MK560 - International Mktg

Dr. Peter J. Gordon

International Marketing MK560-01; Spring 2010
 (formerly MK460)

Office Hours:  I am typically in the office everyday from 9:00-6:00 (except for lunch, classes and meetings) - e-mail me if you want an appointment and we can make sure we don't miss each other!

There will be times when I will not be in during my office hours, due to other University/professional obligations.  Please e-mail me or call 573 651 2924 for an appointment.

Please note:  As a senior/graduate level class, you should have developed good "professional" communication skills.  I expect e-mail communication to me to follow generally accepted business communication standards.

Office:  246B (in the International/MBA Suite)

Phone:  (573) 651-2914

E-mail:  pgordon@semo.edu

Catalog Description and Prerequisites:

The marketing environments throughout the world and the management of the marketing function on a global scale.  Prerequisite: MK301.  (3 credit hours)

Course Syllabus:

COURSE OBJECTIVES

 Textbook:

Kotabe, Masaaki and Kristiaan Helsen,  "Global Marketing Management (5th Edit).", John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2010  (ISBN 978-0-470-38111-3)

If you are a graduate student and are buying the book, you could also get the previous edition of the same book - it would be OK to use, just a few outdated figures/tables;
Kotabe, Masaaki and Kristiaan Helsen,  "Global Marketing Management (4th Edit).", John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2008 (ISBN 978-0-471-75527-2)

It is recommended that the student have access to the Wall Street Journal (at least have access to it and be able to read it on daily basis) as well us the Economist and a self-selected set of other major business publications.

Attendance Policy:

Class meetings will feature both lecture and class discussion.  Students are encouraged to ask questions and make comments pertinent to the subject.  Hence, it is important that each student complete the required readings before we discuss them in class.  Each student is expected to attend classes regularly.  Class attendance will benefit the student both from the standpoint of learning and preparing for the examinations.  Unannounced quizzes may be given during the term.  Make-up quizzes are not given.  If you miss a class (or plan to) you do not have to call me. 

Other Student Expectations:

Read and understand these course guidelines.  It is your responsibility to follow the rules outlined herein. 

Some class communication will be via e-mail - using your Southeast Key e-mail address.   If you don't check your Southeast e-mail on a regular basis, you won't know what is going on!

Grading:

Each student's grade will be determined through an evaluation of the individual's general performance on examinations, presentations and quizzes, general contributions to class sessions and group research projects.  The following scale is used to assign points:

An undergraduate student's grade for this course will be based on 400 points. That means you can drop your lowest grade or skip one test/final exam.   The following guidelines will be provisionally employed to assign the overall course grade:

FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS: See note near bottom of page.  Graduate students will be graded out of 500 points - as per the above +100 points for your graduate paper. 

You can check your grade at any time by clicking Gradebook

Major Project:

A portion of your final grade will be based on your performance on this project.  Topics will be assigned in the first few days of class.  Your written paper is due as indicated on the schedule below (at the start of class) regardless of when your presentation is scheduled.  10 points deducted for each day late!

You can be in groups of 3 to 4 people.

Your group should prepare:

The grading criteria is based on coverage of the assigned topic and overall "professionalism" of both the paper and the classroom presentation.

You will be severely penalized for submitting papers with significant sections which were "cut and pasted" or uncited information. 

Activity Points:

During the semester you will have the opportunity to earn a total of 100 activity points.  There are 2 categories of activities.  These can only be handed in at the start of class on the first class day of the week.  You must be present to hand them in!  You must stay for the whole class.  If you arrive to class late, you may miss the opportunity to hand them in - and you must be present for the entire class to earn credit.  You can earn points by submitting a combination of different activities. 

* Submit up to 6 summaries of articles you have read that are relevant to International Marketing.  Hand in a one page, typed, single spaced summary, with full reference (on the same, single page) with a copy of the article attached.  Use any established referencing style.   

* Each article must come from a different publication (not just a different issue of the same publication), all of which must come from the most recent edition, or in the case of a newspaper, from the most recent week.  Each article summary is worth 10 points.  These will be collected at the start of class on each Tuesday from week 2, unless otherwise noted in the schedule below.  They will not be accepted at any other time.  You can hand in only one per class week. 

* This is a summary - in other words, don't copy large sections of the article directly into your paper.  I want you to use your own words in summarizing the main points of the article.

Not more than half of those you turn in can come from electronically retrieved sources - make sure you observe this rule!  If you used a computer to access the article it is a web-based source!

* Interview up to 6 international people (each must be from a different countries, not your own).  In these interviews, you should try to find out information about the business infrastructure in their country - how is it different from the U.S.?  How are stores different?  Products? Advertising? etc.  No more than one per week.  Single spaced, one full page.  Make sure you include details of who, where, when interview was completed.  Include also the subject's phone number and/or other contact info.  The person you interview must have come from a foreign country relatively recently.  You can not interview an American who has traveled to some foreign country.  Interviews have to be done in person - not by e-mail, not by phone - IN PERSON!

Each is worth 10 points and in total you cannot earn more than 100 points for both of the above categories combined.   That means you can hand in 6 article summaries and 4 interviews, or 5 and 5  or any other combination totaling 10 submissions.  It is up to you to plan your semester work load accordingly in order to maximize points earned.  If you work really hard and hand in one submission each week, you can be finished and earn maximum points by week 11 of the semester! 

All activities are graded pass/fail only.  You either earn 10 points or no points.  The overall criteria for acceptability is "Professionalism." All submissions should include your name and type of activity (e.g., article summary, interview, etc.) in the top right hand corner, a full bibliographical reference (where applicable), details of the interview or presentation (where applicable).

Reasons to get a "0" grade are any of the following:

ANY PLAGIARISM WILL RESULT IN A SCORE OF ZERO POINTS FOR ALL ACTIVITY ASSIGNMENTS FOR ALL PARTIES INVOLVED.

CLASS PARTICIPATION/CONTRIBUTION:

The class sessions provide an opportunity to share concerns, questions, ideas, and information.  It is the responsibility of each individual to prepare for involvement in class discussion, cases, etc.  The classes will be heavily participant-involvement oriented rather than a one-way communication of the instructor's ideas via lecture.  Students are expected to attend all classes and to complete all assignments for the course.  An absence does not relieve the student of the responsibility to complete all assignments.  Bonus point exercises may be assigned from time to time.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS:

Graduate students are expected to do additional work compared to undergraduates in a dual enrollment class.  To accomplish this objective, all graduate students will be asked to prepare an additional paper on the following subject:  The European Union - past, present and future.  This paper should be a minimum of 5 pages in length, single spaced, with a separate references page.  It is due the same day as the term paper.

This paper will be worth 100 points (20% of your grade)  Your overall grade will be computed on the basis of 500 points.   

TESTS & FINAL EXAM

You may bring any notes that you have prepared into the tests and final exam.  No photocopies of anything, no textbook, no WSJ, etc. Your notes may be handwritten or computer printed.

PROVISIONAL SCHEDULE for spring 2010 (as of December 29, 2009)

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