Course MGMT 4301 International Business

Semester and 2, 2023/2024

Released date:
Assignment: Group Project 2: Country Assessment for ecoBrown’s
Assessment 30 %
weightage:
Assessment 15 minutes Creative Video
method:
Date Due and Wednesday, 12 June 2024 11.59 pm (Week 14)
Submission Italeem (primary)
platform:

INTRODUCTION

A study reported that in 2030, an estimated 3 in 4 people in some countries will be diabetic.
One country that should be worried is Malaysia, Malaysia has one of the highest growth rate
in diabetic patients between 2011 and 2019 at over 68%, making her the “leader” in the Pacific
Region and one of the world’s leading diabetic nations. Diabetics can cause health
complications that may increase a nation’s health bills. A leading contributing factor to the
problems found in countries like Malaysia is consumption of rice. Rice is a food staple for
more than 3.5 billion people around the world. Rice reported has been cultivated in Asia for
thousands of years. Scientists speculated people first domesticated rice (aka planting and
harvesting) in India or Southeast Asia. Rice arrived in Japan in about 3,000 years ago. Rice is
a rich source of carbohydrates, the body's main fuel source. Carbohydrates can energize and
satisfy and are important for fueling exercises and hard labor work. However, food high in
carbohydrates also increases blood sugar level. This assignment will investigate opportunities
for ecoBrown’s of Malaysia to enter other countries with its healthier version of rice that may
potentially reduce sugar levels,

Objective of Assignment
1. Build your research and analytical skills – you are to research your assigned country
and determine the critical facts that will affect ecoBrown’s.
2. Build your soft skills – communication, interpersonal skills video making skill and
creative skills.

The following are some key backgrounds of ecoBrown’s. Be sure to keep its business's nature
in mind when researching and determining information that should be highlighted and
considered.

ecoBrown’s – Brown is Better

ecoBrown’s is Malaysia’s premier and leading brown rice brand. Owned and produced by
Serba Wangi Sdn Bhd. (SW), ecoBrown’s was launched in 2004 and marketed as the premium
brand for health-conscious consumers. SW started its operation in 1993 and has become one
of the Malaysia's leading rice millers and wholesalers. SW business interest covers an extensive
scale of activities ranging from processing, packaging to producing more than 20 different
varieties of rice-related products under the flagship brand JATI.
With ecoBrown’s, SW is poise to explore new exciting business opportunities in Malaysia and
outside of Malaysia. Using mainly high-quality grains grown and milled in Kedah (Go
Kedah!!) – Malaysia’s “rice bowl” – the brand is a big hit in Singapore and has entered New
Zealand. The potential of the brand is huge as rice is a source of energy for millions of people
around the world.

However, in many cases, white rice is the popular rice type, even though white rice is mostly
a source of "empty" calories and carbohydrates with very few essential nutrients. White rice
has had the bran and germ, which are the most nutritious parts of the grain, removed. One can
argue that white rice is the ”bad” rice. In contrast, brown rice is a whole grain, which, according
to Wealth Health Organization, is a superfood that should be in everyone’s diet. Brown rice
contains all parts of the grain — including the fibrous bran, the nutritious germ and the carb
rich endosperm. Whole grains have been linked to lower rates of chronic conditions including
cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions. It is a fact however in between 1990
and 2017, according to the top medical journal The Lancet, the average person consumed less
than 25% of his/her recommended whole grain “dose” for a “healthy diet”. Technically the
typica average person is living an unhealthy life! So while rice is a stable food for many
household, we are all just eating the wrong type of rice.

With the tagline of “brown is Better”, ecoBrown’s brown rice is enriched with vitamins such
as B complex, B1, B2 and B6 and essential minerals. The “unprocessed” nature of the rice in
ecoBrown’s products meant that it is offering whole grains (and just rice) to consumers/ The
brand is endorsed by Singapore’s Health Promotion Board and obtained Singapore’s Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Points and Good Manufacturing Practice (HACCP) certification.
HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and
control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production,
procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished
product. While the implementation of the system can be first traced to NASA and the US Arny
in 1960s, the system is now the best practice world standard. Securing this certification is a
huge advantage for SW and ecoBrown’s as SW seeks to become a more prominent healthy
rice producer outside of Malaysia too.

Your Assignment
Your group will be assigned to study ONE (1) country. Do research about that country and
demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the country, especially in terms of the four risks
of international business that ecoBrown’s will experience should it pursue this market.

Here are some ideas/issues that you should focus on in this assignment:
1. Country’s background about the country.
2. The cross-cultural factors that result in a cross-cultural risk
3. The country factors that result in country risk
4. The currency and financial issues that lead to currency and financial risk.
5. The commercial issues that lead to commercial risk
6. Based on the above analysis, determine:
a If ecoBrown’s should go into the country
b Justify the reasons for going or not going.
c If going, recommend the entry strategy for ecoBrown’s in the country.
Reporting
Prepare a creative video on your subject matter. A creative video can be anything, but it should
not be a simple PowerPoint presentation recording.

Video key requirements

(1) Aim for 15 minutes, +/- 1 minute.
(2) Voices of all members must appear in the video, either on-screen or voice only mode.
(3) You decide if you want to feature in the video.
(4) You must introduce all the members at the end of the video. If you are using just the
voices of the group members, be sure to identify whose voice belongs to whom.
(5) You must share your reference list at the end of the video.

Grading Rubric
Country background ``` –10 marks
Cross cultural risk `– 10 marks
Country risk - 10 marks
Currency and financial risks – 10 marks
Commercial risk - 10 marks
Go or no go - 10 marks
Strategy - 10 marks
Video creativity - 5 marks
Editing - 5 marks
Voice/ Music etc. - 5 marks
Use of graphics, pictures etc. - 5 marks
Time (on time) - 5 marks
References - 5 marks
Maximum score` - 100 marks

Recommended research sites.

● globalEdge at https://globaledge.msu.edu/
● World Bank at http://www.worldbank.org/
● International Trade Centre at http://www.intracen.org
● Website developed by the government for foreign traders and investors. For example,
foreign companies wanting to invest in Malaysia can find numerous information on the
official portal for the Ministry of International Trade and Investment at
http://www.miti.gov.my . Find an equivalent site for your respective country.

List of Countries (Tentative)

SECTION 1 SECTION 2
United Kingdom Ethiopia Australia Egypt
Brazil Iran Columbia Qatar
China Thailand India Vietnam
Bangladesh Pakistan
Russia Turkey