Industrial Marketing and International Business

The course is a graduate course for students with special interests in marketing and international business development. The course has two main parts. The first part deals with industrial (B2B) marketing and especially on strategic industry analysis, understanding organizational buying behavior, management of market channels, and marketing of new technology products. The second part offers both an introduction to major theories and trends within international business, and an introduction to sustainability strategies. We discuss the main challenges that firms meet when they expand their activities internationally with special focus on sustainability. Throughout the course it will be given examples from Norwegian and international firms in lectures and case discussions. The case discussions aim to illustrate how successful firms have overcome the challenges presented in the lectures and will demand some preparations from the participants.

The course is given at the 4th year in the MTIØT program and is mandatory in the first year of the MIENTRE program. The course should give general knowledge on industrial (B2B) marketing, internationalization, international business, and related sustainability strategies. The course should give specific knowledge on how to develop business marketing strategies particularly directed towards international customers, and on how to handle typical challenges that managers face in international organizations. The course should also give specific knowledge on sustainability challenges and how to integrate sustainability in business marketing strategies. By taking this course it is expected that the students can: (1) understand and manage the central concepts of industrial marketing, (2) to be able to perform the strategic analysis that forms the basis of robust marketing strategies, (3) understand and manage the central concepts and theories of international business, (4) understand and manage sustainability aspects and sustainability strategies in an industrial and international marketing context, and finally (5) to be able to apply this knowledge to real cases.

Lectures and case discussions.