Scenario

Congratulations, your positive and decisive presentation on Michael Hill's ESG Practices and Initiatives impressed the executive leadership team and your consulting firm has won the consulting contract. The executive leadership team now wants to continue working with you on another project they have in the pipeline for the same brand.

After successful business in New Zealand and Australian market, Michael Hill's leadership team is aiming to expand their business in Germany. However, the team understands that international expansion is a risky decision and must be based on careful evaluation of company's existing resources and capabilities, and the competitive landscape of the new region.

Your task is to research different factors that could positively or negatively impact the successful entry and operation of Michael Hill in Germany, and propose if this expansion is a good strategic decision for the company . For this, you will utilise your knowledge of SWOT analysis, competitor analysis and PESTEL analysis, and use S&P's Capital IQ Pro along with other online resources to gather and interpret all relevant information.

You will be reporting directly to April Ward, Michael Hill's Chief Executive Officer. Mrs. Ward doesn't want a detailed report but would prefer you to present a high-level analysis focused on three things. Firstly, an analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses of the company that can facilitate or impede its successful launch and expansion in the new region. Second, conducting competitors analysis and highlighting competitive advantage of the company (if any). Third, recognising potential threats and opportunities offered by the macro-economic context of the foreign country.

Mrs Ward has indicated that she is a very visual learner and suggested that you should present your findings in an infographic https://graphicmama.com/blog/what-is-infographic/(Links to an external site.).

Your Tasks

Your tasks for this assignment are as follows:

a). Use Capital IQ Pro, and other relevant online resources, to gather information about

1. Strengths and weaknesses of the company
2. Existing competitors of the company in the targeted country
3. Opportunities and threats presented by the macro-economic context of the targeted country

https://www.capitaliq.spglobal.com/web/client?auth=inherit#news/home

b). Construct an infographic that includes the following:

1. A SWOT analysis highlighting two strengths of the company, two weaknesses of the company, two opportunities presented by the macro-economic context of the targeted country and two threats presented by the macro-economic context of the targeted country.
2. A competitor analysis of at least two competitors in the foreign country

c).Using your analyses, a recommendation as to whether expansion in the targeted country is an appropriate decision for the company this year.

Note: Use your knowledge of the SWOT analysis, Competitor analysis and PESTEL framework to comprehensively analyse the factors that will impact the company's decision making. The infographic must clearly justify why expanding in the target country is a good/bad strategic decision for the company this year. Your recommendation and reasoning should be very clear.

Please make sure to acknowledge sources, for example in footnotes.

You should imagine that your infographic will be presented on a large screen and that you have an A2 sized sheet of paper on which to work.

Make sure your infographic is focused, easy-to-follow, and uses engaging visuals.

Recommended tools for creating infographic

• Word, PowerPoint, Adobe Creative Cloud
• Online tools (such as Canva (https://www.canva.com/(Links to an external site.)) or Piktochart (https://piktochart.com/(Links to an external site.))