International Market Analysis / International Market Analysis

The Academic Board of Business Administration, Odense
Teaching activity id: 9267301.
Teaching language: English.ECTS / weighting: 10 ECTS / 0.167 full-time equivalent.
Examination language: English.
Exam activity id: 9267312, 9267302.Approved: 03-11-17.
Period: Spring 2018.
Grading: Internal grading.
Assessment: 7-point scale.
Offered in: Odense.
Subject director:
Associate Professor Nicole Franziska Richter, Department of Marketing & Management.

Prerequisites:
Basic knowledge of quantitative research methods. Questions/tests to check the own level of knowledge are provided via Blackboard. Students who discover a lack of knowledge are required to fill their gaps with self-study before the sessions start. Materials for self-study are recommended in the course plan.

Purpose:
The objective of the course is to give students competences to interpret, statistically evaluate and carry out analyses dominant in international business research and to apply these analyses to solve problems in international business management.
Students acquire (i) knowledge about the main methods used in international business research. More specifically they acquire knowledge about all steps involved in designing qualitative and quantitative research (from sampling, to questionnaire design, to data collection, to data analysis and reporting). Students, moreover, acquire (ii) skills in the application of these methods to solve research and management related problems (e.g. to analyse foreign markets, and to understand how foreign market environments affect business outcomes, such as entrepreneurial outcomes, international perceptions etc.). After participation, students will have the competence to design, analyse, interpret and present their own empirical research project in international business.

Content - Key areas:
The course covers the following contents related to different research methods and IB management challenges:  
  • Research approaches and methods used in IB
  • Analyses of secondary data
    (descriptive and inferential analyses as well as factor analyses of secondary data on international markets from typical providers such as Worldbank, OECD etc. using standard software such as SPSS)
  • Collection of quantitative primary data
    (development of quantitative research designs in terms of sampling, sample size and questionnaire design; students will develop their own online survey which will be used for collecting international business indicators, determinants and outcomes)
  • Collection of qualitative primary data
    (development of qualitative research designs in terms of approach, sampling and interview guide design; students will develop their own interview guide for expert interviews or focus groups which will be used for collecting insights into international business determinants and outcomes)
  • Analysis of primary data
    (regression analyses, coding strategies and qualitative data analyses using standard software such as SPSS and Nvivo; students will analyse the data they have collected)
  • Interpretation and presentation of data analyses in IB research
    (analysis and interpretation of the quantitative and qualitative data collected)


Goals description (SOLO taxonomy):
The aim is that students, after participation in this course can:
  • evaluate and interpret empirical IB research published with regard to the quality of data used, the reliability and validity of measurements, the research models and methods applied and results gained
  • identify appropriate secondary data for IB research phenomena
  • collect quantitative and qualitative empirical data using appropriate methods of data collection
  • plan, design and carry out an appropriate quantitative and qualitative data analysis related to an IB research question
  • report, interpret and present empirical IB research  



Literature:
Literature and software:

The course will make use of specific chapters of different books (which might be compiled to a customized Pearson e-book, depending on the number of participants in each semester):
  • Groebner/Shannon/Fry, 2018: Business statistics, 10th ed., Pearson.
  • Malhotra, 2010: Marketing research: An applied orientation, 6th ed., Pearson.
  • Sarstedt/Mooi, 2014: A concise guide to market research, 2nd ed., Springer.
  • Saunders/Lewis/Thornhill, 2015: Research methods for business students, 7th ed., Pearson.
  • Further readings come in the form of journal articles which will be provided in the course plan (to be published in Blackboard).

The course will make use of standard software for statistical analyses available at SDU:
  • IBM SPSS Statistics for the quantitative data analyses and
  • Nvivo for the qualitative data analyses.  


Time of classes:
Spring.        

Scheduled classes:
11 weeks with in total 45 hours. In order to enable workshop sessions, and the work on assignments involving data analyses throughout the course as well as to enable data collection, a somewhat irregular schedule is to be implemented which should involve 1x2 plus 1x4 (i.e. in total 6) lecture hours in every week. During the semester there will be two weeks without lectures to enable data collection and the preparation of final presentations (ideally weeks 6 and 9).
Furthermore the course involves 3x1 online tutorials to support the data analyses.
Attendance in the course is compulsory.

Form of instruction:
Lectures, assignment based class discussions, workshop-sessions, and online tutorials. Students are expected to attend all classes and produce their own lecture notes. Statistical support is only provided during the lectures and for the students participating in the course. The course involves several case-like assignments which are to be solved by all students in groups.

Lectures and workshops: 45 hours
Online-lectures/tutorials: 3 hours
Class preparation and review: 45 hours
Homework on assignments: 117 hours
Exam: 60 hours
Total: 270


Time of examination:
Ordinary examination in June.
Reexamination in August.

The form of the reexam is subject to change. This will be announced 14 days before the reexam takes place.

Registration for the course is automatically a registration for the ordinary examination in the course. Cancellation is not possible. If the student does not participate in the examination, the student will use an examination attempt.


Examination conditions:
One home assignment has to be passed to participate in the exam. This home assignment comes in the form of a PowerPoint presentation on an analysis of either quantitative or qualitative data including headlines and management summaries to be handed in and to be presented in class. The assignment is to be performed in groups of 4-5 students. It is to be handed in following the more specific requirements which will be outlined in the course plan, and on the dates announced in the course plan. The assignment is evaluated as pass/fail.
Students who fail to hand in the home assignment - as required to take part in the ordinary exam - will get an opportunity to hand in homework meeting the standard at a later date to be able to take part in the exam. This date will be announced in the course plan. If the exam requirement is not met, the student cannot participate in the exam and one examination attempt has been used. Fulfillment of the exam requirement is only possible prior to the ordinary exam.

Participation in the re-examination requires that the exam requirement is met prior to the ordinary exam.

Deviation from the above may be granted by the teacher/supervisor provided there is a reasonable cause.


Form of examination for the certificate:
Written assignment.

Supplemental information for the form of examination:
The written assignment is to be performed in groups of 4-5 students and will have the form of a journal-like article involving an analysis of data.

Duration: 60 hours.
Location: Home assignment.
Internet Access: Allowed/necessary.
Hand out: Course page in Blackboard.
Hand in: Via SDU-assignment in the course page in Blackboard.
Extent: 16 pages including statistical appendix.
Exam Aids: All exam aids and all communication allowed.

The assignment must show for which elements each student is responsible in order to ensure that each student is graded on his or her individual effort. Introduction and conclusion may be jointly prepared.

Programmes:
cand.merc. International Business and Management
2nd semester, mandatory. Offered in: Odense
cand.merc. International Business and Marketing
2nd semester, mandatory. Offered in: Odense