Question: The assignment is as follows:

• Read the news articles posted below in this folder.

• Choose one of the news article options that is of interest to you.

• Prepare a written analysis of this news article using the Individual Worksheet (MS Word) format provided.

• The worksheet is in MS Word. Save it to your desktop and use the format to answer each question using the space required to express your ideas clearly and concisely.

• Follow the format provided. (question & answer)

• Summarize the main ideas expressed in the article in a short paragraph in your own words. What is the main idea of the article? If you use a direct quote from the article, make sure that you attribute it to the author using quotation marks (for example: The reporter/article described the current situation as "a phenomenal opportunity to develop a new market for US-made goods.")

• Describe the marketing issues or challenges faced by the company in detail

• Make sure that you answer all of the questions thoroughly and thoughtfully.

Article: 1. Beauty in the Orient (Author: Singer, Natasha)

2. Home Depot Learns Chinese Prefer 'Do-It-for-Me' (Author: Burkitt, Laurie)

3. To Tailor Burgers for France, McDonald's Enlists Baguette (Author: Issard, Marion)

4. Starbucks Will Open Cafes in India; Coffee Retailer Forms Joint Venture With Tata Group; Pair Plans to Open 50 Stores by Year-End (Author: Bahree, Megha)

Assignment: News Article Analysis

Individual Worksheet Format: Read the Assignment Instructions, and choose a news article to analyze.

1. Which company is the focus of this article?

a. Specific US company:

b. In which specific country/region of the world is this company's business the topic of the article?

c. Search for information about the company (from their website and from news articles). Provide some basic BACKGROUND INFORMATION about the company and its focus based on your research. (2 paragraph summary):

d. Search key publications (WSJ, NY Times, Fortune, Forbes) to find any updates on this topic since this particular news article was published. Include any/all updates.

Publication:

Information Updates:

2. What is the main idea of this news article?

a. Provide a brief summary of highlights.

3. From the news article, can you describe the target market?

a. Provide a detailed description of the target market.

b. What makes you think that this is the target market?

4. Please describe in detail the marketing challenge(s) faced by this US company in the international business situation that is the topic of the news article.

a. Description of marketing challenges:

b. What is the role for marketing in meeting these particular challenges?

c. Describe in detail what marketing should do/ is doing as stated in the article and in your opinion:

5. Based on your learning thus far in this course, are there any insights/recommendations that you would offer the marketing team of this company with regard to the particular situation/issues described in the article?

a. Insights and recommendations:

6. Why did you choose this particular article from the options provided? Did you consider any other news articles? Which ones and why? Please be specific.

a. Reason for choosing this news article:

b. Other news articles considered:

c. How does this article fit into the context of our course/how is it relevant to our course?

7. Which marketing concepts or terminology, that you have learned thus far in this course, were you able to apply to this assignment/marketing situation? (Think about your answer, and provide a minimum of FIVE marketing concepts)
a. Please specify which specific marketing concepts, and how each of these concepts applies to the situation described in the news article.

8. What is your key learning from this news article?

9. What is you key learning from this assignment? In your opinion, do you think the learning experience from this assignment adds value to your overall experience in this course? Please explain.

10. How has your overall learning experience been in this course thus far? In your opinion, what is the most interesting topic that was covered thus far in this course? What was the most useful or relevant to you personally? Was there a least interesting topic? Please Explain.

a. Overall learning experience:

b. Favorite course activities/ topics:

c. Most relevant:

d. Least interesting topic: