LibGuides: BUGB 401: International Business: Industry Analysis

International Business Plan

International Busines Plan outline:

Canadian Bicycle Market -- overview of industry at national, state and local level
Assess Company situation -- market share of MRP in Canadian market?
External industry audit -- conduct a PESTLE analysis

Identify any Political issues affecting the industry in this country?
Identify Economic issues affecting new customers [now or future]
Impact of Social factors on industry and company
Impact of Technology on industry
Impact of Laws [present or future] on industry [positive or negative]
Impact of Ecological issues on business
Assess key trends in the industry? How to capitalize on them?

Competitive analysis -- fAnalyse competitors in the new market

Identify competitors [include online]
Competitive factors
Product position

Consumer target market

Market segment
Target consumer market and characteristics
Market in chosen country?

Market Entry and Distribution Strategy

Market entry methods available
Illustrate competitors distribution
Your distribution to retailers / direct to consumer / intermediaries
Potential entry methods / justify strategy using cost based analysis

Marketing Strategy

Modifications to satisfy target needs

Marketing tools to reach target audience [goals / justify each tactic]
Pricing structure and currency conversion issues

Conclusions and Recommendations

Key conclusions
Address 3 questions outlined by company

Websites

Business Reference Services - Market Segementation
In order to know the potential market they must identify the characteristics of individuals likely to be interested in that particular product or service, establish how many such individuals there are, as well as study how these people behave and respond to particular advertising approaches.
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This guide includes books and other resources that discuss marketing to particular segments of the population along with other sources that are important in determining the size and power of a particular market segment. Also included are statistical books and other sources whose main focus is on a specific generational, ethnic or other group. In addition, the guide includes references to selected articles and online sources, as well as hot links to relevant subject searches
U.S. Census Bureau - American FactFinder
The American Community Survey is a nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing; The Economic Census profiles the U.S. economy every 5 years, from the national to the local level and by detailed industry and business classification. The Population Estimates Program publishes estimated population totals for the previous year for cities and towns, metropolitan areas, counties, and states
Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE)
The CE is important because it is the only Federal survey to provide information on the complete range of consumers' expenditures and incomes, as well as the characteristics of those consumers. It is used by businesses and academic researchers studying consumers' spending habits and trends, by other Federal agencies, and, perhaps most importantly, to regularly revise the Consumer Price Index market basket of goods and services and their relative importance.

Business & Finance Databases

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
You can also use it to find company information & profiles, industry overviews and Datamonitor. Datamonitor offers industry trend analysis and SWOT analysis.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Provides company snaphots which includes Financials-overview, key competitors, current news, Hoover's Company Records.
International Directory of Company Histories This link opens in a new window
Subject: Business Full-text histories of companies (1988 - current) that are a leading influence in a particular industry or geographic location.
Morningstar Investment Research Center This link opens in a new window
Subjects: Business, Economics Current comprehensive financial information on NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ stocks, mutual funds, ETFs with return information on various investment types, indexes, sectors, and styles.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Subjects: History, Literature, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics. Art.
Multidisciplinary index to peer-reviewed journal and magazine articles; some full-text; constructs bibliography in five different citation styles.

Useful Resources

View CMU Full Text Holdings in Google Scholar

Setting up Google Scholar for Off-campus Access

Searching Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Tell Google Scholar you’re affiliated with Colorado Mesa and you’ll be linked to resources in our databases:

To access Google Scholar, go to scholar.google.com
Within Google Scholar, click on the Settings link in the top right corner (near the fly-wheel icon)
On the next Scholar Settings page, select Library links from the left-hand menu
Type “Colorado Mesa University” in the Show library access links search box
Check the box next to Colorado Mesa University—Full-text available
Click Save to save this setting.

Google Scholar can be used to search on a topic, but it is especially effective for tracking down a specific article. If the article is available in full text through the library databases, a link will be provided to the full text. Google Scholar also tracks articles that have referenced a specific article and so can be used to follow a trail of scholarship on a topic. Under an article of interest, click on the “Cited by” link to see a list of the subsequent articles that have referenced it.