FINAL PAPER

The Final Paper should demonstrate your understanding of the readings and other course material. By creating an international business or an international business venture, you will utilize your subject knowledge expertise in discovering and overcoming the challenges of expanding a business to a new host country.  In a 2,000- to 2,500-word paper, you should integrate readings and class discussions, and you may include explanations and examples from previous experiences as well as implications for future applications. All opinions or ideas should be supported with credible and recent data. All data used must be cited with in-text citations and a bibliography on the references page.

In this paper, you will

• Create an international business or international  venture outside of the U.S. (e.g., export/import, franchising, manufacturing, joint venture, etc.)
  • Define the name, nature of the business, and brief background of the company and industry. Be sure this venture is created and is unique and innovative.
  • State the specific target market for the venture.
• Create a strategic plan that includes the following (in any order you decide):
  • An analysis of the competitive advantage of your venture (Why will it be successful?).
  • A PESTLE analysis, or a similar business analysis process, of the host country.
  • A 6- to 12-month timeline of your venture’s expansion.
  • A list of SMART goals.
  • A summary of startup human resources and marketing concepts.
  • A SWOT analysis of the venture that evaluates at least four challenges and advantages and/or opportunities and threats (e.g., cross-cultural, foreign currency, legal, etc.).
    • Suggest recommendations to overcome the challenges and threats from the SWOT you conducted.

Please note each step of the strategic plan is worth 1 point.

The Final Paper: Strategic Plan

• Must be 2,000 to 2,500 words in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of the Final Paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least five scholarly and recent sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
• Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.
• Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
• Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
• Must use at least five scholarly sources.
• Must have minimal direct quotes (no more than 10% of the paper).
• Must not be a narrative (no first person or story telling).
• Must include, at least, level one APA Style headings.
• Must document all sources in APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.