International Business and Marketing

Curriculum

Marketing Career Tracks

Digital Marketing

The Digital Marketing Career Track is designed to provide students with a comprehensive examination of tools and strategies utilized across established and emerging digital platforms. Through the study of social media, mobile marketing, display, online analytics, and search engine marketing, students develop a thorough understanding on how companies can leverage the constantly changing digital landscape to communicate with target market and achieve business objectives.

Advertising and Promotion

Advertising is a paid form of promotion of goods, services and ideas to consumer and organizational buyers through mass media. Advertising encompasses activities such as writing advertisements; scheduling, buying, and selling advertising time and space; managing clients’ accounts by advertising agencies; conducting research; hiring commercial talent; managing a company’s advertising program; doing photographic and artistic work for advertisements; publishing and broadcasting advertisements; and producing video, film and print advertisements. Careers in advertising involve variety, compensation based on performance, creativity, travel, satisfaction from seeing one’s personal accomplishments, and much personal contact. The advertising/promotion/media career track helps prepare students for work as copywriters, research directors, media directors, account executives, media sales representatives and advertising managers. Advertising jobs are found in advertising agencies, media organizations, advertising departments in business firms, nonprofit organizations and marketing research firms, and frequently interface with related careers in promotions, public relations, direct marketing and sales.

E-Commerce

The evolution and widespread adoption of the Internet has created opportunities for new services and new ways of doing almost everything. New business models are emerging as both startups and existing companies struggle to survive. The Electronic Commerce Career Track will help prepare students to thrive in this rapidly changing environment. There is increasing demand for marketing majors who have an understanding of technology and the ability to implement marketing strategies within an e-enabled world.

Entertainment Marketing

This career track examines the marketing concept in all venues where consumers spend leisure dollars, notably in such areas as motion pictures, television and radio, music, sports, special events and destinations, travel and tourism. Duly recognized is the fact that the combined consumer expenditures within this exploding industry exceed $1 trillion. The principal focal point of this track acknowledges that this metropolitan area is the entertainment capital of the world and headquarters to the majority of major motion picture companies, record labels, domestic television studios, major theme parks and other related centers. Students are expected to work with actual managers within these venues toward real world projects in the true spirit of the polytechnic tradition as part of their degree requirements, in addition to internship service within one of these industries.

General Marketing

The mission of the General Marketing Career Track (GMCT) is to focus on breadth across many marketing areas rather than depth within any one area. The GMCT will have strong appeal for students who have an interest in multiple careers and want exposure to a wide variety of marketing areas to satisfy their career goals. Students planning to eventually own their business might also want the broad exposure to marketing that the GMCT will offer. Finally, the GMCT may be appropriate for some students who know only that they like marketing and want a marketing career but are unable to choose between the other career tracks. The GMCT is not “take whatever marketing courses you want,” but instead is “take the introductory course from five of the eight career tracks.”

International Marketing

The new frontier of international marketing involves the marketing of goods and services across national political boundaries and is epitomized by making complex product, price, promotion, channel and target-market decisions in an international context. International marketing involves intercultural communication, possibilities for travel abroad, international finance and banking, and distribution challenges, as well as adaptations to ethnic and linguistic differences. The international marketing career track gives students background for employment as overseas sales representations or managers, import-export managers, independent export sales agents, independent owners of import or export businesses, and domestic sales or distribution managers for foreign firms. Institutions involved in international marketing include manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, governmental entities and facilitating institutions such as banks and shipping companies.

Marketing Research

Marketing research deals with the systematic generation and analysis of information for use in marketing problem-solving and decision-making, equipping students with tangible skill sets that give them a competitive edge in the job market. This field is characterized by   abundance of good-paying jobs, the use of qualitative and quantitative techniques along with the computer, the application of the scientific method to find answers to marketing questions, and a continual search for a better understanding of human behavior in the marketplace. The marketing research career track is for students who plan to work as marketing research analysts, research project managers, research account executives, or field research supervisors. Marketing research functions are performed by marketing research firms, advertising agencies, educational institutions, governmental entities, research departments in business firms, and a variety of non-profit organizations. Our program is the only undergraduate program in the state of California that offers specialized curriculum and Market Research Club, a student-led club, backed up by Behavioral Lab training, to prepare students for careers in market research. As a result, we have a track record of placing our graduates in   leading world-class market research firms and marketing research department of the fortune 500 client companies.

Product and Brand Management

Product and brand management is an organizational system with persons called product managers or brand managers who are responsible for all marketing activities associated with a single brand or small family of products. The product or brand manager is involved with the creation, execution and modification of strategies and tactics to make the product successful in the marketplace. The product or brand manager orchestrates the activities of advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, publicity, marketing research, packaging, production scheduling and distribution. Careers in product and brand management attract high-potential, well-motivated individuals who accept broad responsibilities easily and with little supervision, communicate well with other people, are willing to do some traveling, and thrive on constant change. Starting salaries are good, with career and compensation advancement based on achievement. The product and brand management career track is designed to provide a knowledge of marketing management and good human relations skills to those students who plan to work as marketing assistants, assistant brand managers, product and brand managers, or marketing managers.

Professional Sales/Sales Management

Professional sales/sales management involves the marketing of goods and services to professional buyers (as opposed to the ultimate consumer). The professional sales/sales management career track stresses professional sales management and is characterized by selling, sales force management, servicing customer accounts, and gathering marketing information. Job openings in this field are numerous and are characterized by good starting salaries, advancement based on achievement, the opportunity to work with little direct supervision, and contact with people who are outgoing and individualistic. This career track assists students in developing necessary skills to work as manufacturers’ representatives, selling agents, field sales managers, sales engineers, marketing specialists or field salespersons. These professionals work for manufacturers, producers or wholesalers who direct their selling efforts to professional organizational buyers.

Retail Management

Retailing management focuses on the management of marketing activities that result in the sales of products to the ultimate consumer. In the constantly changing consumer marketplace, retailing management offers a variety of employment opportunities, much human interaction, possibilities of rapid career advancement, and compensation based on achievement. The retailing management career track provides academic training for people who will be competing for positions such as store manager, buyer, display manager, salesperson, customer service manager and advertising or personnel director. Retailing functions are performed by many types of retail institutions such as supermarkets, department stores, specialty shops, direct marketing companies, door-to-door marketers, discount stores and numerous retail service outlets.