APPENDIX B

COUNTRY REPORT INSTRUCTIONS

Objective The purpose of the assignment is to work in a multicultural team to research a country

and figure out how to do business in a fore ign country. Your team wi ll be respons ible for

1) a report (a compendium of information in bullet-point format

2) a 1S-minute training session on the management practices section of you r report.

The grading criteria for your report are thoroughness, accuracy, and ab il ity to app ly correctly the

course frameworks and concepts.

The grad ing crite ri a for you r train ing session are: in formative, interactive, creative , and well

organized

Team members will determine how much of the team grade each member deserves, based on

their contribut ion .

REPORT FORMAT: Type the category names in the same order as shown be low and lis t the

information for each category and cite all the references at the end of each bu llet point, as shown

below. Include all the references in a bibl iography at the end; use APA format for the

bibliography. Since you will be graded on the thoroughness of your work, find the correct

information for each category. Submit with the report , a list of which students were responsib le

for wh ich categories

Example:

Key holidays

o All Saints Day in October when fam il ies vis it their ancestors' graves and leave them food

(Wagner, 1998 39).

SECTION I - MACRO DESC RIPTION OF THE COUNTRY

Demographics

• popu lation

.. birth and death rates

• age categories by percentage

• gender composition

• impact of demographics on business (e.g, scarcity of labor?)

Natural Resources (What are key resources, their location and extent?)

Economic Environment

• Economic indicators, GDP, inflation rate, unemployment rate , growth rate , etc.

• Currency regulations

• Exchange rate

• Financial system

.. Tax system

• Stock market

• Key prod ucts or business segments (econom ic basis)

• Major imports and exports

• Standard of living

• Housing cond itions

History

.. key historica l facts/events - These can be illustrated in a time line

• most important curren t events

Political System

.. type of government

• key polit ical issues and controversies at present

• state of civil li berties (Is there free speech , lega l protection of rights? What does Amnesty

Internationa l say about th is country?)

• risk factor - how stable is this cou ntry? What risk factors are present and how is it rated by

risk analysts?

Legal System

• historical basis

• effectiveness

• relation to business

Geography

Climate

En vironmental Issues

• environmenta l cond itions - how does the country rate in terms of climate change, pollution,

water resources, etc.?

e key env ironmental cha llenges

• response to environmental problems

Key Advantages in the Eyes of Foreign Business

Why is this a good country in wh ich to invest or set up business?

SECTION 2 - SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Family Structure

• parenta l roles (who does whaP)

• child rearing practices (How are ch ildren treated, disciplined , etc? What values do parents

inculcate in child ren ?)

e living arrangements

Class Structure

o categories and characteristics that may affect business

• presence of class barriers?

• status of ethnic groups

• ethnic issues

• gender status and issues

Religion

e world view

• rites and rituals

• taboos

Education

• Is the emphasis on publ ic or private schooling? Does schooling vary by social class, etc.?

• Statistics on educationa l atta inment levels (what percentage of people reach elementary ,

high schoo l, college, graduate levels?)

• Literacy rate

• Resources ava ilable fo r government education system (well -funded, strugg ling , etc .)

• Characteristics of the higher education system (number of universities, re putation of

un ivers ities, etc .)

• Are employees well trained before they begin working for businesses?

Leisure Activities

• View of leisure

• Sports and recreation

o Vacation practices and schedules

Arts

• Important art form s

• Famous artists

SECTION 3 - CULTURAL ASPECTS

Cultural Groups

• Ethnic composition (type and percentage of the popu lation)

• Regional subcultures

Cultu ra l Dimensions

• Prepare a table includ ing all the etic (comparative) cu ltural va lues frameworks stud ied in

class

• Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck

• Hofstede

• Trompenaar and Hampden-Turner's

• Laurent

• Important emic (unique to that cu lture) va lues

• Interna l logic of the culture - why are these values preferred by this culture? What about

their history, geography, etc. made these val ues sign ificant to them?

• Consequences of non-conforming behavior (what happens to deviants who don 't act in

accordance with these va lues?)

• Work eth ic

• Att itude toward change

Customs

• greetings

• gift giving re lated to bus iness

• key holidays and ceremonies

• tipping

Commun ication

• Languages spoken and in what setting

• business language

• acceptable and unacceptable topics of conversation

• nonverbal commun ication used

• personal space distance

• In tercultural communication styles - prepare a table of the styles listed in the 10/6 handout

Conflict Style - How do they handle conflict? (e.g ., direct, indirect, third party mediat ion, etc)

Negotiation Style

Food & Eating etiquette

SECTION 4 - BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Technology

• Availab ili ty

• Level of sophistication

Distribution Issues

• Infrastructure cond itions

• Tariffs

Ethics

.. bri bery or the use of influence

• level of corruption (see the Transparency Index)

• eth ical cons iderations of doing bus iness in this country

Business Relationships

• With whom do they tend to do business and why?

Impression of Americans

• prevalent stereotype this country has of Americans and their business practices

SECTION 5 - MANAGEMENT ASPECTS

Management Practi ces

• Employee/employer re lat ions

• Importance of personal re lationsh ips at work

• Typical management style

• Typical leadership style

• Decision making practices

• View of authority

• Pri mary means of motivating employees

• Common types of organ izational structure

• Role and view of women in business

Human Resource Practices

• Hiring practices and preferences

" Compensation structure

• Minimum wage

• Key employment laws

" Advancement practices (who gets promoted and why?)

• Benefits for employees

Business Practices

• Appropriate business dress

• Business cards

• Work schedule

• Measurement system (metric versus English)

• Bus iness meeting behavior (eg., seating arrangements , etc)

• After-meeting etiquette

• Do's and don 'ts