Topic Areas Covered by the Final Exam
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