Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 600-800 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

As you close your weekly meeting with Deborah, she says, "There are some very good ideas here. I would like to see you continue with a global marketing plan. We need more concrete analysis and data for the presentation. Get your team to work."

After your meeting with Deborah, you briefly meet with your team to discuss moving toward a more formal analysis.

"Tiffany and Mike, we need to provide a more detailed analysis," you explain. "You've done a great job so far looking at what resources we need and potential countries, but we need to really dig deeper on this."

Tiffany nods her head in agreement. "Definitely," she says. "We need to look at some internal variables as well as political, environmental, sociocultural, and technological environments of the countries that we are considering."

Mike interjects, "Well, that's something we should consider, but it's not the only way to analyze this type of project. This is such a big decision, and we need to give as much information as we can."

You reply, "Great point, Mike. We should look at this from a couple of different angles."

You go back to your office to update the project schedule with Deborah's instructions. You review the activities and note the project remains on schedule.

The next task in your strategic marketing plan is to determine the tools that are needed to conduct an analysis of the industry and competitors. Complete the following:

• What are the best tools to use in this situation?
  • Provide a brief summary of at least 2 of these tools.
• Why do you think these are the best ways to analyze the market?
• How will you use these tools in your plan?