ANU International Business Plan Competition

Established in 2011, the ANU International Business Plan (IBP) Competition has been a crucial component of the Research School of Management’s International Business Course. The competition is implemented as a form of work integrated learning that provides students with a unique and authentic learning experience over the entire semester. The competition is supported by the Australian National University, Canberra Business Chamber, the ACT Government and Canberra Innovation Network.

The principal objective of the IBP competition is to allow students to work as consultants for live Australian SMEs (regardless of their size, industry, and international experience). Each live client (7-10) will have 3 or 4 student teams competing to prepare the best international market expansion plan for them.

Students, working in groups of 3 or 4 members, will undertake market screening exercises and identify the best and newest foreign market for an SME to expand into. Students will then propose a suitable market entry strategy and a comprehensive set of international marketing mix elements for the firm.

At the end of the semester, students will make professional presentations to their designated clients and their peers at the end of the semester via a series of conference-style sessions.

The winners of the competition will be jointly chosen by the course convenor and representatives of the business clients. The winning team will be the team achieving the highest aggregate results of three activities, including:

• The final international business plan; and
• The competitive presentation of key recommendations and findings.

Companies that participated in previous competitions