Decision-Making for International Business
Coursework Two – Questions and Answers
Q: I am going onto my SMART tool section now and was looking for a bit of guidance. I saw the suggested structure and was wondering what exactly should go under the sections of objectives and options. I want to know what is required in both sections.
A: These should be relatively short and straightforward sections and the information can be taken directly from the assignment brief.
Objective – to identify a principal export market to support the company’s growth strategy.
Options – three potential markets have been identified: Germany, Brazil and India. You may wish to add a brief comment/observation about the company’s current presence in each of these markets.
Q:Do we have to explain what the SMART analysis is, and how it works, and also each part of it e.g. attributes are.. Or, do we just start straight away without explaining SMART and the parts of it?
Also, in the “options” part, do we need to explain the different export markets, or we just list them in a sentence and that’s it?
A:When introducing SMART identify some of the advantages and disadvantages but no need to describe the whole model.
For options, you have the three export markets but you might add a comment/observation about the company’s current presence there.
Q: Do I have to explain why I am choose “Marketing ” and “distributor management ” as the main cost categories? Besides, when I estimate cost for each country, should I explain why it costs certain money. For example, when I allocate 3000 pounds on Marketing in India, should this only be based on my own assumption or I should provide data to support this number?
A: You should justify why you have chosen these cost categories and also provide some data to support your estimates.
Q: I’m just emailing you in regards to coursework 2 . I was just wondering during the attributes section do I have to pick 4 attributes that I am going to apply to the 3 countries and before I do that do I have to explain why I picked those 4 attributes.
A: You need to select 4-6 attributes but you need to explain in your paper why you have chosen them.
Q: May I ask you a question about assignment 2. The brief said ‘you should review data, evaluate factors in the decision making process and apply decision making tools and techniques’. However, there is a note there said you MUST NOT contact the company as part of this exercise. The question is how can I collect these data? Do I need these data in my assignment? I can’t find any relevant information online.
A: The data to be collected relates to the attributes of the three markets you have been asked to consider not the company itself.
You need to select these attributes and collect suitable data. If you refer to the Lecture Nine slides you will see a list of possible attributes and some suggested databases where you can source data. You will also find other guidance related to the assignment.
Q: In relation to the smart analysis section, when talking about the values, attributes , weights and costs, do you have to justify all these sections. Also when adding values to the attributes, do I demonstrate it in a table or is that only necessary when I normalise the weights ?
A: You need to justify your selection of attributes, the data used for your values and the weights. You should also explain why you have chosen certain costs and the data that supports this.
It might be useful to state your attributes and values separately before calculating the benefits.
Q: I have completed my attributes section and I equally analysed the attributes to identify which country was in the best position for each of the attributes I selected. I wanted to ask if I am correct to do that please? Also, I wanted to ask if the same type of information has to be given for each country within each attribute as I did this mostly. For example by using comparisons of political stability index in all 3 countries. However, when I was analysing population of bicycle riders, I couldn’t find any information on that for all of countries (I found for Germany but not the other two) but I used similar alternative relevant information to back up my points for the other two. Would that be okay please?
I am currently going on to my values section in my coursework and I am slightly confused here in regards to what I am expected to do. Please can I get a brief explanation of the requirements?
A: For each attribute you should use the same source of data all three countries, otherwise there are problems with consistency.
In terms of applying the values, please refer to the example (printing company) in Chapter 3 of Goodwin & Wright (digitized version on the module reading list) and the example (exporter to Poland) in seminar nine (available on Moodle).
Q: I don’t understand how to estimate the cost based on the company’s annual turnover of 5 million, and there’s have few questions that I want to ask:
1. Is that 5 million annual turnover is the total annual turnover of Pashley cycles company? (ie. including the turnover of current 47 export countries and local), or, that 5 million is just for one country’s total turnover?
2. Which part should I need to focus on when I’m estimating the cost? (e.g. the numbers of Pashley cycles’ product offered each year? Import tax or tariff? shipping cost? market size of that country? the condition of that country? etc.)
A: £5 million is the annual turnover for the company as a whole. Therefore estimated costs should take this into account.
In terms of costs, this is something for you to decide but you should be able to justify your choice and provide supporting data. I have offered a couple of suggestions in the guidance (see lecture nine) but you need not be restricted to these.
Q: I have a question about coursework two, for the costs section do we need to have references for the costs that we think there would be for each country or can we assume what the costs would be as long as it’s realistic ?
A: You should support your estimated costs with data.
Q: I was wondering, how do you distribute the costs , is it different for each attribute or the same?
A: The costs are calculated for each country and are distinct from the attributes. I have suggested a couple of cost categories but you need not be restricted to these.
Q: I have really been struggling to find any creditable sources giving me indication to marketing and Distributor management costs to each country. Is there any further guidance, advice or sources you can offer me?
A: For management costs you might take the average annual salary of a UK manager and apply a percentage of this for each country depending on the amount of management time you estimate will be required in each case.
More general information on advertising and marketing might be obtained at www.statista.com
Q: In the last lecture before summer break, you mentioned the EUROMONITOR website as a good resource to use for CW 2, but it says that you have to pay to get the information from there. So I was wondering, if there is a special way to login from the student perspective?
A: You can access this database through the university library so no payment is required. Follow these steps:
Log in to Locate
Go to Subject Resources
Select Business, Management and Economics
Select the Subject Resources Tab
Select Market Research
Select Passport Euromonitor
Log in to Passport Euromonitor
Q: I still do not understand something from the costs. I have set different costs but I did not find appropriate data. For example, I found the taxes or the international trades for each country but how am I supposed to be specific for Pashley. I cannot find a clear cost; do I have to calculate it from other data or do I have to find it ?
A: You will need to use appropriate data to estimate the company’s costs for each country.
For example, for management costs you might take the average annual salary of a UK manager and apply a percentage of this for each country depending on the amount of management time you estimate will be required in each case.
More general information on advertising and marketing might be obtained at www.statista.com
Assessment Information
This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes:
ILO1: Identify and organise credible sources of data and information
ILO2: Critically evaluate information to support decision making
ILO3: Appraise results of the decision-making process
ILO4: Assess and critically evaluate the range of tools and techniques available as support for managerial decision making This assignment is an individual assignment.
Assignment task:
Pashley Cycles, a British bicycle manufacturer wishes to identify an export market as part of its growth strategy. Three possible markets have been identified: Germany, India and Brazil. Assume the role of management consultant to the company and write a report which examines each of these options. You should review data, evaluate factors in the decision-making process and apply decision-making tools and techniques. Your report has to make recommendations to the company and these should be fully justified.
Possible layout
The word count is 2,500 words
Introduction – 100 words
Background of the company – 200 words
Analysis and Discussion – 1700 words
Conclusions – 200 words
Recommendations – 300 words
1. Introduction
2. Company Background
3. SMART – justification for using this tool
i. Objectives
ii. Options
iii. Attributes
iv. Values
v. Weights
vi. Benefits
vii. Costs
viii. Cost-Benefit Analysis
ix. Sensitivity Analysis
4. Conclusions
5. Recommendations
6. List of References
I must emphasize that these are suggested guidelines. However, the majority of the word count should be for the Analysis and Discussion section.
Further help:
Essential reading: Goodwin, P. and Wright, G. (2014) Decision Analysis for Management Judgement. Fifth Edition. Chichester. Wiley: Chapter Three
CW key aspects: The company wishes to focus on one particular export market as part of its growth strategy
Three potential markets have been identified: Germany, Brazil and India.
You need to provide:
• Attributes
• Values for the Attributes
• Weighting
• Costs
Identify Possible Attributes
These should help you understand the countries you are considering and may include:
• Population
• Urbanisation
• Distance from the UK
• Household income distribution
• Consumer spending on leisure and recreation
• Political stability
Select Attributes
Select attributes following your analysis of the company and its products.
• You need to justify your selection of attributes.
• Choose between four and six attributes.
• How you justify your choice of attribute is more important than the number you choose.
Databases
• Here are some good sources that you can use to find values:
• Passport Euromonitor (GMID) As well as market research reports, Passport Euromonitor contains economic indicators such as GDP, inflation rates, balance of payments, interest rates etc.
• IMF Data The IMF publishes a range of time series data on IMF lending, exchange rates and other economic and financial indicators.
• United Nations Data Sets Statistics produced by the United Nations.
• World Bank – World Development Indicators. Presents the most current and accurate global development data available; includes national, regional and global estimates.
Apply Values to SMART
• Once you have gathered the data, you need to amend the values to fit into SMART
• Values in SMART are between 0 and 100
Appyweights .
• Weights are based on your analysis of the importance of the attributes. You will need to justify the weights.
• After you have selected your raw weights, do not forget to normalise them.
Calculate benefit
Costs – these can be your estimates based on a company with an annual turnover of £5 million.
Suggested categories:
• Marketing
• Distributor Management
As with any SMART process you should carry out a sensitivity analysis
If necessary use these videos to help you:
Grading criteria
Target grade – 70- 85% – An essay in this range will demonstrate a strong understanding of theories, concepts and issues relating to Decision Making for International Business. There will be evidence of wide-ranging reading from a variety of valid sources (as described and presented in the marking criteria for 60-69%). The essay must be written in a clear, well-structured way with a coherent and seamless flow and show evidence of independent, critical thought. It must show extensive relevant reading on the subject and intelligent use of the material to present a well-balanced and well-argued essay. For example, the student will have considered a range of relevant issues and be able to assess the strength and weaknesses of various approaches/arguments and put forward a confident and articulate view of their own.
60-69% – An essay in this mark range will demonstrate a good understanding of the requirements of the assignment and of theories, concepts and issues relating to Decision Making for International Business An essay in this percentage range will include a balanced discussion of issues central to the question, how these are addressed by different authors or sources and some critical thinking into their relative merits or shortcomings. The answer will contain few errors and little, if any, irrelevant material. It will show evidence of reading from a variety of sources (i.e. more than 3 or 4) but not so many sources that the discussion loses focus and becomes unclear or irrelevant. All sources should be of some academic merit (e.g. books, journals, reports, media publications). Unreferenced material from the internet or Wikipedia MUST be avoided. All sources must be included and properly referenced in the bibliography. The essay will be well-organised and clearly written/presented overall.
