Study Guide

Objective

After completing the course, the student is able to:
-Understand special requirements connected to working in international surroundings and remote sales management
-Identify differences between different cultures of interest of the group
-Develop techniques to cope with cultural ways of behaving in sales
-Familiarize himself with chosen cultural areas

Content

-Requirements of international sales and sales management
-Different cultural groupings
-Knowledge about cultural characteristics and differences between Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, America
-Ethics in sales

Materials

Kuuluvainen, Arto (2011): Dynamic capabilities in the international growth of small and medium-sized firms.
Availabe f.ex. in:
https://www.utupub.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/113653/Ae4_2011.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Teaching methods

Learning cases
Learning diaries
Analysis of selected export markets (project work)

International connections

Team learning

Student workload

Lectures, group works during lectures, project work (analysis of selected export markets), independent work

Totally 135 hours

Content scheduling

The course provides a theoretically grounded overview of key issues, opportunities and challenges in international sales environment.

We shall assess globalization and the consequent changes in firms operating environment and analyze the needs to adjust firms strategies and sales operations due to these changes. Theoretically, the course utilizes especially dynamic capabilities framework in the context of international growth of SMEs.

The course covers key principles of conducting business in the international dimension. The role of politics and regulation are covered. Moreover, selected markets are analyzed from the perspective of international growth and sales. Also, ethical issues as well as social and environmental responsibility are addressed.

The purpose of the course is to present the most important forces affecting international sales environment today.

The key objectives of the course are:

1. To introduce the dynamic capabilities framework to analyze international business environment
2. To introduce various modes of conducting sales operations across borders
3. Familiarize students with the planning, implementation and management of sales activities in international business environments.

The learning outcomes include:

1. The enhanced awareness of differences in global business environment (including political, regulation and cultural aspects)

2. Understanding the dynamics affecting sales operations conducted in different global business environments

3. Understanding the related ethical and social responsibility issues

Further information

ItsLearning-platform

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

Student has not participated actively to meetings and group works. Moreover, he/she has not returned all required documents.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

Students participation to course's meetings and group works is considered rather inactive. According returned documents the student has challenges to understand main factors related to international sales environments.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

Student has participated actively on meetings and group works. He/she has been able to show his/her learning and know-how in the documents returned during the course. Analysis and diaries show that he/she understands international sales environments holistically.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Students participation to meetings and group works has been very active. It is shown that he/she understands international sales environments holistically. He/she is also able to show that he/she masters relationships of different factors affecting to international business environments.

In the group work and analysis (i.e. project work) the student has shown versatile and creative thinking and holistic understanding of the selected themes.