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2017/2018  KAN-CCBLV1703U  Marketing in Emerging Markets: Seizing the market opportunities in the world’s main growth economies

English Title
Marketing in Emerging Markets: Seizing the market opportunities in the world’s main growth economies

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Min. participants 40
Max. participants 60
Study board
Study Board for BSc og MSc in Business, Language and Culture, MSc
Course coordinator
  • Manisha Bachheti - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
  • Michael Wendelboe Hansen - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalization and international business
  • Intercultural studies
  • Marketing
Last updated on 20-02-2017

Relevant links

Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors: At the end of the course and against the backdrop of the course literature, students should be able to
  • Describing challenges and opportunities of marketing in emerging markets;
  • Understanding and critically assess theories of emerging market marketing;
  • Know practical tools for market assessment and marketing in emerging markets,
  • Apply marketing theories and tools to concrete cases of marketing in western companies moving into emerging markets.
Course prerequisites
Preferably, students should have basic knowledge of Marketing and International business.
Examination
Marketing in Emerging Markets: Seizing the Market Opportunities in the World's Main Growth Economies:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Group exam
Please note the rules in the Programme Regulations about identification of individual contributions.
Number of people in the group 3-5
Size of written product Max. 30 pages
The exam will be a written project made by groups of 3-5 persons, 20 pages if there are 3 persons in the group, 25 pages if there are 4 persons and 30 pages if there are 5 persons.The grade given will be individual.
Assignment type Project
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure

Student groups are expected to develop a detailed market entry plan that will involve making decisions on issues such as:

  •  Mode of entry;  
  •  Market positioning;
  •  The extent standardization vs. adaptation with respect to 4 P’s (product, place, promotion and price), and
  •  Managing, measuring and controlling the international marketing effort.

 

The deadlines for handing in the project problem-formulation for approval and for handing in the written assignment will be announced. 

Course content and structure

High growth rates, the emergence of middle classes with strong purchasing power, pent up demands, and improved marketing infrastructures are attracting western companies to emerging markets. They all want to be part of the market opportunities of these, the world’s growth drivers. However, many of these companies realize that the marketing and branding practices developed in their home countries are ineffective when applied to emerging markets. In the 1990s, Kellogg’s ventured into India with a $65 million investment and failed miserably due to lack of culture sensitivity. Renault’s “people’s car,” the Logan, was a hit in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world, but it failed in India. Ford in China and GM and KFC in India have fallen short in achieving their growth and expansion objectives.

 

Cultural specificities, institutional voids and informality, in-transparent business networks, underdeveloped infrastructures and industrial structures render standard western marketing thinking inadequate in emerging markets. The course “Marketing in Emerging Markets” is aimed at assisting students in understanding the specificities of marketing in emerging market contexts and provide them with tools that allow them to work with marketing in emerging markets. 

 

More specifically this course covers and focuses on theory and insights, the potentials and challenges of the emerging economies. The capacities of growing markets, fast developing local consumer markets, ample low-cost labor, and the rising middle class have attracted general attention about the nature of the rapid economic transformations these countries are currently undergoing. The realities in terms of market heterogeneity, sociopolitical governance, chronic shortage of resources, unbranded competition, and inadequate infrastructure, requires rethinking the core assumptions of marketing, such as market orientation, market segmentation, and differential advantage. The course will put special focus on the largest emerging economies (China and India etc.), which are performing robustly with strong domestic demand, consumption, and investment.

 

         A number of experts with practical experience from marketing in emerging markets will provide up-to-date knowledge about the different markets based on their own experience and research. Thus, students will get a comprehensive knowledge of the global emerging market with insights into the latest business dynamics in these markets through real world embedded projects while case studies discussions, theories and literature will form the backdrop for reflective understanding.

 

The themes are as follows:

 

  1. Why emerging markets are important for international marketing and yet so volatile?
  2. Why do well-established products fail in emerging markets? Is it lack of sensitivity to local culture or lack of adaptation to local marketing infrastructures?
  3.  Why do companies underestimate the cost of entering the emerging markets? What strategies can companies adopt to reduce these costs?
  4. Should a company extend its marketing mix or should it adjust it to suit the local markets? Is there a single recipe for all the emerging markets?
  5.  What are the institutional factors that influences marketing in emerging economies
  6. What is the right entry strategy for marketing products in these markets: Direct export, franchising/licensing, agent/ distributor, and joint ventures/ fully owned subsidiaries?
  7. How to put theory practice and develop a realistic and viable international marketing plan.
Teaching methods
We shall use a 4-prong learning process for this course.
1. Lectures by Faculty (supported by readings)
2. Lectures by industry practitioners
3. Case Analysis
4. Group Project

Group project: Emerging market analysis

To help achieve the course objective the students will be supported in identifying a company that has interest in marketing and/or is planning to launch their product in an emerging market or those firms who have launched in these markets but are struggling to grow. The companies can be from any sector and can vary in their size (small, local or international). The students will form groups and will develop an international marketing plan for the selected product/ product category of the company. The international marketing plan will for instance be comprised of sections on Cultural Analysis, Economic Analysis, Market Audit and Competitive Market Analysis, and Preliminary Marketing Plan. Student groups are expected to develop a detailed market entry plan that will involve making decisions on issues such as:
• Mode of entry;
• Market positioning;
• The extent standardization vs. adaptation with respect to 4 P’s (product, place, promotion and price), and
• Managing, measuring and controlling the international marketing effort.
Feedback during the teaching period
As the course requires students to make a marketing plan for a company, they will get feedback on it in the class and during office hours. The feedback will be given to the groups when working on their marketing plan. The information for meeting hours and place will be uploaded on Learn.
Student workload
Preparation for class + teaching 146 hours
exam 60 hours
Expected literature

S. Tamer Cavusgil Pervez N. Ghauri & Ayse A. Akcal (2013) Doing Business in Emerging Markets (2nd edition). SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-1-84920-153-7.

 

Sheth, J. (2011): “Impact of Emerging Markets on Marketing: Rethinking Existing Perspectives and Practices”, Journal of Marketing Vol. 75 (July 2011), 166 –182, 17p

 

Tarun Khanna & Krishna G. Palepu (2010). Winning in Emerging Markets: A Road Map for Strategy and Execution. Harvard Business Press. ISBN 978-1-4221-6695-6.

 

Stephanie Jones (2012). BRICs and Beyond: Lessons on Emerging Markets. ISBN 978-1-119-96269-4.

Last updated on 20-02-2017