit.
Referencing Skills - This criterion is about the application of APA referencingValue 5% There was limited or no attempt at in text or end of text referencing There was an attempt to apply referencing, but style and application were inconsistent There was consistent style, but application was not consistent, with some errors The style is consistent throughout the text and end reference list. Application was still inconsistent with some points remaining unreferenced. Both in-text and reference list were consistent in terms of style and application of APA referencing

Presentation
The brief should be a maximum of 2000 words. Feel free to use headings/sub-headings to highlight changes in topic.
An ideal assignment is your opinion, supported by evidence from respected/reliable sources, expressed in your own words, and fully referenced as to the source of ideas, facts and quotations. ‘In your own words’ is critical in displaying your understanding of the material, rather than being expert at copy and paste.
Use Turnitin to check that you have fully paraphrased all your material. Any Turnitin result 10% (excluding reference list) suggests that you have over used other people’s words. Revise, and resubmit your paper to Turnitin.
Any use of Wikipedia as a source for the assignment will result in an automatic zero mark, as it is not a reliable source
Should be like this
As promised your Table of Contents for the Second Assignment;
i. Executive Summary
1. Introduction
Explain the opportunity you have identifies, what is it and how did you determine it – it is also a summary of what I am going to read, it may also define the parameters of the assignment
2. Market Analysis
2.1 Size of the market and growth rates
2.2 Population
2.3 Market Barriers and Market Drivers
3. Organisational Analysis (really could talk about their expertise, their management experience, their current strategies in this market)
3.1 Customer Audit and Buyer Behavior (I have attached a file for this - This goes in a table and is discussed briefly in the main body. If you want to, put the table and discussion in the Appendix and discuss it there. In the main body, just say refer to Appendix)
3.2 4P’s (note: is it is a service – 7P’s)
3.3 Competitor Analysis
Description of Major Competitors (S/W) and market share if found
3.4 Competitor Advantage of your Product (perhaps – the USP)
3.5 Positioning Map of Competitors - draw a graph, put in the competitors and discuss the market opportunities
4. Macro environment – (Put all of this is in a table with PESTDN)
4.1 Porter five forces model (In a table and discuss it in main body)
4.2 Value Chain
4.3 BCG Matrix
5. SWOT Analysis (Table here - and a summary in the main body)
6. Conclusion
7. References
8. Appendix