International Marketing

Topics covered:

• Basis for international marketing
• International environment (e.g.cultural, economic, political, legal, etc.)
• Globalisation forces (e.g. improved communication technology and transportation, interdependence between nations, trade agreements, homogenous demands etc)
• International strategy, market entry strategies, international market selection
• The new type of fast growing firms (e.g. scale-ups)
• International entrepreneurship (Born globals)
• Ethics/CSR/sustainability

Overview:

This course teaches you how collect and use relevant information about internationalising companies and make decisions on where and how to proceed with international activities. You will learn about what influences this process of firm internationalization (such as cultural, economical and political factors) and you will learn about different categories of international firms (e.g. traditional large multinationals (MNC), fast international or even global smaller firms (e.g. born globals or international new ventures) and fast growing firms such as scale-ups. You will also learn about the ethical issues of doing business globally and learn how a firm can be a genuinly responsible firm both at home and abroad.

Learning outcomes:

• You should be able to explain terminology of firm internationalisation
• You should be able to apply theories (such as Uppsala/process theory, transactions-cost and network theories) to make the best decision of a real life case company for selecting the best next country market to enter and the best was to organize the activity in the new country market (e.g. entry mode such as agent, distributor, franchise or sales office)
• You should be able to analyse globalisation trends of an industry and the effects of increased global integration and how this influences a firm's choices in going international
• You should be able to effectively communicate to the management or board of a firm what the alternatives are f.i. in choosing the next market to enter and which is the best given certain relevant criteria (such as political stability, purchasing power, market potential/growth etc.)

Teaching methods:

The course consists of a combination of lectures and guest lectures, casework, paper presentations and discussions. Guest lecturers will facilitate the application of concepts and theories to real-life situations.