Business/Entrepreneurial Opportunities in South Korea

COUNTRY TO BE ANALYZED

“Republic of Korea (a.k.a. South Korea)”

GENERAL GUIDELINE

Assume that you are generating a country report similar to those produced by investment banks or government agencies. However, due to the length of this assignment, I strongly recommend focusing on ‘ONE’ topic of a country. For example, you might want to analyze the trend of exchange rates. Based on the pattern of this analysis, you would suggest any business opportunities or risks associated with your analysis. Another example would be analyzing a country based upon a certain framework we have learned in class (e.g., CAGE framework). You can assume that you are a U.S. (or any other country such as Brazil, Italy, and so on) entrepreneur trying to enter the host country market (South Korea) and suggest any business opportunities based upon your analysis of hard data or a framework. For example, you can argue that due to the appreciation of USD that negatively impact our cost advantage, we might want to relocate our production facility to where we can better tap into emerging markets.

Keep in mind that, in doing this type of analysis, if you believe that making an assumption is important/critical for your analyses and arguments, please clearly state your ASSUMPTIONS.

EVALUATION SCHEME

The most important thing to keep in mind is that your report must be convincing and logical in reaching the conclusion. If you cannot defend your logic leading to the conclusion you derive through the analysis in the report, your grade will not be satisfactory. The general course grading scheme will be applied (e.g., late assignment).

Evaluation of your country analysis report will be based upon the following components:

1. Analysis

a. Your analysis must be based on a framework or hard data analysis (e.g., interest rate).

b. You must discuss why you chose to analyze the data the way you did and the implications of your analysis.

c. You must clearly convey your assumptions made in the analyses; whether your assumptions are appropriate will be evaluated.

2. Relevancy and Logic

a. Your analysis must be relevant to your arguments of business opportunities or risks. For example, interest rate is only weakly related to country innovation. In other words, your data analysis must be able to provide sufficient background information about your reasoning of business opportunities and risks.

b. How you present your ideas is critical. In most business meetings, you are asked to write and circulate a memo, submit proposals, etc. To prepare you for such settings, you will also be evaluated on writing effectively to clearly deliver your ideas.

3. Creativity

a. I expect you to come up with interesting and unique perspectives of your own based upon the analysis you conduct.

b. If you choose a topic many others also analyze, this might be an indication that

i. You have not done much research on the country but tried to find a topic which pops up first in the search page of Google.

ii. You will have to work harder to provide your own perspectives since others likely have already thought of many of the points you identified.

4. Guideline/Abstract

a. Whether you follow all the instructions above will be evaluated.

b. Your abstract will also be evaluated. An abstract is a summary of your paper. It is critical to make the readers get a brief understanding of your report just by reading a summary. Thus, your abstract should include information on what you are trying to deliver in the report in a clear, concise way.

5. Grading distribution

a. Top 20-25%: A or A-

b. Average (between top 25-75%): B+ or B

c. Bottom 25%: Below B-

DATA SOURCES

There is a tremendous amount of information about a country on the web. Hence, finding new and appropriate data will be your task as you conduct your analysis.

1. You have to clearly state the source of information/data.

2. Data fabrication in any type is considered as academic misconduct and will be penalized as stated in our course syllabus.

3. You must be able to provide your raw data analysis in any form (e.g., excel) if requested.

REPORT FORMAT

1. 2.

MS-Word Format; Both cover page and main report should be one MS-Word document, so the length of your assignment is TWO-page total.

File name

a. Your section start time_your last name_your first name.docx

3. Cover page (1-page)

a. Your name, email, and section registered (time of the section). b. One page with 1-inch margin on every side of letter-size paper. c. Title of country report.

d. 3-4 keywords describing your report.

e. Abstract of your country report (less than 150 words). Main report (1-page)

a. Times New Roman, 11pts.

b. File type: MS-word document (*.docx) / Do not submit pdf format.

c. 1-inch margin on every side of letter-size paper.

d. 1 page maximum single spaced; this does not include tables, figures, and supporting materials.

e. Attach everything other than the main text after your main report (e.g., tables, figures, references, endnotes).

f. If you exceed one page, your maximum score will be a B.

g. Do not include any unnecessary or unrelated information. Please be clear and coherent in presenting your analysis and ideas.