International Marketing

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

• 8. Decend work and economic growth

Objectives

This course aims to provide students with a framework for the development and implementation of international marketing programmes. Accordingly, students will learn relevant conceptual frameworks to tackle the five management decisions connected with the global marketing process:

1. whether to internationalize;
2. deciding which markets to enter;
3. deciding how to enter the foreign market;
4. designing the global marketing programme; and
5. implementing and coordinating the global marketing programme (Hollensen, 2012).

Learning outcomes

• Explain the role of global marketing in the firm.
• Identify drivers for global integration and market responsiveness.
• Discuss different ways of internationalising the value chain.

Competencies

General skills

• Show ability to adapt to contexts and changing business and social realities within a global environment.

Specific skills

• Analyse and understand the functioning of the market, nationally and internationally, for business decision making.
• Apply the fundamentals of marketing to define the strategic lines of the company in this field and adapt to new social and business needs.
• Devise integrated business plans for development of business initiatives.
• Lead an organisation and manage different operational units, identifying strengths and weaknesses in relation to the business strategy.

Basic skills

• Students can apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional manner and have competencies typically demonstrated through drafting and defending arguments and solving problems in their field of study.

Core skills

• Interact in international and worldwide contexts to identify needs and and new contexts for knowledge transfer to current and emerging fields of professional development, with the ability to adapt to and independently manage professional and research processes.
• Use oral, written and audiovisual forms of communication, in one's own language and in foreign languages, with a high standard of use, form and content.

Content

1. Introduction to global marketing
2. Initiation of internationalization
3. Elements of competitive advantage
4. Political and economic environments
5. Sociocultural environment
6. Segmentation, targeting, and positioning
7. Market entry strategies
8. Brand and product decisions in global marketing
9. Pricing decisions
10. Cross-cultural negotiations
11. Global marketing channels and physical distribution
12. Global marketing communication decisions

Evaluation

The final grade will be based on the work that students do throughout the course. The breakdown is as follows:

• Final group project: 30%
• Final comprehensive exam: 30%
• Midterm exam: 25%
• Class participation: 15%
• Total: 100%

Assessment detail

1. Group project (30%)
   • In this course, you will be required to complete a group project in order to gain hands-on experience in the development of international marketing strategies. Groups will be formed to work on the project. Each group is required to develop a marketing plan for a specific company to launch a selected existing product/brand into one of the following countries: China, India, Japan; Brazil, Mexico, South Africa; UK, France, Germany, Turkiye and Russia. You can choose any existing company, any existing product /brand, but please be aware that the brand or product you choose should NOT be marketed in the selected country yet. Please keep in mind that the marketing plan should be prepared in the format of a report to be presented to senior managers at the company you chose, requesting approval to proceed with the launch.
2. Midterm exam (25%)
3. Final comprehensive exam (30%)
   • The final exam is cumulative and the format will echo the quizzes.
4. Class participation (15%)
   • Students should be present at all classes in order to provide critical comments on the course materials and participate actively in the discussions. They are strongly encouraged to actively participate in class. This implies arriving on time, completing the reading before each class, and taking part in class discussions, debates, role plays etc.

Requirements to pass the course

Overall grade of, at least, 5 out of 10.

Late submissions

Late submission is not accepted. Otherwise, the grade will be 0 (zero).

Retake policy

Only 30% of the course's grade can be retaken, which corresponds to the final exam. Students who do not get a grade above or equal to 5 out 10 in the overall grade shall take the final resit exam for another chance to meet the aforementioned requirements.

Methodology

The course is primarily based on a mix of lectures (theory) and case studies (practice). In relation to lectures, they are inspired by the “flipped classroom” teaching strategy. After an introduction aimed at providing the theoretical knowledge needed, classes are intended to be practical. Students are required to read chapters of the textbook related to the class, and to prepare tasks, prior to coming to class. Classes consist of a brief lecture by the instructor, to be followed by a discussion of the main topics, and the assigned task. Main points about the chapters and all doubts brought up by the students will be addressed by the instructor during the class.

The presentation, analysis and discussion of cases are the main teaching method used in the course. A case study is normally the description of a managerial situation that the student has to analyse in order to make recommendations and answer some specific questions. Approximately 10 cases will be analysed during the course.

Throughout the course, cases will be solved in multinational teams of four students each. Teams will be self-selected to minimize the number of dysfunctional ones. Even so, a free rider may occasionally try to take advantage of other group members. To address a free rider problem, a group may fire one or more members until October 15th. After that date, group membership is permanent.

Almost every week, all teams will solve a case study. Before class, a written solution to each case of around two pages has to be submitted online to the lecturer, who will evaluate the analysis. A written solution to cases will answer the questions made at the end. It is advisable to visit websites of companies analysed in the cases, to increase and update information. During class time, cases will be discussed.

Additionally, short cases, role plays, and other learning activities will take place, which will be read, analysed, and discussed in class.

Bibliography

Key references

• Green, Mark C. & Keegan, Warren J. (2017). Global marketing (9 ed.). Pearson.
• Hollensen, Svend (2017). Global Marketing (7 ed.). Pearson.

Further reading

Teachers will provide complementary bibliography and compulsory reading throughout the course via the Virtual Campus.