Course Syllabus
Welcome to BUS615: International Marketing
Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.
Course Description
In this graduate-level course, apply your marketing skills to international markets by exploring how to manage dynamic communications, how international advertising works, how to set appropriate product pricing and policies, and how to market to customers with different cultural and economic realities.
Course Introduction
Smart global companies like Amazon, Toyota, and Nike have all made major missteps when entering foreign markets. This course explores these and other strategic international marketing errors and some of the models businesses use to think through, plan for, and avoid these problems. After you complete this course, you will be able to craft excellent international marketing strategies for sophisticated investors, company executives, and managers of international marketing operations.
As nations once competed with one another, companies are now competing across the globe. Attracted by growing foreign economies and new sales opportunities, many companies have decided to provide products and services internationally in the business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer (C2C), business-to-business (B2B), and business-to-government (B2G) markets. Internet and digital marketing techniques are also evolving rapidly, and they have become critical strategic elements for every company's marketing department. While much is written about customer preferences in B2C and C2C markets, there is comparatively little information on the B2B and B2G markets, particularly since international buyers often have different attitudes and levels of receptivity toward products or services from foreign companies. Therefore, it is critically important to recognize and appreciate these differences and incorporate them into your marketing strategy – and then track your marketing efforts to ensure you enter the market successfully.
This course includes the following units:
- Unit 1: Introduction to International Marketing
- Unit 2: International Business Cultures
- Unit 3: International Marketing Departments
- Unit 4: Market Research and Selecting International Markets
- Unit 5: Trends in International Marketing
- Unit 6: Strategies for Entering International Markets
- Unit 7: Measuring Marketing Success
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Explain why companies choose to enter foreign markets and how they decide which markets to enter;
- Assess the advantages and disadvantages of standardization and adaptation in international marketing;
- Evaluate marketing performance by choosing appropriate business thinking models based on real-world scenarios where companies have had marketing successes and failures;
- Assess the importance of customer-oriented models such as the Customer Value Chain, Customer Value Proposition Canvas, the 4Cs of marketing, and the 4Cs of marketing communications when developing product offerings for international markets;
- Explain the role of marketing research and marketing information systems in preparing an international marketing plan;
- Choose market segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies for entering an international market;
- Analyze why companies are successful or unsuccessful when marketing in other countries by evaluating their marketing processes and strategies;
- Evaluate alternative market entry plans for entering an international market;
- Track marketing efforts through the use of different analytical and measuring tools such as return on investment (ROI), key performance indicators (KPIs), or Google Analytics;
- Identify the main elements of an integrated international marketing plan for a product, service, company, e-commerce platform, or individual; and
- Design your own marketing plan for entering an international market.
Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.
Course Materials
This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.
All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course at this link.
Some parts of this course may have been created or reviewed with the support of artificial intelligence (AI). To make sure you receive accurate, high-quality, and academically sound learning materials, all AI-assisted content is carefully checked and approved by Saylor Academy's faculty and subject matter experts.
Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score
Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on the final exam.
Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam, you will not complete this course or receive a certificate of completion. You can attempt the exam as many times as you want.
There are end-of-unit assessments in this course that are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take them as many times as you want until you understand the concepts they cover.
You can see all of these assessments at this link.
Continuing Education Credits
The certificate earned by passing this self-paced course displays the program hours you completed and continuing education credits (CEUs). CEUs document successful completion of courses that are designed to improve the knowledge and skills of working adults. Many industries value CEUs, and now your certificate reflects them clearly, and they may be used to support career advancement or to meet professional licensing standards. This course contains 3.2 CEUs.
Tips for Success
BUS615: International Marketing is a self-paced course, meaning you can decide when to start and complete the course. We estimate the "average" student will take hours to complete. We recommend studying at a comfortable pace and scheduling your study time in advance.
Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:
- Take notes on terms, practices, and theories. This helps you understand each concept in context and provides a refresher for later study.
- Test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned improves long-term memory retention.
Technical Requirements
This course is delivered entirely online. You will need access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and consistent internet access to view or download resources and complete auto-graded assessments and the final exam.
To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, log into your Saylor Academy account and enroll in the course. If you don't have an account, you can create one for free here. Note that tracking progress and taking assessments require you to log in.
For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.
Optional Saylor Academy Mobile App
You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor Academy mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.
Fees
This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. All course materials, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and a free course completion certificate.