Revised: August 2014
Stevens Institute of Technology
Howe School of Technology Management
Syllabus
BT-350-B
Marketing
Fall 2014
Professor Adriana Madzharov
Office: Babbio Center 627
Tel: 201-216-3339
Fax: 201-216-5385
Email: adriana.madzharov@stevens.edu
Mondays: 11:00 am – 12:40 pm
Wednesdays 10:00 – 10:50 am
Office Hours:
Mondays 10:00 - 11:00 am
Wednesdays 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
and by appointment
Course Room:
Babbio 220
Overview
This is an introductory course in the discipline of Marketing. This course introduces
students to the main theories and analytical methods characterizing modern marketing
practice. In addition, there is an emphasis on both the marketing of technology
products/services as well as the impact of technology on the general practice of
marketing.
Prerequisites: N/A
Course Objectives
The main content-related objectives of this course are to:
- Provide an introduction to marketing
- Foster an understanding of the basic marketing concepts and principles
- Establish knowledge of the role of marketing in business, the role of
consumers, and the key components of marketing plan
- Provide understanding for the appreciation of the role of marketing in
business
- Establish understanding that marketing puts customers at the center of its
thinking in its quest for profitability
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 practices.
Analytic problem solving: The course incorporates case study methodology, which is
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built on analytic problem solving.
Ethics: Students will also learn about the ethical issues involved in different marketing
activities.
Team skills: Students will work in teams on a significant portion 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:
- Know the basic marketing principles and understand their underlying rationale
- Identify and analyze marketing problems; develop creative solutions to
address them; articulate reasons for choosing various solutions
- Develop a coherent marketing plan for a product/service and provide sound
rationale for chosen strategies
- Use simple marketing concepts, observation, and reasoning, construct basic
marketing principles
Pedagogy
The course integrates lectures, cases, discussions, assignments, videos, group tasks, and
exams to achieve its objectives.
Readings
Required Text: Grewal, Dhruv and Michael Levy (2014), Marketing, 4th ed.,
McGraw-Hill, ISBN-978-0-07-802900-4
www.mhhe.com/Grewal4e
Assignments
Exam: Exams: 50% of overall grade (25% exam I, 25% exam II)
During the semester, students will take 2 non-cumulative exams. These exams will test
knowledge accumulated in the lectures. The exams might include multiple choice, essay,
and open-ended questions. The material for the exams 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, students are to inform the professor as
soon as possible.
Group Project Marketing Plan: 25% 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
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
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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 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 presentations (in groups): 10% of overall grade. All groups will present a
marketing case to the class – cases are from the chapters of the textbook. Students will
come up with answers and solutions to the case questions. The objective of this task is for
students to apply the marketing 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 will also be posted on Moodle.
Case presentations will last 20 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.
Class participation and attendance: 10% of overall grade (5% participation, 5%
attendance). 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 lectures and discussions.
Attendance is calculated as follows: number of attended classes by the 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. In cases when an unpredictable
situation has prevented a student from being on time or from attending class, s/he must
notify the professor by email; failure to do so as well as frequent excused lateness and
absences will compromise the 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
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aspects of marketing studied 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.
____________________________________________________________________
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. Students’ feedback is an important contributor to decisions to modify
course content/pedagogy, which is why we strive for 100% class participation in the survey.
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All course teacher evaluations are conducted on-line. Students will receive an email one week
prior to the end of the course informing them that the survey site
(https://www.stevens.edu/assess) is open along with instructions for accessing the
site. Students can login using their Campus (email) username and password (same username
and password students use for access to Moodle). Students can simply click on the course that
students wish to evaluate and enter the information. All responses are strictly anonymous. We
especially encourage students to clarify their position on any of the questions and give explicit
feedbacks on their overall evaluations in the section at the end of the formal survey that
allows for written comments. We ask that students submit their survey prior to end of the
examination period.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week Date Topics and Assignments Due
1
8/25 Course introduction; group formation; case assignment
8/27 Overview of Marketing; student information sheets due
2
3
Chapter 1
9/1
9/3
No class – Labor Day
Developing Marketing Strategies and Marketing Plan
9/8
Developing Marketing Strategies and Marketing Plan
Case example: Netflix
Group project session: prepare ideas for the final project
Chapter 2
Social and Mobile Marketing
Presentation from the Writing and Communication
Center
Chapter 3
9/10
4
Chapters
9/15
9/17
Chapter 2
5
9/22
9/24
Analyzing the Marketing Environment
Consumer Behavior
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
6
9/29
10/1
Global Marketing, Case: China
Cases: Dell, Seventh generation
Chapter 8
7
10/6
10/8
Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning; Case: Coca
Cola
Review for Exam I
Chapter 9
10/14
Exam I
Tue
10/15 Marketing Research
Chapter 10
9
10/20 Product, Branding, and Packaging; Case: Oprah
10/22 Developing New Products
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
10
10/27 Pricing Concepts; Case: iPad
Chapter 14
Chapters 18 &
19
8
10/29 IMC; Advertising, PR, and Sales Promotions
5
11
11/3
11/5
Cases: Zara, Jay-Z and Bing
Review for Exam II
12
11/10 Exam II
11/12 Guest speaker: Marketing Executive
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11/17 Preparation for Marketing Plan Presentations (in class)
11/19 Presentations
14
11/24 Presentations
11/26 No class – Thanksgiving holiday
15
12/1
12/3
Presentations
Presentations
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