Revised: August 2014
Stevens Institute of Technology
Howe School of Technology Management
Syllabus
MGT 646
Marketing Strategy
Fall 2014
Professor Adriana Madzharov
Office: Babbio Center 627
Tel: 201-216-3339
Fax: 201-216-5385
Email: adriana.madzharov@stevens.edu
Mondays: 6:15 – 8:45 pm
Office Hours:
Mondays 5:00 - 6:00 pm
and by appointment
Course Room:
Babbio 312
Overview
This is an advanced marketing course that focuses on the application of marketing
concepts, tools, and principles to marketing strategy and planning. This course uses an
application-oriented approach to studying marketing strategy and incorporates real-world
examples of marketing strategies adopted by both large and small companies in a variety
of business areas.
Prerequisites: MGT 641 Marketing Management
Course Objectives
The goals of this course are for students to learn the key concepts and theories of
marketing strategy and planning, and to develop the intellectual ability to identify
applications of these concepts and theories in formulating viable marketing strategies.
This course will provide students with the fundamental conceptual and analytical tools
essential for a comprehensive understanding of the strategic processes involved in
marketing application. Students will be better able to synthesize and apply these tools to
analyze “real-world” problems, particularly as represented in cases from the current
business press. Students will be able to apply this knowledge in developing a strategic
marketing plan.
Additional learning objectives include the development of:
Communication skills: Students will improve and polish their oral communication skills
through the case analysis and team project presentations.
Technology role in business: Students will learn how companies use technology (e.g.,
social media) to develop and execute successful marketing strategies.
Analytic problem solving: The course incorporates case study methodology, which is
built on analytic problem solving.
Ethics: Students will also learn about the ethical issues involved in different marketing
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strategies.
Team skills: Students will work in teams on the majority of the course tasks such as case
analysis and marketing plan project. An online survey instrument will be used to measure
individual contributions to team performance.
List of Course Outcomes:
After taking this course, students will be able to:
- Students will gain understanding of the different aspects of marketing strategy
decisions and the elements of marketing analysis: customer analysis, company
analysis, and competitor analysis.
- Students will learn various strategic approaches to and practical application of
market segmentation, target market selection, product positioning, and branding.
- Students will develop familiarity with variety of tactical applications of marketing
strategies suitable for new, growth, and mature markets.
- Through exposure to business case analyses, students will learn how to apply
analytical and critical thinking to develop actionable decisions.
- Through direct access and interaction with real-companies’ marketing experts (guest
lecturers) students will learn the most recent and innovative marketing strategies
currently used by companies.
Pedagogy
The course integrates case analyses, lectures, team projects, presentations and discussions
to focus on the implications of marketing strategy in business.
Readings
Required Text: Harvard Business Review coursepack
https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/28439815
Additional reading (supplemental):
Walker, Orville C. and John W. Mullins (2010), Marketing Strategy: A Decision-Focused
Approach, 8th Edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin (ISBN-13 9780078028946).
Assignments
Exam: 20% of overall grade. The exam will test knowledge accumulated from the short
lectures accompanying the case analysis done in class. The exam might include multiple
choice, essay, and open-ended questions. The material for the exam will be reviewed in
class, in the session prior to the exam. Make-up exams will not be available. In the event
of an emergency or a known conflict with the exam date, please speak to me as soon as
possible.
Group Project Marketing Plan: 20% of overall grade. This project is designed to give
students a chance to apply the knowledge obtained in the class and to improve students’
ability to work in groups, as is often required in the field of business. Students will form
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groups of 3 or 4 and work together to create a marketing plan for a new product or service.
Products/services can be new to the market or may be an innovative improvement of
existing products/services. Groups will create a comprehensive marketing plan for their
product/service, including pricing strategy, a detailed promotional campaign (and creation
of promotional materials), a thorough distribution plan, target market, and positioning.
Groups will give a 40-minute PowerPoint presentation about their product/service.
Presentations will take place on selected dates at the end of the semester. All group
members are expected to present and presentations must stay within the allotted time. All
groups must: (1) email me their slides prior to their day of presentation; (2) provide me
with a printout of their slides on the day of the presentation.
Detailed guidelines for the project and evaluative criteria for the presentations are attached
to this syllabus and will also be posted on Moodle. Group formation will take place on the
first day of class.
To ensure the participation of all group members in the project, at the end of the semester,
all students will be asked to individually and anonymously provide an evaluation of the
contribution of every group member.
Case analysis (in groups): 30% of overall grade. All groups will analyze and be formally
evaluated on two cases from the Harvard Business Review course pack for this course.
Students will come up with answers and solutions to the case questions. The objective of
this task is for students to apply the marketing strategy concepts learned in class. Case
analysis will be evaluated based on the depth and quality of the presented analysis.
Specific case analysis guidelines and evaluative criteria are attached to this syllabus and
will also be posted on Moodle.
Case presentations will last 40 minutes and will be followed by a class discussion.
Although only one team will present in each session, all groups are expected to prepare
and answer the questions on the case so that the whole class can actively participate in the
discussions.
Business article analysis (individual): 10% of overall grade. Every student will choose
an article from the business press (Wall Street Journal) that discusses a marketing
strategy challenge or success that a company currently faces. Students will give a 30minute presentation on this mini case and provide their analysis and proposed future
solutions. Students are expected to research additional information on the discussed in the
article company in order to give comprehensive background and support for their analysis
and the proposed marketing strategy.
Class participation: 10% of overall grade. Students are expected to attend and actively
participate in the class sessions. Students should come to class ready to discuss the
material being covered and are encouraged to share their viewpoint on the topic. Class
discussions are essential for learning the material – students are expected to actively listen
and might be called to answer a specific question during the sessions. The goal is to create
an open environment in which students feel comfortable and able to share their opinions
and engage in class discussions.
Attendance: 5% of overall grade, calculated as follows: number of attended classes by the
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student/total number of sessions for the semester*100. Students are expected to attend all
sessions. Attendance will be recorded at every session. Punctuality: Students are expected
to be in class a few minutes before the scheduled start time. Lateness will not be tolerated.
Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each session, thus lateness will be recorded
as absence.
In cases when an unpredictable situation has prevented the student from being on time or
from attending class, the student must notify me by email; failure to do so as well as
frequent excused lateness and absences will compromise the student’s attendance
participation portion of the grade.
Academic research participation: 5% of overall grade. As students in marketing,
students in this course are eligible to participate in academic research conducted by
Stevens marketing faculty and doctoral students. Students can earn up to 5% course credit
for participating in 3 research studies, each up to 40 minutes long (a study that is less than
40 minutes still counts as a full 40-minute study). Research studies often involve filling
out one or more questionnaires that examine marketing issues. By taking the role of a
consumer, students have the opportunity to learn how researchers explore different
aspects of marketing strategy that you study in this course. The research studies will be
scheduled throughout the semester and students will be notified of the dates ahead of
time.
Participation in these studies is voluntary. If students choose not to participate in the
research studies, they can still get this 5% grade portion by completing a written
assignment. The assignment involves creating three short marketing research
questionnaires (of 1 typed page each).
Ethical Conduct
The following statement is printed in the Stevens Graduate Catalog and applies to all
students taking Stevens courses, on and off campus.
“Cheating during in-class tests or take-home examinations or homework is, of course,
illegal and immoral. A Graduate Academic Evaluation Board exists to investigate
academic improprieties, conduct hearings, and determine any necessary actions. The
term ‘academic impropriety’ is meant to include, but is not limited to, cheating on
homework, during in-class or take home examinations and plagiarism.“
Consequences of academic impropriety are severe, ranging from receiving an “F” in a
course, to a warning from the Dean of the Graduate School, which becomes a part of the
permanent student record, to expulsion.
Reference:
The Graduate Student Handbook, Academic Year 2003-2004 Stevens
Institute of Technology, page 10.
Consistent with the above statements, all homework exercises, tests and exams that are
designated as individual assignments MUST contain the following signed statement
before they can be accepted for grading.
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____________________________________________________________________
I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on
this assignment/examination. I further pledge that I have not copied any material from a
book, article, the Internet or any other source except where I have expressly cited the
source.
Signature _________________________
Date: _____________
Please note that assignments in this class may be submitted to www.turnitin.com, a webbased anti-plagiarism system, for an evaluation of their originality.
Course/Teacher Evaluation
Continuous improvement can only occur with feedback based on comprehensive and
appropriate surveys. Your feedback is an important contributor to decisions to modify course
content/pedagogy, which is why we strive for 100% class participation in the survey.
All course teacher evaluations are conducted on-line. You will receive an email one week
prior to the end of the course informing you that the survey site
(https://www.stevens.edu/assess) is open along with instructions for accessing the site. Login
using your Campus (email) username and password. This is the same username and password
you use for access to Moodle. Simply click on the course that you wish to evaluate and enter
the information. All responses are strictly anonymous. We especially encourage you to clarify
your position on any of the questions and give explicit feedbacks on your overall evaluations
in the section at the end of the formal survey that allows for written comments. We ask that
you submit your survey prior to end of the examination period.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Topic(s)
Case
Chapter (from
book)
Week 1
08/25
Week 2
09/01
Week 3
09/08
Week 4
09/15
Week 5
09/22
Introduction and overview
Understanding Market
Opportunities
TripAdvisor
Chapter 4
Week 6
09/29
Week 7
10/06
Targeting Attractive Market
Segments
Differentiation and Positioning
Salvary and Elberse
note
Clean Edge Razor
(group presentation)
Chapter 6
No class, Labor Day
Overview of marketing
strategy. Marketing plan.
Case analysis examples
Chapter 1
Vogue; LEGO
Chapter 7
5
Week 8
10/14
(Tuesday)
Week 9
10/20
Week 10
10/27
Week 11
11/03
Week 12
11/10
Week 13
11/17
Week 14
11/24
Week 15
12/01
Marketing Strategies for New
Market Entries
Strategies for Growth Markets
The Ford Fiesta
Chapter 8
Icebreaker
(group presentation)
Chapter 9
Review for exam
Exam
Guest speaker – marketing
executive
Group day – final project
Group Project Presentations
Group Project Presentations
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