School of Marketing and International Business

The School of Marketing and International Business supports two primary undergraduate majors in the Spears School of Business, (1) Marketing and (2) International Business. In addition, the department is home to the Center for Sales and Service Excellence and the associated Certificate in Sales and Service Excellence. Marketing is an exciting field of study leading to a variety of job opportunities both in the private sector and in not-for-profit organizations. In addition, it provides an excellent career path to top management within an organization. Because almost every business has international operations or is affected by events, competitors, and conditions in the global economy, a degree in International Business can open career opportunities both internationally as well as in the United States.

Marketing

Companies become successful by delivering products and services that satisfy their customers’ needs. That sounds easy—but getting to that point requires a lot of hard work, much of which is performed by marketing professionals. Marketing is one of the most popular majors on campus, and for good reason: Everyone in an organization is involved in marketing, even if “marketing” isn’t in their job titles! (We explain why everyone is a marketer in the basic marketing course in the Spears core curriculum.)

Marketing professionals perform many activities within organizations. They identify buyers’ needs (often through marketing research), develop and manage products/services to meet those needs, develop and manage the supply chain, set prices, communicate with current and potential buyers in a variety of different ways (including professional selling, advertising, and so on), develop and implement service processes, and lots more. In addition, they recruit, train, and manage employees in all these areas. The buyers may be individuals (business-to-consumer marketing, B2C) or organizations (business-to-business marketing, B2B). In many ways, “marketing” is synonymous with “doing business.” A business can’t last long if it doesn’t sell anything. And it won’t sell anything if it can’t help buyers satisfy their needs.

Marketing professionals enjoy careers in many different areas—professional selling, communications management, supply chain management, product and brand management, pricing, recruiting, customer service, and marketing research and analytics. Marketing professionals work across a wide variety of industries and not-for-profit organizations.

OPTIONS: Marketing is a broad area of study. We have designed the marketing major so that students may choose to get a taste of many different areas or to focus their studies in more specific areas.

  • Marketing Major (general). For students who want the widest understanding of marketing, we offer the general marketing major degree program. This program offers the greatest degree of flexibility in terms of coursework.
  • Marketing: Option in Professional Selling and Sales Management. Many (or most) marketing students pursue careers in which they get to interact and form relationships with buyers, clients, or others who purchase products and services from their companies. Opportunities are everywhere for professional salespeople or those who want to work in a retail setting. These careers typically offer high earning potential and are likely the best place to enter an organization for those who want to really understand customers’ needs and how the products and services of a company can satisfy those needs. Plus, being able to relate to customers and form relationships with them are skills that are not easily automated and will always be in demand. Students pursuing the Professional Selling and Sales Management option may also be interested in applying to participate in the Certificate in Sales and Service Excellence program (see below).
  • Marketing: Option in Marketing Research and Analytics. Students who are interested in gaining insights into what buyers want, how they respond to certain companies, products, ad campaigns, and so on (marketing research) or who would enjoy working with a company’s existing internal or external data to answer important questions or identify trends (marketing analytics) might select this option. Although students choosing this path are generally more quantitatively oriented, the coursework is not heavy with statistics and methods. (Interested students can pick up those aspects in the Spears School’s highly regarded master’s degree program in Business Analytics and Data Science.)
  • Marketing: Option in Marketing Communications Management. Another important role that falls in the marketing domain involves communicating with potential buyers. Students interested in managing the advertising or public relations function for a company (or working in an agency) can select this option. Relevant coursework might include courses on promotional management, social media marketing, digital marketing, and so on.

CERTIFICATE IN SALES AND SERVICE EXCELLENCE: The Center for Sales and Service Excellence is housed within the School of Marketing and International Business. The Center is designed to provide instruction to students and promote original scholarly research in the area of organizational frontline marketing management. Interactions between frontline employees and their customers form the building blocks from which businesses are made. Many undergraduate students join organizations at entry-level positions where the focus is on customer-related activities, including sales, retailing and customer service. Students who apply and are accepted into the Certificate in Sales and Service Excellence program get specialized training, can participate in regional and/or national sales competitions, and interact with representatives of our Industry Partner companies on a regular basis. Such training will benefit not only students who plan on professional selling careers or customer service, but also those who intend to practice law, medicine, or own their own businesses. Successfully managing customer interactions forms the foundation for success regardless of industry.

International Business

The International Business degree program is a cross-disciplinary program of study that provides the foundation of business and how it intersects with culture, diversity, and language. The program has the flexibility to be tailored to an individual student’s specific interests. One of the biggest advantages of the program is its focus on helping students become culturally aware and able to detect important differences in how business is conducted in different regions of the world. International business majors might choose to focus on specific areas of the world by including geography, history, or political science courses relative to those areas. International Business majors can also increase their knowledge and abilities of a specific business discipline by adding a second business major, minor, or certificate (e.g., the Certificate in Sales and Service Excellence).

Many international business majors take advantage of the opportunities afforded by Oklahoma State University to either study abroad or take an international internship. The Cagle Center is the Spears School of Business’ launching pad for taking short-term, faculty-led study abroad trips to exciting locations such as China, England, France, Greece and many other locales. OSU’s study abroad office, located in the Student Union, is a great place to get information about all of the long-term study opportunities available. What surprises many students is the amount of financial assistance available. When you stop by the Cagle Center or the OSU study abroad office, make sure to ask about scholarship and grant programs.