UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Marshall Graduate School of Business
GSBA 509B – Marketing Management
Fall 2014
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Professor: Miriam Burgos
Telephone: (626) 627-3029 – cell
E-Mail:
Office: ACC 226 (Accounting Building, Room 226)
Office Hours: By appointment, anytime Monday to Saturday
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Course Description
While GSBA 509A is focused on the principles of marketing, GSBA 509B will be focused on Marketing Management (with an emphasis on the hands-on application of marketing principles covered in 509A). The course is designed to enhance and expand upon the fundamental marketing skills developed in GSBA509A and to impart more advanced marketing knowledge, skills and techniques for developing and executing sound, innovative, effective marketing strategies.
This course combines the fundamental marketing principles covered in GSBA509A with real-world cases and exercises designed to reinforce the skills that business leaders must have in order to develop and implement successful marketing strategies in a global marketplace. The culmination of the course will consist of a project portfolio (which will involve revisiting and analyzing cases completed in 509b, as well as one entirely new case). The project portfolio will require you to recall and apply the principles and techniques covered throughout the course.
Course Learning Objectives
The learning outcomes of the course are to acquire the skills and knowledge to:
- Utilize analytical marketing tools to assess business problems, make more effective marketing recommendations, and successfully address the marketing challenges that business leaders face.
- Develop and present sound, innovative, effective, and ethical strategies that address or resolve commonly-encountered marketing challenges in the global marketplace.
- Formulate objectives and strategies that increase sales and profitability by identifying market opportunities that maximize customer and company value.
- Assess and resolve key marketing issues, including potential ethical dilemmas, in a global-marketplace context using global leadership, team-building, problem-solving, critical thinking and analytical skills.
Topics Covered in This Course
Topics that will be covered in the course include the following:
§ Customer Relationship Management
§ New Product Development
§ Brand Management
§ Category Management
§ Portfolio Analysis
§ Marketing in Emerging Markets
§ Managing Performance and Marketing Analytics
§ Digital Media and Mobile Marketing Strategy
§ Multi-Cultural Marketing
§ Technology Marketing
§ B2B Sales & Marketing
Course Materials
§ Course Reader of selected book chapters, articles, and cases, available through USC Bookstore. (Required)
§ Selected HBR articles. Please see me for specific areas of interest. (Optional)
Course Methodology
A combination of assigned readings, in-class exercises, case analyses, and class discussions will be used to accomplish the learning objectives for this course. The main purpose of these activities will be to illustrate real-world applications of the fundamental marketing concepts covered in 509A. Students will be challenged to apply their critical-thinking, analytical, problem-solving, and team-building skills. The project portfolio will be an opportunity for students to reflect on the work they have completed throughout the course, and further apply their critical-thinking skills. The course will push students to apply analytical tools and techniques to real-world scenarios to create data-driven solutions for the marketing challenges presented in class.
Grading
The following 1,000 point grading system will be used for the Marketing Management GSBA 509B course:
Topic / Percentage of Grade / Points / Due Date(See Class Schedule)
Class Participation / 10% / 100 / November 5th to December 11th
Case Study, choose 1 of 2 / 5% / 50 / Tues. 11/10 – or – tues. 12/9
Mid-Term Exam / 25% / 250 / Mon. 12/1
Project Portfolio / 30% / 300 / Thurs. 12/11*
Final Exam
/ 30% / 300 / Tuesday, December 16th, 1-4 pm
Total / 100% / 1,000
* Please note that you may have two deliverables due in the same week on 12/9 and 12/11 if you choose the second case. Please refer to detailed class schedule for additional information. Your instructor will provide detailed advice during the first few weeks of the term regarding how to best manage your time towards the end of the course in the event that you select Case 2 as a deliverable.
The Marketing Department follows the grading policy of the Marshall Graduate School of Business. For this course, the grading standard is an average of 3.3.
Attendance
Students are expected to attend all class sessions. Please notify me in advance if you are unable to attend any class session whenever possible, so that we can make arrangements for you to catch up on the material you will miss. Discussions are an integral part of your learning experience in this course. The frequency and quality of your participation in and contribution to these discussions will have a direct and meaningful relationship to the short- and long-term benefits of the course.
Laptop or Other Communication Devices Policy
To maximize the richness of the learning experience, eliminate distractions and to demonstrate the utmost respect for all, you are expected to refrain from using laptops, smart phones, iPhones, iPads or any other electronic devices during class.
For additional perspective on this expectation in our course, please refer to the abstract of a very interesting article recently published in Psychological Science at the following URL: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/25/6/1159
I can provide a copy of the full article if you would like to have it for your reference.
The article is titled “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking”, and it offers compelling evidence that longhand note-taking is highly beneficial to students’ cognitive processes, including (and especially) retention.
Class Preparation
As in 509A, class participation is an extremely important part of the learning experience in this course. The degree of preparation by all students prior to each class session will have a direct impact on the quality of interaction among students during class discussions. Research has shown that in-class discussion and reflection about readings is essential to certain cognitive processes such as retention of material. I therefore expect every student to carefully review and prepare all cases and(or) readings prior to class discussion.
Additionally, a course that incorporates the frequent use of case analyses to illustrate the practical application of fundamental principles requires the students to carefully formulate data-driven recommendations and solutions prior to each class session. It follows that my expectation (and that of your classmates) will be that you arrive prepared for all classes and actively participate in and meaningfully contribute to class discussions.
Please be aware of the fact that “cold-calling” will take place to encourage active participation. In-class participation grading will be based on students’ demonstrated willingness to participate and the quality of the comments expressed, rather than quantity. While some students are far more comfortable than others with class participation, all students should make an effort to contribute meaningfully in every class.
Students will offer their opinions in group settings many times in their careers; thus, class participation serves to prepare students for this business experience.
The evaluation of in-class participation is based on the following criteria:
§ Relevance – Does the comment meaningfully bear on the subject at hand? Irrelevant or inappropriate comments can detract from the learning experience.
§ Responsiveness – Does the comment connect to what someone else has said?
§ Analysis – Is the reasoning employed consistent and logical? Has data from course materials, personal experience, or general knowledge been employed to support the assertions/findings?
§ Value – Does the contribution further the understanding of the issues at hand?
§ Clarity – Is the comment concise and understandable?
For each in-class session two (2) points will be awarded to a student for relevant and meaningful participation, one (1) point for modest contributions to the class and zero (0) points for no participation or not attending class. Absences, tardiness and unprofessional conduct will result in the loss of participation credit.
To underscore the importance of participation, ten (10) percent of the course grade or 100 of 1,000 points are allocated to class participation.
I will assume the role of a discussion facilitator during class sessions, and I expect each of you to take the initiative to contribute meaningfully to our group discussions.
Please note that activities such as Battle of the Beverages and Washaway Clean, although ungraded, do count towards your overall participation score in this course. You will fill out peer evals for those activities – see end of syllabus for forms.
Case Studies
Case studies offer an excellent opportunity for students to practice and strengthen their critical-thinking skills. They are also a great opportunity to apply concepts to real-world situations.
In this course, you will submit one case study (you choose one out of two). For either of the case studies (regardless of which one you select), you will use the Case Analysis Outline that should already be familiar to you from 509A. You will also read and “prepare” ungraded case studies, but your professor will give you more instructions in class about how to prepare for ungraded cases (a much more informal process).
Guidelines for Effective Case Analyses
Some general guidelines for preparing an effective case analysis follow:
§ Identify all of the major issues in the case that need to be raised to conduct a thorough analysis.
§ Address the questions that your professor will provide for each case.
§ Provide a logical, coherent, well-organized analysis. Your analysis should be consistent across the marketing mix (4 P’s) elements. It should read as the work of a single author rather than a collection of disjointed and inconsistent recommendations.
§ Focus your specific recommendations on the important issues in the case.
§ Recommendations should be practical, cost-effective, and time-sensitive (classified as short-term or long-term, or a combination thereof). The supporting analysis should be thorough, carried out correctly, and drawn—whenever relevant—from material presented in class, assigned readings and outside resources if desired.
§ Avoid making recommendations that cannot be supported with any information or data from assigned readings, outside resources, material presented in class, etc. Every recommendation you make must be accompanied by supporting analysis. (This will be an expectation in real-world business settings as well!)
Mid-Term Exam
The mid-term exam will be on Monday, December 1st. It will cover key topics from sessions 1 - 6. Details on the content and format will be discussed in class. This exam represents 25 percent of the final grade or 250 out of 1,000 points.
Project Portfolio Assignment (A Team Project)
The Project Portfolio is to be submitted via Blackboard by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 11th. The Project Portfolio represents 30 percent of the final grade or 300 out of 1,000 points. A penalty of 10 percent per day will be assessed for late submissions. Additional handouts with detailed instructions regarding the Project Portfolio will be distributed in class and posted on Blackboard shortly after our first class session.
The Project Portfolio will be completed in teams. The Portfolio is intended to help you synthesize and retain the knowledge you have acquired via each of the cases we will cover in class, including the graded one, by having you revisit each case using prompts provided by your instructor. The final component of the Portfolio will be one entirely new case analysis that you will complete with your team. A detailed outline of what should be covered in your Portfolio, as well as the “entirely new” case, will be distributed via Blackboard and thoroughly explained in class.
The grade for this assignment may be influenced by each team member’s contributions. Please complete the peer evaluation form on page 13 of this syllabus and submit it hard copy, in class, on 12/11. Grades for individuals may be impacted based on this assessment. More detail about this policy will be explained in class.
Final Exam
The final exam for this course will consist of questions on course concepts and their application. It will be cumulative, but with an emphasis on sessions 8 – 14. The final exam will be on Tuesday, December 16th from 1pm to 4pm. It constitutes 30 percent of the final grade or 300 out of 1,000 points.
Critical Thinking Initiative
The USC Marshall Critical Thinking Initiative is a school-wide effort to reinforce your critical thinking skills in order to help you be a more successful problem solver in class and in the workplace. This means that your courses will challenge you to engage in a variety of learning activities which are designed to help you apply your critical thinking skills in a disciplined and structured manner so that you can continue to excel in your career. Your ability to think critically is an important part of the evaluation/grading process in this course. The centerpiece of Marshall’s critical thinking initiative is a website that contains instructional materials and videos. During the course of the semester, your instructor may direct you to specific resources on this website: http://info.marshall.usc.edu/faculty/critthink/Pages/default.aspx
Statement on Academic Conduct and Support Systems
Academic Conduct
Plagiarism – presenting someone else’s ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words – is a serious academic offense with serious consequences. Please familiarize yourself with the discussion of plagiarism in SCampus in Section 11, Behavior Violating University Standardshttps://scampus.usc.edu/1100-behavior-violating-university-standards-and-appropriate-sanctions/. Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally unacceptable. See additional information in SCampus and university policies on scientific misconduct, http://policy.usc.edu/scientific-misconduct/.
Discrimination, sexual assault, and harassment are not tolerated by the university. You are encouraged to report any incidents to the Office of Equity and Diversity http://equity.usc.edu/ or to the Department of Public Safety http://capsnet.usc.edu/department/department-public-safety/online-forms/contact-us. This is important for the safety whole USC community. Another member of the university community – such as a friend, classmate, advisor, or faculty member – can help initiate the report, or can initiate the report on behalf of another person. The Center for Women and Men http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/cwm/ provides 24/7 confidential support, and the sexual assault resource center webpage describes reporting options and other resources.