Mercer University Atlanta
Stetson School of Business and Economics
The Stetson School of Business and Economics (SSBE) promotes the advancement and integration of quality business education and practice. In support of Mercer University’s mission, the School provides undergraduate and graduate programs that are designed to enable, enhance, and expand professional careers, civic responsibility and lifelong learning.
Spring 2006 Term 2
Masters of Business Administration
BAA605: Marketing Concepts and Practices
Click below to go to the:
Course Content or Class Calendar or Simulation Results.
Note: If I am online, you can contact me using my AOL IM name of 'drjecmercer'
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Please note that the detailed information about this course is valid only for the term and section indicated below. Instructors, textbooks, and other details are subject to change. |
Professor: Dr. James E. Coleman If you'd like to know more about the professor, you can click this link to go to my Mercer University home page. There you will find links to other courses I teach, my resume, and some other possibly interesting links.
Class Related email: dr.jec@comcast.net (Please include the course number & your last name in the subject line)
(During the term, please use the email above for class related questions, since I check it at least daily. Email sent to my Mercer administrative account may not be read in as timely a manner.)
Office: Room 209 in the Business & Education Building on the Atlanta campus
Office Hours: 4:00-6:00 pm Wednesday. Every other Saturday 12:30-1:30 & 5:30-6:30 (other times by appointment).
You can always reach me by email. dr.jec@comcast.net
Note: If I am online, you can contact me using my AOL IM name of 'drjecmercer'
Telephone: 678-547-6303 (Note: email provides a quicker response.)
I. Protocol for Electronic Submission of Course Work:
Students bear sole responsibility for ensuring that papers or assignments submitted electronically to a professor are received in a timely manner and in the electronic format(s) specified by the professor. Students are therefore obliged to have their e-mail client issue a receipt verifying that the document has been received. Students are also strongly advised to retain a copy of the dated submission on a separate disk. Faculty members are encouraged, but not required, to acknowledge receipt of the assignment.
Note: I will reply to acknowledge receipt of assignment & simulation files submitted electronically, but not routine emails. All electronic submissions for this course should be submitted to dr.jec@comcast.net, unless otherwise instructed. I generally respond within 1 day to emails. If you send them to my general Mercer email account, I may not see them for several days, and they may be counted as late.
II. Protocol for use of Cell Phones and Pagers:
Out of courtesy for all those participating in the learning experience, all cell phones and pagers must be turned off before entering any classroom, lab, or formal academic or performance event.
Note for this class: If an urgent need exists, it is acceptable to leave these devices on if you have them set to a silent mode. If you decide to answer, please do so outside of the classroom.
III. Mercer University Honor Code:
Any student who engages in any form of academic misconduct will be subject to the maximum allowed disciplinary action including suspension and expulsion. If you are unsure what constitutes academic misconduct, please consult the Mercer University Atlanta Catalog under the heading of "Academic Honesty".
Of particular importance is the following definition of plagiarism.
Plagiarism: The use of ideas, facts, phrases, or additional information such as charts or maps, from any sources, without giving proper credit to the original author. Using direct quotations, paraphrases, or reproductions of any material which is not of the student’s own authorship without giving proper credit is also considered plagiarism. Failure to reference any such material used is both ethically and legally improper.
Remember, if you can easily find a source on the web, I probably can just as easily. If you engage in plagiarism, I will assign a grade of zero for that portion of the course.
IV. Students with Disabilities:
Students with a documented disability should inform the instructor at the close of the first class meeting. The instructor will refer you to the Assistant Dean of Campus Life, (678-547-6823) for consultation regarding evaluation, documentation of your disability, and recommendations for accommodation, if needed. To take full advantage of disability services, it is recommended that students make contact immediately. The office is located in the Davis Building, Room 223.
Course Description: This course provides an analysis of marketing's role in the firm. The activities involved in marketing products and services are examined. Topics examined include global marketing, marketing analysis and segmentation, consumer behavior, product development and management, pricing, promotion and distribution.
[Note: I expect to continue using these texts throughout the 2005-2006 academic year.]
Marketing Strategy: A Decision-Focused Approach, by Walker, Mullins, Boyd & Larreche, 5th edition, 2006, McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
In addition, each team will need at least one copy of The Marketing Game simulation workbook and CD, third edition by Mason and Perreault. If you purchase this used, make sure the CD is included.
Class Objectives: The objectives for this course are for students:
Once the term begins, class related questions should be sent to:
dr.jec@comcast.net
Note: The assignments and topics shown in this schedule are subject to change. Any changes will be announced in class and via email. If you are unable to attend class please make sure that you contact me in advance by email or phone to verify the following week's assignment.
Click on the
hyperlinked chapter numbers to download the PowerPoint file.
If asked for a password, just click cancel and the file will then download.
For specific deadlines and due dates, view the class calendar.
Class |
Reading Material & Assignments |
Marketing Simulation |
Marketing Strategy Project |
Class One:
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Course Overview
& Assignment 1: send an email to dr.jec@comcast.net confirming that you have read and understand this entire web-based syllabus. Please include the course number (BAA605) & your last name in the subject line of the email. You will miss some important information during the course if you forget to do this. And, I reserve the right to deduct a letter grade if I'm in a bad mood. Please send this email from the email address that you would like me to use to contact you regarding this class. Do Not send it from another address and ask me to use a different one, because my class email list function is automated. Email Privacy Policy: I will not use your email address for marketing purposes and I will not sell or intentionally disclose it to third parties. After this class ends, I will delete your email address from my class records. Some corporate and ISP email systems block my class emails because they assume them to be SPAM due to the number of recipients and my use of 'bcc'. If you have that problem, an easy solution is to set up a free email account at Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. and send your email from that address. Just remember to check it regularly during the term. |
Marketing Simulation Team Formation We will have 8 teams. Team members will be the same for the simulation as for the case. Teams will be assigned the following identifiers: A1, A2, A3, A4 B1, B2, B3, B4 Simulation Assignment 1. Each team member should first read the workbook that comes with the Simulation. Chapters 2, 3 and 7 are most critical. If you don't read the material, you will not understand what's going on and you will very likely make some costly mistakes in your decision making. 2. Each member should develop their individual strategy recommendations and complete the Strategy Summary Form on their own. 3. Each group is required to meet as a team and develop and document their planned initial strategy for the Simulation using the same Strategy Summary Form as in step 2 for the individual strategies. This will probably require some patience, compromise and negotiation on the part of all team members. Teams should have a clear idea of their desired decisions for the first few game periods. Of course, you are not required to follow these since actual results of the game may affect your decisions, but it is best to try to plan for several periods in advance. 4. Email your Group Strategy Summary Form ONLY as an attachment to the same email you use to submit Period 1 decisions. Keep the individual strategy forms for your own reference. |
Industry Analysis Using In this course, we will use an approach similar to the Case Method to analyze the strategies employed by companies within an industry. You should download and review the following file (Intro to Cases) to become familiar with this approach. Chapter 12 of your text also covers the elements of a marketing plan. Part of your team's responsibility is to locate current information on the industry under review. See the websites listed on my research links page for suggested starting points. Industry case assignments will be completed both in class and via this website. As a class, we will develop a full industry analysis by the end of the term. In order to complete the process, each group will present one component of the 4C's (company, competitors, customers, context) as indicated in the schedule below. Each group is also required to submit a Marketing Strategy Report (recommending a 3 to 5 year marketing strategy for the company). The Report must be submitted in paper form at the start of class seven as indicated below. When your group is presenting, the PowerPoint file must be emailed to me by the day before class. Please include your team letter & number in the name of the file. Click the following link to view and/or download a detailed Project Requirements document. You are not likely to do well on this project unless you read and understand this document. I will address any questions in class next week after you read this. |
Class Two:
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Chapters 1,
2 & 3:
Corporate & Marketing Strategy. Reading check 1 covering the reading assignment for this week must be completed online.
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Submit your period 1 decisions and the group strategy form via email.
(Your team's PlanX#.tmg
file must be emailed to dr.jec@comcast.net) I will discuss the Production Report & Forecasting in class. Bring your Period 1 results reports to class for a free consulting session. Check the calendar for specific times and deadlines for all submissions. |
Discussion
of the Marketing Strategy Project Requirements This term, we will review the Airline industry. Your team's assigned company is: A teams: AirTran B teams: Continental Here are some articles to get you started in your research. |
Class Three:
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Chapter 4 & 5: Market Opportunity Analysis. Reading check 2
covering the reading assignment for this week must be completed online.
Team Presentation Files:
A1: AirTran (revised)
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Period 2 & 3 decisions and forms are due this week. (Your team's PlanX#.tmg file must be emailed to dr.jec@comcast.net) Period 3 results will be reviewed in class. I will offer a marketing simulation consulting session during the last hour of class, so have your specific questions ready. Example of specific question that I will answer: What does this number on this report mean? Example of question I won't answer: What should we do next? Check the calendar for specific times and deadlines for all submissions. |
4C: Company Internal Firm Analysis Teams: A1 AirTran B1 Continental What are the company's internal resources, capabilities, strengths & weaknesses? A thorough financial trend analysis is expected as part of these presentations. If you are a little rusty on your basic financial analysis, the following should help: Basic Financial Analysis See the Project Requirements file for Minimum Requirements. |
Class Four:
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Chapters 6 & 7: Market Targeting & Positioning. Reading check 3 covering the reading assignment for this week must be completed online. Submit midterm Team member effort evaluations. Click Here . A2: AirTran (revised) B2: Continental (revised)
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Please remember that Period 4 & 5 decisions and forms are due this week. (Your team's PlanX#.tmg file must be emailed to dr.jec@comcast.net) As we did last week, the last hour of class will be reserved for Simulation questions and planning. |
4C: Competitors Competitive Trend Analysis Presentation. Teams A2 & B2 The basic requirements for the competitive analysis are very similar to the financial trends section above. The main difference is the development of comparative charts across the major competitors to the company you are reviewing. See the Project Requirements file for Minimum Requirements. |
Class Five:
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Chapters 8 & 9: Strategies Appropriate for New Products and/or Growth Markets. Reading check 4 covering the reading assignment for this week must be completed online. A3: Airtran B3: Continental |
Period 6 & 7 decisions and forms are due this week. (Your team's PlanX#.tmg file must be emailed to dr.jec@comcast.net)
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4C: Customers Product Market Analysis Presentation. Teams A3 & B3 A product market analysis focuses on identifying the main customer segments that are available to be served by the industry, and compares this to the types of products being offered by the company and its competitors. See the Project Requirements file for Minimum Requirements. |
Class Six:
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I will cover Positioning & Growth Market Strategies from earlier classes, and then pick up with Mature Market Strategies if time permits. Chapters 10 & 11: Strategies for Mature Markets and New Economy Markets. Reading check 5 covering the reading assignment for this week must be completed online. No Change to the Tuesday midnight deadline for RC5. A4: AirTran B4: Continental |
Period 8 & 9 decisions and forms are due this week. (Your team's PlanX#.tmg file must be emailed to dr.jec@comcast.net) Schedule Change: Period 9 Decision Files are now Due Tuesday at Midnight, and results will be posted Wednesday morning. Period 8 deadline has not changed (Thursday 4/13) A4 & B4 Presentation Files are now due by Wednesday at noon. |
4C: Context Situation and Environmental Analysis Presentation. Teams A4 & B4 The primary objective of a situation and environment analysis is to draw conclusions about how significant trends in the external environment may affect the entire industry and the company under review. See the Project Requirements file for Minimum Requirements. |
Class Seven:
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No new reading or lecture material is assigned for this evening. I will complete any remaining lectures from previous classes.
Final exam expectations will be reviewed following the other two aspects of tonight's class. Remember that final team member effort evaluations are due the day AFTER this class meeting. Click Here |
Period 10 decisions and forms are due this week. (Your team's PlanX#.tmg file must be emailed to dr.jec@comcast.net) Final simulation results and team grades will be posted. We will discuss the strategies used by teams and their results in class, so come prepared to describe what your team did and why over the course of the term. No written report is needed. |
Marketing Strategy Discussion. Written Marketing Strategy Reports Due at start of class. Come to class prepared to discuss and defend your recommended strategy for your company. |
Class Eight:
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Final |
Submit final team member effort evaluations. Click Here |
Course Format:
A portion of most classes will consist of a lecture explaining key analytical tools and/or key components of marketing strategy related to the topic under discussion. However, the primary learning tools in this class are the computer simulation exercise and Marketing Strategy Project and related analysis, discussion and presentation. You will be formed into small teams for this class. Full participation of each student is critical. If you let down your team members on your portion of the assignments, it will have a significant impact on your term grade. Your team members are required to rate your level of participation. If you receive negative comments, it will affect your grade. Be sure to retain copies of any and all work you complete individually. If you disagree with any negative feedback, I will ask for this information as a means of determining the validity of the comments.
Marketing Simulation:Your grade for this portion of the course will be determined by the level of cumulative unit sales and cumulative profits your company generates. Both unit sales and profits are equally important in the weighting.
On time submission of Marketing Simulation decisions is absolutely essential. Therefore, there will be a significant penalty associated with late submissions. The deadline for each set of decisions is clearly indicated in the class calendar (see link above). Further details will be covered in class.
Marketing Strategy Project:
If you are not familiar with the case method, I have prepared a brief discussion of how to approach a case study on my web site. See the course schedule (class one) for links to project materials and forms.
The case method differs from other approaches to learning because it requires that you take an active rather than a passive role in the analysis of problems and the formulation of alternative courses of action. Because case analysis is an applied skill, it is something you learn through experience. The more you practice, the more proficient you will become at identifying problems and creating workable solutions. Your responsibilities include active participation, interaction, critical evaluation, and effective communication. The case method requires individual participation in class discussions based on thorough preparation, entailing more than a casual reading of a couple of articles.
In other words, if you do not participate fully in your group's meetings and workload, or you show up for class unprepared or do not participate, your grade will suffer. Obviously, if you are not in class, you are not participating and learning. If you do not understand the meaning of this statement, please let me know now, not later in the term. Your team members are required to rate your level of participation. If you receive negative comments, it will affect your grade. Be sure to retain copies of any and all work you complete individually on a case. If you disagree with any negative feedback, I will ask for this information as a means of determining the validity of the comments. Each team is required to document individual and group responsibilities on the Team Responsibilities form (see the Project Requirements document).
During the term, your group will be responsible for one presentation and the preparation of a Marketing Strategy Report containing the basic conclusions and recommendations for a 3 to 5 year marketing strategy for the company under review. Over the course of the term, the class will research the assigned industry and company. You should conduct your own review, and make notes on the items you consider important, and completely analyze the company's situation, problems, alternatives and decide upon a recommended solution. For the topic selected, your group should prepare a PowerPoint file to guide class discussion. The final version of this file must be emailed to me the day before class so that everyone will be able to access the file. The presentation should take about 15 minutes to present. Additional supporting information (not covered in the presentation) may be included since I will post it on the website for use by all teams in the final reports.
If you do not participate in the assigned presentation (based on your team member evaluations), you will not receive credit for the presentation. Since this represents 15% of your term grade, underperformance is not a recommended strategy.
Your written analysis should in the form described in the Project Requirements document. You have great latitude in the format of this report. The primary focus should be to present your findings in a clear and persuasive manner. A significant portion of your grade is based upon how well the executive summary presents your key points and conclusions about the case. However, you must also include any additional material and analyses you believe are necessary to support your conclusions. See the Project Requirements document for specific topics to be addressed. It is critical that all significant conclusions and assumptions referred to in the executive summary be supported and referenced to the appropriate supporting information.
Again, you should NOT submit lengthy and wordy sections to support the executive summary. It is far superior to use charts, graphs, tables, etc. with a minimal amount of wording that explains what conclusions or trends the chart highlights. This is not an English composition class. The purpose of the Executive Summary is to communicate your research, analysis and conclusions in as efficient a manner as possible. All articles, web sites and other sources of information used in the report must be documented on a references page (not counted as one of your 3 page limit) and these references must be keyed to the slide or chart where they are used. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism (see note at beginning of syllabus).
Late assignments will be accepted only in the most unusual circumstances. Also, if you can't make it to class you should notify me in advance and make alternative arrangements with your group members to ensure that you complete your portion of any group work.
Grading Structure:
| Marketing Strategy Project: | ||
| PowerPoint Presentation (Group) | 15% | |
| Marketing Strategy Report (Group) | 15% | |
| Total Industry Project | 30% | |
| Marketing Simulation: | 25% | |
| On-line Reading Checks: | 15% | |
| Final Exam | 30% | |
| 100% |
One final but extremely critical topic: If your team members do not believe that you carried out your responsibilities as agreed within the team structure, they are required to indicate this during the team member evaluation process. Should I receive indications that you did not fulfill your obligations in a timely manner, you must be able to show exactly how and when you contributed to the team effort. Therefore, please keep all rough drafts or other information you collected until the end of the term. If you are unable to document your participation, any negative comments provided by your teammates will affect your grade. Hopefully, this policy will encourage more complete group participation.
Reading Check Instructions: (See IMPORTANT NOTE below) Your online reading check for this week will be available until the deadline indicated in the class schedule. You will not be able to take it after we review it in class for any reason. Failure to take the quiz results in a grade of zero. Read all of the directions below before you click on the link to the test center: (1) Use a Web browser to access http://www.evtestcenter.com. (Just click on the link and your browser will go to the test center.)
(2) Enter "JECOLEMAN" for the Instructor ID and click the OK button.
(3) Select the test named "BAA605 RCx" from the list of available items. (x=number of the reading check)
(4) Enter your name exactly as follows: Lastname Firstname. DO NOT USE A COMMA OR ANY PUNCTUATION AT ALL. For example, if your name is John Smith you would enter: Smith John. Failure to follow this direction exactly will cost 10 points.
(5) Enter "JECBAA605" for the password. Click the Next button to begin the test. You can print a copy of the test to bring to class for the review by clicking on the "PRINT" button on your browser.(6) When you submit the test, you will see a page indicating the test has been submitted and I will receive an email of your score. You must save or print this page to document that you have completed the online reading check, in case I do not receive the grade. This is a very rare problem, but it can happen. Remember: No page copy....no grade....no exceptions.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You can read and print the entire test before taking it. You can take the test with your textbook open. Just don't hit the 'submit' button until you are ready to have it graded. Also, do not take the test more than once. If you do, I will use the LOWEST test score as your grade.