Milestone : Research Proposal

In task 2-2, you will submit your research proposal. Your final project entails developing a full strategic analysis on a publicly held multinational enterprise (MNE).

It must be public because of the depth and transparency of data you will need to adequately complete the project. This MNE may be in any industry, based in any international location, and held in any public market. A number of MNEs in less developed economies are publicly listed in foreign equity markets.

If you have difficulty determining this, contact your instructor. It is strongly suggested that highly diversified MNEs (conglomerates) be avoided due to the added complexity in completing your final project.

This milestone must be submitted and accepted by your instructor before continuing on or it will not be accepted. This milestone is submitted as pass/fail. Your proposal should be 2-3 pages in length.

The research proposal should present a concise and rigorous case for studying your proposed firm in light of global strategic management. It should consider the following:

• Corporate overview (basic description of MNE, its operations, market position, leadership, etc.)

• Financial performance overview (briefly review revenues, net income, profit ratios, balance sheet, equity trends)

• Business segments (divisions or SBUs [strategic business units] with performance contributions)

• Subsidiary/parent-child structure (corporate hierarchy with performance contributions)

• Geographic segmentation (current with performance contribution)

• Recent strategic initiatives/stated strategic objective

• Important negative events or challenges

• Domestic/foreign industry summary (includes industry name and the primary and secondary NAICS and SIC codes)

• Brief key competitors overview (minimum two domestic and two foreign, using salient aspects listed above)

• Reason for your interest in the MNE

Main Elements

Your analysis should include, at a minimum, the following eight components:

1. MNE Overview and Key Strategic Background

1.1. Characterize the chosen firm (e.g., firm's scale, strategic business units, scope of products and markets, diversification type, current financial and strategic performance trends (5-year max) with a brief comparison to industry trends, market shares, etc.)

1.2. Describe the current international operations of the firm (e.g., geographic distribution of operations and their contributions to firm performance)

1.3. What are the recent strategic initiatives (and their motivations) of the firm?

1.4. Briefly analyze the MNE's domestic and international rivals (a representative top challenger for each is fine)