Lesson Element

Unit 19: International business

Country profiling and SWOT analysis

Instructions and answers for tutors

These instructions cover the learner activity section which can be found on page 6. This Lesson Element supports Cambridge Technicals Level 3 in Business.

When distributing the activity section to the learners either as a printed copy or as a Word file you will need to remove the tutor instructions section.

The activity

In this lesson element groups of learners are asked to research a country. They then build up an economic profile of that country and produce a SWOT analysis for that country’s economy.

Suggested timings

  • Activity 1: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Activity 2: 1 hour

Version 11© OCR 2016

Activity 1

Assign your learners to groups (3 or 4 in each group) and ask them to research one country from the following:

BRIC economies:

  • Brazil
  • Russia
  • India
  • China

MINT economies:

  • Mexico
  • Indonesia
  • Nigeria
  • Turkey

Learners should use the template overleaf and build up an economic profile of the country being researched. Information can be found on Wikipedia by typing in “economy of….”.

Other websites useful for country profiling are:

CIA:

ELDIS:

World Bank:

Then ask learners to produce a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis for the country they have researched. They can use information from recent news reports for that country as well as their own previous research.

Each group’s findings could be collated into a pack and photocopied for the learners and/or uploaded onto the school/college VLE.

Fact sheet for
Capital city
Other major cities in country
Currency
GDP (nominal) + world ranking
GDP by sector (including %)
GDP per capita (PPP) + world ranking
Economic growth / GDP growth (%)
(most recent figures)
Main exports
Main export partners (including %)
Main imports
Main import partners (including %)
Average gross salary (per month)
Unemployment rate (%)
Ease of doing business index
(rank/out of)
SWOT analysis of: ______
Strengths / Weaknesses
Opportunities / Threats
Trade opportunities for UK firms?
How much trade does the UK do with this country? / What sort of goods and services are traded with the UK?

Activity 2

In a follow up lesson the groups could be given the task of presenting their findings to the other groups. They could be tasked with providing some visual aid, such as a poster, to aid their presentation. Posters could then be displayed around the classroom during the teaching of Unit 19.

Version 11© OCR 2016

Lesson Element

Unit 19: International business

Learner Activity

Country profiling and SWOT analysis

In this lesson element, you will work in small groups and research the economic profile of a country and then produce a SWOT analysis for that country’s economy.

Activity 1

Your group will be research a country from the following lists:

BRIC economies:MINT economies:

BrazilMexico

RussiaIndonesia

IndiaNigeria

ChinaTurkey

Using the template supplied build up an economic profile of the country you are researching.

Information can be found on Wikipedia by typing in “economy of….”

Other websites useful for country profiling are:

CIA:

ELDIS:

World Bank:

Your next task is then to produce a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis for that country. You can use information from recent news reports for that country as well as your own collected research.

Activity 2

Your task is to make a poster and present your findings on your country’s profile and economy to other groups in your class.

Version 11© OCR 2016