International Business: Research Methods and Trade Analysis Report

This report provides an analysis of Export Development Canada (EDC), focusing on its role in export development within Canada. The report begins with an introduction and then explores several points illustrating the value EDC adds to companies, including success stories like IMAX, Sea Star Seafoods, and G3. It identifies potential export markets for EDC, such as Switzerland, and discusses major trends within the sector, including open banking and digital payment methods. The report also examines EDC's ability to gain a competitive advantage through international networks, innovation, and skilled workforce. The report concludes by summarizing EDC's impact on various businesses, highlighting its support for both large and small companies, and its contribution to creating value and competitive advantages. The report also provides details about the health and wellness sector and the opportunity for EDC to work with the health and social care organizations. The report also mentions the importance of technology and the use of latest and modern software to gain competitive advantage. The report also mentions the need for joint ventures with local brands to achieve higher competitive advantage.

Running head: RESEARCH METHODS AND TRADE
Research methods and trade
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Points to illustrate value addition to the company.....................................................................3
Markets to export to...................................................................................................................4
Major trends within the sector....................................................................................................5
Organisation’s ability to gain competitive advantage................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The report is prepared to discuss about the export development in Canada considering
the business organisation named Export Development Canada. With the help of development
of export and trade activities, many businesses all over Canada have managed to gain
success, irrespective of the size and industry from which these business belong (Edc.ca,
2019). The topic will also highlight the major points that represent the addition of value and
benefits to the company and also to the other businesses that have been operating within the
Canadian business environment.
Points to illustrate value addition to the company
1. The Great Human Adventure
To create a great human adventure, the Export Development Canada has supported
IMAX and created a great movie viewing experience to transform filmmaking. The theatre
and film technologies have also benefited the movie theatres and multiplexes by going
beyond the cinematic storytelling and allowed for development of knowledge, information,
media and entertainment that can represent great human adventure and also create a great
experience for the people while watching movies (Bamiatzi et al., 2016). The supply chains
of IMAX are integrated with advanced projection technology, theatre design, sound, camera,
which has also helped in transforming the movie viewing experience for the people all over
the world. The success stories of EDC also include the IMAX becoming a global
phenomenon, which has also thrilled the people to watch movies in the theatre and at the
same time, partnered with the IMAX venture through financial support (Tidd & Bessant,
2018). This has also helped the international customers to make purchases of the equipment
and machineries from IMAX as well as influenced the shareholders to make investments for
enhancing the financial condition.

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2. Sea Star Seafoods: The Atlantic’s Flagship
Another major success story revolves around the business organization named Sea Star
Seafoods, which is a major Atlantic Flagship company that sells salt water fish. The entire
island named Cape Sable Island is surrounded by great quality aquatic life, which has also
helped many fisherman and the company to acquire a good amount of fishes and supply those
all over Canada (Guttmann, 2016). Sea Star Seafoods has managed sustainable measures and
ensured using the scopes and opportunities wisely to make sure that any negative
environmental impact is not created on the aquatic life and at the same time, sustainable
farming is possible. The company has become a major client of Export Development Canada
or EDC to ensure that the risks of fishing could be resolved and the client base could be
strengthened (Coleman, 2016). With the partnership working, the company has managed to
gain unprecedented success by exporting the products to more than 20 markets all over,
furthermore maintained the values and beliefs of the family generations in the future too
(Filipović, 2018). EDC has also helped the company to maintain the organisational values,
beliefs and principles, furthermore maintained positive reputation to ensure contributing
towards the environment as well as ensure growth and development in the upcoming days to
come.
3. G3: Pushing the boundaries of the Backcountry
The Export Development Canada or EDC has allowed a young business entrepreneur to
transform his own home based business to one of the major manufacturers of ski equipment
in the various locations of North America. The individual named Oliver made sure to design
the ski equipment in such a manner that it could be inclined with the Mountain equipment
Co-op and soon the products become popular among the people (Riasi, 2015). The Export
Development Canada further provide a helping hand to Oliver by granting loans, which

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assisted him to afford the necessary things required to facilitate the production process and at
the same time, ensured gradual growth and development of the G3 (Grosse, 2016). The home
based business soon turned into one of the major producers of the ski equipment, which
gained popularity and soon became a craze among the people in North America.
Markets to export to
Export Development Canada deals with the provision of solutions regarding the
expanding the business on the basis of the risks. The company takes away the risks and
worries of the clients, which reflects the conscious approach towards enhancing the corporate
social responsibility. Provision of solutions to the clients is assistance to the clients in terms
of expanding their business dynamics. One of the striking features of the company is sharing
the market knowledge (Canadianbusiness.com, 2019). Export Development Canada can
export their business to the markets of Switzerland. Open access and approved criteria of
expansion plans is necessary for legalizing the globalization plans. The Commercial Country
Ceiling (CCC) Risk Rating is used for mapping the impacts of the expansion (Edc.ca, 2019).
This rating acts as an agent in terms of examining the nature of the commercial business of
the country in which the business is going to be expanded.
Explicit research about Switzerland reflects that the professional relationship with
Canada is stable. This stability indicates the financial aid and assistance, which can develop
lucrative schemes, discounts and offers for the clients and the customers. Healthy economy of
Switzerland would set the ground for Export Development Canada to attach secure
foundation in the market (Financialpost.com, 2019). Trade is high in Switzerland market,
which provides access to the foreign companies to settle their business. Numerous industries
attempt to accumulate lion’s share of the market. According to the estimates, the GDP in
2020 in Switzerland is to rise by 0.4% (Admin.ch, 2019). The annual growth rate would

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increase by 1.7%. Stability in the trade contradicts the tax obligations in the import and
export activities, assisting the foreign companies to settle their business in the market. Skilled
and qualified workforce would be one of the biggest strengths, which EDC can avail for
extracting the required labour in the foreign markets.
High tech nature of the market necessitates the need for latest and modern software,
which needs proper budget planning for averting the instances of straining the financial
resources. Conducting joint ventures with the local brands would be beneficial in terms of
achieving higher competitive advantage (Tradecommissioner.gc.ca, 2019). The EDC supports
technological advancements that have often benefited the business while the influencing of
shareholders has further contributed to the management of goof financial amount require to
manage business and enable innovation all throughout.
Considering the health and wellness sector of Canada, there have been great export
opportunities for EDC to work with the health and social care organisations for dealing with
chronic diseases and make the lives of people easier to gain access to the health care services.
The EDC has also supported the Rizhao City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and
Rizhao City Economic Development Corp to gain good financial condition and at the same
time, maage the costs associated with the acute care, which has helped in dealing with the
chronic diseases (Bamiatzi et al., 2016). The company also arranged various health care
campaigns and introduced health care facilities that worked in a project jointly to overcome
the chronic diseases furthermore. There was though language difference, which created major
barrier, though with the support of EDC, the health care facilities managed to overcome this
barrier and made sure to sustain in the competitive business environment (Edc.ca, 2019).
Canada is always known for its delivery of great quality products that can meet the
standards and criteria for Health Canada standards and Good Manufacturing Practice-

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certification. Due to this, the demands and expectations are high from the customers’ point of
view as well and one such great example could be the McKinsey and Company. In China,
cardiac issues and Type 2 diabetes are common, which has also made McKinsey to
understand the changing demands of customers and made sure to deliver healthy food items
for improving their health and wellbeing (Mckinsey.com, 2019). The EDC provided a
helping hand here also to ensure exporting to these markets with ease and effectiveness.
Major trends within the sector
Open banking and business model innovation is one of the emerging trends in the
business environment of the banking or financial sector. Full stack banks are expected to set
the grounds for distributors and marketplace models, making valuable contributions towards
the enhancement of the economy. Revision of the vision and strategies would enhance the
awareness of the clients and the customers regarding the roles and responsibilities of the
product manufacturers, marketplace operators, distributors and others. Along with this, Singh
et al., (2018) highlights that plans are also been made for upgrading the customer experience.
This is through the means of installing the business performance metrics along with the
performance management systems. This would help in calculating the accounts gained and
lost. Within this, mention can be made of the journey mapping, which would be beneficial in
terms of assessing the approach of the customers towards the levied services. Installation of
the digital payment methods is expected to alter the dynamics of the supply chain network
(Edc.ca, 2019).
Along with this, mention can be made of maturation of API, which would allow the
third parties to intervene into the operations and transact on behalf of the retail and corporate
banking customers. Revisions in the value propositions would add focus into the customer
centric innovations in API, enhancing the offerings. Apart from this, Lasserre, (2017) makes

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mention of the anti-virus, which would be effective in terms of averting the instances of
cybercrimes. Inspection of the anti-viruses is needed in terms of securing the confidential
data and the financial statements (Noe et al., 2017). All these trends would be crucial for
EDC in terms of systematizing the expansion plans to Switzerland according to the latest
requirements.
Organisation’s ability to gain competitive advantage
From the success stories only, it could be clearly understood that the Export
Development Canada had managed to gain unprecedented success by benefiting multiple
companies and allowed them to manage value creation al throughout. Not only does the
company facilitated the performance of large companies, but also supported small business
owners and transformed those to large and reputed business organisation to attain new
heights of success and gain competitive advantage too (Meihami & Meihami, 2014). The
organisation do possess great skills, abilities and knowledge to attain competitive edge and
this has been possible with the help of forming great international networks, fostered the
development of a great culture that promotes innovation, helped in managing acqusitions and
sharing of knowledge, furthermore recruited the rightly skilled workers at all levels to ensure
steady and consistent business functioning all throughout the business functions and
processes (Edc.ca, 2019).
The Export Development Canada has managed to form effective teams that possess
relevant sets of skills, knowledge and expertise required to managing the export activities and
at the same time, remains aligned with the partner strategy for strengthening the international
networks too. This has also helped in managing international business developments and at
the same time, drove the development efforts put by business (Singh et al., 2018). The EDC
has also encouraged the companies to foster the development of innovation culture, which

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ensured implementation of the Blue Ocean strategy that influenced proposition of value along
with gaining competitive advantage in business as well (Tidd & Bessant, 2018). Not only
does the company specialises in business development efforts, but also the company has
supported many companies through delivery of marketing intelligence along with advice for
improving the ability to enter foreign markets, select the right individuals within the
workplace and remain inclined with the right business planning through effective financial
and human resources management.
Conclusion
The report was prepared to discuss about the success stories in terms of trade
activities managed by the company named Export Development Canada. The success stories
included IMAX, G3 and another business that were supported by EDC both financially as
well as in terms of information and knowledge management, which further helped in value
creation, innovation and ensured attaining competitive advantage in business as well. The
company, being a major export credit agency, also managed to provide support and enter the
new foreign markets, where exports should be done and this would facilitate the international
business management in a successful manner too.

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References
Bamiatzi, V., Bozos, K., Cavusgil, S. T., & Hult, G. T. M. (2016). Revisiting the firm,
industry, and country effects on profitability under recessionary and expansion
periods: A multilevel analysis. Strategic management journal, 37(7), 1448-1471.
Canadianbusiness.com (2019). Canadian business. Retrieved 6th June 2019 from
https://www.canadianbusiness.com/
Coleman, W. D. (2016). Financial services, globalization and domestic policy change.
Springer.
Edc.ca (2019). About us. Retrieved 6th June 2019 from https://www.edc.ca/
Filipović, M. (2018). Governments, banks and global capital: securities markets in global
politics. Routledge.
Financialpost.com (2019). End of an era as Bombardier eyes exiting regional jet business.
Retrieved 6th June 2019 from https://business.financialpost.com/
Grosse, R. (2016). How emerging markets firms will become global leaders. International
Journal of Emerging Markets, 11(3), 274-287.
Guttmann, R. (2016). Finance-led capitalism: shadow banking, re-regulation, and the future
of global markets. Springer.

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Lasserre, P. (2017). Global strategic management. Macmillan International Higher
Education.
Mckinsey.com (2019). About us. Retrieved 6th June 2019 from https://www.mckinsey.com/ca
Meihami, B., & Meihami, H. (2014). Knowledge Management a way to gain a competitive
advantage in firms (evidence of manufacturing companies). International letters of
social and humanistic sciences, 3(14), 80-91.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Riasi, A. (2015). Competitive advantages of shadow banking industry: An analysis using
Porter diamond model. Business Management and Strategy, 6(2), 15-27.
Singh, D., Pattnaik, C., Gaur, A. S., & Ketencioglu, E. (2018). Corporate expansion during
pro-market reforms in emerging markets: The contingent value of group affiliation
and diversification. Journal of Business Research, 82, 220-229.
Tidd, J., & Bessant, J. R. (2018). Managing innovation: integrating technological, market
and organizational change. John Wiley & Sons.
Tradecommissioner.gc.ca (2019). The Canadian Trade Commission Service. Retrieved 6th
June 2019 from https://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/videos.aspx?lang=eng