The core of marketing can be described as exchange facilitation for the purpose of improving the situation for the participants in the exchange. Careful competitive analysis, studies of consumers’ and customers’ decision‐making, marketing research, market strategy, product development and branding, pricing decisions as well as communication and distribution are at the core of the discipline. As firms seek to achieve their goals in a global arena, they encounter a number of challenges related to cultural and ethical issues in addition to the general management challenges. Seeking to facilitate exchanges of many kinds in a number of environments, it becomes paramount for a small country like Norway to research and gain the expertise needed for efficient and effective conduct of business abroad.
Traditionally, the Norwegian economy has been based on sales of commodities. In the future, we are forced to add more value to our exports, and the need for basic international marketing knowledge is increasing. Our international competitors are professional, and we need to match their skills.