UPPSALA UNIVERSITY Department of Business Studies International Marketing (10p) Course syllabus & student guide Autumn 2007
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING COURSE - 10 POINTS Content This course introduces the international perspectives of marketing. The essence of the course is to reflect the realities of the international market environment & how the firm that operates in these environments are gearing their marketing activities. The realities of the interplay between the firm and the various market forces are specifically addressed. We will address the political, cultural, technological and financial dimensions and relating them to the firm and its product(s). Furthermore, the various market entry options, positioning and the strategic organising of various international activities and operations are addressed. Additionally, management aspects and how they relate to various international business activities will also be focused. Aim of the Course The course is designed to introduce the students to international markets, international marketing and the management of international business. Why this course is important can be reflected by the fact that the business in the global sphere has been increasing at unprecedented speed during the past decades and that growth in international trade has consistently exceeded growth in industrial output. Additionally, the disintegration of regional markets e.g. the former Soviet Block countries and the integration of new zones e.g. the European Union have direct consequence for business activities. Moreover, the present trend is a global skift in business structures with huge countries such as China and India as catalyst is an important aspect. These movements and the developments in information technologies have demanded and generated further internationalisation and co-operation between firms in a global context. Organization Teaching will be organized as lectures and seminars. The major idea underlying the structure of the course is that there should be connection between the course seminars, lectures and the final thesis. Each seminar is organized around a theme and during this period the students are required to work in teams. The students will be divided into work teams of 4 or 5 students. They are to follow the lectures and the seminars and present in writing the requested assignments to the teachers and other group members. Each seminar is NOT INDEPENDENT of the previous seminar(s). The knowledge from each seminar must become input in the subsequent seminar. Furthermore, the final paper that is based on research of a selected firm must include the knowledge gained from the seminars as well as from the lectures, both theoretical as well as guest lectures. Seminar and guest lecture participation is compulsory.
2 The course consists of a series of lectures and seminars. The structure of the lectures and seminars are discussed below. Lectures The lectures will present a broad perspective on International Marketing. The aim is not to prove specific ideas. Instead, the focus is to generate ideas, encourage research and understanding of the available concepts. Furthermore, the lectures are not intended to provide the students ready-made solutions. Rather, the students should consider the lectures and the lecturers as resources that could help in the formation of knowledge concerning international business and also to the understanding of theoretical concepts. Each lecture will focus on specific dimensions of International Marketing. The readings for each lecture can be easily identified in the text book. Lecture 1. Introduction Lecture Book Chapters 1 and 2 Lecture 2. International Marketing Environment: Environment issues such as political and cultural aspects and how they interact on marketing will be the main focus in this lecture. Book Section 2 Lecture 3. Organizing the International marketing Process: This lecture considers the motives for going international and to discuss a range of alternatives available for the firms to organise their operations and its activities in the internationalisation processes. Book Section 4 Lecture 4. Strategy: This final lecture is devoted to the subject of strategy, positioning and operations. Here we discuss why and how firms position products in the market. Book Section 4 The seminars The seminars are an important component of the course. The seminars are divided into three groups. Seminar EXTRA, the first seminar is to introduce the student to IT and its 2
3 usage in research in International Marketing. This involves two sessions in the library. The second set of seminars, seminars 1-3, is devoted to theory work. The students will, on their own and in team, search, find, study, evaluate & write about specific theoretical aspects connected to international marketing. The students are expected to present the material those are foundations for their work. Specific assignments will be assigned to the teams. The final seminar is assigned to the final thesis. Students will have to search information regarding specific industries, markets, products, firms etc. Each individual seminar must be connected to the consequent seminar. What is expected is that the seminar papers those are written and presented illustrate what the students have gained in knowledge terms from antecedent seminars and the lectures. The teacher will evaluate each paper in relation to how previous knowledge from the seminars are integrated. Furthermore, observations will be focused on how discussions are presented by individual group members and individual teams. In this manner the whole set of seminars will be evaluated in totality. During the seminar it will be possible for the group to follow how their work had faired and what improvements they might have to provide in consequent seminars to increase the value of their contribution. The evaluation process for the seminars is done not individually but in totality. All the three seminar papers, the discussions based upon each single seminar plus active individual participation will be the basis for the final evaluation. IMPORTANT: Seminars 1,2 and 3: Each team must search for, read and use at least 1 reviewed articles in International Journals. In seminars 2 and 3 each team will also present the reviewed article they had chosen, design two question they think is important in the article, present the question and discuss the answer. There will be no formal opposition on the reviewed articles:. For the final thesis ) each team must find two (2) articles and those articles must related to the subject they will study. For example, if a team would study a joint venture between firms in two countries then they must find articles related to that issue. SEMINAR OPPOSITION: The opposition should be conducted in the following manner. In seminars 1,2 and 3 the authors will not present the paper. It is the opponent s task. This should take at most 10 minutes. The opponents have to prepare a one-page commentary about the counterpart s paper and hand it over to your class teacher before the seminar starts. The opposition commentary must cover (1) what is good about the other team s paper (2) what is not so good, giving critical remarks about it and (3) how the paper could be improved. However, the authors (please note!) must present their 3
4 finding themselves in the final seminar but the opposition will discuss the papers. Furthermore, for all seminars make comments and corrections in the paper itself and hand it over to the teacher directly on the day of the seminar-before the opposition begins. Writing: The written material should be easy to read. Line spacing must be 1,5. Any divergence in line spacing is not acceptable. The structure of the seminars is as follows: Seminar EXTRA: Internet usage in Marketing Research. This seminar that is conducted in co-operation with EKONOMIKUM library is intended to introduce the students to specifically search for information connected to International Marketing. Seminar 1: Understanding the various definitions of international business: Global marketing, International Marketing, Multinational Firm, Global firm, Transitional Firms, International Market, & Global Market. The instructions for seminar Nr. 1: The students are expected to 'plunder' the literature in the specific field. They should then make a 3 page written report in which they present how authors had defined the definitions and under what foundation(s) and also discuss their importance to a firm with regard to marketing. The team is also responsible to formulate a specific, relevant and interesting question which maybe discussed after the presentation of the findings. For seminar 1, each team must provide detailed information about the definitions, differences and why specific authors define the terms somewhat differently. It means that you must identify and illustrate how they define the terminology and why such definitions are made. In order to complete the seminar paper and presentation, each team must identify the specific variables and their meanings in specific structures. Every team is responsible to formulate a relevant and interesting question which maybe discussed after the presentations. The subject of the questions will cover the issues mentioned below. The questions are: Group 1: Markets Group 2: Firms Group 3: Marketing 4
5 Group 4: Global Markets - international markets Group 5: International firms - global firms Group 6: Multi-domestic firms - Multinational firms Group 7: Global marketing - international marketing Group 8: Developments in the Indian and Chines economies and consequence for western firms Seminar 2 Understanding the various environment factors that interact with markets and International firms. These factors are: politics & government, culture, legal environment, financial systems and competition. The students are expected to again 'plunder' the literature relevant to the themes chosen and prepare a report about their findings. We expect the teams to illustrate why these concepts are important for international marketing. The seminar paper in 3 pages must also contain the analysis of the dynamics in these various areas. Dynamics should be considered in terms of change processes i.e. the antecedent-consequent processes. Every team is responsible to formulate a relevant and interesting question which maybe discussed after the presentations. The subject of the questions will cover the issues mentioned above. The Instructions for seminar 2: In International Business a firm comes into contact with a set of factors which might vary from one country to another. For most countries those factors are more or less fixed (can be discussed) while there are indications that, at least in some parts of the world, they are in rapid transition. For the International Marketer these factors play an important role in their marketing activities. If these factors are fixed then it will be difficult to influence them and consequently the marketer is forced to adapt his or her marketing activities to the structural rules set forward by the uncontrollable factors. On the other hand, if these factors are in transition, the marketer should be aware of the direction and content of the changes and adapt his activities to the changing conditions. The focus for our second seminar will be Environment and Marketing. Your role, as a marketing scholar, is to understand these factors and discuss how they can influence the marketing activities of the firm and the decision process of the operative managers. The assignment for seminar 2 will be as follow: 1) Politics and its influence to the Global Firms 2) The Legal Systems & its influence to Global Firms 3) The Technological Environment & its importance to 5
6 Global Firms 4) Language & its influence to the Global Firms OR 5) Culture & its influence to the Global Firms 6) The Financial Systems & its influence to Global Firms OR 7) The International Trade Systems & its implication to the International /Global Manager PS. Remember to formulate a relevant question and an answer which will be taken up for discussion after the paper presentations. The subject for the questions should cover the topics above. Seminar34: Understanding the tactical aspects of International marketing. The tactical aspects include direct and indirect marketing operation modes (licensing, franchising, project selling, direct investments etc.), marketing-mix, logistics (communication and distribution). Similar to seminars 1 and 2, each group is instructed to write a 3 page report covering a specific area in the tactical aspects of the International Business. The teams are also responsible to formulate a relevant question interesting to be discussed in the seminar. The instructions for seminar Nr. 3: The international firms select one or several operation modes for the marketing of their products. A firm will select one specific type of marketing mode because of the factors influencing such as the characteristics of the foreign market and product. Each operation mode requires specific types of marketing mixes and logistics. Your role is to research and understand the type of operational mode assigned and define its comparative advantages and disadvantages. The discussion should be addressing the management issues of international marketing. You should try to relate the discussion to the subjects discussed in the previous seminars and lectures. Accordingly, your assignment for the seminar 4 will be as follows: 1) BOT/BOO Projects and the management of international marketing 2) Joint-venture and management of international marketing 3) Licensing and management of international marketing Or 4) Franchising and management of international marketing 5) Piggybacking and management of international marketing 6) Internationalisation Process-Uppsala Model 6
7 Similar to the earlier seminars you must; a) provide a 3-page report, b) formulate a relevant question and an answer that could be taken up for discussion after the paper presentations. 7
8 Research on Positioning in International Market Book Section 3 Final Seminar and individual discussion with seminar instructors. The teams are, at a very early stage of the course (first week!), responsible to establish contacts with a firm with international business activities. Each team should find a relevant firm or a research issue connected to International Business at an early stage of the course work. Directly after getting contact with a firm a one page written material must be handed over to the seminar instructor giving the name of the firm (or any aspect of an international business issue) and the subject of research. In this paper (i.e. a paper must be prepared latest 2 weeks from course start) you may also present the company chosen for the project work and the aim of the thesis ( theory or model that may be applied and the chosen methodology will be discussed with the teacher subsiquently). The information should be summarized in a 1-page group report. The students are requested to continuously be in contact with the seminar instructors and the opposition group members to discuss their final research work. Final Paper (Thesis) (consist of Project work A and Project work B) Project works A and B papers jointly constitute the final thesis in the course. It is an important part of the course and will be useful to judge HOW individuals and individual teams have learned about the subject matter. One, knowledge from the previous seminars should be integrated in the research work. Two, the students must describe HOW the chosen firm and its products are performing in the international market. Three, the paper should also focus to understand How individual firms make strategic entry choices and discuss why such choices are superior to alternatives. Finally, the research data should be used to analyse HOW the firm is positioned in the selected market.. The papers will be discussed in the last seminar and it should contain two types of study; Project work A: project work about the firm and its global market representation and competitive position (4 pages) and Project work B: project work specific market positioning (10 pages). The paper for the final seminar (Project work B ) must also include the work from (Project work A). Although Project A will be discussed 8
9 individually with the teacher and in the final seminar the PM must be integrated to the PM handled in the last seminar. However, the focus of discussion in Final seminar will be Project work B. Information about these two papers is presented below. Project work A- Firm and market The discussion in this seminar is the "triggering cue" to the final essay. This PM must be focused to describe th chosen firm in terms of its product(s), function, technology, history, global market position including competion and maybe other activities (production, alliances etc). It is upto the team to select most relevant information. This information material should help the individual team to focus their interest on a specific and interesting international marketing theme that can be treated in their final essay. This PM should be carefully written and distributed to the other teams who should critically examine its contents. The other teams in the group will become resource persons in order to help the focal team to stringently specify the issue and aim of the final investigation (essay work). Additionally, it is necessary to bear in mind that their work must be in consensus with international business theory(ies). This in turn obligate that the students read the literature, attends lectures and actively participates in the seminars throughout the course. Furthermore, it might be useful to develop a wider contact within and between the teams. This will improve the chances of producing a good quality product at the final end. Project work B market Positioning The project work should result in a thesis. The work initially starts from the beginning of the course and group meetings are to assist the authors in different ways. When you select a company, formulate the research problem and develop the conceptual framework, it is necessary for the groups to contact the responsible teacher for assistance. The project work is a very important part of the total study program. You will learn time-planning, to penetrate specific problem(s), to train your skills in searching for the relevant material and choose the essential parts from this, also to examine critically the material, present it orally and in writing and to defend your views with factual arguments. The aim of the project work is to test the theory basis of the literature on real conditions in a company and market by describing and analysing a specific situation of a company in an international market. Pick a company with international market activities, (e.g., export, direct import, production abroad etc.). The company should be chosen by giving consideration to data availability (e.g. supplier and customer situation, market share, competition and finally maybe information leading to an overall firm, market and marketing analysis. 9
10 Reference to other literature, research etc. are offered in conjunction with the seminars and by appointment with your seminar leader. To write and copy The number of pages in the final paper should be maximum 15 pages. You should bind together the papers (A) & (B). The authors are responsible for writing and copying their own thesis. There should be one copy of the thesis for each of the participants in the seminar group and two copies for the teacher. Seminar paper exchanges The papers for seminars 1, 2, 3 papers must be distributed 24 hours prior to seminar. Project Work B paper 48 hours before seminar. Time planning Each report is to be distributed to the other team in each group at time and date indicated below. Meeting place for exchange is outside the student s office, i.e. the second floor directly outside the office of the Department of Business Studies.. One copy must be deposited in the mailbox of the teacher responsible for the seminar group. If technology permits we might have paper exchange activities via e-mail. However, the teacher MUST get a hard copy of the final thesis. It is essential that the team reports and thesis are ready in good time. The authors should therefore already at the beginning of the series of seminars, or preferably some time ahead, draw up a work plan. Good planning is best done through active work with a planning object. Use your work on the thesis for this purpose. It will render better results and valuable experience in co-ordinating your resources. Examination The examination is divided into two sections. The seminar work and the final thesis will give 7 points (2 points for seminars and 5 points for thesis) and the written exam another 3 points. This brings the total number of points to 10 for the whole course. To get distinction in the whole course the students are required that they pass with distinctions the seminars and the written exam. In addition, we want to point out that seminar attendance is compulsory. There is no allowance for absence. Individual participation in the discussions will be an added qualification for distinction. Course Literature: 1:.Cateora & Ghauri (1999), International Marketing, Mcgraw-Hill International (U.K.). 10
11 2: Selected Readings in International Marketing, Department of Business Studies, Uppsala. 11