International Entrepreneurship Challenge

Assignment 2 Guidelines June 2014

PREPARE AN INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEUR STRATEGY
There are no universally accepted exact content or length guidelines for interna
tional
business strategies or plans. Indeed, there is enormous variety among the firms
in
planning. However, we would encourage you to follow the structure presented here

and/or in the Internationalization Handbook for the Software Business. You can n
aturally
add something, there can be some additional headings if you want to, e.g. if you
see
something is missing from the given structure or if you want to emphasize some i
ssues
in your plan. The final report should include a cover page and be approximately
25-35
pages of length. There can and should be appendices on the top of this page guid
eline
(analyses, extra data etc.).
CONTENTS OF THE EXEMPLARY INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEUR PLAN
Corporate/business level strategy
1. INTRODUCTION/EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Vision, Mission, Values, Current state: Products and services, Target customers,

Underlying assumptions (reflected to the domestic strategy and competitive
advantage)
- Prepare a one page max summary of the most important issues which are a basis
for your strategic plan
2. INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
-
quantitative (financial) objectives, e.g. profit, growth, ROI, sales, market sha
re,
market position (if ranked)
-
qualitative objectives, e.g. learning, image, brand awareness, customer
satisfaction, partner satisfaction
-
THINK: these are the corporate/business level objectives which are reflected to
the actions and strategies of different functions, i.e. how can we achieve these
?
Remember also the length of the time-frame in planning.
3. INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVE STRATEGY STATEMENT
- this is a summary of the idea, how do we compete
-
Business concept/Business Model, e.g. position your strategy based on your
customers, competitors and company
-
Basis of success, competitive advantage/superior customer benefit and core
competencies
-
Strategic principles and strategic actions: strategic role, competitive position
,
degree of adaptation
1
2
o E.g. combination strategies (e.g. product/promotion,
promotion/distribution, i.e. push/pull etc.), generic strategies
- STRATEGIC ACTIONS:
o Choice of the target country (or countries)
o Choice of the product for each of the chosen markets
o Choice of the market entry mode
o Choice of the market and distribution channel strategy how are we
planning to reach the customer after getting into the country general
principles
o Choice of the possible co-operation/partnering strategy make or buy,
what type of partners we are looking for
- THINK: reflect this to external environment, i.e. customer analysis and compet
itor
analysis and to your internal environment (own strengths, resources etc.)
Based on the above general corporate level international business plan the functi
onal
strategies are formulated. The main questions here (related to the domestic plan
s) are
related to the a) degree of adaptation, b) harmonization of the strategy (that a
ll the
functions and sub-functions are geared towards the same corporate level goals).
Functional strategies
Give more emphasis in your plan on the most relevant strategies. For a small fir
m, in
many cases this is an international marketing strategy. However, please include
a short
summary of all types of functional strategies.
International Marketing (&sales) strategy
- International Target strategy
- International Product strategy
- International Promotion strategy
- International Distribution (&logistics) strategy
- International Pricing strategy
- Etc
Other functional strategies
- International Sourcing & Purchasing strategy
- International R&D & technology strategy
- International Production strategy
- H&R and management strategy (personnel)
- Financing strategy
- Etc.
When you present a certain strategy in your report, please always start with the

executive summary. For example, when presenting an international marketing strat
egy
have a starting page (or half a page) stating what are your
mission/vision, objectives and goals for international marketing
competitive advantage .. emphasis on marketing mix
degree of international adoption
product/market/operation mode=entry strategies
growth strategy decisions
before starting your marketing mix presentation in an in-depth manner.
TOWARDS IMPLE MENTATION
After you have defined your actual strategy, please always shortly present your
planned
actions towards implementation. For example, in marketing strategy, sum up your
plans
regarding:

international marketing organization, budget

implementation/programming

control and feedback
in the case of the focal firm. What were your ideas, who should do what, how many

people should there be doing something and what type of control system or measur
es
were of importance?
Further information
Please look the materials from the lectures regarding other functional strategie
s. You
can also search additional information from various text books and other guides.
Take
also a look of suggested readings below.
We will take a look, how have you proceed, during the group tutorials and give y
ou more
information regarding the presentations. You are also warmly welcome to ask comm
ents
re: your ideas and work during the self-study time in the course.
Enjoy the planning,

Some interesting reading
Aaker, D. (2001) Developing Business Strategies, 6th edition. John Wiley & Sons.

Cusumano, Michael (2004). The Business of Software What every Manager,
Programmer, and Entrepreneur Must Know to Thrive and Survive in Good Times and
Bad. Free Press, New York, NY.
Finnvera (2001). [1] Kansainvlistyv yritys 1: Kansainvlistymisen aloittaminen. 2nd
edition.
Finnvera (2001). [2] Kansainvlistyv yritys 2: Kansainvlistymisen toimintamuodot. 2n
d
edition.
Grant, Robert M. (2004) Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 5th edition. Blackwell.
Hoch, Detlev, Cyriac Roeding, Gert Purkert and Sandro Lindner (1999). Secrets of

Software Success: Management Insights from 100 Software Firms around the World.
Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts.
Hollensen, Svend (2004) Global Marketing A Decision-oriented Approach. 3. editio
n,
Prentice Hall. [or newer editions]
Jacobsen, Kenneth, William L. Paulin, Victor V. Vurpillat, Jussi Nukari, Eero Pe
ltola and
Juhani Saukkonen (2001). Launching Your Software Business in America A Handbook
for Finnish Entrepreneurs. Tekes, Helsinki.
McHugh, Peter (1999). Making it Big in Software A guide to success for software
vendors with growth ambitions. Rubic Publishing, England
Ryan, J.D., Ray, R.J. & Hiduke, G.P. (1999) Small Business An entrepreneurs plan,

5th edition. Dryden.
Ryynnen, Leila-Mari (2004). Kehittmisest kasvuun. KTM Julkaisuja 26/2004.
Elinkeino-osasto.
Tapscott, Don, David Ticoll and Alex Lowy (2000). Digital Capital Harnessing the

Power of Business Web. Harvard Business School Press.
Thtinen, Jaana and Petri Parvinen (2003). Ohjelmistojen markkinointi. In Hyvnen,
Eero (ed.) Ohjelmistoliiketoiminta, 41-76. WSOY, Vantaa.