Assignment 1: International Research Project

You will use Australia for this Assignment. In addition to Australia, you will reference the shoe manufacturing firm. Answer part one on a separate paper and use it to answer part two.

PART ONE:

Suppose you are opening a shoe manufacturing firm that is going to begin selling shoes (your choice of shoe type: tennis shoes, men's or women's dress shoes, boots, etc.) in Australia. Using the demographic breakdown of Australia, choose at least one (1) demographic that you will segment by and identify a minimum of two (2) target markets. Summarize the key reasons why you choose those particular demographic(s) and target markets.

PART TWO:

Four to six (4-6) page paper in which you analyze the following components of Australia:

1. Describe the political / financial background of your country, including relevant historical events. What kind of government does it have?
2. What is the political stability?
3. Is it open for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)?
4. Has the currency been relatively stable?
5. Analyze the general demographics. Identify the ethnic groups; the languages spoken; the population demographic breakdown by age and gender.
6. What is the population growth rate?
7. What are the major urban areas and their population sizes?
8. Examine the employment figures. Identify the education attainment; employment; unemployment; and labor force size.
9. Explain the current state of the economy. What is the GDP and the GDP per capita using Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)?
10. Identify the inflation rate and current exchange rate.
11. Examine the major industries and transportation data. Identify any major imports, exports, and trade restrictions.
12. Identify three (3) major direct competitors you will be competing against. Describe how your firm will be positioned against them.
13. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources for in-text citations in this assignment. Note that Wikipedia and similar type websites do not qualify as academic sources.

Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements: Typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.

Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.

Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.