The Asian International Marketing (AIM) Program is a unique international business education program that provides hands-on learning for participants by having them complete detailed market research studies and marketing plans for firms in other countries for market entry of their products into the U.S. market. It focuses on providing enrolled participants a professional marketing experience that not only enhances their knowledge base as is done by more traditional courses in marketing, but also provides a practical and sustained means to develop professional skills and attitudes required in today's global marketplace. It teaches participants to actually market and manage their professional marketing skills in a real-world, global consultancy context where the real-world constants of risk, uncertainty and likelihood of failure are ever present. It integrates marketing skills and content with attitudinal change and offers a unique opportunity for marketing students to learn-on-the-job while still attending business school.

Designed and offered exclusively in the School of Business and Economics at California State University, Hayward, the AIM program is offered as an intensive senior-level/M.B.A. course over a regular quarter. Consultant teams of three to four participants complete two major market research studies during the regular ten-week quarter for client companies in two different countries.

The attached schematic (Figure 1) provides an overview of the modus operandi of the program. As a first step, the course directors fly to the prospective host countries to identify companies and select product candidates for export to the U.S. market. This is typically achieved through local contacts and connections in the host country and by working with regional/national chambers/federations of commerce and industry and associated exporting and manufacturers association. A half-day to two-day seminar is organized in each host country to explain the objectives, scope and method of operation of the AIM program to pre-identified target companies. Interested companies are asked to prepare an information package containing detailed company information, product specifications and production rates and cost/price data. Detailed research objectives and information needs are identified in association with the prospective client companies. Wherever possible, factory visits are made to assess the suitability of the product for export to the United States and obtain first-hand information. Two countries are included in every offering of the AIM program due to the uncertainties involved in setting up the program and to ensure that at least one country can be visited in case of the lack of a critical of companies in the other country or the cancellation of the program due to political or economic risk factors.

Student research teams consisting of seniors and MBAs at Hayward then intensively research the U.S. market to determine the level of competition and the demands for the products assigned to them. Each team researches one company each from the two countries included that year in the AIM program. Every advanced marketing research technique is utilized including secondary research using the Internet and databases (commonly used data bases include Lexis/Nexus, Infotrac, the National Trade Data Bank, etc.) and primary research is conducted using detailed questionnaires, personal interviews, videotaped focus groups and expert opinion surveys. Information on competitive products and companies, distribution channels, government regulations, import restrictions and duties, promotion and advertising methods, pricing, total market potential and market structures is obtained in order to make the research as comprehensive as possible. The overseas client is provided with names and contact information on interested customers and distribution channel participants and very often personally introduced to the interested parties. A two or three volume market research report is then prepared and, if found to be favorable, a detailed marketing plan is prepared. Research teams are in telephone and fax contact with their respective clients in order to respond to client information needs and fine-tune the research. Detailed background information and lectures about the host country are provided to the research teams while this research effort is being conducted so as to provide them with necessary context and in-depth knowledge to complete a market study sensitive to client needs and conditions.

The CSUH teams then travel to the host countries of the client companies to present their reports to the top management of these companies. The reports are formally presented in a half-day session in the client companies' board-rooms or conference rooms. The research teams conducting research for other company clients are also present to observe and learn from the presenting research team's report. This is a very important feature of the learning experience since participants are able to acquire knowledge about a broad range of products and industries. The research teams also visit the factories of the participating companies in addition to visiting other industrial establishments and sites. Visits to important historical and cultural sites are also arranged. In the evenings, extensive opportunities for cultural learning are provided through attending cultural performances, art shows, local entertainment, etc.

AIM has been implemented six times since it first originated as the Pacific Rim Marketing (PRM) program. The first time, it was conceived and implemented in China in 1989. While the academic objectives of the PRM program were achieved, the travel component of the course had to be suspended because of the Tienanmen Square massacre in June of that year, a few days before the research teams were to embark on their trip. The experiential component of the program was a complete success since all team project reports were completed and the presentations were video-taped for use at a later time.

Subsequently, the program was redesigned to a two-country format with consulting fees to be paid by participating companies in 1990. The program was implemented again in the fall quarter of 1991 in India and China with over 20 participating companies. In 1993, the first author negotiated contracts with six Thai companies on a fee basis while the second author negotiated a contract with six Chinese companies in the Guangzhou area for a lump-sum fee plus local boarding, lodging and travel costs. The program was repeated again in the spring quarter of 1995 in Thailand with six participating companies and a visit to Beijing, China, to present a Globalization Seminar and the AIM model for a future offering of the program there. Since then, it has been implemented in 1995 for Thailand and China and in 1997 in Thailand and Indonesia. Over 40 companies with 50 plus products have participated in the program.

The success and popularity of the program is evident from the extent of student interest in the program (more students apply than can be accommodated in the program) and the fact that many of the participating companies have asked the course leaders for follow-up studies or for new studies to be conducted for other products and services. The course remains the single most sought-after course in the business school. The program was also selected in fall 1995 as the National Award Winner for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education by the Freedoms Foundation in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. This prestigious award is given to individuals who design and implement innovative courses that enhance the understanding and appreciation of the private enterprise system in the United States. It was also a runners-up for the Instructional Innovation Award Competition by the Decision Sciences Institute at its 1996 Annual Conference in November 1996 in Orlando, Florida.