Topic Areas Covered by the Final Exam

Topic Areas Covered by the Final Exam MKT 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