International business essays and reports

Here is a collection of the essays I have written relating to International business. To download these essays, right click on the paper name and choose "save target as". You're free to download, print and share these reports, however I would ask, if you use these reports to please reference them appropriately. If these documents are used online then please link back to this web-page. Thanks very much...

Entering the retail sector in Central Europe: Tesco's expansion into the Czech Republic - This report was written for the international marketing course with TC Melewar at Grenoble Graduate School of Business (GGSB) on the Master in International Business (MIB) programme in 2006. This report was written as a piece of group coursework with Séverine Delaporte (from France), Ilona Jurenová (from the Czech Republic), Lizhu Ren (from China) and myself (from the UK). This report examines the role that Central and Eastern European countries play in the increasingly international strategies of retail companies. This report focuses specifically upon the Czech retail environment and how Tesco has successfully entered the market by adapting its market offering for Czech consumers. It is demonstrated that Tesco has been successful within the Czech Republic by adopting a multi-format strategy and by focusing upon consumer needs through offering low-cost and localised products. Subsequently, empirical evidence is analysed which shows that UK consumers perceive Tesco to be too large and too powerful, whereas Tesco is in its Honeymoon period with Czech consumers because since the move away from Communism, retailers are seen as fulfilling the capitalist dream. Finally, the extent to which consumption within Central and Eastern European countries and the extent to which a truly European consumer exists is critically assessed.

France: A country of challenges? Identify how the business management environment in France is unique, and can be difficult to understand. How can these issues create challenges for international corporations operating in France - I wrote this paper in 2004/2005 for my end of year dissertation for the University of Birmingham when I had my year abroad in Lyon, France. This article looks at how the business management situation in France is unique. This is done through describing the business management environment that exists in France, and at times discussing it in relation to the Anglo-Saxon management environment. Because these differences provide challenges for International organisations working in France, these are discussed in terms of the impact they have upon international organisations working in France. The French attachment to the past is examined within this article, and how this has resulted in an intellectual management which lacks communication skills and enjoys board room squabbling. The theme of inflexibility within France is dwelt upon and how resistance to change, centralisation, bureaucracy and hierarchies are the norm within France. These issues are considered by stating how they affect international organisations, and how organisations can limit the influence of these factors. The case of Hewlett-Packard is given in order to show how some international organisations simply choose to impose their organisational culture upon their organisations within France. The use of the Hewlett-Packard case along with Hofstede’s cultural analysis and government legislation in France shows that organisations can never be completely devoid of the influence of the country they operate in. Consequently the importance of international organisations being aware of how France is unique is demonstrated.

Wal-Mart: a Glocalised company - I wrote this article on my year abroad in Lyon at the University of Lyon III in 2004/2005 for the Managing Global Business course which Dr De Leersnyder from HEC Paris was teaching. This article examines Wal-mart, the largest retailer in the world, and discusses it's success through the company becoming a truly global company. Through examining Wal-mart in China and Wal-mart in Germany, it is demonstrated that organisations face a number of when they become global players. This article concludes that the term ‘glocalisation’ does explain the reason to Wal-Mart's success overseas. Wal-Mart has been able to run an international business, maintaining the advantages of huge economies scale and buying power, whilst at the same time being flexible on the local level.

Market entry plan for Tesco in Switzerland - This report was written with Alice Dunn, Olivia Mason and Dominic Scarff for my second year course in International Marketing at the University of Birmingham in 2003/2004. This report basically assesses the likelihood of success of market entry into Switzerland through looking at various key factors and routes to entry. Expanding a business into other countries to make it a well know brand across the world is a key objective of any major company. Supermarkets are no exception, in the UK the four main chains hold majority of the market share of the food retail market. Once they have secured a well known branding in their home country they will want to branch out into other near by countries to gain a share of foreign markets. The four main supermarket chains are Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons. Tesco has started to gain market share in Eastern Europe by opening stores in Hungry, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia whilst the other companies are looking into ventures abroad in the future, Sainsbury’s has just one store abroad in Calais selling only Wine and Beer this is mainly for the British consumer. This report concludes Tesco are well suited to enter into the Swiss market.