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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.
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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%