Teaching Evaluating and Developing Nonmarket Strategies to Address Social, Political, and Legal Issues in Business

It is essential to provide (future) decision-makers with a clear overview of the different types of nonmarket strategies, such as, lobbying and advocacy, political campaign donations; many times, nonmarket strategies are misunderstood, and their value is not considered in business practice. For example, nonmarket strategies may be associated by the media with scandals about unprofessional practices and corruption. The teaching activities that we present in this chapter enable comprehensive learner engagement with the topic of nonmarket strategies and develop a rich understanding of the different types of constructive engagement available for navigating business, government, and nonprofit organization interconnections. We present how learners can analyze the effects produced by lobbying and advocacy strategies on a company’s business, particularly in emerging markets. Moreover, we present assessments that allow learners to develop a nonmarket plan focused on political or social engagement and to examine the consequences of such activity on a firm’s strategy. The latter assignments present learners’ master tools that link nonmarket strategies with the implementation of the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 17 listed by the United Nations (UN) list: SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).