Course syllabus - Marketing Issues in an International Context

Objectives

The purpose of this course is to give the student an overview of the international environment(s) a company operates in and provide tools for handling marketing issues a company might face in an international context.
Another purpose is to develop the students personal skills in concerns to oral and written presentations; critical and analytical thinking; information search; scrutinizing material, and; group work.
An overall purpose is to stimulate an interactive study approach to:
- enhance exchange of values and thoughts;
- give insight into a different ways of living, and;
- give the student the possibility to develop a comprehensive understanding of different cultures.

Learning outcomes

After this course the student should be able to:
- demonstrate the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity when evaluating different alternatives concerning market analysis and entry strategies;
- carry out a market plan based on: suitable theories and models from the course literature, and other collected and scrutinized material;
- formulate judgements with incomplete data concerning a companys political, economical, socio-cultural and technological environment;
- carry out a group work together with colleagues and in an active way contribute to solving the task;
- communicate and present (both orally and in writing) his/her conclusions and underpinnings (on the above mentioned learning outcomes), to specialist and non-specialist international audiences clearly and unambiguously;
- peer-review the work of fellow students as well as argue for and discuss about his/her own contribution in each learning activity, and;
- study in a manner that is largely self-directed and autonomous, which means that the student is expected to take responsibility for his/her own studies, and also indirectly for other students' learning and development by taking an active part in different course activities.

Course content

- An international and cultural perspective on management and marketing.
- Discuss and analyse the legal and political international environment; the economic environment; the cultural and technological environment, and; government and business.
- Means of internationalisation.
- Building models to solve marketing problems in an international context.

Tuition

Seminar activity: During the seminars, the student must be ready to engage in discussion about the course material. Participation is mandatory and includes: physical attendance; involvement in classroom activities and discussions.

Group project: The assignment consists of writing a paper (or papers) about a certain topic distributed by the teachers. The assignment will be presented (orally and in writing) during a final seminar. On the seminar the students also peer-review and scrutinize another groups paper. Presence during the final seminar is mandatory.

Written exam: The final written exam might contain multiple choice, short answer and essay questions. The exam should give the student the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and skills he/she has acquired during the learning activities. Two opportunities for make-up exams are given if the student is absent from or fail the written exam.

Specific requirements

Degree of Bachelor of at least 180 credits in business administration, social sciences or technology. Alternatively Business Administration 90 credits with gradual progression. At least 75 credits must be completed by course start. At least 30 credits must be on level G1N, including at least 5 credits of management accounting, 30 credits on level G1F and at least 15 credits on level G2F. In addition Swedish course B/course 2 and English course A/course 5 are required. For courses given entirely in English exemption is made from the requirement of Swedish course B/course 2.

Examination

Written exam (TEN1), 3.5 credits, marks Pass (G) or Pass with distinction (VG)
Group project (GRU1), 2 credits, marks Pass (G) or Pass with distinction (VG)
Seminar activity (SEM1), 2 credits, marks Pass (G) or Pass with distinction (VG)

A student who has a certificate from MDU regarding a disability has the opportunity to submit a request for supportive measures during written examinations or other forms of examination, in accordance with the Rules and Regulations for Examinations at First-cycle and Second-cycle Level at Mälardalen University (2020/1655). It is the examiner who takes decisions on any supportive measures, based on what kind of certificate is issued, and in that case which measures are to be applied.

Suspicions of attempting to deceive in examinations (cheating) are reported to the Vice-Chancellor, in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance, and are examined by the University’s Disciplinary Board. If the Disciplinary Board considers the student to be guilty of a disciplinary offence, the Board will take a decision on disciplinary action, which will be a warning or suspension.

Grade

Pass with distinction, Pass, Fail

Interim Regulations and Other Regulations

EXA 7,5 credits - Written exam 50%, Group project, 25%, Seminar activity 25% (Pass (G) or Pass with Distinction (VG), grades are also given according to the ECTS grading scale, see below).
ECTS SGS Definition
A VG EXCELLENT - outstanding performance with only minor errors.
B VG VERY GOOD - above average standard but with some errors.
C G GOOD - generally sound work with a number of notable errors.
D G SATISFACTORY - fair but with significant shortcomings.
E G SUFFICIENT - performance meets the minimum criteria
FX U FAIL - some work required before credit can be awarded.
F U FAIL - considerable work is required.