Busi 520

BUSI 520 – Marketing Management Professor’s notes* As of July 5, 2007

Note: All content is based on the professor’s opinion and may vary from professor to professor and student to student. All content may be changed without notice. This information is provided to provide an analysis, but is not binding in any form. From a Scale of 1-10 (1=low demands; 5= moderate demands; 10 = very demanding), how would you rate the overall level of difficulty of this course? Level of demand = 8 This course requires: a major group analysis, which requires reading and external research each week; 2 exams, and weekly individual/group discussion board postings. This course should be taken with other courses within an 8-week format with less level of difficulty. From a Scale of 1-10 (1=low demands; 5= moderate demands; 10 = very demanding), how would you rate the level of reading requirements in this course? Level of demand = 9 Students are responsible for reading 3-4, 20-25 page chapters each week. The chapters are packed with information, with which the students must learn, apply and become comfortable. From a Scale of 1-10 (1=low demands; 5= moderate demands; 10 = very demanding), how would you rate the level of lecture requirements in this course? Level of demand = 2 The course contains no video lectures, however, students are responsible for the lecture notes that are provided as an outline of the textbook. From a Scale of 1-10 (1=low demands; 5= moderate demands; 10 = very demanding), how would you rate the level of online exam requirements in this course? Level of demand = 9 The course has 2 online tests (the midterm and final). Although they are open book and open notes, students are responsible for all material found in the book. Questions are mostly application oriented, thus requiring students to fully understand concepts.

From a Scale of 1-10 (1=low demands; 5= moderate demands; 10 = very demanding), how would you rate the level of discussion board requirements in this course? Level of Demand = 6 In weeks 2 and 4 students will research (through the online library and text) and respond to discussion board questions with responses of 400-500 words each. In addition, students are required, in these weeks, to respond with 400-500 word responses, to the postings of 2 other students. A good grasp of the topic is required. References and citations must follow APA format. In weeks 1-8, students will review and respond to the course discussion board and the team discussion board so as to add value to the discussion; answer questions and discuss topics with their classmates. From a Scale of 1-10 (1=low demands; 5= moderate demands; 10 = very demanding), how would you rate the level of the written paper requirements in this course? Level of Demand = 10

Additional Comments: The course requires a major, 20-30 page team marketing analysis with outside research. The paper must be written in APA format, with proper formatting, in-text citations and academic references. Successful completion of this analysis also requires routine, frequent and substantive communication with team members such that a logical, “puzzle-like” analysis is created. Students who have not previously written a research paper or have been out of academics for many years, will be challenged with this assignment. The research for and writing of the paper should take place over several weeks; it is not an assignment that can be completed in one weekend. This course moves quickly, therefore students should expect to be very busy for the duration of the course. There are assignments due each week.

Syllabus LIBERTY UNIVERSITY DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAM SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSI 520 STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT TEXTBOOK Kotler, P & Keller, K. (2003). Marketing Management (12th ed.) Prentice Hall (ISBN 0-13-145757-8) In addition, the required writing style for all assignments is APA. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is designed to provide the MBA student with a working knowledge of the steps involved in the analytical and decision-making processes involved in formulating, implementing, and controlling a strategic marketing program for a product market entry. In addition, this course covers topics such as 1) relationships among corporate, business level and tactical strategies, 2) relationships between marketing strategy and the internal/external operating environments of an organization, and 3) relationships between marketing and other functional areas of the organization. This course also explores the influences of technology on business-tobusiness (B to B) and consumer-to-business (C to B) markets.

Marketing Management is the strategic use of a firm’s resources to take advantage of and create marketing opportunities. The global environment will be emphasized as students learn to analyze markets and develop and implement marketing plans that will deliver solutions to the market segments targeted. I.

RATIONALE Marketing today is operating in a profoundly different world than it did even twenty years ago. Today, corporations may be held responsible for the impacts of their products at every stage from R&D through distribution and consumer use and final product disposal. This course directly supports AIMS 1-10 of Liberty University’s Statement of Purpose. No marketer can consistently operate effectively of efficiently without a thorough understanding and wise application of the principles of sound marketing strategy. Such knowledge and ability is essential to survival in tomorrow’s business world. It should also be anticipated that

several topics presented in this course are also included in other courses. Such redundancy is planned and desirable for mastery of the material. II.

PREREQUISITES Acceptance or conditional acceptance to the MBA Program.

III.

MATERIALS Kotler, P. & Keller, K. (2003). Marketing Management (12th ed.) Prentice Hall (ISBN 0-13-145757-8). Note, the 11th edition of this text is very different from the 12th edition. Thus, the 12th edition is required. In addition, the required writing style for all assignments is APA.

IV.

COURSE OBJECTIVES/REQUIREMENTS This course is based on the integration of five major perspectives: foundational concepts, information technologies, business applications, development processes, and management challenges. 1.0 Through textbook reading and 2 discussion board questions, students will discuss salient marketing management scenarios and apply textbook content so as to: 1.1 Understand the role of consumer information in designing and delivering superior value. 1.2 Describe the impact of branding in designing and delivering superior value. 2.0 Thorough a continuous group, written marketing analysis, students will demonstrate the ability to collectively evaluate an organization’s situational environment and conduct a substantive marketing analysis to include analysis of: the market environment, consumer market, competition, market segments, positioning, product and branding, services, pricing, promotion, and evaluation. 3.0 Through a group, written marketing analysis, students will demonstrate understanding and application of the concept of Marketing Myopia. 4.0 By virtue of an open-book, multiple choice, individual test, students will demonstrate conceptual understanding and application of Marketing Management by correctly responding to questions on: 1) the scope of marketing management, and 2) analyzing marketing opportunities. 5.0 By virtue of an open-book, multiple choice, individual test, students will demonstrate conceptual understanding and application of Marketing Management by correctly responding to questions on: 1)

developing marketing strategies; 2) shaping the marketing offering; and, 3) managing and delivering marketing programs. V.

COURSE OBJECTIVES A. To examine the concept of marketing management, how it has evolved over time, and its role in delivering value to a target customer. B. To understand and synthesize the range of decisions implicit in strategic marketing management and planning, and to develop skill in using a variety of analytical frameworks for making such decisions. C. To develop skills in planning a variety of marketing management tools, ranging from new product entry strategy to international product life cycle management and strategy. D. To compare and contrast the major approaches to organizing for effective strategic marketing and in implementing the market planning process.

VI.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND ASSIGNMENTS Your grade will be determined by your performance in the following activities. All assignments are due as noted in the COURSE CHART. Late assignments will be penalized 10 raw points (e.g., if the assignment is worth 75 points, a late penalty would show as 65/75 points) if submitted within 24 hours of the due date. However, if an assignment ages beyond 24 hours of its due date, it will not be accepted and a grade of 0 will be recorded. Keep in mind, most of the assignments in this course involve others. A late submission on your part results in hardship on others.

A. Reading assignments will include chapters 1-22 in the textbook and a review of self-selected scholarly journal articles from the business related databases (LexisNexis, Academic Search Premier (EBSCO Host)) available online via the LU library. Students are required to use the online databases listed above in this course. Once on the LU webpage, log into Blackboard. At the next screen, click on “Library Research”, then “Off Campus Access to Databases”. On the next screen, click on “Journals” and at the next screen several databases will appear including Academic Search Premier (EBSCO Host) and Lexis-Nexus. (Note, some folks find it easier to access the LU library by using Internet Explorer.) B. Learning modules are located in the Course Content area of Blackboard. Each learning module includes: reading assignments, discussion board questions, outlines of chapters, all learning assignments, and the due dates of each assignment. Students are expected to keep up with the due dates, and must complete each module completely before moving to the next module. Work completed out of order will not be accepted. Regarding the chapter

outlines, it is expected that students will use them for detailed note taking on each chapter.

C. Discussion Board Essays. Modules 1 and 2 contain discussion board essays, which are designed to assess higher-level critical thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Students are required to: 1) post an original response to discussion assignments on the discussion board, and 2) respond to the postings of two others. The purpose of the discussion questions is to provide each student with an opportunity to examine real-life marketing management scenarios from the perspective of the marketing manager (e.g., not a consumer perspective). The original posting and each of the postings to two others shall be 400-500 words. As a clarification, the original posting = 400-500 words, post to one other 400-500 words and the post to second other 400-500 words. In addition, the original posting and each of the postings to two others will be evaluated based on the following criteria: 1) Declaring and supporting a position on one side of the DB statement as it is stated (please, no neutral positions). (20 point reduction if missing). 2) Presence of a logical and structured argument that demonstrates graduate level writing skills and incorporates quotes or paraphrased material from the text and an external article (hint: use of the text, and **external research is required). (20 point reduction if the argument lacks logic or structure; 20 point reduction if the text or external source is missing). 3) Clarity, conciseness, concreteness, completeness and correctness. (3 point reduction for each instance) 4) Well formed discussion from the perspective of the marketing manager. (20 point reduction if unclear or missing). 5) Correct grammar and mechanics (including appropriate use of APA in-text citations and references) (3 point reduction for each error). In the posting to two others, student responses will be evaluated on the criteria above, and also on the professional treatment and reflection of the views of others. In addition, students are expected to: 1) take a position of agreement/disagreement; 2) demonstrate understanding of the original author’s points by drawing comparisons to his/her post, and 3) reflect and comment on the content of the argument offered by the original author rather than addressing inaccuracies in APA, grammar, or pointing out errors. Keep in mind, the goal is to reflect on the original author’s work, not reproduce his/her work, or your original post. (** In building your position, include content from the text and at least one additional source. The additional source must be 1) an article retrieved from any of the Business related data bases on the LU library, or 2) a scholarly article from a scholarly management or marketing journal, or 2) a graduate level marketing strategy, marketing

management text. Note, a text used in an undergraduate marketing course is not an appropriate source. In addition, articles from the internet (e.g., corporate, government or general websites), or articles from sources such as NetMBA.com, articles.com, etc. are not scholarly sources. When posting your discussion board responses, create them in a Word document, copy and post them directly to the discussion board rather than posting as an attachment. Some students are unable to open attachments. To avoid the loss of formatting, use Internet Explorer rather than Fire Fox. If, however, your post looses its formatting, simply signal this at the bottom of the post and explain precisely what was lost from your original post. Grading of discussion board essays that are submitted by the due date will occur within 5 business days of the due date noted in the course chart. On the original post, students will receive either: 1) a reflective post from the instructor in the DB area, or 2) a summary response. In instances where students don’t receive full credit for their postings, direct feedback to the student will be given in private by email. Most often, this feedback will contain individual and specific feedback to the individual. In the case where there are patterns in errors among the work of the majority of the class, these may be shared via a collective email (no mention of student identity, of course) with the entire class. D. Tests: There will be 2 tests. Individual effort, objective tests are designed to assess comprehension and application of concepts covered in the assigned textbook readings. Both tests are open book; however, they are designed to assess your understanding and application (not recognition) of the text material. Therefore, many of the questions will require considerable analysis on your part. The questions for each student’s test are presented one at a time and randomized, with no one test looking like the other. Printing or saving of the test (outside the test area) or communicating with others about the test content is not permitted. Evidence of any of these activities will result in a grade penalty of 0 for the test, without exception. Your tests are administered by BLACKBOARD and each test will be available for a period of 54 clock hours, beginning at 6:00 pm on the Thursday prior to the due date of the test. The due dates for both tests are midnight, EST on the 4th and 8th Saturdays of the course. Check the Course Chart for the exact date. For the purpose of both tests, midnight is “midnight between Saturday and Sunday.” (As a reminder, Bb runs on EST. Thus, it is your responsibility to keep up with time frames so as to know when the test is available in your local time.) The test locks permanently at the due time/date. If you are in the test at that time, it will lock. Once a test is opened, you may save your responses, and return to the test for a later completion. There is no time limit on the test completion once the test is opened. However, a completion time of more than one hour can result in your

system timing out due to interface conflicts between some browsers and the LU site. The result of a time-out will automatically lock the test up, and erase your answers, which ARE NOT recoverable. In this instance, email the faculty member to reset the test. Your lockout will be cleared within 4 hours. However, you will be required to resubmit your answers. Once the test closes, no student will be able to access the test. A study guide for each test is available in the learning activities section of Modules 2 and 4.

See the COURSE CHART in the “About Your Course” area of Bb for test due dates and chapters covered. E. Group Assignment -The Marketing Management Analysis is designed to demonstrate group skill in conducting an academically rigorous and quality collaborative learning research project at the MBA-level. This project is explained, in full, under Course Content on Blackboard. Your group interaction and management skills are critical to the successful completion of this assignment. Therefore, review the “Working in Groups - Group Management” Document in the Group Tips link located in the Course Content area of Bb before attempting the group assignment. This document, along with this syllabus outlines expectations and guidelines for groups. (Note: there is a Pre-Group assignment required for completion in the “Working in Groups –Group Management” document.) Grading of the group assignment will be based, in part, on the degree to which the marketing analysis is thorough, theoretically and practically correct, and logical. The final project shall: 1) follow the required format; 2) be free of errors in logic; 3) include significant external research, and; 4) demonstrate MBA-level writing and analysis skills. Though a group grade is awarded, an individual student may not receive 100% of the team grade if he/she fails to substantively and routinely participate on a weekly basis, via the group discussion board, in the group project. Should a student be absent, for any reason, and be unable to participate in a given week, the team must be notified. Periodic “group check” postings are required of all group members and will be conducted during weeks 2, 4 and 6 (as outlined in the “Working in Groups - Group Management” document). It is expected that all group members will substantively and routinely (weekly) participate in the conceiving, organizing and creation of the project. Students who fail to participate each week on a substantive basis on the project will receive a minimum grade penalty of 20 points, and a maximum penalty of removal from the group to complete the group project alone, at my discretion. There is no exception to this policy. (For a clear delineation of how individual contribution is monitored, see the “Working in Groups” document on Bb.)

Groups in BUSI520 are self-managed. How they operate, communicate, collaborate, resolve conflicts and complete assignments is up to the group. Groups are both responsible and accountable for solving their conflicts and for collaborative completion of the project. The procedure for resolving conflicts is noted in the “Working in Groups- Group Management” document. In 2005, Liberty launched the Assignment Manager, a substitute for the Digital Drop Box. The group project is submitted through the “View/Complete Assignments” on Bb. If this is new to you, a tutorial is available on the Student Blackboard Home Page. F. Course Communication One of the most important aspects of an on-line course is the protocol for communication from the faculty member. Students should expect the following: Communication with the faculty: This course site is comprehensive in content. That is, most student questions can be answered after reviewing the documents contained on this site. If questions remain, address them via email to the faculty member. In your email, include your course and section number (e.g., BUSI520_S0X_TX) in the Re: space. Students can expect a response within 36 hours for routine questions (e.g., clarification, shortanswer questions). If however, student inquiries require the faculty to research, consult with a third party, or analyze an issue, students should expect responses within 72 hours. The faculty member will check email twice daily – at 3:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m. In the unusual circumstance of a time critical issue, students should send an urgent/priority email to the faculty member (make sure you mark the email accordingly). In this instance, the email is easily identifiable, and the student can expect a response within 24 hours. Email Communication: Students are expected to be thorough, concise, and polite in the delivery of emails. The use of email has created a new way of communicating in sentence fragments, sound bites, and in a tone that most would not accept in face-to-face communication. Be mindful of this when communicating by email with other students and faculty. Also, keep in mind that only Liberty University email addresses will be used as they are an integral part of the Bb communication system. Announcements on Blackboard: The faculty member will post announcements on Blackboard with frequency. Students can expect announcements every Monday (by 5:00 p.m.), and as needed. It is the responsibility of every student to KEEP up with the announcements, and to read and understand them when received. Please foster the habit of checking the announcements every day.

VII.

EVALUATION AND GRADING A. Weight Points Discussion Board Questions – 2

Percentage

60.00%

600

Original Response Total (each 225 points) Response to Two Others Total (each 75 points) Test 1 10.00% Test 2 10.00% Group Marketing Management Analysis 20.00%

100 100 200

Total

100%

1000 B. Scale (based on points) (900-1000) = A; (800 – 899)=B; (700-799) = C; (600 – 699) = D; 599 and BELOW = F

Keep in mind, the final course grade is based on points, not percentages. The grade book on Bb keeps a running total of your points earned. This is the column to watch as it will be the column from which your final grade will be determined. As you complete assignments, this total should increase. For example, suppose at the end of the class, this column shows as 895 points. Since the course is based on 1000 points, this means you earned 895 points. This should not be interpreted as a grade of 89.5%. When your grades are recorded for actual assignments, they will show as percentages. This is done for your convenience. However, behind every percentage, there is a “point value”. So, if you earn 90% on an assignment that is worth 225 points, this means you earned 90% of 225 points, which is 202.5 points. Again, the points, not the percentages contribute to the final grade.

COURSE CHART Note: This chart provides a layout for all assignments for BUSI520. Grading criteria and explanations for these assignments are outlined in the syllabus. The learning module located in the Course Content area of Blackboard provides specific direction and access to all learning assignments.

MODULE CHAPTERS See Course Content on Bb

1

1–5

WEEKS Note: there are 2 weeks per module

LEARNING OUTCOMES

ASSIGNMENTS These “learning activities” are located within each “Module” under Course Content.

1 2

1.1, 2.0 and 3.0

DB 1 DB 1 Responses TOTAL

Percentage

22.50 7.50 29.50

Note: The Pre-group assignment is due week 1, and a consensus post due week 2. In addition, the Week 2 group check is due week 2 (see the Group Management Document).

2

6-11

3 4

1.2, 2.0 - 4.0

DB 2 DB 2 Responses Test 1 (Modules 1 & 2) TOTAL

22.50 7.50 10.00 39.50

Note:Week 4 group check is due.

3

12-16

5 6

4

17-22

7 8

1.3, 2.0 and 3.0

Note: Week 6 group check is due. Time to make solid stride on the group project!

2.0, 3.0 and 5.0 Group Project (Due Wednesday,of week 8) Test 2 (Modules 3&4; due week 8)

20.00 10.00 30.00

TOTAL TOTAL

100