Ba 206
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Course Objectives
BA 206 is the core Marketing course in the MBA program. The course objectives are:
1. To introduce you to the role of marketing in organizations;
2. To teach the basic concepts and tools used in marketing, including:
– Elements of marketing analysis: customers, competition, company
– Elements of the marketing mix: the 4 Ps;
3. To assist in learning how to apply these concepts and to practice making decisions through:
– In-class case analyses (exposing you to examples of successful and unsuccessful marketing applications in the first part of the course:)
– Guest lectures and question and answer sessions with industry practitioners in the latter part of the course.
– The Markstrat Simulation;
4. To improve presentation and writing skills and provide opportunities to articulate and defend positions via written individual assignments and a group project.
The overall theme of the course is to emphasize the process of thinking: qualitatively, quantitatively, and strategically, using concrete, real-life practical examples as specific exemplars, drawing from both traditional areas of marketing as well as newer areas including high technology, non-profit and global marketing.
The course is organized into four distinct, yet inter-related sections. Except for the first section that is introduced gradually through the course, the other sections are modular and sequential:
1. Marketing Tools: Quantitative Analyses for marketing decisions (2 sessions), marketing research (2 sessions)
2. Marketing Strategy: 3 C;s: Company, customer, competition (5 sessions)
3. Marketing Mix Variables: 4 Ps: Product (3 sessions), Price (2 sessions), Place (2 sessions), and Promotion (2 sessions)
4. Integrative Marketing Applications: Markstrat (2 sessions), Special Applications and Integrated Case analyses in for different product-market situations, including: services, non-profit, high technology, business to business, entrepreneurial, global, and retailing (7 sessions)
Course Materials
Text: Winer, Marketing Management, Prentice Hall, 2000.
Larrйchй and Gatignon, MARKSTRAT 3, South-Western, 1998.
A reader containing the cases for the course should also be purchased.
Course Administration
The course consists of lectures, case analyses, guest lectures and participation in a marketing simulation, MARKSTRAT. The lectures will complement the text and will not attempt to cover all points raised in the reading. Details on the MARKSTRAT simulation will be provided at a later date.
Course Grading
Class participation
Individual Assignments
(3 x 10% each)
1st half of the course
Midterm Exam
Group-Assignment: (10 moves + MARKSTRAT project write up)
2nd half of the course
I encourage you to form groups early on in the course and work together. The groups can be a maximum of 5 people, and may be used for the Markstrat simulation. Except for the three individual assignments, and the mid-term examination, you are encouraged to work together on all other class preparation, including analysis of a case prior to class.
Exam. The midterm will be a take home case study (4 pages double spaced in 12 point font + exhibits).
Individual Assignments. There will be three individually written case-based assignments (2 pages typed double spaced in 12 point font + exhibits) selected from cases discussed in class. Case questions are appended at the end of the syllabus. All assignments are due in class, at the beginning of the class. Only hard copies will be accepted. If you are not going to be in class, ensure someone bring the assignment in for you, or submit it to my mailbox (5th floor, Faculty wing), by 9:00 a.m. of the day that it is due. Do not email me your assignment. I will not open the attachment. Late assignments will not be accepted. Home work assignments will not be graded, but can be submitted for extra class participation credit.
The following will help you analyze a case.
Case Analysis Guide: How to analyze a case:
Whats the problem? (Common marketing problems include: Should the firm enter or not enter a business area [go-no go decisions], choice of entering one area or another area (product decisions; market decisions), which (and how many) customer group(s) to target, how to retaliate against or attack competition (proactively/ defensively), how to position a brand, whether to conduct market research, and if so what type of research to conduct, how to allocate the budget between various promotional media or sales, decisions regarding changes or continuation in distribution channels, brand names, what price(s) to charge, what type of advertising to run, media decisions, etc.)
What are the decision alternatives? (These are usually implicitly or explicitly provided in the case, but you should feel free to go beyond those that are given)
What are the companys strengths and weaknesses? (Examples of areas that could be strengths or weaknesses include: brand name, customer franchise, costs of production, experience, suppliers, distribution channels, financials, technology, and operations etc.)
What are the environmental opportunities and threats? (These include changes in the overall environment such as changes in the economy,