Course Syllabus
International Marketing
1128-MAR4156VC1128-84981
GENERAL INFORMATION
Professor Information
Professor's Photo
Instructor:
Prof. Elisabeth Beristain-Moreiras
Phone:
(305) 919-5870
Office:
BBC ACII- 130 CBA
Fax:
(348) 348-3792
Office Hours:
BBC Tuesdays 2 to 4PM and by appointment
 
Course Description

MAR 4156-International Marketing is a course designed to introduce you to the marketing practices of companies seeking market opportunities outside their home country, and to raise your awareness about the importance of viewing marketing management strategies from a global perspective. You will learn to plan effectively for the marketing of consumer and business needs and wants on an international level. Special emphasis will be placed on cultural and environmental aspects of international trade, and integration of culture and marketing functions.

Course Level Student Learning Outcomes

After successfully completing this course students will:

  • Develop an understanding of and an appreciation for basic international marketing concepts, theories, principles, and terminology.
  • Be able to demonstrate an awareness and knowledge of the impact of environmental factors (cultural, economic, institutional, legal and political) on international marketing activities.
  • Be capable of identifying international customers through conducting marketing research and developing cross-border segmentation and positioning strategies.
  • Be capable of developing a global marketing strategy by applying the basic concepts of product, pricing, promotion, and channels of distribution in international settings.
  • Be able to apply an integrated understanding of the course material by conducting an analysis of international marketing issues in relevant case studies and current events identifying factors that contribute to the challenges faced by marketers internationally, and developing corresponding solution options based on multiple perspectives.

Achieving the learning outcomes for this course will require discipline and hard work on your part. It is important to stay on track with the textbook reading and other assignments. You will find the topics interesting, and applicable to the current international marketing environment. I will work to stimulate your interest in learning, but you will need to take the initiative and develop self-study habits to assure your success in this course.

My objective is to provide you with a learning environment that will encourage and recognize your intellectual effort.

Major & Curriculum Outcomes Targeted

This course will address the following CBA Curriculum Learning Outcomes:

  • Demonstrate interactive communications skills
  • Demonstrate use of information technology
  • Obtain an understanding of the globalization context for business
  • Apply critical thinking skills to complex business problems
  • Be able to use analytic skills in addressing business problems

Additionally, the following Marketing Major Learning Outcomes will be addressed:

  • Demonstrate functional skills and knowledge in the study of marketing as a core subject
  • Understand the use of marketing research as a strategic input
  • Demonstrate the ability to evaluate marketing alternatives.

 After completing your BBA with a major in Marketing, you will be able to:

  •  Identify the core factors that need to be examined for understanding consumer behavior.
  • Calculate retail pricing on both cost and profit based approaches.
  • Interpret the language of marketing research.
  • Analyze a company's marketing strategy and recognize appropriate and inappropriate marketing alternatives.
  • Identify elements of professional image, attitude and business ethics.
Teaching Methodology

Course Delivery – The format for this course is fully on-line, and is based on an active learning framework. The nature of this course is one of directed self-learning, structured in learning modules with specific timeframes. You will find a detailed description of each module in the Course Calendar at the end of the syllabus.

To facilitate your learning, this course consists of three basic components:

  • International marketing theory, concepts, and terminology presented through assigned textbook reading and corresponding quizzes to assess your knowledge.
  • Historic examples of international marketing through video case discussions to provide you with a multi-country perspective.
  • Current international marketing challenges analyzed in the assignment to engage you in international and multicultural problem solving approaches.

Due dates are specified in the Course Calendar section and in the Course Activity Schedule located in the Course Content section in our course site. Late submissions are not acceptable and may earn zero points. It is important for you to be aware of due dates and to comply with them. There is sufficient time for you to complete the course work in each learning module if you plan your time well.

Please check my weekly postings in Instructor Announcements in the Discussion Forum. This is a key communication tool for our course.

Dates Subject to Change - All dates contained in this syllabus and on the course site are subject to change if needed during the semester. Therefore, checking postings regularly is vital for you to be informed and will reduce the chances of missing any important announcements and clarifications or changes to the syllabus.

Please read textbook chapters and view the supplemental materials as specified in each learning module.

Preparation on your part is critical if you want to learn in this course, and have the tools to participate in on-line discussions/postings. Our virtual classroom environment will be interactive, with special emphasis on developing your critical thinking skills.

Assurance of Learning

The College of Business cares about the quality of your education. More on the College's commitment to Assurance of Learning can be found at the following link:

http://businessonline.fiu.edu/course_addons/Learning_Commitment.pdf

Experiential Learning Activities

Students will engage in group case discussions and online quizzes,  and will prepare individual exercises to share with the class and an assignment requiring research and application of learning from the course.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Policies

Please review the policies page as it contains essential information regarding guidelines relevant to all courses at FIU and additional information on the standards for acceptable netiquette important for online courses.

Technical Requirements & Skills

One of the greatest barriers to taking an online course is a lack of basic computer literacy. By computer literacy we mean being able to manage and organize computer files efficiently, and learning to use your computer's operating system and software quickly and easily. Keep in mind that this is not a computer literacy course; but students enrolled in online courses are expected to have moderate proficiency using a computer. Please go to the "What's Required" page to find out more information on this subject.

Accessibility And Accommodation

For detailed information about the specific limitations with the technologies used in this course, please click here.

For more information about Blackboard's Accessibility Commitment, click here.

For additional assistance please contact our Disability Resource Center.

Course Prerequisites

MAR 3023 is an absolute prerequisite for this course. If you have not taken MAR 3023, you do not have the basic knowledge needed to succeed in this course. Students must have passed MAR 3023 with a grade of C+ or above within the last year to qualify for this particular section, specifically designed for marketing and international business majors/minors.

  • Students must have English language competency
  • Students must have a Windows computer with speakers to view videos /course materials.
  • Students taking this course must also be proficient in: internet browsing; internet research; internet test taking; MS Word; MS Excel, MS PowerPoint

For more information about prerequisites, click here.

Proctored Exam Policy

Please note that the information contained in this section applies only if your course requires a proctored exam.

It is the student’s responsibility to determine whether this online course requires proctored exams by carefully reviewing this syllabus. For detailed instructions please visit our Proctored Exam Resources page on the FIU Online website.

This online section does not require an on-campus meeting and/or exam.

Textbook
Textbook cover

International Marketing
Cateora and Graham
McGraw-Hill, 15th Edition, 2011

ISBN 13: 978-0073529943

Click here to buy your textbook online at the FIU Bookstore.

Expectations of this Course

This is a fully online course, meaning that all course work will be conducted online. Expectations for performance in fully online courses are the same as for traditional courses; in fact, fully online courses require a degree of self-motivation, self-discipline, and technology skills that can make them more demanding for some students.

Fully online courses are not independent study courses. You will be expected to interact online with the professor and your fellow students; to do assignments; to meet deadlines; and to work in virtual groups for the case discussions. In some fully online courses, you may be required to come to campus to take midterms and exams, but in this course you will take your tests online.

You will be expected to:

  • fulfill course reading requirements
  • complete quizzes online
  • view video cases/read case histories and supplemental materials, and post relevant comments in answer to the topics/ questions posted by me for the corresponding cases
  • read postings by other students for each case history discussions and to respond as appropriate
  • complete and submit assignments/ exercises and to meet deadlines
  • complete both exams as specified.
COURSE DETAIL
Course Communication

Emails Please use the course messages to send your emails and to communicate with me one-on-one. Email is the most efficient way to communicate. My policy is to respond to your email within 48 hours except for weekends and holidays. Resend if you do not hear from me.

Email POLICY Since email is a predominant form of business communication, as part of this course, you will be required to send professional, properly written emails and properly written discussion posts.  For email, this would include: Dear Professor, followed by the text of your email using correct grammar and spelling, and not using any texting abbreviations, and ending with your Closing (Sincerely, Regards, etc) and your full name.   Emails that are not sent properly will be returned without response until you rewrite/resend. The same applies to any discussion postings: all should be grammatically correct and spell-checked, using proper English not texting abbreviations. Texting is a great way of communicating; however, it is not acceptable within the context of this course, and in business communications overall.

Student Homepage

Every student is to create his/her own student homepage using the course's Discussion Forum, which can be found on course's left navigation menu. For help on how to use the HTML Creator to develop a Student Homepage, click here.

Discussion Forums

There are various discussion forums for students to post comments or questions, depending on the topic, and a specific discussion forum for Instructor Announcements, and Case History discussions as follows:

  • Instructor Announcements
  • Student Comments (course related)
  • Student Home Pages  
  • Student Postings ( topics of interest unrelated to the course)

Reminder -The discussion forum is public and all students in the course receive the postings. If you wish to communicate with me privately, please use the course email instead of the discussion forum.

I suggest that you log on daily to review new postings and Instructor Announcements.

Case Discussions

There are 6 case discussions. Each is located in the corresponding learning module. Instructions and discussion topics are provided for each. Some case discussions consist of several parts - video case viewing and case or article reading. Information is provided for each case.

Read the specific instructions for each case history before posting your responses to the topics since the parameters may differ for each. Dates for each discussion are specified in the Course Calendar. Once a discussion closes, no further posting are accepted. Make sure that you pay attention to due dates.

I encourage you to participate actively in the case discussions by posting comments, called threaded discussions, in response to the questions posed, and to read all postings. This is supposed to be an interactive forum. Sharing ideas is part of your learning experience.

Your comments must be relevant to the topic posed for each case discussion. Use clear, concise sentences in your postings. Think through your ideas. Check grammar and spelling. I will take both the content and the form of your responses/comments into consideration when assigning points for your contribution to the discussion. Your comments should add value to the discussion. Simply saying you "agree" or that someone "did a great job" is not acceptable, and will not earn points.

If you do not follow instructions for postings, you will not earn the maximum points available.

Grades for each discussion will be posted in your Gradebook within 48 hours after the discussion due date.

Quizzes

To keep you up-to-date with the reading assignments, quizzes will be given. The purpose of each quiz is to assess your knowledge of the assigned textbook chapters.

In order to mitigate any issues with your computer and online assessments, it is very important that you take the "Practice Quiz" from each computer you will be using to take your graded quizzes and exams. It is your responsibility to make sure your computer meets the minimum hardware requirements.

There is also a Syllabus Quiz in Learning Module 1. This quiz is worth 20 points and is mandatory. In preparation for the quiz, read and study this and all course-related documents carefully. Print-out the syllabus and Course Activity Schedule, and go through the course site. This quiz contains 20 questions and has a time limit of 30 minutes. You will only have ONE chance to complete this quiz. This process (studying and testing your knowledge by taking the quiz) will help you understand the different components of this course and the tools that you have at your disposal to facilitate your learning.

There are 7 quizzes covering the textbook reading material. Each quiz will consist of 15 questions with a time limit of 20 minutes. Students have 2 opportunities to take each quiz. The highest grade will count as the grade for that quiz.

Dates and times for the textbook quizzes are listed for each quiz in our course site under Assessments. Quizzes will be administered on-line in a multiple-choice and true/false format.

Quizzes are open book and open notes. However, quizzes are not a group exercise. Group participation and/or cheating will not be tolerated. Please refer to Code of Academic Integrity.

IMPORTANT: ABSOLUTELY NO MAKE-UP QUIZ WILL BE ALLOWED. Once closed, QUIZZES WILL NOT BE RE-OPENED.

That is the reason for the DROP POLICY - Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped. The average of the remaining SIX quizzes will comprise your final quiz grade.

The "drop policy" is intended to cover situations when you are having technical problems, Internet problems, taking vacation time, moving on a weekend, emergencies, etc., and cannot take the quiz. The only exception to this is if the course site experiences technical problems.

The quiz automatically shuts off at five minutes to midnight on the last day, so don't wait until the last minute to log in and take a quiz.

Please note assessments in this course are not compatible with mobile devices and should not be taken through a mobile phone or a tablet. If you need further assistance please contact FIU Online Support Services.

Exams

A total of two exams will be given during the semester. The exam schedule is specified on the Course Calendar of this syllabus. The exams will be based on the textbook chapters, case history/video cases, and discussions, and will be comprehensive and cumulative. These tests will be multiple choice, and may also include some short-answer questions. I will provide further details about each exam.

Exam 1 and Exam 2 will be administered on-line.

No make-up exams will be offered. Plan your time carefully and refer to the Course Calendar. The only exception is an excused absence, which is defined as a death in the immediate family or a major medical emergency with hospitalization during the exam period. In the case of an excused absence, you must email me and submit written proof immediately (within 48 hours) following the circumstance for consideration.

The on-line exams are open book and open notes. Plan your time very carefully; time will be limited. Check the exam schedule on the course calendar and in the Instructor postings. Collaboration and cheating will not be tolerated. Postings referring to the exam while it is open are not allowed and may result in a grade of zero. Please refer to Code of Academic Integrity. Send an email to the professor with any questions or comments about the exam.

Assignments

Specific assignment instructions and a worksheet format will be provided and posted in the Assignment Tab. The assignment due date is listed in the Course Content and Schedule section of this syllabus and in the Course Activity Schedule.

The assignment description is located in the Assignment Tab and assignments are to be posted in the Assignment Drop Box. Additional information will be posted in our course site.

Make certain that you follow the instructions and the worksheet format provided. Points will be deducted for not following directions.

Late submissions will not be accepted, so plan your time carefully.

Assignments will be graded in the order received. You can expect your grade to be posted in your Gradebook within 3 weeks after the assignment due date.

Grading
Course Requirements Weight
Student Home Page = 5 points + Exercise 1 = 2 points 7 Points = 2%
Syllabus Quiz 20 Points = 6%
Case history discussions (6 cases x 8 points each) 48 Points = 14%
Quizzes (7 minus 1 drop = 6 x 15 points = 90) 90 Points = 26%
Assignment 25 Points = 7%
Exam 1 85 Points = 24%
Exam 2 75 Points = 21%
Total 350 Points = 100%

 

Letter
Grade
RAnge Letter
Grade
Range Letter
Grade
Range
A 331+ Points B- 279-292 D+ 234-243
A- 314-330 C+ 269-278 D 222-233
B+ 300-313 C 258-268 D- 210-221
B 293-299 C- 244-257 F <210

 

Final Comments
  • This syllabus and the Course Activity Calendar are essential tools for success in this course. Make sure that you pay attention to course activities and due dates. Remember: there are no 'make-ups' or late submissions, so you need to plan your time accordingly.
  • Dates and course content on the syllabus are subject to change. Make sure to check postings on the Discussion Forum at least weekly.
  • Please communicate with me using course messages.
  • If you should have technical issues with your computer or with accessing materials on-line, please contact the FIU on-line learning help desk (305) 348-3630.
  • Once a case discussion or a quiz closes, they will NOT be re-opened. You have an ample window of opportunity to complete these activities. Do not send me an email asking for an extension. Plan your time so that you may complete the course activities! Request for a time extension will not be granted.
  • Do not ask about extra work to help compensate for a bad test grade. I do not give such extra credit assignments. Put your efforts into preparing for the exams and completing the course work/ activities.

Please be aware that final grades are final per Marketing Department policy. Unless there has been an error on my part in calculating your final grade, I will not change your final grade. Requests for doing extra work to improve a final course grade will not be granted.

My goal is for you to succeed, and to enjoy this international marketing course. By adhering to the following values, together we can make this course a great experience.

  • Good communication, preparation and active participation.
  • Honesty and integrity.
  • Willingness to learn and openness to new ideas.

I look forward to working with all of you. BEST WISHES for your success!

COURSE CALENDAR
Schedule of Bi-Weekly Learning Modules

Following is a summary of topics/ course activities and corresponding textbook chapters:

Date
Topic/course activites
Textbook Chapters
Learning Module 1

Week 1 & 2

Aug 20th to Sept 2nd
  • Welcome Video & Course overview
  • Syllabus review
  • Student Home Page due
  • On-line Practice Quiz
  • Syllabus Quiz due
  • Learning Module 1 Exercises due
 
Learning Module 2

Week 3 & 4

Sept 4th to 16th
  • Read textbook Chapters 1 & 2
  • Corresponding materials in Learning Module 2
  • Complete Quiz 1 on-line
  • Case history: McDonald's - read/view materials in Learning Module 2. Post responses to discussion topics/questions.
Chapter 1 & 2
Learning Module 3

Week 5 & 6

Sept 17th - 30th
  • Read textbook Chapters 4 & 5
  • Corresponding materials in Learning Module 3
  • Complete Quiz 2 on-line
  • Case history: Disney - read/view materials in Learning Module 3. Post responses to discussion topics/questions.
Chapter 4 & 5
Learning Module 4

Week 7 & 8

Oct 1st - 14th
  • Textbook reading Chapters 6 & 7
  • Corresponding materials in Learning Module 4
  • Complete Quiz 3 on-line
  • Case history: Coke/Pepsi - read/view materials in Learning Module 4. Post responses to discussion topics/questions.
  • EXAM 1 available online October 14th at 8AM to October 15th at 11:55PM.
Chapter 6 & 7
Learning Module 5

Week 9 & 10

Oct 15th - 28th
  • Prepare Assignment & post between October 17th at 8AM and October 24th at 11:55PM
  • Textbook reading Chapters 8 & 9
  • Corresponding materials in Learning Module 5
  • Complete Quiz 4 on-line
  • Case history: Starbucks - read/view materials in Learning Module 5. Post responses to discussion topics/questions.
Chapter 8 & 9
Learning Module 6

Week 11 & 12

Oct 29th - Nov 11th
  • Textbook reading Chapters 13 & 15
  • Corresponding materials in Learning Module 6
  • Complete Quiz 5 on-line
  • Case history: YUM! Brands - read/view materials in Learning Module 6. Post responses to discussion topics/questions.
Chapter 13 & 15
Learning Module 7

Week 13 & 14

Nov 12th - 25th
  • Textbook reading – chapters 16
  • Corresponding materials in Learning Module 7
  • Complete Quiz 6 on-line
  • Case history: Oreo - read/view materials in Learning Module7. Post responses discussion topics/questions.
Chapter 16
Learning Module 8

Week 15 & 16

Nov 26th - Dec 8
  • Complete Quiz 7 Review (8, 9, 13, 15 & 16) on-line
  • EXAM 2 available online December 4th at 8AM to December 5th at 11:55PM.