International Marketing Management

International Marketing Management - IMM PROGRAMME: MBA Executive Program - Part Time SUBMISSION METHOD/MODE: Online via Turnitin, ASSESSMENT TYPE: Individual assignment (4,000 words) REPORT FORMAT Assignment Question: Individual assignment (4,000 words) REPORT FORMAT Consider yourself as international marketing consultant for a large organisation in your local country. The company has considered to expand its sales and operations in a foreign country as a growth strategy. Answer the following questions based on this thought in a report format. In particular you must address the following factors:- 1. Discuss an overview of the current organisation including its overseas strategic vision, mission and competitive position. (1000 words) – 25 marks. 2. Critically assess the market opportunity in one of the countries in Asia and develop a global vision based on your marketing research. (1000 words) – 25 marks. 3. Critically analyse the main factors when the company is choosing what product to sell, its pricing and promotion for the selected country in Asian markets. (1000 words) – 25 marks. 4. Critically analyse the key points for the distribution strategy in the selected Asian country and recommend an appropriate distribution strategy. (1000 words) – 25 marks. MARKING SCHEME Individual assignment (4,000 words) REPORT FORMAT You play the role of an international marketing consultant for a large organisation in the local country. Recently, your company has thought to expand its sales and operations in a foreign country as a growth strategy. Answer the following questions based on this thought in a report format. In particular you must address the following factors:- 1. Provide an overview of the current organisation including its strategic vision, mission and competitive position. (1000 words) – 25 marks. Excellent/ good answer [Excellent/ good students will critically examine and discuss some of the critical factors that needs to be considered when exploring the current situation of the company in the form of vision, mission and competitive position. They will be expected to provide a logical and cogent critical discussion and provide an answer containing academic and conceptual depth. The difference between excellent and good is likely to be in the areas of the extent of criticality provided in the discussion, the degree of focus on the specific question asked, structure, professional presentation and critical evaluation. A good range of sources will be used in the answer and the work will be properly referenced. Students will answer with reference to the selected market entry model.] Average answer [Students may demonstrate an understanding of the current situation of the company in the form of vision, mission and competitive position. However they may not adhere completely to the specific question given and answers may lack focus and be rather general in nature. Answers may lack the degree of criticality asked for in the question. The range of sources used will be less good, for example less academic journal sources and the style of referencing may be less constant and professional.] Poor/ inadequate answer [Poor and/ or inadequate answers in both parts are likely to be too generic with the candidate failing to answer the specific question set. There will be little critical examination or discussion and the answer will be more descriptive than analytical. The difference between a poor but marginally successful answer and an inadequate answer that fails to achieve the required standard for a pass grade is like to be one of degree in terms of structure, the level of focus, critical examination and critical discussion provided. Academic and conceptual sources may be limited and generally the use of referencing to support salient points may be superficial and limited in nature.] (1000 words) – 25 marks. 2. Critically assess the market opportunity in one of the countries in Asian and develop a global vision based on your marketing research. (1000 words) – 25 marks. Excellent/ good answer [Excellent/ good students will critically discuss the specific statement provided in the question and use examples to illustrate the key points as directed. The difference between excellent and good is likely to be in the areas of the extent of criticality provided in the discussion, the degree of focus on the specific question asked, structure, professional presentation and critical evaluation. A good range of sources will be used in the answer and the work will be properly referenced. Students will answer with reference to the selected market entry model operations.] Average answer [Students may not adhere completely to the specific question given and answers may lack focus. Students may produce very general answers on culture rather than geography and history specifically. Answers may lack the degree of criticality asked for in the question. The range of sources used will be less good, for example less academic journal sources and the style of referencing may be less constant and professional.] Poor/ inadequate answer [Poor and/ or inadequate answers in both parts are likely to be too generic with the candidate failing to answer the specific question set. There will be little critical examination or discussion and the answer will be more descriptive than analytical. The difference between a poor but marginally successful answer and an inadequate answer that fails to achieve the required standard for a pass grade is like to be one of degree in terms of structure, the level of focus, critical examination and critical discussion provided. Academic and conceptual sources may be limited and generally the use of referencing to support salient points may be superficial and limited in nature.] (1000 words) – 25 marks. 3. Critically analyse the main factors when the company is choosing the right product and pricing for the selected country in Asian markets. (1000 words) – 25 marks. Excellent/ good answer [Excellent/ good students will provide a logical analysis for the appropriate product and pricing taking into account the various critical factors that needs to be considered. The difference between excellent and good is likely to be in the areas of the extent of criticality provided in the discussion, the degree of focus on the specific question asked, structure and provision and critical evaluation. A good range of sources will be used in the answer and the work will be properly referenced. Students will answer with reference to the selected market entry model operations.] Average answer [An average answer will cover the salient points and demonstrate an understanding of the factors that needs to be considered for product pricing which are applicable at the time of market entry and beyond. However such answers are likely to be more descriptive and lack the critical depth asked for in the answer. However they may not adhere completely to the specific question given and answers may lack focus and be rather general in nature. Answers may lack the degree of criticality asked for in the question. The range of sources used will be less good, for example less academic journal sources and the style of referencing may be less constant and professional.] Poor/ inadequate answer [Poor and/ or inadequate answers in both parts are likely to be too generic with the candidate failing to answer the specific question set. There will be little critical examination or discussion and the answer will be more descriptive than analytical. The difference between a poor but marginally successful answer and an inadequate answer that fails to achieve the required standard for a pass grade is like to be one of degree in terms of structure, the level of focus, critical examination and critical discussion provided. Academic and conceptual sources may be limited and generally the use of referencing to support salient points may be superficial and limited in nature.] (1000 words) – 25 marks. 4. Critically analyse the key points for the distribution strategy in the selected Asian country and recommend an appropriate distribution strategy. (1000 words) – 25 marks. Excellent/ good answer [Excellent/ good students will provide a logical and coherent recommendation of the distribution strategy based on the analysis conducted. The difference between excellent and good is likely to be in the areas of the extent of criticality provided in the discussion, the degree of focus on the specific question asked, structure and provision and critical evaluation. A good range of sources will be used in the answer and the work will be properly referenced. Students will answer with reference to the selected market entry model operations.] Average answer [An average student might demonstrate some grasp of the appropriate distribution strategy. However their answers are likely to lack sufficient academic and conceptual depth expected of an excellent and good student and may require further development. Answers may lack the degree of criticality asked for in the question. The range of sources used will be less good, for example less academic journal sources and the style of referencing may be less constant and professional.] Poor/ inadequate answer [Poor and/ or inadequate answers are likely to be too generic with the candidate failing to answer the specific question set. There will be little critical examination or discussion and the answer will be more descriptive than analytical. The difference between a poor but marginally successful answer and an inadequate answer that fails to achieve the required standard for a pass grade is like to be one of degree in terms of structure, the level of focus, critical examination and critical discussion provided. Academic and conceptual sources may be limited and generally the use of referencing to support salient points may be superficial and limited in nature.] (1000 words) – 25 marks. Individual assignment (4,000 words) REPORT FORMation Learning Outcomes to be achieved: This assignment is intended to enable students to be able to: • Considers and critically examine the adaptations needed when marketing outside national boundaries. (L1) • Discuss and evaluate the differences and distinctions which may apply or be activated or applied when considering cultures and marketing in a variety of differing cultures internationally. (L2) • Consider the implications of product and marketing modifications necessary in a variety of situations internationally. (L3) • Access and analyse study of various world regions and their consumption, terrain, demographics, and geographic as they influence marketing practices. (L4) • Examine and evaluate concepts and practices in international marketing, with a particular emphasis on globalisation and how it affects the marketing activities of a firm/organisation. This examination includes for example - global marketing to foreign environments and the formulation of global marketing strategy. (L5) • Evaluate the major trends in contemporary marketing strategy within international business (e.g. the effects of on shoring and back shoring on marketing strategy and national concepts of market ownership and product/service ownership). (L6) • Provide students with an understanding of marketing in a multinational, multicultural environment; (L7) • Develop the student’s skills in strategic decision-making in international marketing contexts. (L8) Specific learning outcomes are linked to each question above. All learning outcomes have been covered in the examination. Guidelines to markers in terms of what represents an excellent / good, average and poor / inadequate answer are provided below for each of the questions on the paper. Assessment Requirements: • The submission of your work assessment should be organized and clearly structured in a report format. • Maximum word length allowed is 4,000 words, excluding words in charts & tables and in the appendixes section of your assignment. • This assignment is worth 100% of the final assessment of the module. • Student is required to submit a type-written document in Microsoft Word format with Times New Roman font type, size 12 and line spacing 1.5. • Indicate the sources of information and literature review by including all the necessary citations and references adopting the Harvard Referencing System. • Students who have been found to have committed acts of Plagiarism are automatically considered to have failed the entire module. If found to have breached the regulation for the second time, you will be asked to leave the course. • Plagiarism involves taking someone else’s words, thoughts, ideas or essays from online essay banks and trying to pass them off as your own. It is a form of cheating which is taken very seriously. Report Structure Title Page Table of Contents Executive Summary Introduction Body Conclusions References Appendix Notes on Plagiarism & Harvard Referencing Plagiarism Plagiarism is passing off the work of others as your own. This constitutes academic theft and is a serious matter which is penalized in assignment marking. Plagiarism is the submission of an item of assessment containing elements of work produced by another person(s) in such a way that it could be assumed to be the student’s own work. Examples of plagiarism are: • The verbatim copying of another person’s work without acknowledgement • The close paraphrasing of another person’s work by simply changing a few words or altering the order of presentation without acknowledgement • The unacknowledged quotation of phrases from another person’s work and/or the presentation of another person’s idea(s) as one’s own. Copying or close paraphrasing with occasional acknowledgement of the source may also be deemed to be plagiarism is the absence of quotation marks implies that the phraseology is the student’s own. Plagiarised work may belong to another student or be from a published source such as a book, report, journal or material available on the internet. Harvard Referencing The structure of a citation under the Harvard referencing system is the author’s surname, year of publication, and page number or range, in parentheses, as illustrated in the Smith example near the top of this article. • The page number or page range is omitted if the entire work is cited. The author’s surname is omitted if it appears in the text. Thus we may say: “Jones (2001) revolutionized the field of trauma surgery.” • Two or three authors are cited using “and” or “&”: (Deane, Smith, and Jones, 1991) or (Deane, Smith & Jones, 1991). More than three authors are cited using et al. (Deane et al. 1992). • An unknown date is cited as no date (Deane n.d.). A reference to a reprint is cited with the original publication date in square brackets (Marx [1867] 1967, p. 90). • If an author published two books in 2005, the year of the first (in the alphabetic order of the references) is cited and referenced as 2005a, the second as 2005b. • A citation is placed wherever appropriate in or after the sentence. If it is at the end of a sentence, it is placed before the period, but a citation for an entire block quote immediately follows the period at the end of the block since the citation is not an actual part of the quotation itself. • Complete citations are provided in alphabetical order in a section following the text, usually designated as “Works cited” or “References”. The difference between a “works cited” or “references” list and a bibliography is that a bibliography may include works not directly cited in the text. • All citations are in the same font as the main text. Examples Examples of book references are: • Smith, J. (2005a). Dutch Citing Practices. The Hague: Holland Research Foundation. • Smith, J. (2005b). Harvard Referencing. London: Jolly Good Publishing. In giving the city of publication, an internationally well-known city (such as London, The Hague, or New York) is referenced as the city alone. If the city is not internationally well known, the country (or state and country if in the U.S.) are given. Examples of journal references are: • Smith, John Maynard. “The origin of altruism,” Nature 393, 1998, pp. 639-40. • Bowcott, Owen. “Street Protest”, The Guardian, October 18, 2005, accessed February 7, 2006. END