MG 352 International Business
XXXXXXXXXX3 Credit Hours XXXXXXXXXX1
Overview of Research Paper Instructions
There is substantial research required for this course, to be used in writing a paper and participating in class. The purpose of the paper is the analysis of the potential success of starting or expanding a business into another country and includes evaluation of important cultural and economic factors of that country as it relates to international business. The completion of the paper is divided into the submission of a country choice, the final paper (an executive summary), and a na
ated PPT (PowerPoint) presentation of key elements of the paper. The paper and PPT must also be submitted to the specific submission links for the course in SL&L.
The research paper for this course is actually an analytical business document, and is written as such, with the exception of the additional requirement of the use of APA format (6th edition, or 7th). In the business world, this document would be called an Executive Summary, but we will just call it The Paper. APA format includes requirements related to the overall format of the paper, the requirement to use third person tense, and co
ect citation of all sources, including those paraphrased (this is different from MLA!).
Considerations in Selection of Country
Choose a country to analyze (other than the United States). There are initial considerations about the choice of country. A high level of interest in a particular country is a good starting point, but some countries simply do not support the introduction of foreign businesses. A notable example is Zimbabwe, where there is zero Foreign Direct Investment moving in or out of the country. Another example is North Korea, where the society and economy is closed to outsiders in general. While researching the culture of the country, other factors may also preclude doing business there. Do not choose a country where international business is not possible.
Before deciding the country, some research as to the availability of information may help with the decision. I am the target reader of this document, and I am looking for countries in which to expand my business. The paper you present to me will include your recommendation as to whether or not to invest in the country that you investigated, followed by summarization of the factors that are important to consider, and then your analysis of those factors that resulted in your recommendation. The analysis is important and must be more than a single sentence for this paper to get an “A”.
When you decide the country that you want to analyze, post your choice to the co
ect thread in the discussion board. I reserve the right to reject your choice, based on factors related to the country, or too many students choosing the same country. Be sure to check back after you post your selection to see my feedback on your choice.
Overall Paper Format
The overall format of the document is APA (7th edition, but 6th will be accepted). There will be a title page, body of the paper (the BODY of the paper must be at least FIVE pages) with the use of section headers for key topics, a reference page, and appendices. The absolute minimum length will be EIGHT pages: a title page, body of the paper (five full pages minimum), reference page and an appendix. Please adhere to the requirements.
Overall Outline of Paper:
Title Page-1 page
Executive Summary-5pages
Introductory Statement and Recommendation
Sections of paper discussing factors under analysis (see discussion below)
Statement of Analysis of factors (NOT conclusion)
References-1 page
Appendix (map of country is minimum, can also include charts/graphs, etc.)-1 page
Descriptions of Assignments
The paper is submitted as different elements, sequentially, throughout the course: the choice of country, the final executive summary, and a na
ated PPT summarization.
Choice of Country
Post your choice of country to the thread in the discussion board. Do not pick the United States, Zimbabwe, or North Korea. Check back after the due date to verify my approval of your choice.
Sources
The sources must be acceptable for scholarly work and attribution of sources, so dictionaries (or Wikis), encyclopedias (online or otherwise), or google-type search result links (such as “link source”) are NOT acceptable. Because the paper is an analysis, many sources may be used that are found on websites, such as the Commerce Dept, State Dept or CIA, and those sources are fine. See Appendix B for information on researching through the li
ary and a list of websites that are always acceptable for use in writing the paper.
Co
ect attribution of sources is important for academic honesty and the overall quality of writing. The co
ect format of citations improves the ability to co
ectly cite those sources in the paper. Also remember that there is a difference between paraphrasing (in your own words) and quoting. Every fact that is not common knowledge must have an in-text citation, even if paraphrasing. This is different than MLA! Omitting this requirement is considered plagiarism, so a paper with this issue cannot receive a passing grade. To help with creating the APA format for the paper, including showing how to cite in-text, a template for the paper-APA 6th edition is included under the Course Instructions link and you can actually use it for your paper by just replacing text with your own, including the names of the sections. It is co
ectly formatted overall for margins, pages, running head, and how to format section headers, and the text in it right now actually explains APA requirements. You have to change the section headers to fit your paper. Please take advantage of this resource for you.
Research Paper (Executive Summary)-Body of the Pape
Content of the paper will include these major sections:
1. Introductory paragraph(s)
Provide a short background statement about the country, including location, general size, primary language and/or major type of culture (Far East, Middle East, European, etc.), primary cu
ency, and type of government. Conclude the paragraph with the thesis statement, which is your recommendation for whether or not I should expand my business into the country. The thesis, or purpose, statement is a few sentences, written concisely, that states the purpose of the document. Mentally framing the paper by creation of a thesis statement helps the writer know what to talk about and helps the reader know why to read the paper. Many excellent papers are written about the wrong thesis, likely because the writer did not have the purpose and the target reader clearly in mind. Clear focus on the thesis also helps in researching for the paper, both on evaluating material for what to include and what to omit. Read the detailed content requirements for the paper, explained below, to develop the thesis statement.
For an explanation about writing a thesis statement and examples, see Appendix A.
1. Country under consideration
Note that some of the discussion questions relate to the research you will do for your paper.
a) Include a basic discussion of the “friendliness” of the country toward international business, such as a
ief discussion of ba
iers to foreign ownership due to governmental instability or legal impediments, issues of co
uption and ethics, and the cu
ent status of inflation, taxation, and economic growth.
) Discuss, in-depth, cultural issues to consider related to the country and the business. Business etiquette in negotiations, attitudes toward time, ve
al and non-ve
al language, attitudes toward women, education, workforce, and other important cultural issues as relevant to business. For example, manufacturing or the need to hire a lot of local workers requires cultural workforce considerations and the availability of workers based on the educational system. In some countries, religion plays a major role in every aspect of the culture and must be addressed if that is the case. Include the cultural issues that are important to the analysis.
3) Analysis of proposal and recommendation
Provide a wrap up of the economic and cultural factors of the country. Based on the factors discussed in the paper, make a detailed analysis of the proposal with a specific recommendation as to whether the proposal should be pursued further. This section is your voice, thoughts, and understanding of the proposal.
Business Leaders do not want to wade through thick volumes of information to make a decision. When choosing what to include in your paper, consider whether the information is important to me in making the decision to expand into the country you chose.
Submitting the Pape
Co
ect attribution of sources is important to academic honesty. To assist evaluating how well sources are cited, such as paraphrasing or quoting, Athens State provides a resource called “SafeAssign”. A link to submit the paper as a draft and view the Safeassign report is available under Assignments, for student use. The draft is not viewed or graded by the instructor. After submitting an assignment, it takes a while for the Safeassign report to be available (hours?), so, after waiting a few hours, clicking back on the same link where the assignment was submitted will open up to the Safeassign rating and a file report on the paper. Bibliographic material will show up as a match, as well as quoted material and copied materials that are not quoted. Every paper will show some matching to sources, but more than about 20% may be too high a match.
Most people do not realize that information is repeated throughout many locations on the internet, and text that is copied from sources (probably not the ones that you used) will show up as copied on the Safeassign report, and unless that text is presented as a quote, it is considered plagiarism. Since no more than 5-10% of a paper should be quotes, putting information into your own words-paraphrasing-is very important. That information must still have the source indicated using in-text citations that include the author and year. Quoted material must be in quotation marks (except over 40 words, which is a block quote) and the in-text citation must have the author, year, and page or paragraph number of the source. Safeassign provides the means to be sure that information is sufficiently paraphrased.
The draft is optional to use,