Country Project Report
9709Country and Project Selection – Part 1 Selecting a Country
Students should choose a U.S. company they are interested in researching and a consumer product/service
that is not currently found in the targeted country. For example, students can choose to market an
automobile from the United States into a foreign country it is currently not servicing.
Note: Foreign students are especially encouraged to find consumer products/services that they’ve been
accustomed to or enjoyed (a favorite type of food product) here in the United States and wish to
“export” to their home country OR choose a B2C product from your home country that is currently not
offered in the U.S. and you wish to “export” to the U.S.
Selecting a Product
While industrial products currently account for more than 50 percent of international trade, and their
importance is appropriately stressed in class, the focus of this project is exclusively on consumer
products. Due to the cultural orientation of the project, consumer products offer more opportunities to
focus on cultural adaptation than do most industrial goods.
Students typically select countries ranging from the most economically developed to the most recent
developing nations. Therefore, it is advisable the product selected should be consistent with the needs
of large numbers of consumers in developing nations. The product should have obvious cultural overtones to provide a strong cultural impact to the project. The product should be one that students
know something about. Products meeting these criteria, and which have been used successfully in the
past include: baby food, disposable diapers, powdered milk, contraceptive pills, high-protein diet
supplements, prepared foods such as dry soups, portable washing machines, soft drink mix, children’s
toys, instant noodles, franchise outlets and early pregnancy tests.
See Example of Country Project and Product Fact Sheet. Note the data provided are generally limited
to content information, product uses, preparations, and product costs. Most of this information can be
found on or with the literature accompanying the product and on the internet. and the processor isn’t doing anything. The CPU can be in or out of hibernation in a tenth of a second, so that users
won’t even notice the change. In e-Book mode, the XO uses less than a half a watt. While idling, the XO uses about
1 watt of power. A typical wireless system in a laptop consumes around 10 watts however the revolutionary wireless
mesh technology in the XO uses 0.8 watts of power. As a result of the low power demands, the XO is considered the
greenest computer ever made considering that the newest Energy-Star requirement for a laptop is 14 watts while
idling.
Currently the XO can use two different battery technologies: a classic nickel metal hydride battery or a newer style
lithium iron phosphate battery. The batteries are designed to last over five years or 2,000 to 3,000 recharges. With
the XO using on average 2 watts and the battery having a 20-watt-hour span, the XO can easily go for 10 hours on
a single charge. Because of the battery’s low replacement cost ($10), a spare battery might be included with every
system.
The bundled software applications include: a Firefox-based Web browser, a simple writing application, an RSS
reader, an eBook reader, an advanced calculator that handles a number of functions, including word-based
calculations, a drawing tool and, of course, lots of learning games.
Guideline for Cultural Analysis – Part 2
Before a marketing manager can determine if it is necessary to adjust to the environment or to determine
what adjustments would be appropriate, it is necessary to understand the environment. This is
particularly true of the culture of a country.
While students frequently encounter difficulties in obtaining cultural information, the problems almost
always can be overcome in a satisfactory manner. The information suggested in the outline provided in
the textbook deals with some of the key aspects of the culture and is relevant to the latter part of the
project involving the development of the marketing plan. Throughout the Country Project, students are
encouraged to report the facts which they have identified and to analyze the facts in terms of likely
marketing implications of such information.
As a final task in preparing the cultural analysis report, students are asked to write a one to two-page
(maximum length) essay on “what it is like to be a citizen of” the country under study. The purpose of
the essay is to force the students to reflect on the country’s culture as a whole and to draw together their
observations. NOTE: There is no Executive Summary Report required for Report #2 as this is being
replaced by the Cultural Essay. Executive Summary Reports are required for Reports #3 & #4. In
addition, Executive Summary for Report #4 should also contain your decision to launch, not launch, or
wait to launch your product/service offering into the Country of your research
Guideline for Economic Analysis – Part 3
Information which is useful in understanding the economy of a country, particularly as it is related to
marketing considerations, is highlighted. Of the different sections of the economics paper, those dealing
with media and channels of distribution typically provide the most challenge for students in terms of
finding the needed information. However, the information contained in these sections is also the most
directly relevant to developing the marketing plan.
Guideline for a Market Audit and Competitive Analysis – Part 4A
Of the guidelines presented, this is the most product or brand specific. Information in the other
guidelines is general in nature focusing on product categories, whereas the data in this one is brand
specific and are used to determine competitive market conditions and market potential.
Two different components of the planning process are reflected in this guideline. Information in earlier
researched parts serves as the basis for an evaluation of the product/brand in a specific market country.
Information in this guideline provides an estimate of market potential and an evaluation of the strengths
and weaknesses of competitive marketing effort. The data generated in this step are used to determine
the extent of adaptation of the company’s marketing mix necessary for successful market entry and to
develop the final step, the action plan.
The detailed information needed to complete this guideline will not necessarily be available without
conducting a thorough marketing research investigation. Thus, another purpose of this part of the
country notebook is to identify the correct questions to ask in a formal market study.
Guideline for a Marketing Plan – Part 4B
After completing the culture, economics and market audit papers, the emphasis of the project shifts to
the second learning objective, that of preparing a marketing feasibility study or marketing plan for a
specific product.
In any study of the domestic market, it is essential that a thorough understanding of the situation
confronting the firm be developed. The situation analysis usually is defined as consisting of the
following topics: general information about the industry, competition and governmental controls along
with information about the firm and the market. The information required varies in the amount of detail
depending on the time and resources available for the situation analysis.
Marketing managers and researchers involved in the collection of information for situation analyses are
well aware of the problems associated with identifying needed information. The availability of needed
information is a substantial problem in the domestic market, and the problems intensify when trying to
identify needed information for a foreign market. Since the sources of information available to students
are primarily secondary, it is typically necessary to modify the requirements of the situation analysis
for students trying to identify such information about a foreign market.
The structure of the project is such that the students are asked to prepare an analysis of the feasibility of
marketing a product in the country they have selected and determine if it is a profitable opportunity to
market the product in a foreign country. Second, the students are asked to specify an organizational
form consistent with the countries’ laws, but further background information about the firm is kept to a
minimum so that the students can focus their attention on the marketing opportunity and problems
associated with marketing the product in the country they have selected.
NOTE: Students are combining Reports #4A & #4B. Therefore, only 1 Executive Summary Report is
required for these 2 sections. Included in your Executive Summary for Report #4 is your launch
decision.
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