Starting International Marketing

OK so this modules objectives are :

• understand the challenges facing marketers in the international market place
• analyse issues involved in the creation of international marketing strategies
• plan effective international marketing mix strategies
• understand the issues inviolved in implementing international marketing strategies and mix.

The module is a combination of online and traditohal DL work.

I have to complete lessons 1 to 10 bty the first week of January. Then there are two periods of online activity  in February and march followed by an assignment which has to be done over the month of May for submission in June.

There is also a websiteb for the course which has additional information but at the moment I don't know how to access it .

One of the key components are the online groups which are moderated on my WBS and my contribution is required and will be assessed. 

It all sounds like fun though Nanny Warwick is lurking in the background to ensure that I behave. :) 

Quick summary of the Module Lessons 

1. Drivers and Challengers - what are the challenges and what are the criteria for creating a successful international strategy
2. Strategies - thinking about standard strategies, balancing global and local strategies and the issues involved in creating international brands
3. Market Selection - the process of selecting a market, and the stages involved. What the challenges are in doing the analysis and market research
4. Products and services - implications of designing effective product and service strategies amd to identify internation consumer trends and challenges in marketing industrial products, Finally identifying distinctive characteristics of services and the challenges in IM.
5. Business to Business Relationships -understanding the relationship perspective on marketing, and to see how this helps IM.
6. Pricing - how are pricing strategies developed, what constrains the top and bottom of price ranges, and the fun of pralell markets.
7. Promotion - how to create effective strategies and work out what needs to be standard and what can be localised
8. International channels - JVs', alliances, subsidiaries etc
9. Changing channels - internet and global retail
10. IM Organistations - what are they like and what are their characteristics.

Lots of challenges here but they seem to be missing the point of it all which is the opportunities . 

Other than that the module outline sounded really boring and dull. Well I'll start reading and find out. 

Operations Strategy Finished

Operations strategy is finished. I just submitted TMA D online and that's it as far as the work goes for it until I start revising for the exams in a year stime.

I got 78% on TMA C which was pleasing. The marking on this seems to have been relatively easy. it is not the most academic of subjects and a lot of the answers to the questions are either straight forward or require lots of common sense and experience applied. 

I haven't actually read any of the model answers or the tutors comments yet - but I have saved them to the PC so they'll get read in due course.

I can't remember what i am due to start next - I think it is marketing which is an online module. Having had a quick gander at what is involved I see that the title is international marketing and export management which is right up our street. Definitely useful for the business right now - though some of it I will know and other parts will be totally new.

I think I'll go for a run in a bit and then start on the preparation work in a bit before heading off swimming later.  Actually I'll start a new post :)

Operations Strategy TMA C done and handed in

Ok that's another TMA done and handed in in in my inimitable non-academic style. I had a pang of guilt just before I submitted it about not putting aheader on or a bibliography. But I didn't consult anything and wrote what seemed common sense based on the module reading.

I don't know how I did but coincedentally I got TMA A and TMA B back today and got 70% in one and 78% in the other so I can't be doing anything too badly wrong. not really interested in reading the feedback today as I hate feedback with a passion. Need to dowbnload the answers soon and see what i actually caught and the thousand and one things that I didn't catch.

Next up is the readinf for TMA D and then theb assignment itself which is on something called Dresding Wilson.  A quick look at the reading suggests that I have to do Lesson 8 on sustainable alignment, Lesson 9 on substitutes for strategy and Lesson 10 on Implementation.

I'll get the reading done over the next few days as that is pretty much pick up and put down and then do TMA D next wednesday

The Reltex Case

After a horrible morning faffing around I'm back to the desk for a serious MBA session until 1730 when I go swimming. 

I've done some work so far on the Reltex Case - Operations Strategy TMA C - but haven't really got to grips with it. The basic story is a die manufacturing company contracted to design and manufacture a component for an auto-component manufacturer.  There are lots of issues floating around in the case but some of the key ones are different cultures, the similarities between design chain management as opposed (or in paralell) with supply chain management. 

The questions i the case are pretty simple - almost begging one word answers. That probablyt isn't a good idea. I haven't got much of a strategy other than to sit down and write. I prefer a more analytical TMA which gave a simple question that you then wrote 3000 words on as opposed to a series of 10 questions that are supposed to elucidate you understanding of the learning points.

With that litte bit of self discovery off I go. The aim is to have pretty much written the whole thing up by 1730. 

How I Want to Work

Given all my commitments finding the time to work consistently is difficult. An hour at a time is generally ineffective because of the time needed to refresh where I am.

Evenings often don't work because I finish late, go to bed early and have domestic demands from Senay and Maya which I am reluctant to ignore and find difficult to balance against my study demands.  Wednesday and Friday early evenings are also earmarked for swimming.

Weekends are also difficult. I cycle and run first thing on Saturday and Sunday mornings respectively. Realistically that takes up both mornings at the weekend (Sunday morning after running I go with Maya to TumbleTots and if I didn't I'd be asleep) and spending one afternoon or the other on MBA is something that can be done occasionally but it means I spend little time with Senay and Maya over the weekend and nothing gets done around the house.

The best alternative I can see is to do my reading on evenings as and when I can and then spend my work at home day, Wednesday, trying to work on the TMA's and questions. This means getting smarter and tougher with organising my workload so that I don't have the day eaten away. It also means being quite focused about what I want to achieve in the time I have available and commiting to finishing it. There are so many good reasons not to study.

Currrent State of Play

I'm doing a distance learning MBA at Warwick Business School and right at this moment progress has slowed to a crawl.

There are a number of reasons for this.

1. I've been doing it for a while now and my initial enthusiasm has dwindled; and
2. Without day to day contact with other students it's difficult to keep motivated; and
3. Worse yet my wife, my baby, my job and all the other things in mylife put pressure on my time and always seem more important; but
4. Even worse is my desire to do an Ironman which means I get up at 0500 every morning and fall asleep at 2200 each night. I also lose every Saturday morning to my long bike; and
5. Have to find ways to give Senay and Maya the quality time tyhat we need.

It's not only these though:

1. I dislike academics and academic conventions. I don't have much time for them and I find it difficult to mask my contempt.
2. Much of the work is too easy and often I feel like a monkey jumping through hoops; but sometimes I'm too arrogant and miss many of the subtle points that I should have picked up.
3. I get impatient at spending hours on cases or on problems - and superficially absorb the knowledge - but don't internalise it; and 
4. I get frustrated because it is so difficult to apply it in the workplace - and how much use is theory when I need to get a return on my investment through application.

So I'm on my second academic year out of three and have chosen to extend my second year because of the various pressures listed above. I am doing a number of modules, each having 10 lessons and 4 Teacher Marked Assessments (TMAs).

• Entrepreneurial Finance - Finished
• Strategic Advantage - 2 TMA's complete
• Operations Strategy - 2 TMA's complete
• International Marketing - Online module in early 2008 but need to start preparing for it.
• Modelling - Nothing of significance
• Accounting - 1 TMA complete I think.

Put like that it doesn't look too bad. I want to complete Operations strategy quickly now. My target is the end of November.

December will be a difficult month and so it will be spent preparing for Marketing in January and February when I have a lot of travelling and competitions.

March should be a good opportunity to kill strategic advantage as I will be doing no training, having done my Ironman.

April and May can be the target for Modelling with June and July killing off accounting - all ready for the september seminar and then exams in December.