The role of senior consultant within the area of Business Development for ‘Brown Thomas’ department store

Assignment Scenario

You have just been appointed to the role of senior consultant within the area of Business Development for ‘Brown Thomas’ department store. Brown Thomas is Ireland’s most prestigious department store with outlets in Cork, Limerick and Galway as well as its flagship store on Grafton street in Dublin. The owners of Brown Thomas, Wittington Investments are very keen to seek a return on their investment by internationalising their business. The aim is to further growth of the business within some of the major economies of the world.

The senior business development manager has asked you to prepare a concise business report focusing on 1 Country together with an assessment of the general external environment and existing levels of competition. Please remember just 1 country is needed.

The countries that Brown Thomas are considering expand into are:

• China (as this is such a large country please focus on 1 particular regiong North Eastern, Eastern or Southern China)
• Germany
• UK
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Germany
• U.S.A
• Japan

You have been directed to select 1 country. You do not have to choose any other countries.

You must analyse the company’s general and competitive environments and put forward key recommendations as to Brown Thomas’s international expansion. The overall strategic goal being to achieve long term growth opportunities for the business.

Assignment Tasks:

1. General External Environment

Conduct a PEST analysis on any one country listed above and analyse how these PEST factors may affect Brown Thomas if they chose to enter this market.      (40 marks)

2. Competitive Environment

For your selected country, conduct a competitive analysis utilising the five forces of competition analysis as outlined by Michael Porter. You must also classify whether the overall threat/power of these forces is low, medium or high, justifying your points.    (20 marks)

3. Conclusions and Recommendations

Draw conclusions as to the issues that you have analysed. Assess the overall suitability of the country you have analysed as a market for expansion.

Put forward key recommendations as to how Brown Thomas should proceed in the future in terms of their international expansion.                                                    (20 marks)

Structure and Presentation   (10 marks)

Referencing   (10 marks)