Developing Graduate Marketing Programs for Economies in Transition

This article summarizes some of the authors' experiences in introducing marketing concepts to students involved in the transition from planned to market economies. It addresses critical issues involved in the translation of these concepts within languages that often have no words that are synonymous with these terms. The authors discuss methods for establishing open classroom discussion in countries where pedagogy depended almost solely on lectures and assessment depended almost entirely on memorization rather than the application of terms, definitions, and concepts. The article discusses methods for choosing business cases for discussion and analysis that are relevant to the students' level of experience. The authors show how to use the cases over the period of individual courses and within comprehensive degree programs. Finally, the article discusses the importance of marketing strategy and the concept of choice to the success of economic transition.