You are expected to critically analyse and evaluate the case-company’s internationalisation strategy to date. In addition, you are expected to provide suggestions/recommendations regarding the strategic directions the company could pursue for future growth (e.g. diversification, divestments, further international expansion, etc.) and an action plan for the implementation of the recommendations.
The ‘case-company’ must be a real organisation which engages in international transactions and on which you can collect reliable information from various databases, reports available in the public domain (e.g. annual and quarterly reports; business media), or the library catalogues (e.g. FAME; Mintel; Keynote).
Make sure you liaise with your tutors on your case-company selection and listen to their advice, as they want to make sure that the case-company you select is manageable and of sufficient content. Although there are no strict requirements regarding the size of the chosen company, please avoid choosing extremely large companies (e.g. Samsung or Volkswagen) with strategies that are too broad and complex to be meaningfully discussed within the 3000-word limit.
Please select a company in line with your career aspirations. This means that you might select an SME, a family business, a company you had an internship with, or a company you would like to work for. Please be aware that, as customers, we are only familiar with some industries and we have the tendency to just look for jobs in those. Many successful companies are in industries we normally do not consider (for example B2B; public sector organisations; research institutes; consultancy). Post a thread on the discussion board on NOW if you want to discuss your case-company choice in an open forum.
It is generally easier if you choose an organisation located in the geographical area you are originally from (e.g. the East Midlands of England; the Haute-Savoie in France; the Sichuan Province in China; Andalusia in Spain). It may be easier for you to find data and/or to understand the socio-demographic aspects. However, if you wish, you can in fact select a company from anywhere else in the world (e.g. Greenland, Ontario, Uttar Pradesh). Should you not be able to find a suitable organisation, please contact your tutors.
