MBA 547

Credit: 4 hours.

Enables students to understand how globalization changes consumers and employees at a psychological level, and provides tools for infusing brands with cultural meanings—creating iconic brands—that can resonate with global consumers. The focus is on understanding that culture exists in the mind (e.g., values and beliefs) as well as in the environment (e.g., objects, brands, and institutions), and that globalization creates multi-cultural spaces in contemporary societies. The course provides cultural frameworks for better understanding cross-cultural consumer behavior and for more effectively managing organizations across cultural boundaries. In addition, the course introduces the key functions of a global marketer attempting an entry in a new market: sizing the market, understanding the cultural background of consumers in the new market (and how they differ from those of the home market), anticipating cultural differences in consumer behavior, evaluating whether to standardize or adapt the marketing mix, and developing a marketing plan that can resonate at the cultural level.

4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Credit is not given towards graduation for both MBA 547 and BADM 590, Global Impact: Cultural Psychology & Business Ethics.