Team Assignment #3:  Global Business Plan

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Purpose

This team assignment supports the following Learning Objectives of the course:

  1. developing a holistic perspective on leading and managing an organization,
  2. comprehending the strategic approach to achieving overall organizational success,
  3. understanding how to coordinate and integrate different business functions effectively,
  4. learning how to adapt business practices to different cultural settings,
  5. further improving leadership, teamwork and communication skills.

Overview

You have been given the go-ahead to take your new product to the country you have researched. In this team assignment, prepare a comprehensive global business plan for the new product launch into the target country. Your global business plan should consist of a strategic plan, a marketing plan, a production and supply chain plan, an organizational & HR plan, and a financial plan with key financial projections. The detailed requirements for your global business plan are outlined below:

Specific Requirements

  1. Executive Summary 
  1. A summary of the key opportunities and challenges from your target foreign country  
  • The major adaptations you need to make in order to succeed in that country.
  • Your timing strategy, entry strategy and competitive strategy
  • The highlights of your financial analyses and projections (investment requested, overall profitability, IRR as compared to WACC, and increase in shareholder’s value)

II.    Strategic Plan

        Strategic analyses

  1. A list of Edgewell’s mission, vision, values, strategic goals, strengths, and weaknesses
  • A list of major opportunities and threats in the target country’s general (PESTEL), industry and consumer environments, which may affect your product’s chance of success in that country
  • Fit between the target country and Edgwell’s mission, vision, values, and strategic goals
  • Strengths of Edgewell you plan to utilize to facilitate your international launch
  • Weaknesses of Edgewell that may hinder your ability to succeed in the target country

       Timing, entry and competitive strategies

  1. Your timing strategy with some Justifications.
  • Your entry strategy (exporting, strategic alliance, acquisition, or greenfield) with a strong rationale. If you choose exporting, assume you will have to run your own sales operations to market your product in the target country.
  • Your competitive strategy in the target country. Defend your choice.

III.  Marketing Plan

The detailed requirements for this plan can be found in a separate document posted by Prof. Dhingra.

IV.   Production & Supply Chain Plan

Production

  1. Where will your product be manufactured? Justify your answer.
  • Do you plan to produce by yourself or have a partner company manufacture your product?
  • How much labor cost do you expect to save?
  • How much space do you need for manufacturing your product?
  • What key supplies must be imported from the home country and/or other countries? What can be obtained from the country where the product is produced?
  • How will import of raw materials to the production country impact cost? How will local procurement(s) of raw materials impact cost?
  • Would you need to ship your finished product from the home or another country to the target country? If yes, what will be the cross-border transportation cost?
  • Are there any tariffs and/or other taxes/restrictions imposed by the target or third country?

        Supply chain  

  1. What are the risks you will likely face in the supply chain for your product? What do you plan to do to mitigate those risks?
  • How will you distribute in the target country and what will be your distribution costs?
  • How much space do you need for your logistic operations (storage, shipping, receiving, and warehousing)?

V.   Organizational & HR Plan

       Organizational chart

Develop an organization chart that shows the different positions (managers, staff, workers, and salespersons) needed to carry out your strategic and functional plans. Indicate where (the country) a position will be located and how many people you plan to hire for the position. Avoid creating too many managerial and/or staff positions.

Compensation plan

Design a compensation plan for all the personnel to be employed in the business unit. Research and determine the salary levels and the benefits of the managers, staff, and factory workers (if any) to be hired in different locations. If you plan to send U.S. expatriates to the target country, bear in mind the compensation package of an U.S. expatriate usually includes some allowances (housing, hardship, etc.) and can be three times as much as what he or she would cost a firm in a home-country posting. Therefore, use your expatriates cautiously and wisely.   

VI. Financial Plan & Projections

What is the general outlook for the next three full years (2023-2025)? Translate your functional plans for marketing, organization, human resources, production, and supply chain into measurable targets. You are required to complete a full set of financial statements (income statement, balance sheet (simplified) and cash flow (simplified) along with detailed supporting schedules for the above years). Your start-up period will be focused on building inventory for your product launch in January of 2023, so for 2022 you will only provide a balance sheet and cash flow. For 2023, you should have an income statement for each quarter, which should reflect seasonal patterns, if any, as well as the fact that you will be in a growth mode as you roll out. You will also need to supply a balance sheet and cash flow for the full year only (not 4 quarters). For 2024 and 2025, only annual financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow) are required.

Specific guidelines for preparing the financial statements and schedules will be provided by Prof. Lapera in his lectures. The financial statements will be prepared in the foreign currency of your target country and translated into US dollars using the convenience method. You are expected to make a minimal property, plant & equipment investment and/or other asset investment as 30% of the total investment amount you are requesting. Instructions on how to present the highlights of your financial analyses and projections in the discussion of your financial plan will be provided in Prof. Lapera’s next two lectures.

You are also required to specify your hedging strategy and its financial impact on your projected profits for the next three years.

Report Requirements

Present your entire global business plan, including the Executive Summary, in a written report of 30-35 pages long (double spaced, 12-point type). The Executive Summary and any appendices are excluded from the page limit. You may include as many appendices as you see fit, but they must be referenced or referred to in the main body of your report. Your Executive Summary should not exceed one page in length (single spaced). It is helpful to use section headings and add a Table of Contents. A Reference Page is required; use the APA citation style. The Excel worksheets showing your financial statements and projections should be submitted as a separate document.  

Please remember to spell- and grammar-check your report and number the pages.

The deadline for submitting your global business plan is Dec 1 (11pm). Only one team member needs to submit the plan to blackboard for the team. Please have another team member submit your Excel worksheets as a separate item.

Grading Rubric

Executive summary – 5%

Strategic plan – 20%

Marketing plan – 20%

Production & supply chain plan – 15%

Organizational & HR plan – 10%

Financial plan – 25%

Writing quality – 5%