Salford Business School are looking for new industry clients to provide our MSc International Business students with the opportunity to undertake international expansion desktop research on the clients’ behalf.
We would like to see if you would be willing to participate in our programme’s International Consultancy Project by co-creating a ‘Client Brief’ with us; the project will next run from late July to mid-September and from early November to early January.
Our International Consultancy Project first ran in the autumn of 2024 and to date we have successfully worked in partnership with 3 different clients from diverse industries.
The ‘Client Brief’ would consist of an overview of your company and its products or services (including any publicly available information) plus an indication of 2-3 potential overseas target markets. We are happy to work through this with you to identify suitable potential markets depending on the nature of your business and your requirements and produce a suitable brief for the students. Each student will then produce a 4000-word consultancy report with the following guidelines:
You have been employed to act as a consultant for a UK business (Client) who is looking to [further] expand internationally. You are required to produce a report for the Client that examines the potential for international expansion. To produce the report, you are required to Integrate theoretical knowledge, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that you have gained and developed during your programme. You are required to undertake the following in your consultancy report:
- Provide an overview of your client’s organisation and products or services; include a consideration of any international experience to date if appropriate.
- Comparatively evaluate the following markets [X / Y / Z] in order to identify which market is the most attractive for your client to target [for either further market penetration or new market entry].
- Critically evaluate the various modes of entry that are relevant to your client and recommend – with justification – the most suitable mode or combination of modes of entry that will enable your client to enter into your recommended market.
- Identify and evaluate any issues related to ‘Ethics, Responsibility & Sustainability’ and any Cross-Cultural issues or challenges that your client may encounter when expanding into your recommended market; your evaluation must be within the context of your recommended market and entry mode(s).
- Depending on the nature of the client brief, you will also be required to review and evaluate any issues related to International Marketing OR International Supply Chain Management OR the Digital Environment of International Business that the client may encounter when expanding into the recommended market. Your evaluation must be within the context of your recommended market and entry mode(s).
If you are interested, we would be delighted to meet with you either on-line or in person to further discuss the potential to collaborate with you.
Many thanks for your consideration,
Dr Simon Ireland – S.Ireland@salford.ac.uk
Dr Adrian Monaghan – a.monaghan@salford.ac.uk