Assignments

1          Country Selection and Market Attractiveness Report

Each student will present a 5-minute (maximum) in-class country analysis, and will prepare a summary of country information (one-page, double sided) to hand out to each student in the class.

·      Students will submit a target country to professor for approval by 3 week of class.

·      Presentations will begin the fourth week of class and take place at the beginning of each class.

·      Student presentations will be selected at random, so all students need to have their reports completed by week 5.

This report will consist of an analysis of important environmental data in that country: population, GNP, major exports, imports, historical and cultural characteristics, etc. The report will also provide the outlook for marketers in that country? What is the structure of competition in the market? What do consumers seek? What are the trends? What are the hot prospects for a foreign company entering that country? What are things for marketers to watch out for (possible risk factors or cultural pitfalls, etc.)? Finally, the presenter of the report should teach the class some helpful phrases for the business traveler in that country.

It is expected that the author of the report will be an “expert” on the country and fully up to date on current conditions which may be of interest to marketers. Consultation with news reports from the past year regarding your country is highly recommended. These sources (WSJ, NY Times, Business Week, Economist, etc. or local sources in that country) may be found in the ACC library.

You may use PowerPoint or any other means you feel appropriate to deliver your oral report (bring a memory stick/flash drive to class). Often the oral reports will focus on a few key issues facing the country at hand, and provide us with a deeper understanding of them. The most informative reports are those in which the presenters are able to synthesize the information given into useful insight. The least informative (least interesting, and lowest scoring) reports are those in which the presenters simply read the information listed on their double-sided summary of country information.

2          Target Country Marketing Plan Outline

      Each student will submit an outline (see Marketing Plan Outline example) of their intended plan.  A 1-2 page sentence outline, plus APA title page is expected.

3    Market Entry Forecast and Financial Assumptions

            Each student will research the specific costs for their product for sale in their target country.  The report must include student’s financial assumptions for product cost, shipping and logistics costs, wholesale and MSRP pricing, marketing, promotion, and advertising, costs, etc.  A spreadsheet with assumptions and three years of projections, plus an APA title page is expected.

4          Marketing Plan Target Country

Students will need to develop a Marketing Plan – the roadmap for managing your entry, growth, and expansion into your target country. Before working on your Marketing Plan, review the Country Notebook and other posted material on developing a Marketing Plan.

Your instructions are to do a sequential entry (waterfall) strategy into your target country – that is, you are to plan entry into your target country, before considering expansion to other countries.

      Your Marketing Plan should not exceed 10 pages of text (double-spaced, 1” margins, 12-point Times New Roman font). You may add as many exhibits in an Appendix as you like. All exhibits must be referred to in your text. Your plan may be entirely or partially in outline form.

Reference:

Louden, W. (2010). APA Style Simplified for Success. Based on the APA Publication Manual, 6th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. [Posted on Blackboard.]

Textbook:  International Marketing by Cateora 16th Edition. ISBN 9780073529974.

Online Resources:

Textbook web site   http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0077642236/student_view0/index.html

GlobalEdge                   http://globaledge.msu.edu/

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, the student will be able to address how to conduct international market development, such as market segmentation, defining a target market segment(s), and a marketing mix to support targeted segments in the context of the firm's global environment. The student will be able to discuss the process of international marketing from a strategic and operational viewpoint; and prepare an international marketing plan for a product.