Assignment 3:

Term Project—SWOT Analysis and Preliminary Marketing Plan

Date Due: After Lesson 14, and after receiving feedback on Assignment 2
Weighting: 40 percent of final grade
Length: 20 double-spaced pages maximum

Be sure to read theAssignment Details page in the Evaluation block (on the course home page) before beginning this assignment.

Assignment 3 is based on the first two assignments but assumes a management focus. It involves three tasks:
1. The first task is to translate Assignments 1 and 2 into a situation appraisal by identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats—in other words, by performing a SWOT analysis.
Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the company and the brand under consideration. They are foreseeable and controllable. You are not expected to perform internal analysis that is additional to the analysis you provided in Assignment 2 (where you compared your product to that of your competition).
Opportunities and threats analysis concerns general information about the nature of the industry, competition, consumers, and cultural and other environmental factors. They are external, uncontrollable, and may or may not be foreseeable.

2. The second task is to use your SWOT analysis to determine whether introduction of your product (brand) in the country under consideration is viable. Are there sufficient strengths and opportunities to overcome the weaknesses and threats?
3. The third task depends on the decision made in Task 2. If you choose not to introduce the product, prepare a detailed report on why it is not a viable option at this point. Is there anything the company can do to work on controllable and foreseeable factors or to minimize the impacts of uncontrollable and unforeseeable factors to improve viability for future consideration?
If you recommend introduction of the product (or brand) into the new market, your next step is to propose a preliminary marketing plan that defines marketing objectives identifies the target market includes a marketing program that effectively responds to consumers’ needs and provides competitive advantages

You can refer to the section entitled “Reaching the Customer: Developing Your Export Marketing Strategy” in the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada document, Step-by-Step Guide to Exporting(available in theDRR). Although this framework covers a range of importation and international logistics issues, focus on cases in which a product is already available inside a host country. You may also wish to consult Chapter 7 Appendix: Sources of Secondary Data on the textbook companion website (Online Learning Center).

If you have any questions, contact the Student Support Centre.

Preparing Assignment Reports
Assignments 1 and 2 are research reports. They should be written in full sentences and paragraphs. As a managerial report, Assignment 3 may include both full sentences and point form.
Each report should include the following parts: Cover page that includes assignment number, title (including topic, country, and product), your name and student ID number, and date
Executive Summary that describes the objectives and provides an overview of all key and relevant analyses, including a summary of the report’s conclusion
Table of Contents
Introduction that describes the context, the objectives, and the plan of the report
Main body that develops points of interest. Normally, this part should be divided into several sections with appropriate headings.
Conclusion that summarizes the main points of the report
References
Appendices(optional)

Prepare your reports with a word-processing package such as MS Word using 12-point Times New Roman. Each page should be double spaced with margins suitable for a presentation report. Ensure that pages are numbered, starting with the first page after the cover page.
Each report (including the introduction, the main body, and the conclusion) should not exceed 20 double-spaced pages, but the addition of the executive summary, the table of contents, references, and appendices may bring the page total higher. The executive summary, which should be no more than 2 pages long, should come immediately after the cover page. A penalty of 10 percent will be applied to the grade of all reports that exceed 20 doubled-spaced pages, excluding executive summary, table of contents, references, and appendices.
Use appropriate headings (e.g., Executive Summary, Introduction, Cultural Analysis) and subheadings (e.g., History and Geography, Transportation and Communication) to organize information in the report.