Corso di studio in Management dell'Informazione e della Comunicazione Aziendale

Based on today working experience, I would like to focus the course on a few selected topics. Among others I would like to concentrate my attention on 4 main aspects of international retail system:

• distribution
• pricing
• value added services
• m-government

Distribution. While the global approach to market helps to find standardized distribution solutions, each industry needs to know local distribution system. Distribution here is not intended as physical shipping of products and services but as all commercial efforts needed to offer to middlemen what is required for end users. The value added chain approach including margins offered to retailers and related services requirements, will help better understand how similar products and services will follow different route to specific markets.

Pricing. Pricing methodology follows a different route. Similarly to sales distribution, students should evaluate how HW is designed in North America, developed and produced in the Far East, sold to internal and external customers; while SW is designed in Europe, developed in Asia and sold throughout the world. The above example is coming from Telco industry, where the combination of HW and SW is required for service provider middlemen: the Telecom operator.

Value added services. In the past mobile devices used to be ‘voice offer only’ tools. Nowadays new services are offered by OPCos, commonly defined as VAS or Apps. Voice only services cover a limited part of Telecom industry, while new opportunities are offered including: video streaming, push services, info-communication, TV access, gaming, m-payment, and many others. How retail and distributions are affected? Usability and related pricing structure need to be understood.

M - government. New virtual distribution channels offer new opportunities for enterprises, public administration and citizens. Mobile devices and new payment methods offer additional opportunities to make “our life easier” in everyday activities. How devices, technology and value added services will coexist?

By the end of the classes all participants must be able to understand the level of complexity generated in a multinational environment, where end user’s customs and habits have to match commercial entity requirements. In other words you should be more confident to tackle strategic marketing problems and be familiar with tools and techniques used in a complex and ever changing context. You will also be able to highlight in a proper way how retail and distributions belong to international marketing studies at both strategic and tactic level, all applied in practical situations.