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S Y L L A B U S High-Tech Marketing (MBAC 698) Instructor: Dr. Annie H. Liu Office & Hours: Hilton #321; Tuesday/Thursday 11:00-1:30; Thursday 6:00-7:00 E-mail: [email protected] Texts Mohr, Sengupta, Slater (2005), Marketing of High Technology Products & Innovations, Second Edition, Prentice Hall. Course Objectives The purpose of this course is to explore concepts and practices related to marketing in the volatile and fastpaced high-tech environment. The course will provide a balance between conceptual discussions (based on readings of concepts and practices) and applied/hands-on analysis (cases analyses, guest speakers, and a semester project). The objectives include obtaining an understanding of: 1. the concepts and frameworks of high-tech industries & their marketing implications 2. the use of strategic alliances and partnerships in marketing technology 3. the current knowledge and adaptations of the “4 p’s” to the high-tech market place Class Participation (10%) In order to stimulate active learning, class time will be heavily discussion-oriented. Obviously, the quality of a discussion class is a function of the quality of each student’s preparation & participation. I am most interested in your ability to demonstrate learning of class concepts (from the readings), which could include: (1) description/elaboration on concepts in readings, (2) an application of class concepts to current events (i.e., show how class concepts relate to current events, or analyze current events in terms of class concepts), and/or (3) a critical assessment of class concepts (i.e., conditions under which they would be more or less useful, and why). My evaluation stresses the thoughtful, meaningful contributions to class discussions and not the quantity of participation per se. Quality participation is based on the (1) quality of the insights exhibited, (2) the student's ability to maintain continuity of discussion (i.e., pays attention to existing discussion/prior comments), (3) answer follow-up questions (which requires some degree of thought about the material – above and beyond mere reading--prior to class), and (4) your contribution to the spirit of the class (contributes to a positive learning environment). Case Discussions / Presentations (10%) Students (with group members) are required to present & lead the discussion of 1 case study. Each group should plan on a 20-25 minute presentation, and another 15-20 minutes for activities and Q&A to stimulate class participation and discussion. Depending on the format of the case, each team will present relevant facts and information from the cases, suggesting and evaluating alternatives, and making a recommendation. While the assigned group will have the primary responsibility of presenting facts, analyzing data, evaluating alternatives, and making recommendations, all students are expected to have read the case and done some analysis. In addition to offering their own insights, students in the class should be prepared to discuss with the groups about their options/suggestions; offer alternative perspectives; and critique the information presented by the group. These cases will be weighted as heavily as typical class discussions, as part of each student’s class participation grade. Current Events Oral Presentation (10%) The objective of the current event presentation is, first and foremost, to provide students an opportunity to practice and hone their presentation skills. Secondly, the presentation gives each student the opportunity to apply a class concept to a particular firm or industry. Third, the student gains exposure to various trade publications in the course of selecting the article for his/her presentation. Each student will select a topic on which he/she will give a 5-10 minutes oral presentation. A sign-up sheet will be passed the second week of class. Students will select a topic for their presentation and a corresponding presentation date. No make-up orals are scheduled. For the oral presentation, the student should find an article that describes how a company or an industry is utilizing a particular marketing tool or class concept in its high-tech marketing strategy. I do not recommend reviewing an article that provides a generic list of concerns on a particular topic (i.e., 10 things to consider in high-tech pricing). During the oral presentation, the student should: Provide a brief summary of the article (1-4 minutes) Specifically identify and discuss how the article relates to class concepts (2-3 minutes) Provide a critical analysis of whether or not the strategy described in the article is being appropriately used, given your understanding of the strategy based on class concepts (2-3 minutes). For example, you may come to the conclusion that IBM needs to work on its customer relationships by improving communication with its dealers, and merely advertising its commitment to a customer-focus will be insufficient. In your critical analysis, please show an ability to offer specific suggestions for improvement, based on the class concepts you have identified above. Provide an example of other firm applying the strategy described in the article, if possible. Q&A from the class to follow. Each student must turn in a copy of the article to me Monday prior to his/her talk, along with a 1-page summary of the presentation. Exams (20% each) Exams will require the analysis of a case. An exam case will be given the week prior to the exam date on the syllabus along with a set of case questions. Cases must be turned in to my office by class time on the exam date stated in the syllabus. Exams should be typed and should not exceed 10 pages. Grading Procedure Participation Case Presentation Current Events Exam 1 Exam 2 Group Project Project Presentation Bonus Projects 10% 10% 10% 20% 20% 20% 10% 100% 1% each (maximum 5%) Tentative Class Schedule Week Topic September 2 Introduction to High-Tech September 9 September 16 September 23 September 30 October 7 October October 14 21 October 28 November November November 4 11 18 November December 25 2 December 9 Project Research Group Member Strategy & Corporate Culture CASE: Knight Ridder Digital Venture Marketing Research Tools CASE: Zenith HDTV Project Progress Report – Name & Background High-Tech Customers Guest Speaker: Dr. Jill Dyche Relationship Marketing CASE (HBR): They bought in. Now they want to bail out. Product Development CASE: NTT DoCoMo EXAM 1 Review Exam 1 Distribution & Supply Chain CASE: Arrow Electronics Guest Speaker: Mr. John Lethem E-Commerce & Internet Marketing CASE: EBay (A) Project Research Project Progress Report Guest Speaker: Mr. Rich Sharga Advertising & Promotion CASE: Inside Intel Inside Happy Thanksgiving! Project Report and Interview Log DUE Project Presentations Executive Summary & Peer Evaluation Project Presentations EXAM 2 Final Week Reading (before class) 1 2 5 6 3 7 8 11 10 General Policies * NO late assignments will be accepted. * NO make-up exams or in-class exercises will be given. You are expected to do original work for all assignments, including cases, exams, and projects. Students are responsible for their own conduct and all cases of dishonesty will be reported to the proper university officials. Please do not put yourself in an embarrassing or unfortunate situation. All written assignments must be well organized using an interesting writing style that is grammatically correct (regardless of what your native language is). Expect a severe grade reduction for poor grammar. Case Analysis & Presentations Everyone (in a group) will be required to give 1 presentation and lead discussion of 1 assigned case study. As you study and analyze case information, write down important facts and identify the key issues of the problem if applicable. Answer all questions presented in the case. The purposes of the case studies include: To provide a linkage between the class concepts and industry and company-specific applications. Case presentations will be evaluated on each team’s ability to elucidate the case in terms of class concepts. To use class concepts to critically assess the companies’ marketing strategies. Based on what you are learning, do their marketing strategies make sense? To familiarize the class with various high-tech industries and companies, and provide real-world examples of class concepts. For the case study presentation in the class, the focus should be on the following: 1. Allocate 20 to 25 minutes for the case presentation, and another 15-20 minutes for activities to stimulate class participation and discussion. 2. Present the key issues of the problem. Do not repeat the entire content of the case to bore the class. Pay attention to the response of the class – are they bored? Or are they interested? The particular format and structure of the presentation will depend on the specific content, and each group should find a creative, informative manner to present the information. Design strategies to keep the audience involved in your presentation/discussion. Check evaluation criteria for presentation guidelines. Boring or unprepared presentations will result in low grade! 3. What are the environmental forces that this company is contending with or may have to contend with? Conduct a SWOT analysis. Identify where you see this company in 5 years. 4. Present relevant information about the company and the industry. Presentations should tie-in with class concepts and include current issues, interesting visuals, role-plays, and/or fun activities for class involvement. Each group should prepare a brief handout for the class, including highlights of the talk in outline form and/or current issues for class discussion. Please give me a copy of your full presentation in advance. 5. Stimulate, motivate & lead class discussions to come up with the best answers to the case questions. Provide interesting & unique ways in which the class can participate individually or as teams in developing answers to the dicussion questions. In other words, don’t just give away or force-feed your answers to the class. 6. A Shadow group will be assigned to provide comments and give constructive feedback to each presenting group. The comments, feedback, as well as peer evaluations will be integrated into case presentation grades. Individuals who receive zeros from group members will also receive a zero for the case presentation. 7. Case Grading will be based on: the thoroughness of identification of critical issues in the case, the relevance of data/analysis on the industry and the company. the team’s thoroughness in exploring options/solutions to case by themselves and with the class (including necessary conceptual issues and financial analysis), your ability to tie your solution to the case to concepts learned in class, your evaluation/insight/critique (based on class concepts), and professional communication skills (including professionalism, preparation, organization, delivery, etc.). Merely answering the discussion questions provided for the case is insufficient to meeting the grading criteria. 8. To receive your presentation grade: Immediately after your presentation, please have your group leader turn in a folder containing (1) a meeting dialog including dates, and who did what, (2) a hard copy, (3) a disk of your presentation, and (4) peer evaluation forms from all members (completed & folded). Group Project – High-Tech Customer Strategy & Marketing Strategy Purpose The purpose of this project is to critically evaluate Customer Strategy & Marketing Strategy of a hightech firm and to gain insights of how each strategy is applied to enhance its relationships with customers/suppliers. As such, your group is to assess problems that the firm is experiencing in its relationships through a set of personal interviews. Please remember that this is a project for your HighTech Marketing class, so your analysis should tie in with the class concepts and clarify the implications for high-tech marketing as you write your paper. Procedure Your group will want to gain multiple perspectives on the selected high-tech firm’s strategies and problems. Therefore, you will need to interview several individuals within the firm that you consider most germane. To foster multiple perspectives and promote candor, the interviews should be conducted sequentially. Avoid, wherever possible, interviewing the research participants together. Ensure the respondent that his/her responses will be held in strictest confidence and that your group upholds this confidence. Acquire permission first if your group intends to interview the firm’s customers or suppliers for more insights. The actual content of the paper should include these sub-titled sections: 1. Company and Industry Background. Describe of the nature of the firm’s business (e.g., type of technology, product lines, size of the firm, its competitive advantage). Evaluate the industry in terms of number of major competitors, the types of target markets served, and the firm’s position within the industry. The names, titles, company addresses and telephone numbers of interviewees should be provided in an Appendix to your paper. 2. Customer Strategy and Marketing Strategy. What segmentation approach, if any, does the firm employ, and how does its offering vary by market segment? What categories of adopters does it choose to focus on? How do the firm’s relationship strategies and practices vary across market segments? In addition, describe the firm’s marketing strategy (e.g., product development, distribution channels/supply chain management, pricing, and promotion strategies), and E-Business Strategy. 3. Problems in Customer Strategy and/or Marketing Strategy. Evaluate the firm’s customer strategy as well as marketing strategy. How does it form partnerships & alliances with its suppliers as well as customers? How does it develop or implement its marketing mix? What recent or recurring problems has the firm had? What best practices has the firm had? Conclude this section with the specific problem that is of special interest to your group and on which the remainder of the research paper will focus. Briefly relate why this is a problem for the firm and what its significance is. 4. Alternatives and Analysis. What alternative ways of solving this problem has the firm considered? What, if any, additional ways can your group offer? In discussing each alternative, provide an analysis of it. This entails marshaling supporting evidence (as well as consideration of any contrary evidence) to provide a compelling rational for resolving the problem. Integrate within this analysis germane concepts from the course readings. 5. Recommended Actions. What specific, implementable course of action should be taken in addressing the identified problem? A cogent rationale that supports your recommendations and that rules out alternative courses of action should be provided. Implementation of these actions must be made apparent to the reader. Finally, how would you present recommended action to your firm? 6. Appendices. Directly useful, adjunct material such as interview dialog, lengthy anecdotes, tables, figures, pictures, and detailed lists should be included in Appendices. Appendices should be labeled alphabetically in the order in which they are cited. Note carefully, though, that the text of the research paper must be able to meaningfully stand-alone. Timing & Format Submit the company background and proposal by September 23rd. This should include scope of project, company statistics, and the names, titles, company addresses and telephone numbers of individuals your group intend to contact. Late submission of or changing company in the later day will result in one lower grade. The completed paper with the interview dialog should be turned in by December 2nd. It is your responsibility to coordinate among your group members to complete your project by the due date. Keep a copy of your paper and presentation for your own record. Papers will not be returned. The completed paper should include Table of Contents, 15 to 20 pages of Content (double-spaced, 12pt. Times New Roman, 1 inch margin), a complete References (check end of each chapter for the exact format) and, any relevant Figures / Tables / Pictures in Appendix. A one-page, single-spaced Executive Summary of your research paper should be prepared. This summary will be distributed to the class prior to your discussions/presentation of the working relationship research projects, so make enough copies for each student to have one. Be sure to include your group members’ names. Peer Evaluation will be integrated for individual grade. Individuals receive zeros from group members will also receive a zero for the project. LATE PROJECTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Peer Evaluation Form – Project Report & Presentation: Confidential Please specify (in terms of percentages) the relative allocation of work/effort/commitment that you and your partners devoted to your group presentation. The percentages must sum to 100%. For example, in a five-person group, if each partner devoted an equal amount of effort to the project, assign each partner 20%. Percentage Allocated My Name:_____________________________________ _____________ Partner1: ______________________________________ _____________ Partner2: ______________________________________ _____________ Partner3: ______________________________________ _____________ Partner4: ______________________________________ _____________ Total 100% ___________________________________________________________________________________ Peer Evaluation Form -- Case Presentation: Confidential Please specify (in terms of percentages) the relative allocation of work/effort/commitment that you and your partners devoted to your group presentation. The percentages must sum to 100%. For example, in a five-person group, if each partner devoted an equal amount of effort to the project, assign each partner 20%. Percentage Allocated My Name:_____________________________________ _____________ Partner1: ______________________________________ _____________ Partner2: ______________________________________ _____________ Partner3: ______________________________________ _____________ Partner4: ______________________________________ _____________ Total 100%