Syllabus MBA Marketing Foundations, Course 770 UW Oshkosh College of Business Spring 2013, First 7 week session Basics Instructor: Dennis Wepfer, Home phone 920-725-6004, Cell 920-284-9758, Office hours or meetings by appointment, Sage Hall 2452. Meetings: our class meets in WOF 1, lunch room 2, Tuesdays from January 29 through March 12. TEXT: A Framework for Maketing Management 5E, Kotler &Keller, Prentice Hall/Pearson 2012 Course learning objectives As a function of taking this course, class members should be able to: Explain basic marketing concepts and terminology, and how marketing fits within a business (how it should add value to the business/organization). Explain marketing management as process of using information to STP and then drive 4P decisions, and be able to use this process to make decisions. Analyze a marketing situation, and use analysis results to make effective marketing conclusions and recommendations. Create/develop a cohesive set of basic marketing recommendations for a company or business unit, and explain how and why these recommendations make sense. Contribute to a group meeting where marketing ideas are being discussed. Readings to purchase for the course Note: purchase the set of six cases at http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/access/16625733 Title Edition or Case # A Framework for Marketing Management (FMM) Either 3 rd, 4 th or 5 th edition Springfield Nor'easters (Case 1) HBR case #2510 Acquatred (Case 2) HBR case #9-500-039 Fashion Channel (Case 3) HBR case #2075 PV Technologies (Case 4) HBR case #913-505 Reed Supermarkets (Case 5) HBR case #4296 Cabot Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Case 6) HBR case #9-510-030 Course Schedule Meeting Topics Read before class Jan 29 Overview of marketing and the marketing process FMM Parts 1-2 Feb 5 Using information to make marketing decisions FMM Parts 3-4 Feb 12 Tactical marketing decisions & Exam 1 FMM Parts 5-6 Feb 19 Cases (Acquatred, Fashion Channel and Springfield) Cases 1-3 1
Feb 26 Cases (Cabot, PV Tech. and Reed) Cases 4-6 Mar 5 Projects Mar 12 Projects & Exam 2 (optional) Deliverables Items below comprise course deliverables. Performance will be assessed on these items, and course grades will be a function of performance assessments. % of grade Item Type of learning Weeks 10 Quizzes Memorize 1-3 (maybe others) 20 Exam 1 Memorize 3 (covers weeks 1-3) 20 Exam 2 (optional) Memorize 7 (covers all weeks) 10 Case 1 write-up Analyze 4 10 Case 2 write-up Analyze 5 5 Case presentation Analyze 4 or 5 10 Case contributions/summaries Analyze 4 and 5 20 Project write-up Create 7 5 Project presentation Create 6 or 7 10 Project contributions Create 6 and 7-10 to + 10 Miscellaneous Varies All weeks Notes: We ll have quizzes during weeks 1-3, and perhaps other weeks (dates TBD) The second exam is optional and its score can be used to replace the first exam score Contributions (case and project) refer to value you inject during presentations made by others Miscellaneous is a catch-all category. Extra points are possible, and if you miss more than one class or seem generally unprepared or disengaged then you can lose points. Final course grading Scores on page-1 items will be summed and convert into grades based on: Score Grade Score Grade 93% + A 77% through < 80% C+ 90% through < 93% A- 73% through < 77% C 87% through < 90% B+ 70% through < 73% C- 83% through < 87% B 60% through < 70% D 80% through < 83% B- < 60% F If the end-of-semester mean GPA is lower than expected given general performance, then a curve may be applied, and curved scores would then be graded based on the table above. This curving reflects situations where an instructor reflects on the grades and thinks, Hmm the performance was higher than the grades show, and this probably means I graded too harshly. This curving may or may not occur; I m just leaving the door open for it. 2
BUS 770 Case assignments: You have six cases. Here s what to do: Work in four groups (two or three per group) and submit a group write-up for one case each week. Your group may pick which cases to submit. Your group will lead a discussion on one of the two cases you submit. This means groups lead discussions on four cases; Wepfer will lead a discussion on the other two (Aquatred and Cabot). Week Case Discussion 1 Aquatred Wepfer 2 Fashion Channel 3 Springfield Nor'easters 4 Cabot Pharmaceuticals Wepfer 5 PV Technologies 6 Reed Supermarkets Approach each case as though you been asked by the focal company to review the case and provide a marketing assessment and marketing recommendations. So identify key marketing issues, explain why these issues are important, provide recommendations, and explain why the recommendations make sense. For the case your group is assigned to cover: 1) Submit a write-up; maximum five pages double spaced, plus exhibits/appendices. You do not need to answer questions posed at the end of each case, but you may find them helpful to consider as you review the case and prepare your submission. 2) Present your case to the class. The class represents the company owners. Your presentation may be formal or informal. Assume the class is familiar with the case and is prepared to engage with you while you present. Provide handouts or any material you would prepare if discussing this case with a real client. For the cases your group is NOT assigned to cover, INDIVIDUALLY: 1) Prepare a one-page outline that answers the following questions: a. What are they key marketing issues (problems/opportunities, etc.)? b. What s going on in the case that leads you to believe these issues are key? c. What s the potential consequence of these issues (dealing with them vs. not)? d. What solutions or recommendations do you have, and why? 2) Engage with the presenting group as though you are a member of the senior leadership team for the focal company. Your team has hired the presenters to provide an external perspective. You are not competing against the presenters or blindly supporting their views. You are simply adding a voice to the conversation, so your company successfully navigates the issues presented in the case. 3
BUS 770 Project Description. For your marketing foundation project, please do the following: Develop an overview of marketing for a company. If the company has lots of products/brands, then focus one or more products/brands and develop the overview as though other products/brands did not exist. Your overview should include: A discussion of strategic elements. This could include the marketing mission, STP, positioning, differentiation, life cycle issues, BCG issues, SWOT etc. Which items are important is up to you to identify. So pick important ones, explain why you selected them, and discuss them and what you think the company should be doing with them. A discussion of marketing intelligence. If you have facts, then go ahead and use them. If you believe certain pieces of information would be critical but are lacking, then explain the information you feel should be obtained, and why it would help drive tactics. When wondering whether some information is important, a good litmus test is to ask whether you would do something differently based on different ways the information could come out. A discussion of tactics. What do you recommend for the 4Ps and anything else of a tactical nature, and why? Your rationale should be rooted in issues such as: driving the strategy you feel is desired, being aligned with what the marketing intelligence tells you, and being consistent (so your tactical recommendations are in harmony with each other). For the report I have no particular page length limit. Just cover the material. I m guessing papers might end up in the 6-9 page double spaced range (two to three pages per discussion area), but shorter or longer papers would not surprise me. Feel free to use narrative and tables/figures as helpful. Sometimes diagrams might help convey ideas. Please use headings and be explicit. For example if you are going to discuss segments, then have a heading that says segments. I ll be grading based on your discussion of the three areas, and especially how well you are able to tie them together. To the extent possible, make sure you have clear links that show how tactical recommendations will drive desired strategy and are reasonable given the marketing intelligence. Finally, some of the score will be based on the polish (not too many typos, if you have figures/tables they should look reasonable, etc. I m not after glitz but do expect reasonable polish). For your presentation a handout would be nice, so class members can listen to your train of thought and have something to refer to. 4
Let me know if you have questions. I m sure I have not thought of everything. If you send questions I ll do my best to answer them. 5