BUSINESS STUDY

MISSION

CONTENTS
PG. 2
PESTLE ANALYSIS IN BRIEF
PG. 3
DOING BUSINESS IN SOUTHEAST
ASIA VS PESTLE ANALYSIS
PG. 4 - 6
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS
FINAL EXAMINATION PAPER
EVEN SEMESTER 2021/2022 | SUBMISSION DATE: WEEK 16
Students will analyze the natural endowment, cultural and religious heritage as well as the
political, legal, technology and social conditions of countries in the world in order to find out
how these factors affect the transformation into a multi-sector economy. The goal is to
identify key drivers and burdens for business investments, and hence, economic
development. It also includes the exposure to the issues of international business and
entrepreneurship and helps students to gain insights into business opportunities presented
by the country’s emerging sectors.

PAPER FORMAT GUIDELINES

PESTLE ANALYSIS IN BRIEF
The PESTLE analysis is a tool devised by Harvard professor Francis
Aguilar to conduct a thorough external analysis of the business
environment of any industry for which data is available. This is an
important step for eventually devising a strategy that can effectively
maneuver the competition to maximize a firm's chances of sustainability
and profitability. PESTLE is an amalgam of initials of various factors for
the entire industry as a whole- these factors are namely Political,
Economic, Sociocultural, Technological, Legal and Environmental
factors. (The attached courtesy video from the professor of the
University of London might help to illustrate about this PESTLE analysis)

The Political factors account for all the political activities that go on
within a country and if any external force might tip the scales in a certain
way. They analyze the political temperament and the policies that a
government may put in place for some effect. For example, level of
political stability that the country has in recent years, bureaucracy and

corruption issues, the fiscal policy, trade tariffs and taxes are those
things that a government levies on traders and organizations and they
greatly alter the revenue that is earned by those industries.

The Economic factors take into view the economic condition prevalent
in the country and if the global economic scenarios might make it shift
or not. These include the rate of GDP growth in the country, the inflation
rates, foreign exchange rates, interest rates, the level of unemployment
in the country, etc. All these can affect the supply and demand cycle and
can result in major changes of the business environment.

Sociocultural factors have to do with the social mindset of the people

that live in a certain country. This sums up the aspect of culture, age
demographics, gender and its related stereotypes, educational
background, level of health standards, at times this analysis has to
include the religious factors (when pertaining to products or services of
a different kind).
 Technological factors take into consideration the
rate at which technology is advancing and how much
integration does the industry needs to have with it.

Legal factors have to do with all the legislative and

procedural components in an economy. Also, this
takes into account certain standards that the
industries might have to meet in order to start
production/promotion, such as Intellectual property
laws and other data protection laws, discrimination
laws, health and safety laws, consumers law, etc.

Environmental factors have to do with geographical

locations and other related environmental factors
that may influence upon the nature of the trade the
industries are in. For example, weather conditions,
climate change issues, waste and pollution issues,
etc. Agri-businesses hugely depend on this form of
analysis.

Source: pestleanalysis.com, 2021 (with some appropriate

adjustments)

DOING BUSINESS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA VS PESTLE ANALYSIS

Southeast Asia is a tropical region in the Asian continent. Geographically, Southeast Asia is divided into two groups, Maritime Southeast Asia
and Mainland Southeast Asia. In the first group are Brunei, East Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore. Cambodia,
Myanmar or Burma, Laos, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Vietnam are in the second group. Politically, there are 11 states, as East Malaysia
and Peninsular Malaysia are grouped as one. Out of the 11, only East Timor (Timor-Leste) is not a member of the ASEAN or the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations. Southeast Asia has a large population of more than 650 million inhabitants. It is a diverse region with rich cultural
and natural heritage famous all over the world for tourism and recognized.

Several countries in the region mentioned above are pushing the economic growth of the world, encouraging and attracting the attention
from global companies and investors willing to do business in the region and reap the benefits of its growth. Many developed countries
worldwide are keen to do business in the Southeast Asian region because it presents several business opportunities that are still untapped.
As a single community, the fellow countries in the Southeast Asia present business investors and entrepreneurs with various opportunities
to have high returns for their investments.

But of course it is critical for the prospective business investors and entrepreneurs to know and understand the prerequisites, regulations,
political, economic, sociocultural, technology, the laws of each country and the environment of the country before they start their business
in the region. An understanding of the overall competitive landscape will prevent business investors and entrepreneurs from partaking in
any risky ventures if the risk arises out of, say, an unstable political regime or a sudden economic recession.
In this case, PESTLE analysis will serve as a platform to provide valuable insights for those business investors and entrepreneurs into the
operating challenges that any industry in a country appears to face. This may be best exemplified by the previous exit of the United Kingdom
from the European Union. The sudden fallout was political and caused many investors to pull out of new ventures and halt their expansions,
as the future became uncertain in the wake of this decision. Another example such as the current pandemic issues might also become one
of the factors to be concerned by the investors and entrepreneurs.

Source: aseanup.com, 2021 (with some appropriate adjustments)

INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS
Based on the illustrations and the background of study described above, student is required to conduct a virtual business study mission to
one of the country that student would love to visit and explore in the Southeast Asia region. After exploring the country virtually, student is
expected to assist the fellow prospective business investors and entrepreneurs to:
1. Conduct a PESTLE analysis on the country that the
student has visited and explored virtually (Analysis
should be supported by sufficient data, relevant
facts and information);

2. Based on the PESTLE analysis that student has

conducted, student is required to propose and
elaborate on which type (sector) of business industry
that might be suitable to be newly launched or
invested in the related country.

With all the necessary information acquired in

relating to the main tasks assigned above, compile
them into a professional paper that fulfills the
following rubrics:
PAPER FORMAT GUIDELINES
This final examination project paper comprises 35% of your total grade for the course. TOTAL MARKS are 100. This is an individual-based
final examination paper, therefore, independent research on the relevant topics is required.

The general assessment criteria are: Substance, Originality of work, Presentation, use of illustrations/ examples, where appropriate. Any
links with the theory must be supported by in-text citations in the body of the assignment and fully reference in the reference section (Please
apply APA style referencing method)

Student should type out all contents in the presentation format as below:
Top, Bottom margins : 1”
Left Margin : 1.25”
Right Margin : 0.8”
Header & Footer : 0.5”
Layout : Single Page A4 size
Vertical spacing : Justified with 1.5 line spacing
Font type & Size : Calibri, 12 pt
Page numbering : Page x of y (right justified in footer)

Student is to use the Final Examination Cover Sheet provided by the University, which include the following details: Course Title, Name,
Student ID, and Submission Date.

Student is required to hand in a soft copy of the paper to the lecturer in charge (in pdf file) in Week 16 before 7 pm.

IMPORTANT: The University takes a very serious view of plagiarism and collusio n and will not accept any form of cheating in a student’s
work, including this final examination project paper. Hence, please ensure that student always provides proper references when using other
people’s ideas, words or pictures, including diagrams.

© 2021 A.F. All Rights Reserved.