Topic Areas Covered by the Final ExamMKT 4720 Fall 2006

1.International marketing research

* Definition; similarities and differences between international and domestic research

* Process of international marketing research

- stages in the research process

- problems associated with each stage of research

* Issues in international marketing research

- primary vs. secondary data and their quality

- secondary data sources

- type of secondary data necessary for importing and market expansion

- sampling issues

- questionnaire related issues

- data collection issues

- issues in interpretation of findings

- reporting

* Important talents of international researchers

2. Marketing in EU and Japan

* European Union

- Level of economic integration

-Evolution of European Union

-Motivations of EU integration

- Drawbacks of integration

- Key characteristics of European Union

- Key requirements for marketing success in EU

*Japan

-Nature of Japanese market environment

- Key characteristics of Japanese consumers

- Unique characteristics of Japanese distribution channels

- Key requirements for marketing success in Japan

3. Marketing in Emerging Markets - China

* The scale and extent of Chinese economic growth

- Economic growth

-Foreign trade

- Foreign investment

* The diversity of Chinese market

- Regional diversity

- Income distribution

*Chinese economic system

- Characteristics

-Strengths and weaknesses

* Characteristics of Chinese consumers

- Key consumption concepts

- Major market segments

- Consumer behavior

* Key requirements for marketing success in China

4. Global Marketing Strategy

*Major determinants of international marketing performance

- The principle of “fit”

* Why use global marketing strategy?

- global industry versus traditional industry

- major drivers and barriers of globalization

- new sources of competitive advantage in the global market

- the logic of pursuing a global marketing strategy

* Global marketing strategy

- dimensions/components of a global marketing strategy

- the benefits of each dimension of global marketing strategy

- the effect of global marketing strategy on firm’s performance

*The differences between multidomestic marketing and global marketing

*The value chain configuration under multidomestic marketing and global marketing

*The process of formulating global marketing strategy

5. International Product Strategy

* Type of product strategy for international marketing

* Product standardization vs. adaptation

- the total product concept

- benefits and drawbacks of standardization

- general principle of product adaptation

- factors that affect the degree of standardization/adaptation

- type of product adaptation

- the process of product adaptation

*Factors affect product decisions

- cultural and regulatory factors

- global vs. national brands

- country-of-origin effect

- international standards

*Country-of-origin effect

6.International Marketing of Services

*Product versus services marketing

-key differences

-linkages between products and services

-the role of services marketing in global trade

*Problems with services marketing

*Global environment of services marketing

-key trends

-major regulations

-barriers

*Marketing tips for services

- for services tied to goods

-for services independent of goods

7. International Pricing

* Pricing for international markets

- importance of pricing

- major pricing situations

- strategy for first-time pricing

- reasons for and challenges of changing prices

* Setting price

- stages in price setting

- factors that affect price decisions

- types of export-related costs

- need to avoid violating the anti-dumping regulations of foreign countries

* Price escalation

- the phenomenon of export price escalation

- factors that contribute to price escalation

- strategies for reducing the harm of price escalation

* Transfer price

- major objectives of transfer pricing

- factors that influence transfer pricing decisions

- challenges of transfer pricing

- IRS criteria for transfer price

8. International Channels of Distribution

* Foreign distributors

- types of foreign distributors

- pros and cons of different types of foreign distributors

* International channels of distribution

- types of international channels

- unique characteristics of international channels

- length of channels and characteristics of the channels members

- factors that affect a firm=s channels selection

*Sources for finding foreign distributors

- government vs. private

*Criteria for evaluating foreign distributors

*Key issues in distribution negotiation

*Ways for working with foreign distributors

* Distribution strategy

- types of distribution strategy

- issues in managing international distribution

*Gray market

- factors contributing to gray market

- the effect of gray market on a firm=s international marketing

- strategies for dealing with gray market

9. International Advertising and Promotion

* The process of communication

- the difference between domestic and international communications

- types of media tools and their pros and cons

- type of noises

* Obstacles of international communication

- types of obstacles

- the effects of various types of obstacles

* Global Ad campaign

- components of global advertising

- pattern advertising

- pros and cons of global advertising

- global advertising agencies

10. Managing International Sales Force

* International sales force

- role of international sales force

- types of international sales force and sales managers

- pros and cons of various types of international sales force

* International sales management

- major tasks involved in international sales force management

- problems involved in recruiting expatriate sales managers

- strategy for successful recruiting expatriate sales managers

- training needs of various types of international sales force

- types of compensation for expatriate sales force

- tools for supervising international sales force

- ways to measure the performance of international sales force

* Being an expatriate

- successful selling approach in international markets

- survival skills for expatriate managers

11.Implementation of global marketing strategy

*Major types of international organization structure

- relationship between degree of internationalization and organization structure

- global product divisions vs. global geographical area divisions

- the organization structure that is conducive to global and multidomestic marketing strategies

- factors that affect organizational structure

* Centralization and decentralization of decision making

-the relationship between degree of centralization and types of international marketing strategies

*Global coordination: various degrees

* Roles of country managers/subsidiaries