International Business

Where business comes to life

Assignment briefing

Dr Peder Greve
Associate Professor in International Business
peder.greve@henley.ac.uk

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 The IB assignment
And how to get it right

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 Assessment

• Assignment only
• An individual written report
• Word count: 5,000 words (+20%/-10%)
• Pass mark: 50
• Failed assignment – resubmission of revised assignment
• It is intended to assess your understanding of the IB
concepts and your ability to correctly apply IB models and
frameworks to real business challenges.

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 IB Assignment
• Focus on a specific IB challenge, which may be an opportunity or a
problem that is relevant to your organisation or to an organisation that you
know well.

• Discuss your choice of IB challenge with the relevant stakeholders in the

organisation to ensure your selected topic has suitable depth and scope
and ideally would lead to developing a solution that would contribute to a
resolution of a real challenge in the organisation.

• The outcome should be a report bringing together theory and practice –

use concepts and theories to analyse and discuss the challenges and
develop and justify recommendations.

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 Purpose of the assignment
The IB assignment is designed to:
• develop you ability to comprehend developments in the global business
arena as they relate to an organisation’s strategy and operations
• assess your understanding of the key IB concepts and their interlinkages
• test your ability to apply and integrate IB concepts and frameworks to
analyse IB issues and develop practical solutions
• facilitate your personal development needs by acquiring the skills and
capabilities needed for senior management in the global business
context

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 The topic should be …
• Based on a real organisation – a strategic business unit or profit/cost centre that
has (or could have) either direct linkages with international business context or
indirect interdependences with international business developments.
• An IB challenge with strategic relevance for the organisation where your analysis
and findings will make a real contribution to better, more informed strategic
decision-making
• Choose one of the following three options in identifying the topic for your IB
assignment:
Option A: Focus on a current IB problem or opportunity, conduct the appropriate analysis and develop
scenarios as probable solutions.
Option B: Focus on a past IB problem or opportunity, conduct a critical analysis of the course of action
taken at the time, derive lessons learned, and propose recommendations on what to do differently next
time.
Option C: Focus on a specific industry within a national context, conduct a comprehensive analysis of
the factors that attract and/or discourage foreign investment into the industry, and develop solution
options and recommendations outlining how location attractiveness could be enhanced from an
industry perspective. 6
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 The topic/s
The IB module consist of two major parts:
Part I: Internationalization strategy
• Why, Where, When, How decisions
Part II: International management strategy
• Strategy-Structure Fit and Integration vs Responsiveness decisions

We recommend that your topic focuses on one of the two parts, not
both!

You need to decide the breadth and depth of your scope.

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 Assignment scope for Options A and B – examples
Part I – Internationalisation strategy
Suggested alternative topics/approaches:
Topic I.1 Where to internationalise?*
• Identify 2-4 feasible countries for internationalisation
• Discuss the Why – motive for internationalisation
• Assess your FSAs in relation to your home CSAs and their transferability to potential target countries
• Assess the CSAs/location advantages and/or market opportunities in the target countries
• Summarise and synthesise your analysis, develop discrete solution options, and make a recommendation for the best country to enter

Topic I.2: How to internationalise?*

• Consider one country to enter
• Discuss the Why – motive for internationalisation
• Perform FSA/CSA analysis as appropriate
• Consider 2-3 entry modes and conduct a comparative analysis in the context of the chosen country
• Summarise and synthesise your analysis, develop discrete solution options and make a recommendation for the best entry mode in the
given country

Topic I.3: Where & How to internationalise?*

• You could consider for example 2 countries and 2 entry modes in the same assignment if you are able to do an effective combined
analysis as described in Topics I.1 and I.2 above.

*If you have chosen option B for your assignment the analyses above have to be done in retrospect, followed by lessons learned and 8
IB 2021/©️IBS/Henley recommendations for moving forward.
 Assignment scope for Options A and B – examples
Part II – International management strategy
Suggested alternative topics/approaches:

Topic II.1: The actual vs optimal strategy/structure fit*

• Consider this issue at either corporate level or subsidiary/business unit level
• Discuss the pressures for integration faced by your organization in general (industry characteristics) and in particular in a given country that you
have chosen to analyse if appropriate
• Discuss the pressures for responsiveness faced by your organization in general (industry characteristics) and in particular in a given country that
you have chosen to analyse if appropriate
• Integrate the I/R analysis and determine the best strategy/structure fit
• Compare your findings with the actual strategy/structure fit in your organization and discuss the differences and their implications for successful
operation of your organization
• Develop options and make recommendations, e.g. whether to centralise vs decentralise key units/activities/capabilities

Topic II.2: Issues as a result of strategy/structure misfit*

• Identify an issue between the HQ and subsidiary/s in your organization (e.g. post-acquisition integration, innovation, financing, performance,
growth initiatives, local market, etc.)
• Consider this issue at either corporate level or subsidiary/business unit level
• Analyse the actual strategy/structure fit versus the optimal (integration/responsiveness analysis) and identify potential sources of the focal issue
• Summarise and synthesise your analysis, and develop options and recommendations for making adjustments to resolve the issue

*If you have chosen option B for your assignment the analyses above have to be done in retrospect, followed by lessons learned and recommendations for moving forward.
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 Assignment scope for Option C
Please note the following points if you choose Option C:
• Explain briefly why Option C is most suitable for your assignment.
• Identify a specific industry and a specific country as the focus of your analysis. Criteria to consider for selecting the
industry and country:
• your selected industry and country are suitable as potential targets for foreign entry,; if possible engage directly with senior
managers at relevant local companies;
• preferably this should be an industry and a country that you know well;

• Identify the availability and accessibility of the relevant information that you will need to perform the analysis.
• The analysis should attempt to answer the following strategic questions in IB:
• Why would a foreign company enter in that industry in the chosen country? What are the potential motives for the foreign
company?
• Identify the CSAs of your chosen country in the context of the chosen industry, i.e. identify its Location advantages that would attract foreign companies to enter
either via exports or FDI in that particular industry

• What potential FSAs would the foreign company need to make a successful entry?
• What would be the appropriate mode/s of entry for the foreign company?

• Integrate/synthesise your analysis and develop options and recommendations to enhance location attractiveness of
the chosen country to make it more attractive to foreign companies
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 Assignment Roadmap
Process Content
Own organization / other organisation /
Industry within a national context
Step 1 Identify specific where you have good understanding of a …
Problem / Opportunity
IB challenge/s of strategic relevance, either at …
Company / Business unit / Industry
level of analysis
Engage
stakeholders – buy-
in and support (A) Current IB challenge
develop scenarios as probable solutions
Choose option (B) Past IB challenge
appraise decision, outcomes and propose
Step 2 (A) or (B) or (C) recommendations moving forward
(C) Industry-level IB challenge
develop recommendations to enhance location
attractiveness

Step 3
Analysis Appropriate tools of IB analysis –
identify:
Engage stakeholders • Relevant concepts, frameworks and
– early feedback and models
impact • Interlinkages between different IB
concepts and frameworks
Recommend Develop solution options
Step 4 options Make recommendations
Assess potential impact 11
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 For support please contact the IB Online Tutor:
Remember Mr. Ron Livingstone
r.livingstone@reading.ac.uk

DO …
• Choose only appropriate IB
models
• Apply the frameworks and models
• Discuss the relevance of the
chosen models
• Distinguish between analytical
models and strategic decision
making models
• Follow the assignment brief
closely
• Develop your own original analysis
and recommendations
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DON’T …
• Use a lot of models – more is not
better
• Describe the models or simply
reproduce them
• Treat the concepts and models as
unrelated
• Rely on models from other modules
at the expense of IB models
• Plagiarise other work, including
self-plagiarism (see links below for
guidance)
https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/citing-references/quotesa
ndparaphrases
https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/academicintegrity/avoidin
gplagiarism
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 10 hints and tips from the IB online tutor…

1. Clear focus for your assignment topic – it is important that you start off with a clear idea and focus
for your assignment. Some guidance here:
 The focus of your IB assignment needs to draw on the content from the IB module.
 Select an IB assignment focus which enables you to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding
of the IB module content/theory and the use of the IB models/frameworks.

2. Your choices for assignment focus – following on from the above, where it is indicated that you
need to choose either Option A, Option B or Option C. You need to find a question relevant to you
and your organisation/sector, which meets the criteria and expectations of the IB assignment.

3. Suggested approach, structure and content

 The structure of your assignment will be based around the structure which is provided as an outline
in the IB Assignment Guide booklet and in particular, the section headed “Assignment format and
content”. Please note the suggested chapter headings and the content expected in each one. You
will note five main chapter headings/structure suggested in this document and this may give you a
good guidance as to your approach.
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 10 hints and tips from the IB online tutor…

4. Use of models/frameworks
 As advised above, you need to draw on the theory from the IB module and to select appropriate
models/frameworks for your assignment.
 The tutors will not direct you to specific models to use, this is your assignment and part of the
expectation is that you are able to understand the IB theories and frameworks and then to select
those which are appropriate and to apply them.

5. Public service context for IB

 Public service based topics could for example include the provision of training and supervision in
particular fields to targeted international clients, the formation of international knowledge
alliances/partnerships/networks, or ‘packaging up’ bundles of knowledge/technologies/services to
create new revenue streams from international customers/partner organisations.
 If you work in the NHS (or equivalent in other countries), we typically advise that you focus on
your NHS Trust as opposed to the whole NHS.

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 10 hints and tips from the IB online tutor…

6. Appropriate level of focus

 It is important that your assignment topic and focus is at the appropriate level of IB strategy. A focus primarily on HR,
marketing, finance, IT/digitalisation, etc is not appropriate because this would tend to be more operationally focused
than what is expected.
 Hence for example, digitalisation of an organisation is not by itself a suitable IB assignment topic. However it could
certainly be introduced as a key element of a broader IB analysis.

7. Ensure that your writing is not descriptive

 At MBA level there is a requirement that your analysis, evaluation and broader content of your assignment is critical
in its approach.
 Avoid solely being descriptive and only providing a narrative.
 There needs to be a clear, critical approach taken in the writing of your assignment and the development of your
arguments leading to a clear recommendation (underpinned by the analysis and evaluation).
 In using models, don’t simply include a table or figure with numerous bullet points. There needs to be a short
introduction to any such model and then there needs to be text linked to this, not simply describing or reiterating
what is in the figure/table, but clear content which is drawing out the key issues and the implications from the
analysis.
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 10 hints and tips from the IB online tutor…
8. Referencing/Plagiarism
 If you are using the work of others, then you need to ensure that you reference this appropriately. Failure to do so is
plagiarism and could lead to being deemed a serious breach of University policy.
 You submit your assignment through Turnitin and this designed to pick-up the inclusion of works of other authors which
have not been appropriately referenced.
 There is a very useful Henley guide to Harvard referencing which provides clear guidance on how to cite and reference
from sources.

9. Ensure relevance of the content

 Care should also be taken to include content in the analysis which is as relevant as possible to the sector/organisation
being considered.
 Try and avoid content which is far too generic and could apply to any organisation or sector.
 Your analysis needs to add value to the task at hand.

10. Read the Canvas materials

 This may appear an obvious statement to make, however if you are stuck with a particular section or aspect of your
assignment, it is useful to re-read the relevant Canvas section(s).
 Sometimes students can get stuck and/or questions asked but the student has not yet fully engaged with the appropriate
section on Canvas. You will find very useful information there and this will also enhance your own learning and
understanding. 16
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