Global marketing

Course content

Marketing is becoming more and more global. After a brief introduction on the necessity for most companies to grow internationally, the important decision of how to select a country is reviewed. This includes trade agreements, macro and micro economic environment. Obviously, how culture is influencing one’s business will be seen across the course. Before starting a business in a foreign country it is imperative to gather the appropriate information. Sources of information are listed together with how to deal with international market research. The possible market entry strategies are analysed including their respective advantages and disadvantages. The impact of going international on the five key marketing strategies is explained going through segmentation, product decisions, pricing policies, channels selection and communication. An overview is given on the international organization and how to handle KPI’s in an international structure. Finally some fundamentals of International protection of brands are reviewed.

This course contributes to the Sustainable Business Operations pedagogical pathway of the Sustainable Development initiative that seek to provide an integrated training in sustainability.

Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)

At the end of the course, students will be able to :

Deal with strategic marketing problems facing industries in the international environment

Master tools and techniques required in a complex and ever changing context.

The world has become a global village: when we talk about markets, we generally speak in worldwide terms. This dramatic evolution has been brought about by the recent technological revolution in communications and transportation systems. Today, the next phase of the communication revolution has arrived: information technology is again transforming the way we do business.

This opens a huge door of opportunity to businesses enabling them to sell their products and services to anybody in virtually any country who might be a potential purchaser.

Prerequisites and Corequisites

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

A basic marketing course is a prerequisite.

Teaching methods and learning activities

The format is based on active learning and includes lectures, participation to an international business game, case studies, and managerial conferences. In order to put the theory into practice, managers will be invited as guest speakers to present how they effectively implement marketing strategies in their company. To apply the theoretical concepts seen in class, students will have to (1) read and analyze some case studies/articles and (2) participate to an international business game. The student is considered as an independent, self-organised learner. Every student is expected to contribute as actively as he/she can to the discussions in class.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Readings and course slides will be made available for students.

Contribution to the teaching profile

With the help of this course, students will notably learn to:

Integrate sustainable development into problem analysis
Master and apply key economic and management concepts, frameworks and theories in a professional context to identify a business opportunity and create a relevant innovative solution for it
Display critical thinking and develop autonomous learning strategies and techniques
Work and communicate effectively as part of a team in an international and multicultural environment
Demonstrate a strong work ethic to foster a socially responsible behaviour in the workplace

Other information

Contacts

virginie.bruneau@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Evaluation

Method(s) of evaluation

Other

Other

The evaluation consists of two group assignments and an individual quiz, which will take place during the group assignment presentation period at the end of the semester. The quiz is designed to assess students’ understanding of the theoretical foundations covered in the course.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Repartition if the grade of the individual assessment is above 8/20

Group assignment 40%
Brandstorm competition 30%
Individual assessment (quiz) 30%

If the grade for the individual assessment is =<8/20, the individual assessment (quiz) will account for 50% (instead of 30%).

In this case the repartition will be the following:

Group assignment 30%
Brandstorm competition 20%
Individual assessment (quiz) 50%

The instructor reserves the right to require any student to attend an additional oral examination in order to verify their individual mastery of the content of the submitted examination.

Language(s) of evaluation

english