MKT 7500 INTERNATIONAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
Winter 2003

TEXTS:

Vern Terpstra and Ravi Sarathy, International Marketing , 8^th Edition (The Dryden Press, 2000). 

REFERENCE TEXTS AND COURSE MATERIALS ON THE WEB: 

Michael R. Czinkota and Ilkka A. Ronkainen, International Marketing, 6^th Edition (the Dryden Press, 2002). 

Mike A. Kotabe and K. Helsen, Global Marketing Management, 3^rd Edition (John Wiley and Sons, 2001). 

Attila Yaprak and Hulya Tutek, Eds., Globalization, the Multinational Firm and Emerging Economies, (The JAI Press, 2000). 

George S.Yip, Total Global Strategy, 2^nd Edition (Prentice Hall, Inc.,  2002). 

Visit http://www.cis.wayne.edu/cibs/yaprak/home/html for course materials and handouts. 

RELEVANT SCHOLARLY JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS: 

Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of International Marketing, Harvard Business Review, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Advances in International Marketing, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist.

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND CENTRAL THEME:

International Marketing Management is a problem-solving-oriented marketing course designed for first-year graduate students who expect to undertake marketing assignments as part of their career paths to general management, and students planning functional careers in multinational, global, and internationalizing enterprises. 

My objective in this course is to present a systematic application of strategic marketing in the global environment. To achieve this objective, I present an integrated treatment of conceptual and managerial issues in contemporary international marketing based on the state of the art research in the field. The focus of the course is on the conceptual formulation of comprehensive marketing strategies by North American, Japanese and European multinationals competing in global industries.  The integrated presentation of operations and policy issues is blended with discussions that focus on the operational dynamics of global competition, highlighting key issues emphasized in the current literature. 

The course is designed to provide an appreciation for cross-functional and interdisciplinary perspectives. This is because today’s global operations increasingly require these proficiencies in managing core business processes. For example, product development teams today include managers from finance and engineering, even from disciplines such as anthropology and sociology, in addition to marketing. They also include professionals from multiple national cultures, such as German and American managers working together at Daimler Chrysler and American, British, and German engineers working with anthropologists and demographers on new car projects at Ford Motor Company.  

In the course, you will develop a critical appreciation for the external forces that are increasingly shaping the marketing manager’s job in the global economy.  You will learn when to use different product/market strategies, when to standardize or adapt marketing programs, and when to centralize or decentralize marketing decision making.  You will also learn about organizing international marketing operations for maximum effectiveness. Ultimately, you will develop the skills that are necessary to recognize, analyze, and evaluate marketing problems encountered in global business operations. 

This is accomplished through integrative themes I have built into the content of the course. International marketing is, in both its theory and practice, a cross-functional and interdisciplinary phenomenon. It requires, and in turn facilitates, the development of interdisciplinary, cross-functional, historical, ethical, and technological skills. The acquisition and internalization of these skills by young managers leads to the development of a global orientation that is culturally sensitive and strategic in practice, yet based on theory. For instance, better understanding of the evolution of the new world economic order and the roles that anthropology, sociology, politics, legal traditions, the arts, and the norms and values of societies have played, and continue to play, on global business help foster greater appreciation for an interdisciplinary perspective on global business.  In light of all these , the course is designed so that you will learn about: 

While in the course, you will also:  

• Develop the unique decision-making skills needed for successfully managing international marketing operations;
• Reinforce the learning you have acquired in other courses as you apply their concepts and tools in global marketing contexts;
• Acquire knowledge about the tools and frameworks needed for entering into, and expanding from, foreign markets; and,
• Learn about selected countries, regions, and cultures of the world along with learning about the behavior of their businesses.

The course is built around a central theme, that developing and sustaining a superior value proposition and delivering it effectively to customers worldwide is the key to creating value for the firm and its stakeholders. We focus on  the role that marketing might play in creating that superior value for the firm, on strategy, strategizing and global competitiveness, and on the delivery of the firm’s value proposition more efficiently and effectively than competitiors in relevant world markets. Our premise is that due to the confluence of globalization and technology, customers today are becoming increasingly sophisticated, their preferences and expectations are constantly changing, and new opportunity segments are continuously evolving around the globe. To compete effectively in this world, and thus in sustaining long term growth in both profitability and market share, the global business must learn to provide superior value to customers worldwide through attracting and retaining a loyal customer base. We also believe that effective competition around the globe requires global market orientation, that is, developing and executing strategy based on a thorough understanding of the firm’s goals and capabilities, its customers and relevant competitors, and the business context within which the firm competes. We believe that it is this mindset that provides the foundation for developing superior competitive strategy, and drives long-term profitability, and builds competitiveness and growth for the firm around the world.  

In sum, the course is built around the premise that competing successfully in the global environment will require that managers (a) excel in identifying and serving market opportunities effectively; (b) are able to create and sustain operational capabilities and relationship networks with partners in both inside and outside the firm; and (c) are capable of guiding and communicating the firm’s value proposition to current and future customers more effectively and efficiently than relevant competitors.  

COURSE PEDAGOGY, RESOURCES AND GRADING: 

The course is designed to help students develop problem solving skills in global business contexts. To help achieve this, it is taught in a lecture and case discussion format. The lectures present key concepts in global strategic thinking while case discussions sharpen students’ skills in analytical problem-solving situations. While the lectures are key in internalizing salient content knowledge in global business, case discussions are key in developing the problem-solving and communication skills valued so highly in management practice. Discussions of cases are also valuable in familiarizing you (today’s young managers and tomorrow’s executives) with the kinds of problems typically faced by decision makers, and all the risks and rewards involved in implementing a chosen decision alternative, whether in the technology-driven or the service industries.

Given our focus on decision-making contexts and the case method, the course is very action-oriented. That is, in addition to the general analysis of decision  making in the firm’s product/market strategy contexts, the course also addresses tactical issues such as those involved in balancing standardization of global marketing strategy with local adaptations or rationalizing the firm’s supply chain worldwide. Critiques of recommended readings and the cases, completed often in groups, will help you question the findings of frontier knowledge in the field, and lead you to new discoveries based on current knowledge. Readings and cases will help you shape your thinking about the subjects we discuss in class, help you grasp these better, and increase the value you will gain from the course. This will facilitate deepening and integration of your understanding of concepts and analytical tools used in international business management. Intellectual involvement is, therefore, a key ingredient of effective learning in the course. 

 It is essential that you read the textbook, and prepare for the cases regularly, along with the assigned readings. The textbook is one of the best references available on the fundamentals of global marketing management; it provides an encyclopedia of the concepts, frameworks and tools that are used in the practice of contemporary international marketing management. Co-authored by two very highly regarded Harvard Business School professors of international business, the casebook is clearly the most comprehensive available on the market today on the practice of international marketing. 

As soon-to-be successful young marketing managers, you should be reading popular business periodicals, such as Business Week (www.businessweek.com), the Economist (www.economist.com), the Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com), and the Financial Times (www.ft.com), regularly. In addition, you can consult many other resources readily available in electronic format. Among these, perhaps the best resource is Michigan State University CIBER’s website (http://globalEDGE.msu.edu). This resource provides an easy-to-use index, a search engine, and other features such as the Resource Desk, which serves as an electronic international business library. Through this site, you can access international business periodicals, conduct industry or firm-specific research, gather information about specific markets of interest, and discover both public and private sources of information about international business that you never thought existed! You can also gain access to several computer-assisted decision tools for international business professionals. These tools, which facilitate more effective decision making by management teams, include CORE V (Company Readiness to Export), DISTRIBUTOR (used in selecting a foreign agent or distributor), PARTNER (used in selecting potential foreign joint venture partners), FREIGHT (used in assessing the capabilities of a foreign freight forwarder), and MAPS (co-developed by myself, and used in evaluating the feasibility of 15 different entry modes, ranging from exporting to joint ventures, when entering foreign markets).  

There are also other data sources you might find useful while working on your term projects in this course, and indeed in your professional lives now and in the future. These include country-level, trade and direct investment-focused industry-level, and firm-specific data. Descriptions of these and their website addresses are given in the Appendix to this syllabus, under the titles Select List of Secondary Data Sources and Web-Based Exercises and Projects for Internationalizing Business Courses. 

Your course grade, composed of 500 points, will be a function of your performance in the following:  

1.                  Two case analyses, typically 10-12 typewritten pages, due on the date the case is discussed in class (100 points each). You will write up the Gallo Rice and the Koc Holding cases, either individually or as a member of a group, to fulfill this requirement. These cases are due on March 4^th and April 1st, respectively. 

2.                  A course exam, scheduled for April 29th, 2003 (100 points). Make-up exams will be given only in extraordinary, health-related circumstances. 

3.                  Involvement, which includes regular attendance,  meaningful contribution to class discussion, and demonstrated interest in the course (60 points). As class participation leads to significant cross-fertilization of ideas, regular attendance is required. Withdrawals and incompletes are given in extraordinary, health-related circumstances.  

4.                  A group Term Project, typically 20-25 pages, due on April 22nd (140 points). To fulfill this requirement, each group will select a global industry such as autos, cosmetics, financial services, food, pharmaceuticals, etc., will conduct research on two major players in this industry, and will write a paper profiling current competitive strategy each player is following globally, and will project future global strategy for each of these players. Doctoral students in the class will satisfy this requirement by writing a scholarly paper on a topic of interest (eg., a critical literature review of the international branding strategy or of the cross-national segmentation literature, a state of the art review of the literature on societal value transformations, etc.). These students will have to clear this topic with me by the end of the third week of class.  

My expectations of you from each of these course grade components are described in greater detail in the Appendix to this Syllabus. This document is also available on my website. Further, samples of each of these are available in my office for review.  

I will scale the course grade as follows: 90% and above = A; 80%-89% = B; 70%-79% = C; 60%-69% = D; and 60% and below = E 

As always, you will get out of the course what you put into it. Active participation in reasoning and decision making is as important in this course as writing articulately. Active listening and critical thinking are essential skills you should develop in your college education. Discussing cases and preparing the team project can be valuable individual learning experiences outside of class. You should be prepared to present your analysis and reasoning behind it to the class when called upon. You should also learn to listen to, and critique, your classmates ideas objectively, and be prepared to debate the merits of their viewpoints. Understanding, challenging, and defending points of view leads to better understanding of others’ ideas, the factors considered by them, and their interpretations. This type of constructive conflict often leads to a clearer understanding of the problem, the merits of alternative courses of action, and most importantly, to the syntheses of ideas that are being considered. In light of these, I will be evaluating your contribution to class discussion based on whether your ideas are reasonable, defensible, and supported by theory or fact; whether your contribution is adding value to the current discussion; and whether your solution alternatives are action-oriented contributions.  

It is particularly important that students with work experience in international business, especially in industries that are experiencing rapid internationalization, and those with experience in a specific market situation, such as emerging markets, actively participate in class discussion. Sharing this type of experience, along with experience in living and/or working abroad, in class is invaluable in complementing our case analyses, lectures, and readings.  

In sum, you can achieve maximum learning in this course by doing the following: be an active learner, make full use of the supplementary resources provided you, use the course materials distributed in class and available on the web to guide your study of the cases and interpretation of the text, and manage your time effectively.  

COURSE CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION (with tentative dates) 

I.  Conceptual Foundations: Forces That Shape the Global Knowledge Economy and Implications for Global Marketing Management (January 14 and 21) 

Globalization of markets and competition, comparative and competitive advantages of nations and firms, emerging patterns of trade and investment, global sourcing flows, the scope of multinational operations, the multinational enterprise in global industries, the financial environment of international marketing, the global marketing process. Global market integration, patterns of multinational cooperation, economic liberalization in transformation econonies, globalization of technology and knowledge, internationalization of the firm, strategic imperatives for firms, and global competitiveness. Social and cultural value change patterns in societies, the current landscape in global and the marketing function in the new global economy.   

Text: Chapters 1, 2 and 3.

Readings: Reading List Part I.

II. Understanding World Markets: Marketing Research (January 28) 

Global information systems, assessing product/market potential, methods and analysis in cross-national market research, measurement problems in scaling and survey research and how to cope with them, managing global marketing research activities, interpreting research results accurately (reliability, validity, and construct equivalency concerns in cross-national research and coping mechanisms). 

Text:  Chapter 5 and 7. 

Readings: Reading List Part II.  

III.  Understanding World Markets: Cultural Analysis (February 4 and 11) 

Cultural profiling, acculturation, emic vs. etic study of culture, societal evolution toward modernization and postmodernization, economic and political nationalism, internationalism, and cosmopolitanism,  environmental scanning methods, market clustering, national identity,  cultural relativity, ethnographic vs. positivist research on culture, global vs. local cultures, national and organizational cultures’ impact on marketing activities, managing cultural differences effectively.   

Text: Chapters 4 and 5. 

Readings: Reading List Part III. 

Case 1: Komatsu (The internationalization process of a Japanese multinational and its global competitive strategy against Caterpillar, an American multinational). 

[Teams formed. Two-page outline of the term project, previewing its scope and components, is due.] 

IV.  Formulating a Global Strategy: Developing Markets (February 18 and 25) 

The internationalization process, designing global strategy and value added chains, global product/market portfolios, marketing in developed vs. developing countries, estimating foreign market potential, modes of foreign entry, exporting, contractual, and investment involvement modes. 

Text: Chapter 17. 

Readings: Reading List Part IV.  

Case 2: Bajaj Auto (Developing foreign entry strategies in the earliest stages of internationalization) (Expansion from India into nearby markets by an Indian conglomerate). 

Case 3:  Mary Kay Cosmetics (International Market Assessment for a unique American marketer and Entry into an Established vs. a Growth Market) (Expansion into Japan vs. China). 

V.  Formulating a Global Marketing Strategy: Assuring Collaboration along the Supply Chain (March 4 and 18) 

Global logic of strategic alliances, forms, rationale for, parenthood of, ownership structures in, and behavioral life cycles of alliances, the role that collaboration plays in international marketing, the effect of culture on alliances, organizational transformation through alliances, partnerships and networks in international marketing, relational norms, trust, and social exchange in collaborative arrangements.  

Text: Chapters 10 and 11. 

Readings: Reading List Part V.  

Case 4: Gallo Rice  (Developing marketing strategies for a commodity product in a mature, a growth, and an emerging market) (Italy vs. Argentina vs. Poland).

Case 5: Sony Corporation (Developing a worldwide strategy centering on a geographical focus, product choice, and product standards for an emerging technology product).

SPRING BREAK is March 10^th through March 17^th. 

VI.  Formulating a Global Marketing Strategy: Targeting, Positioning, and the Marketing Mix 

A.  Formulating Strategy: Cross-National Consumer Behavior and Segmentation (March 25 and April 1) 

Cross-national consumer behavior, global demographics, psychographics, consumption patterns, consumer expectations, technology infrastructure and market discontinuities, methods of cross-national segmentation, segmentation and targeting systems, means-ends chaining in cross-national research, the role of the self concept and emotions in understanding consumer behavior, attitude, belief, and value change in societies, the role of product and country images in purchase behavior. 

Text: Chapters 8 and 9. 

Readings: Reading List Part VI. 

Case 6: MasterCard and World Championship Soccer (Global rollout of a sponsorship strategy for a service product). 

Case 7: Koc Holding: Arcelik White Goods (Challenges of internationalization faced by an emerging market firm). 

B. Global Product and Service Strategies (April 8)  

Strategic alternatives in product market portfolios, international product life cycles, global branding, products and culture, product/brand personalities and adaptation, niche marketing      in developing country markets, societal demands on products and services. 

Text: Chapters 8, and 9. 

Readings: Reading List Part VII.  

Case 8: Planet Reebok  (Repositioning a brand which has separate images in different countries and determining the feasibility of an umbrella campaign) (France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S.) 

C.  Global Pricing and Logistics Strategies (April 15 and 22) 

Export and transfer pricing mechanisms, exchange rate issues, price escalation, administered pricing, dumping, cross-price elasticities, pricing grey market goods, standardized pricing, channel alternatives, countertrade arrangements, locating, selecting and motivating channel members, retailing and wholesaling patterns, distribution coverage, global sourcing, global distribution smoothing. 

Text: Chapters 11 and 15. 

Readings: Reading List Part VIII.  

Case 9: DHL Worldwide Express (Development of an international pricing strategy by a service marketer) (Global strategy standardization vs. local market adaptation) 

Case 10: Harlequin Romances (Assessment of marketing strategy performance in Poland, an emerging market). 

D. Global Communications and Promotion Strategies (April 29) 

Cultural influences on international communications, creative challenges in promotion, media mix planning and analysis, global sales promotion and advertising, cultural influences on personal selling and sales management, managing international sales personnel, establishing communications harmony through standardized and adapted promotion strategy. 

Text: Chapters 12 and 13. 

Readings: Reading List Part IX.  

IX. Final Exam (April 29)