Asia Pacific is experiencing enormous economic growth. But even for multinational companies, the region is still often a black box about which little is known. Reasons for that are cultural differences, on the one hand, and the fast changing economic environment, on the other hand. On top of that, managers are often challenged by significant cultural differences that exist within the Asian countries. The course "Marketing and Sales in Asia" taught by Prof. Dr. Marcus Schoegel offers an opportunity to get to know the particularities of the Asian markets in more detail.
Course content
Singapore has evolved to a Pan Asian hub for organizations and companies that strive to the Asian region. In Singapore, local business, world travelers and international expatriates are meeting, making Singapore a hub for international trade and financial business. Indeed, Singapore has been ranked as the best place for doing business by the World Bank. Companies in Singapore are strongly investing in digitalization and innovative trends that concern customer interactions and customer experience as well as customer journey management. Singapore offers a high market potential for digital, mobile and social media platforms. Having one of the highest smart phone penetrations in the world, Singapore is known for the mobile affinity of local customers, who are frequent users of online shopping and social networks.
In this course, students will gain an overview of future directions of customer experience and marketing innovations in Asian markets. The focus is on the critical examination of the following subjects such as international marketing (potential of standardization versus differentiation/ going international and being international / opportunities for localization / competition between international and local players in the market) as well as trends in the Asian market and Asian culture.
Course structure
The course “Marketing and Sales in Asia” is a 6 day program in which participants learn how to succeed in doing business in Asia – from market entry to day to day activities. There will be a kick off meeting in St.Gallen, but the main part of the program will take place in Singapore. The course will be taught during the “Spring mid-term breakʺ in Singapore.
The course is structured in such a way that it combines lectures, case studies, recent research studies, and insights from industry experts as well as self study. Here, students are asked to prepare a video in groups about a selected topic concerning the business and trends in Singapore.
For further information and to find out when the next course takes place, please refer to the course information sheet on the HSG website under course directory.
Application procedure and cost
The course is open to all Master programs of the University of St.Gallen. There are a total of 20 seats available, which will be assigned by a special application process (no bidding). For further information on the application procedure, please approach Prof. Dr. Marcus Schögel directly.
The course will be during the mid term break in Singapore. A course fee of CHF200 applies and participants of the course will have to carry the costs for flight and accommodation in Singapore. Total costs for flight and accommodation during the stay in Singapore are expected to be in the range of approx. CHF1,000 to CHF1,900 (based on students’ feedback of previous years). Singapore offers a wide variety of accommodation ranging from hostels to hotels as well as direct flights and stopover flights. Further, it is the students’ responsibility to have valid travel insurance for their stay in Singapore.