Trident BUS401 SLPs

BUS401 SLP’s:

Module 3 - SLP

Module 3 - SLP

The Cultural Environment of International Business

For your Module 3 SLP, find out as much as you can about the national culture of your country. A good place to start is Hofstede’s indices on national culture:

http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html

No need to consider all six dimensions of national culture, but pay close attention to individualism and power distance.

Keep in mind that it is controversial to try to quantify national culture, so don’t rely only on Hofstede for this paper. Do some additional research and try to find additional information about the cultural aspects of doing business in your country.

Then write a 2- to 3-page paper addressing the following issues:

1.What do Hofstede’s measures of national culture tell you about doing business in your country?

2.What other information besides Hofstede have you been able to find about culture in your country? How does this impact doing business?

3.Overall, does the national culture of your country make it easy or difficult to do business? What cultural pitfalls might an American company investing in your country face?

SLP Assignment Expectations

•Continue to write about the country you selected in Module 1.

•Write 2–3 pages focused on issues 1–3 above.

•Try not to rely on just one source—use multiple sources from the library if possible.

•Use appropriate writing style (organization, grammar, and spelling—see writing guidelines) and include both a bibliography and in-text citations.

SLP 4

Module 4 - SLP

International Human Resource Management

This SLP will focus on human resources and human resource strategies, policies, and practices that may impact on the ease of doing business in your country.

Find out as much as you can about the human resource situation in your country. For example, how well educated is the workforce? What is the unemployment rate like? Also, try to find out as much as you can about labor regulations or common human resource practices in your country. For example, some countries have greater unionization than others. Some countries also have strong restrictions against worker dismissals.

In addition to looking for articles about human resources in your country, international organizations such as the World Bank or the OECD have data on some indicators of education and/or labor market regulations. Doingbusiness.org also includes information about labor market regulations and minimum wages, and some advocacy groups such as the Fraser Institute or the Heritage Foundation publish “economic freedom” reports that include labor market regulation information on each country.

When you have finished researching the human resource situation in your country, write a 2- to 3-page paper addressing the following issues:

1.The general skill and education level of the country.

2.The types of labor market regulation that exists in your country, such as minimum wages, or ease of dismissing workers.

3.Your overall assessment of the human resource situation in your country. Feel free to include other issues besides labor market regulations or education if you find anything relevant in your research.

SLP Assignment Expectations

•Continue to write about the country you selected in Module 1.

•Write 2–3 pages focused on issues 1–3 above.

•Try not to rely on just one source—use multiple sources from the library if possible.

•Use appropriate writing style (organization, grammar, and spelling—see writing guidelines) and include both a bibliography and in-text citations.

MODULE 5 SLP

Module 5 - SLP

International Market Selection and Market Entry

For this final SLP, you will be doing research on what kind of strategies American companies have taken in investing in the country that you chose for Module 1.

Locate at least one American company that operates in the country you selected in Module 1. Find out as much as you can about this company, with special attention on the strategies they took in entering this country and the experiences that they faced.

In a 2- to 3-page paper, cover the following issues:

1.How did this company enter this country? What strategies did they use?

2.What kind of experiences did they have in this country—positive and negative?

3.What additional strategies do you recommend for this company in this country?

SLP Assignment Expectations

•Continue to write about the country you selected in Module 1.

•Write 2–3 pages focused on issues 1–3 above; no need to devote a lot of space to general background information.

•Try not to rely on just one source—use multiple sources from the library if possible.

•Use appropriate writing style (organization, grammar, and spelling—see writing guidelines) and include both a bibliography and in-text citations.