Skip to Main Content

BUSS 3103: International Business Environments

1. BUSS 3103: International Business Environments

This assessment requires you to complete a case study with two components:

  1. A one page memo
  2. International business plan

Note: For full assessment details, please see your course site and course outline.

2. Choose your company

Note: Your company must be registered on one of these stock exchanges:

Australia: Australian Securities Exchange  New Zealand: New Zealand Stock Exchange 
United Kingdom: London Stock Exchange  Germany: Börse Frankfurt 
France: Paris Stock Exchange: part of Euronext Spain: Bolsa de Madrid
USA: New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ Canada: Toronto Stock Exchange
Denmark: NASDAQ Copenhagen Sweden: NASDAQ Stockholm
Finland: NASDAQ Helsinki Iceland: NASDAQ Iceland
Brazil: B3 Singapore: Singapore Exchange
Japan: Japan Exchange Group South Korea: Korea Exchange 
Hong Kong: Hong Kong Stock Exchange Italy: Borsa Italiana

3. Company and industry information

Company and industry information guide banner

The guide also includes information on searching for the impact of COVID-19 on businesses.

4. Finding company information

Tip: Company websites are a great place to look at when you first start researching a company. Look for the 'about us' or 'our story' pages. 

This will help you find more information on the history of the company, the industry, previously run promotions and media releases, and annual reports.

Use the search box on the right to search for the company's ASX code or name. This will open up the company report.

Company Report

  • to find subsidiaries: select Controlled Entities
  • to find ratios: select Financial data on the left, and then the Ratio tab
  • to see monthly (Jan 1988+) or daily (from Jan 2000) prices: select Price History
  • to see a price chart: select Price History, and then choose the Price Chart tab
  • to find current and previous annual reports - select Annual Reports

D&B Hoovers

D&B Hoovers is a another good database to start for company information with.

  • Type the name of the company in the search box at the top right of the page, then select search.

  • Select your company from the results list. If there are multiple entries for the same company, check the details including country of origin and the industry the company operates in.

NewsBank

Information and figures presented in the company analysis should be updated from other sources such as the internet; industry and company reports; newspaper and industry magazines.

The library subscribes to a number of databases which provide access to Australian and international news media articles. You can start search for media articles using the NewsBank database.

How to search in NewsBank
  1. Below is an example search on Toyota and Covid-19
  2. Add your concept or search term into each search box
  3. Select Search.

  1. Newest articles are displayed as default.
  2. You can also refine your results by limiting the Source location > Australia

You can also browse news media articles by by using the 'Suggested Topics' on the homepage of NewsBank. To do this:

  • Select a suggested topic e.g. Business and Economics.
  • Then select one of the sub-topics within this area e.g. Business types > Large Corporations.
  • You can refine your results by applying filters such as date e.g. 2021-2022.

See the NewsMedia guide for a full list of relevant databases that provide access to Australian and International News media articles.

News Media Guide

5. Finding industry information

Industry reports include information such as:

  • SWOT analyses
  • major competitors
  • products and markets
  • competitive landscape

To find industry reports type your industry within the main search box, e.g. computer system design, then select search.

IBISWorld search bar

  • From the results page, filter your results by region > Australia/global, to show relevant results. 
  • You can also browse industries by selecting Industry research > Australia Industry Reports (ANZSIC) OR Australian Specialized Industry Reports.

IBISWorld industry search

Note: this site requires a one-time authentication to access. Follow the Library instructions. 

To find industry information:

  • Click on the drop-down menu and select Industries (towards the top of the page) and then select GO.

'Search all categories' box in Passport GMID

  • Search for specific categories, or browse the categories on screen. Click the plus icon to see sub-categories.
  • Under Select Geographies select the country. Click Search.
  • View Statistics and Analysis information relevant to your search.

Passport GMID categories

6. Finding country information

  • Country reports accessed through Statista provide information on macro environmental factors such as economics, demographics, and culture. 
  • To access country reports go to Reports > Country & Region Reports, from the Statista homepage. Note the new Company DB tab, for researching companies.

Statista Company DB tab
 

From the Country & Region Reports page you can either filter or search for your country, then select the country report from the results list.


Statista Countries & Regions Reports page

  • Select Economies, then Economy, Finance and Trade (top of page).

Economies header in Passport GMID

  • Scroll down and select Country Reports from the Explore Analysis box.
  • Select Economy, Finance and Trade, then the country that you want from the drop down box. Select Go.

Country reports in Passport GMID

Note: Remember to check the publication date of the report for currency of the data.

  • Enter the name of the country in the search box and select GE Geographic Terms from the drop down box. Select search.
enter country name in search box
  • Under Refine Results, select Sources Types > Country Report (select Show More to see the full range of sources)

To find risk reports

  • Type your country into the search box.
  • Type "risk report" into the second box, then search. 

type "risk report" into the second search box

7. Report writing

Once you have all your research it's time to put together your report.

Watch the video below (2 min 53 sec) for some tips on report writing.

More help

8. Referencing support

Managing your references

What do you do with all those references you have found? Use a bibliographic management software to store, organise and cite your references.

There are many free systems available. The Library supports the bibliographic management tool EndNote. For more information see the EndNote guide.