Introduction to the global environment:

-What is the glocalization approach? Which two extremes does this

approach unite? 


-What are cultural stereotypes and how does the self-reference criterion
relate to this? 
How do cultural stereotypes influence marketers who
intend to go abroad with their 
products or services? 


-Define three elements of culture and give examples how these influence
global marketing. 


-Hofstede’s dimensions and their impact on international marketing 


Value Chain: 


-What is the “value chain”? 


- Explain the main advantages of centralizing upstream and decentralizing

downstream 
activities. 


Developing a competitive advantage: 
Porter’s Diamond: 


-Which elements does Porter’s diamond consist of? Define and explain in
short sentences. 


-How can analysis of national competitiveness explain the competitive

advantage of the 
single firm? 


--How can a country with high labour costs improve its national
competitiveness? 
Porter’s 5 Forces: 


-Which elements does Porter’s Five Forces Model consist of? Define and
explain in short 
sentences. 

 -Explain three factors that increase the bargaining power of suppliers.
(Sample question. 
Be prepared to explain driving factors for each
element of the Five Forces Model). 
Porter’s Generic Strategies /
Competitive Advantage: 


-Which sources of competitive advantage did Porter identify? 


-What is the competitive triangle? 


-Explain a cost-based competitive advantage and discuss the differences to

a customer- 
based competitive advantage. 


-Which criteria have to be met so that a company can claim to have a

customer-based 
competitive advantage? (Note: here you should forcedly
mention that a) the company has to be better than competition and that the
competitive advantage has to be valued by the customer, hence be a
customer-based key success factor in the industry). 


-Why do companies conduct competitive benchmarking? 


-What is a SWOT analysis? Where does the information synthesized in a

SWOT analysis 
stem from? (Note: Strengths and Weaknesses ALWAYS
internal compared to competitor and Opportunities and Threats ALWAYS
external, defined by customer trends, 
competitive actions, general market
developments, etc.) What is the Blue Ocean Strategy?

Market Analysis:

-Why is screening of foreign markets important? 


-What is meant by IMS? How is an IMS conducted? 


-Distinguish been preliminary and ‘fine-grained’ screening processes and

give sample 
criteria for both. 

   - Which factors influence the IMS? (Note: here you should distinguish
between internal 
and external factors) 


-Which two dimensions are commonly depicted in a country portfolio

matrix? 


-Be prepared to do a MACS-Matrix to decide which country to enter.

(Market 
Attractiveness – Competitive Strength) 


-State and explain two company-related factors that favour country

diversification. (same 
could be for product-related factors, market-
factors, or marketing factors) 


-What is meant by the term “segmentation”? 


-What is the purpose of “market segmentation”? 


Market Entry: 


-What forms of market entry do you know? Please label and explain one
mode with low control and low risk, one intermediate one, and one with
high control and high risk. 


-Why is exporting frequently considered the simplest way of entering

foreign markets and thus favored by SMEs? 


-Explain two advantages and two disadvantages of entering a new market

via export. (Sample. Could be also: licensing, joint-venture, franchising or
direct investment). 


-Which factors affect the foreign market entry mode decision? Explain
two internal and two external factors that increase the possibility of
choosing an internal mode of market entry. 


-Under what circumstances should franchising be considered? How do

these circumstances vary from those leading to licensing? 


-Why are joint ventures preferred by host countries as an entry strategy for
foreign firms? 

Designing the global marketing plan: Basic + Product 


-What are the four elements of the marketing mix? 


-Explain four factors that favour a standardization of the global marketing

mix. 


Explain four barriers to standardizing the global marketing mix. 


-What advantages can a company derive from marketing a branded versus

a non-branded 
product? 


-Identify the major barriers to developing international brands. 


-What is the importance of ‘country of origin’ in international product

marketing? Discuss 
whilst integrating specific examples. 


-Name three contingency factors that impact country-of-origin effects (be

specific: e.g., 
how does age impact country of origin effects?)

-Which four basic options can a marketer chose from when transferring
the product-facet 
of the marketing mix to another country? 


-What is meant by the term “dual adoption”? 


Designing the global marketing plan: Pricing 


-Explain four firm-level factors that influence international pricing

decisions. (Sample. could be also: environmental factors, product factors,
or market factors). 


-Explain four factors that favour price standardization. (or: explain four
factors that favour price adaptation). 


-What is meant by the term “export price”-escalation? Please explain one

counter-strategy. 

   -Be prepared to calculate the surplus a company has to sell when decreasing  
prices. 
Example (number change): A manufacturer sells his product at
100 € and has variable costs of 80 € (hence: a contribution of 20 € per
piece sold). For 100 units sold he thus earns 2.000 €. He decides to
decrease his price to 95 €. If costs remain the same, how much more does
he have to sell to still earn 2.000 €? 


Designing the global marketing plan: Promotion 


-What is “above-the-line”-marketing versus “below-the-line”-marketing?




-Explain two factors that increase the complexity of making

international communication 
choices. 


-What is meant by the term “noise” in the advertising context? 


-Would you favour for branding purposes TV advertising or radio? 


-Be prepared to complete the social media purchase funnel with two KPI
per marketing 
goal and to explain the purpose of a social media purchase
funnel. 


-What are the advantages of using micro-influencers instead of major

influencers? 


-Be prepared to choose for a given marketing scenario the right social
media platform. 


-Explain the cost-per-thousand approach for monitoring advertising

effectiveness and be 
prepared to calculate a specific example. 


Designing the global marketing plan: Place 


-Explain how product price and product type influence the decision of
whether to distribute intensively or exclusively. 


-Would you distribute convenience product intensively or exclusively?

Provide arguments for your decision.