Public University of Navarre



Academic year: 2015/2016 | Previous academic years:  2014/2015  |  2013/2014 
Bachelor's degree in Economics at the Universidad Pública de Navarra
Course code: 171712 Subject title: INTERNATIONAL TRADE MANAGEMENT
Credits: 6 Type of subject: Optative Year: 4 Period: 1º S
Department: Business Administration
Lecturers:
MARTIN MARTIN, OSCAR (Resp)   [Mentoring ]

Partes de este texto:

 

Module/Subject matter

"International Trade Management" is an elective course belonging to the fourth year of the Bachelor of Business Administration and Management.

Up

Descriptors

International Business; Export Management; International Marketing; internationalization; export readiness; export market selection; export modes; cross cultural sales negotiations; export orders; Incoterms; international physical distribution; methods of payment.

Up

General proficiencies

General instrumental competences

CG01  A capacity for analysis and synthesis

CG04  Oral and written communication in a foreign language

CG06  The ability to search for and analyse information from different sources
CG07  The capacity to solve problems
CG08  The capacity to make decisions

General personal competences
CG09  The capacity to work as part of a team
CG11  Work in an international context
CG13  The capacity to work in diverse and multicultural environments

Systematic general competences
CG17  A capacity for self-reliant learning
CG18  The capacity to adapt to new situations

Up

Specific proficiencies

CE02  To identify sources of economic information relevant to their particular enterprise and their contents
CE03  To discern information and data relevant to their particular enterprise which a non-professional would be unable to recognise
CE04  To analyse business management problems, applying professional criteria based on the use of technical instruments
CE05  To produce advisory reports on specific business and market situations
CE06  To design general management projects or projects specific to functional areas in the relevant enterprise
CE08  To manage and administer an enterprise or organisation, understand its competitive and institutional position, and identify its strengths and weaknesses
CE13  To identify an enterprise as a system and recognise the interdependencies between its different functional areas
CE18  To develop marketing policies which enhance knowledge of consumer needs and increase consumer satisfaction

Up

Learning outcomes

At the completion of this course, students should be able to:

- Understand international trade decisions and operations.

- Apply key concepts and tools related to export decisions and operations.

- Identify managerial problems of export operations, isolate their key components, analyze and assess the salient issues, set appropriate criteria for decision making, and draw appropriate conclusions and implications for proposed solutions.

- Identify sources of international information and use quantitative and qualitative data in the analysis and decision process.

- Formulate and design export strategies and implementation plans applying the main concepts to specific markets and products of exporting firms.

- Develop skills in oral and written communication in business settings. Students should be able to prepare and present reports on business issues using appropriate supportive technologies.

- Develop team skills and competencies needed to work effectively in business settings involving cultural diversity.

 

Learning outcome Content (Chapter #) Activity Evaluation
Understand international trade decisions and operations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6  A1, A2, A3, A4, A5  E1
Apply key concepts and tools related to export decisions and operations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 A2, A3, A4  E2, E3, E4
Identify managerial problems of export operations, isolate their key components, analyze and assess the salient issues, set appropriate criteria for decision making, and draw appropriate conclusions and implications for proposed solutions 1, 6  A2, A3, A4  E2, E3
Identify sources of international information and use quantitative and qualitative data in the analysis and decision process  2, 3, 4 & 5  A1, A2, A3, A4  E1, E2, E3
Formulate and design export strategies and implementation plans applying the main concepts to specific markets and products of exporting firms 2, 3 & 4  A2, A3, A4  E2, E3, E4
Develop skills in oral and written communication in business settings. Students should be able to prepare and present reports on business issues using appropriate supportive technologies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6  A2, A3, A4  E2, E3, E4
Develop team skills and competencies needed to work effectively in business settings involving cultural diversity 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6  A2, A3, A4  E2, E3

Up

Methodology

The six ECTS describe the student workload required to complete the course. They reflect 150 hours of student work and include lectures, team work, individual work, seminars and examinations. Out of the 150 hours, 60 will be in class. The remaining 90 hours of student work will used for reading and studying the materials to be discussed in class, assignments, the course project and the preparation of the exam.

Among the activities constituting the course are, therefore, lectures, practical assignments, seminars by experts, and a course project (Export Project):
- In the lectures, the lecturer presents the critical concepts of the subject and proposes practical assignments to apply the concepts. 
- In practical sessions, six case studies will be discussed in small groups of students. 
- Each team will complete and present a course project. The course project is designed to advance students' understanding of challenges faced by export managers. The teams will be in charge of export operations of a product in a foreign market. The details of the project will be specified in the file "Export Project" (to be posted on MiAulario). Your team should start the project in the third week of the course.
- During the semester, one professional/expert will be invited to present a seminar on a topic related to the syllabus content.

 

Activity In class (hours) Outside of the classroom (hours)
A1 Lectures 30  
A2 Practical sessions (case studies) 12  
A3 Course project 8 22
A4 Group assignments 8 12
A5 Seminar (professional/expert) 2  
A6 Independent and private reading and study   28
A7 Individual assignments   4
A8 Examinations preparation   24
Total 60 90

Up

Relationship between formative activities and proficiencies/learning outcomes

 

Competence Activity

CG01  A capacity for analysis and synthesis

 A2, A3, A4
CG04  Oral and written communication in a foreign language  A2, A3, A4
CG06  The ability to search for and analyse information from different sources  A3, A4
CG07  The capacity to solve problems  A2, A3, A4
CG08  The capacity to make decisions  A2, A3, A4
CG09  The capacity to work as part of a team  A2, A3, A4
CG11  Work in an international context  A1, A2, A3, A4
CG13  The capacity to work in diverse and multicultural environments  A2, A3, A4
CG17  A capacity for self-reliant learning  A6, A7, A8
CG18  The capacity to adapt to new situations  A3
CE02  To identify sources of economic information relevant to their particular enterprise and their contents A3, A4, A6, A8
CE03  To discern information and data relevant to their particular enterprise which a non-professional would be unable to recognise A3, A4, A6
CE04  To analyse business management problems, applying professional criteria based on the use of technical instruments A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
CE05  To produce advisory reports on specific business and market situations A3
CE06  To design general management projects or projects specific to functional areas in the relevant enterprise A3
CE08  To manage and administer an enterprise or organisation, understand its competitive and institutional position, and identify its strengths and weaknesses A1, A3, A5, A6, A8
CE13  To identify an enterprise as a system and recognise the interdependencies between its different functional areas A2, A3, A5
CE18  To develop marketing policies which enhance knowledge of consumer needs and increase consumer satisfaction A1

Up

Languages

English.

Up

Evaluation

E1 Exam (35%). Minimum passing grade is "5".

E2 Cases and in-class assignments (25%).

E3 Export project (25%).

E4 Participation (15%).

Up

Contents

"International Trade Management" allows students to understand the decisions and the basic operations managers carry out when exporting their products to foreign markets. "International Trade Management" focuses on current and relevant issues in export management. Topics include the initiation of internationalization, export readiness, export market selection, export modes, cross cultural sales negotiations, export orders, Incoterms, international physical distribution and methods of payment.

 

Course content

1. Initiation of internationalization

1.1. Internationalization motives

1.2. Triggers of export initiation

1.3. Internationalization barriers and risks

2. Export readiness and support

2.1. Export readiness assessment

2.2. Institutional support to exporting firms

3. The export market selection process

3.1. Market expansion strategies

3.2. Market selection methods

3.3. Sources of information

4. Export modes

4.1. Indirect export modes

4.2. Direct export modes

4.3. Cooperative export modes

5. Cross-cultural sales negotiations

5.1. Cross-cultural negotiations

5.2. Intercultural preparation

6. Export operations management

6.1. Handling the export order

6.2. Terms of delivery: Incoterms

6.3. International physical distribution

6.4. Methods of payment

 

The specific learning objectives for each chapter are the following:

Initiation of internationalization. Learning objectives:
- Discuss the reason (motives) why firms go international.
- Explain the difference between proactive and reactive motives.
- Analyze the triggers of export initiation.
- Explain the difference between internal and external triggers of export initiation.
- Describe different factors hindering export initiation.
- Discuss the critical barriers in the process of exporting

2. Export readiness and support. Learning objectives:
- Assess a company's export readiness.
- Identify key institutions and export support policies and programs.

3. The export market selection process. Learning objectives:
- Choose among alternative expansion strategies.
- Distinguish between concentration and diversification in market expansion.
- Explore how international marketers screen potential markets/countries using secondary and primary data (criteria).
- Distinguish between preliminary and fine-grained screening.

4. Export modes. Learning objectives:
- Distinguish between indirect, direct and cooperative export modes.
- Describe and understand the five main entry modes of indirect exporting (export buying agent, broker, etc.).
- Describe the two main entry modes of direct exporting (distributor and agent).
- Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the main export modes.

5. Cross-cultural sales negotiations: Learning objectives:
- Discuss why intercultural selling through negotiation is one of the greatest challenges in global marketing.
- Explain major phases in a cross-cultural negotiation process.
- Discuss the implications of Hofstede's research for the firm's cross-cultural negotiation.
- Explain some important aspects of intercultural preparation.

6. Export operations management. Learning objectives:
- Identify the key actors participating in the export operation and understand the importance of the correct handling of export procedures.
- Understand the use of the Incoterms in the definition of the terms of delivery.
- Describe the basic structure of international physical distribution
- Explain the main methods of payment in international trade.

Up

Agenda

Week Session Description of the content In class (2 h) Outside of the classroom
Large Small Description h
1 1 Presentation and introduction X   Reading the syllabus and reading and studying the materials 6
1 2 Internationalization motives X  
2 3 Triggers of export initiation X   Reading and studying the materials 6
2 4 Internationalization barriers and risks X  
3 5 Case 1   X Reading the and studying the materials. Group assignments (GA) and Export Project (EP) 6
3 6 Export readiness assessment X  
4 7 Institutional support X   Reading and studying the materials. GA and EP 6
4 8 Seminar X  
5 9 Case 2   X Reading and studying the materials. GA and EP 6
5 10 Market expansión strategies X  
6 11 Market selection methods X   Reading and studying the materials. GA and EP 6
6 12 Sources of information X  
7 13 Case 3   X Reading and studying the materials. GA and EP 6
7 14 Indirect export modes X  
8 15 Direct export modes X   Reading and studying the materials. GA and EP 6
8 16 Cooperative export modes X  
9 17 Case 4   X Reading and studying the materials. GA and EP 6
9 18 Export Project (EP) – Control 1 X  
10 19 Cross-cultural negotiations X   Reading and studying the materials. GA and EP 6
10 20 Intercultural preparation X  
11 21 Case 5   X Reading and studying the materials. GA and EP 6
11 22 Export orders X  
12 23 Incoterms X   Reading and studying the materials. GA and EP 6
12 24 International logistics X  
13 25 International payments X   Reading and studying the materials. GA and EP 6
13 26 Case 6   X
14 27 EP – Control 2     Studying the materials. EP 6
14 28 Preparation of EP presentation    
15 29 EP presentation   X Studying the materials 6
15 30 EP presentation   X
16 31 Exam X      
16 32 Feedback    
17 33 Feedback        
17 34 Exam X  
18 35 Feedback        
18 36 Feedback    

Up

Bibliography

Access the bibliography that your professor has requested from the Library.


Basic lecture material (PowerPoint slides) will be made available online (MiAulario). You will be expected to supplement this with the reading of specific chapters of the two books below.

- Hollensen, Svend (2013). Global Marketing - A Decision-oriented Approach, 6th edition, Pearson.

- Albaum, Gerald and Duerr, Edwin (2011). International Marketing & Export Management, 7th Edition, Prentice Hall.

Up