Country Analysis Report Task Guidelines Task: Assume that you are an international business consultant to Harvest Box, an Australian firm which produces healthy snacks. You will analyse the market potential for their products in Malaysia and Philippines. Your task is to write a report that analyses and compares the socio-economic, political and business environments of Malaysia and Philippines. Your report will conclude with a country recommendation, and justification for your selection based on a weighted index. Length: 1500 words +/- 10% from Introduction to Conclusion (Title Page, List of References and words in Tables and graphs are not included). Country Analysis Research Getting started: Begin by having a look through the company and its products (see http://www.harvestbox.com.au/HB/). Research quality academic and industry resources for broad country indicators, as well as specific variables particularly important for Harvest Box. Some suggestions to start with include broad macroeconomic variables such as the size and features of the economy; Foreign Direct Investment inflows; tariff and non-tariff trade barriers; Human Development Index; Index of Economic Freedom; Available online: World Bank: Has data and analysis of a wide range of socio-economic indicators as well as its Ease of Doing Business rankings (http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings). The Handbook of Country Risk: http://www.coface.com/Economic-Studies-and-Country-Risks. Transparency International: (www.transparency.org) Transparency International is a global organisation which aims to fight corruption, and rates countries on a Corruption Perceptions Index. The World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Report: An annual report on the competitiveness of nations, ranking and analysing how a nation’s environment creates and sustains the competitiveness of enterprises. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/gcr/2015-2016/Global_Competitiveness_Report_2015-2016.pdf. Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: http://dfat.gov.au/ Austrade: http://www.austrade.gov.au/ The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom: http://www.heritage.org/index/ AVOID online Factbooks, Encyclopedias, Trading Economics, Infoplease and Wikipedia, as these lower the credibility of your report. Writing the Country Analysis Report. Title page: In general this has a descriptive title, date, the name of your company and usually your name and position within the company. Table of contents: - Place the major headings and sub-headings down the left side of the page. On the right, put the page number where each can be found in the report. Introduction: Includes the context, purpose and significance of the report. (eg. This report analyses the economic, political and business environments of Malaysia and Philippines and their market potential for healthy snack products.) Include a very brief company and product profile (50 words or fewer). Report Body: Following the introduction, the remainder of the body section is presented in logical sub-sections. Your final headings and sub-headings will depend on what your analysis has uncovered. Aim to find quality information, and evaluate it in relation to the relevant business objectives of Harvest Box. Make some visuals (tables and graphs). INCLUDE the graph of % Change in GDP you made (attached). Country Choice: Present here your choice of country. This section is particularly important and will include your weighted index and the reasons you included the variables and their weightings; a discussion of the major report findings; and the advantages (and disadvantages) of your choice of country over the second country. Conclusion: Provide a very brief synopsis of your country choice and perhaps a recommendation for how to proceed (50 - 70 words). Note: in some texts on report writing Conclusions is treated as a large section following presentation and discussion of data; in your report, however, you will have already presented your conclusions in your Country Choice section so the Conclusion section signals the end of the report. List of references: List the sources cited in your report using APA referencing. Suggested structure for Country Analysis Report Title page Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Economic Environment 2.1……………. 2.2……………. 3.0 Political Environment and Risk 3.1 ……….. 3.2 ……….. 4.0 Business Environment 4.1 …………….. 4.2 Market Potential 5.0 Country Choice 5.1 Weighted Index 6.0 Conclusion List of References FAQs: Read these before you email. Q. How many sources do I need? A. Probably ten to twelve but be flexible – eight is too few and eighteen is too many. Q. How many variables should I analyse? A. Around ten should be enough but a few more won’t matter. Q. 1500 words isn’t enough so can I add an appendix? A. No. You need to be succinct, and use rankings and scores available from the suggested sources will help to capture a lot of information. Tables and graphs help as well. Q. Do I draw a conclusion about the countries in each section of the report? A. In the economic and political sections you should draw an overall conclusion which links to Harvest Box’s objectives, but components of the Business section will link more closely. Q. What if one country is stronger for some factors and weaker for others? A. That’s fine. You’re aiming for a balanced report. *******************************************