Global Management Marketing Strategy Online (GMMSO^©), www.gmmso.com, was developed by Dr Basil Janavaras, Professor Emeritus of International Business/Marketing/Strategy, Minnesota State University & President/CEO of Janavaras & Assoc. International, Inc (JAI), www.janavaras.com.  For nearly 50 years, Dr Janavaras has been assisting companies and academic institutions expand into global markets and establish their presence and success overseas through a number of online teaching software and systems www.gmpso.com, www.2020.gmmso4.com, www.eimso2.com. He helped company managers develop a global mind-set toward business and integrate global dimensions into their strategic plans. In addition to being a professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato, he has served as Chairperson and Director of the International Business Institute, MSU. He also served as Director of International Business Studies, the Master of International Management (MIM) Program, University of St. Thomas (UST), St. Paul, MN, and he was an adjunct faculty member at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota’s Executive MBA Program. Dr Basil has also created several global enterprises including Janavaras Enterprises LLC, an importer of Greek wines into the USA in 2010 and Odyssey Gifts - a family owned chain of retail stores (located in Mankato, Rochester and Eden Prairie 1978 - 2009) offering fine gifts and collectables from around the world.

The origins of what would become later known as GMMSO began with the 1974 doctoral dissertation of Dr Basil Janavaras ‘’Education in International Business: Philosophy and Practices" which surveyed the existing teaching philosophy in the newly emerging discipline of International business and his personal hands-on, real-world, and student-centered teaching/learning philosophy. Dr Janavaras surveyed and interviewed Academic Deans of all AACSB accredited Business Schools and faculty members of the Academy of International Business. The findings from this research published in the Journal of International Business Studies[1]  pointed to a lack of uniform curriculum across international business education as well as a need to develop realistic, problem-solving teaching practices in the International Business discipline.

Dr Janavaras as professor of IB and Director of IB Institute, first used the GMMSO process in 1985 to assist SMEs Internationalize as part of the International Business Development and Assistance Grant provided by the McKnight Foundation and the US Department of Commerce. In 1990 the theoretical framework, process and structure of the GMMSO was also used as the basis of the International business and trade certificate programs developed and delivered by Dr Janavaras at the World Trade Centre, St Paul. Minnesota (1998 - 2002). The GMMSO would be refined and further developed with the publishing of the GMMSO textbook by Pearson education in 1998. In 2000, with the increased use of online International business transactions and systems, the first edition of the web based GMMSO was developed based on the textbook and additional inputs from faculty, students majoring in International business, business practitioners and trade specialists. A number of academic articles and practitioner presentations have reinforced the theoretical rigor of the GMMSO over the years including its inclusion as an Experiential learning tool in the Palgrave Handbook of Learning and Teaching International Business and Management in 2014, being featured in the Academy of International Business (AIB) Insights, Vol 12, No 1, 2012, and on several teaching tracks and panels at the Annual Academy of International Business Conferences.

Over the next two decades, the GMMSO system was further refined and updated several times and was used to support the International business curriculum at several universities around the world and where Dr Janavaras was a visiting professor teaching International Marketing and Global Strategy courses (Athens University of Economics and Business and Economics University Prague) or invited to lecture in several countries the likes of Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Taiwan, and the former Soviet Union.

The GMMSO philosophy would be embedded in a rigorous theoretical base with the publication of the second edition of the Global Marketing Management System (GMMS) book in 2017 by Dr Basil Janavaras and Dr Suresh George.

Dr Janavaras has published a good number of articles in several business journals. He has authored the Global Marketing Management System textbook (previously published by Pearson Education, Inc., 1998), and co-authored:

• Avlonitis, G, Lymperopoulos, K.  & Janavaras, B., (2010), Modern Marketing Strategies for Global Markets, Athens, Greece, Rosili Publishing.
• Janavaras, B., Paladini, S., & George, S., (2013), Going Global:  A Practical Guide,Pearson Education.
• Lymperopoulos, K, Janavaras, B., & Salamoura, M., (2015), Strategies for International Marketing & Exporting, Athens, Greece, Kallipos (National Metsovion University).
• Janavaras, B., & George, S. (2017), Global Marketing Management System, 2nd Edition, World Scientific.

I am indebted to, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those individuals such as International business practitioners, trade consultants and instructors and their students from different universities from around the world for using GMMSO software over the last 20 plus years along with their invaluable advice, feedback, and support.  I would also like to welcome Dr Suresh George to formally join me as co-developer of GMMSO.  His knowledge of IB, teaching experience using the GMMSO for the last 15 years and IT skills have added enormous value to and enhanced the functionality, quality, and effectiveness of GMMSO.

Dr Suresh is the Curriculum lead and Associate Professor for the International Business at Coventry University. For over 23 years, Dr Suresh has been consulting and advising companies that seek to Internationalise while engaged in the teaching and development of pragmatic International Business programmes and curricula. A Fellow of the Royal Society and Arts, Dr Suresh's International Business pedagogy has been developed from his global experiences living and working across Africa, Middle East, Asia and Europe. His IB practice revolves around a firm belief in embedding experiential innovative processes and technologies and the use of open educational resources (OER) within International Business Teaching and research.

In 2007, Dr Suresh George, started using the GMMSO in his International business and global strategy module at Coventry University and would join the GMMSO as a co-author and co-developer. Together with Dr Janavaras, Suresh supported the development of the third edition (in 2009) and the fourth edition (2014) of the GMMSO. In 2019, he contributed to developing the second edition of the Global Market Potential and Strategy Online software first developed by Dr Janavaras in 2000.

For over 15 years, graduate students on the Master's Program in International Business at Coventry University have benefited from the ability of the GMMSO to offer a realistic market entry strategy formulation using real data and real companies.

In 2013, Suresh developed the GLOBESTRATEGY^® system as an open education resource (OER) for International business students.

Finally, I am delighted that I can share with you the software and wish you to learn from it and enjoy use it.  I would also like to learn from all those who use the software. I welcome your comments, suggestions, and questions.

About the 2022 GMMSO

The Global Management Marketing Strategy Online (GMMSO^©), www.gmmso.com, platform is one-of-a-kind global business research and strategic planning International business teaching/learning tool.  More specifically, the GMMSO software provides a rigorous theoretical base and a comprehensive, systematic, and integrative planning platform designed to guide students and managers alike through the decision-making process of a company seeking global market opportunities. The GMMSO system enables students to work online from anywhere in the world. Students, working individually or in groups, have an opportunity to integrate all functional business areas and assess the impact of geopolitical environmental forces having a bearing on business decisions. The course instructor is provided with ancillary materials designed to guide and assist students with the completion of the project with minimum preparation time and effort.

Figure 1:The Structure of the GMMSO Platform

In contrast to platforms that use virtual learning environments or simulated realities, the GMMSO was developed as an authentic teaching and business tool which embeds relevant instructional tools and resources in the platform itself. The rigorous theoretical background that underpins the GMMSO has been proven to support and enhance the student's learning achievements and problem-solving skills in creating feasible and pragmatic International business strategies. A number of academic articles and practitioner presentations have reinforced the theoretical rigor of the GMMSO over the years including its inclusion as an Experiential learning tool in the Palgrave Handbook of Learning and Teaching International Business and Management in 2014, being featured in the Academy of International Business (AIB) Insights and on several teaching tracks and panels at International Business Conferences.

For instructors, the GMMSO platform encourages students to learn by becoming embedded in real-life International business or International marketing problem, participating in group work as well as learning on an individual basis.

Over the last two decades, we have designed the GMMSO to be an academically sound, pedagogically rigorous, and theoretically embedded strategic tool used to create feasible entry strategies and marketing plans.  We have developed the 2022 edition of GMMSO as a strategic planning and entry strategy platform that allows both instructors and students to co-create a realistic learning experience in International business and marketing strategies. Using extensive market research, feedback from over 30 professors who have used the GMMSO in their practice and the cumulative student experiences from GMMSO student users across several global universities including students from Coventry University and Minnesota State Universities, the GMMSO has stood the test of time.  The GMMSO has been used in IB, International Marketing, International Entrepreneurship, Global Business Strategy/Policy courses at several universities including:

• Aegean University, Greece
• Argosy University, USA
• Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece
• Concordia, Quebec, Canada
• Coventry University, UK
• Dominican University, USA
• Illinois Wesleyan University, USA
• Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, India
• Iowa State University, USA
• Laval University, Canada
• Loyola University MD, USA
• MADE iN Lyon, France
• Michigan State University, USA
• Middle Tennessee State University, USA
• Minnesota State University – Mankato, USA
• Mount Royal University, Canada
• Niagara University, USA
• Nova School of Business & Economics. Lisbon
• Oakland University, USA
• SOA University of London, UK
• Oklahoma Christian University, USA
• Penn State University, USA
• Rollins College, USA
• Saint Joseph's University, USA
• Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, USA
• Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA
• Southern New Hampshire University, USA
• Tecnologico de Monterrey Campus Queretaro, Mexico
• TEI of Larissa, Greece
• The University of Newcastle, Australia
• The University of Sheffield
• Tunghai University, Taiwan
• Universidad de Monterrey, Mexico
• Università di Macerata, Italy
• University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic
• University of New Brunswick, Australia
• University of New South Wales, Australia
• University of North Texas
• Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
• Whitworth University, USA

We have always believed that the GMMSO should be useful to both the instructor and the student in developing skills that foster the next generation of global managers. To this end, all the three modules of the platform are organized around academically rigorous and pedagogically sound tools, techniques and frameworks around market entry and strategy formulation. The modular design of the platform enables both the learner and instructor to integrate individual as well as collective experiences in creating realistic market entry projects. The sequential and process driven layout of each module provides each user the ability to co-create curriculum, which is authentic, pragmatic as well as future proof.

Why don’t you register for a free account at GMMSO and try the platform yourself?