Marketing 468 Technology Marketing Winter Quarter 2005-2006 Prof. Mohan Sawhney Reaching Me: Office: Office Hours: Voice: Fax: Assistant: E-Mail: URL: Room 5245B, Donald P. Jacobs Center, Evanston Campus By appointment. 847-491-2713 847-467-5505 Rahi Gurung (467-1705, rgu131@kellogg.northwestern.edu) mohans@kellogg.northwestern.edu www.mohansawhney.com COURSE OUTLINE 1. Objectives: The objectives of this course are to: 1. Provide you with an end-to-end overview of the processes for understanding, creating and delivering value in technology markets 2. Equip you with actionable conceptual frameworks and analytical tools for making strategic marketing decisions in uncertain and dynamic technology markets 3. Help you to understand the landscape of the computer, communications and media industries through cases, best practices and examples. 2. Course Design The design of this course is unique in terms of the content as well as in the pedagogy. The design of the course reflects the following themes: Decision Orientation: The assignments and cases in the course will emphasize decisionmaking and learning by doing. For instance, you will be required to do assignments where you will need to do quantitative analysis. You will also use a simulation game as a tool for action learning. Several cases in the course are "real-time" cases, where the situation is evolving by the day. This decision orientation is time-consuming and demanding, but results in superior learning. General Management Perspective: Management in fast-paced technological environments requires tight integration across all functional areas. Therefore, the course content will span and synthesize several functional areas, including Marketing, Organization Design, Industrial Design, Anthropology, Strategy, and Economics. This may sometimes raise the question - "is this really Marketing?". I consider this question to be irrelevant. In designing the course, the only question I have asked is - "is this tool or concept useful for managing technology-intensive businesses?" Process Orientation: The course does not take an “Instrumental” view of marketing (the traditional 4Ps approach). Instead, it takes a value-centric approach, where we define marketing as a set of value-creating processes. This is more consistent with how marketing actually works in companies. Continuous Evolution: A significant proportion of the lecture and case material for the course is relatively new, because the course deals with a very dynamic knowledge domain. Therefore, things may sometimes not work as promised, and some case discussions may be a little choppy. I expect students in this course to be lead users, and to provide constructive feedback on a continuous basis during the course on course design and pedagogy. I also ask you to be patient and understanding when things do not quite work right. 3. Pedagogical Style The pedagogical style will be a hybrid of lectures and cases. The cases and examples chosen for the course will focus on technology firms from the computer, communications, and consumer electronics industries, but will also include examples of industries that are being transformed by digital technology (i.e., automobiles and telematics). 4. Required Course Materials The only required materials for the course are the case packet and the course Web site. The case packet and the Web site together contain all the required readings. Class notes and assignments will be posted in PowerPoint or Microsoft Word format on the Web for downloading. The class notes are the intellectual property of the instructor. You may not distribute or duplicate these notes without my written consent. 5. Student Expectations I expect every student to be present, punctual, prepared, and participative in all class sessions. Attendance is mandatory for all regularly scheduled class sessions, including the guest sessions. Absence from any class session without prior notification will severely affect your class participation grade. I find late arrivals and early departures from a class session to be very distracting and disrespectful, so please arrive on time, and stay for the duration of the class. Students are expected to be prepared with the assigned readings and cases for each class. I will "cold call" on you to present or defend your viewpoint on the assigned readings or the case, so please save yourself from being embarrassed by being prepared with the material. 2 Every student is expected to contribute to class discussions. Do not expect to do well in this course by simply coming to class, taking notes, and synthesizing, recalling, or reproducing the material we cover in class. To do well, you must learn from active participation in class discussions. In evaluating class participation, I emphasize the quality of participation a lot more than the quantity. I try to assess how your contributions enhance both the content and process of a discussion: Do your comments merely restate the facts or does they provide new insights? Do the comments add to our understanding of the issues or are a frivolous attempt to get "air time"? (i.e. you have only one thing to say, and want to say it no matter how irrelevant it is to the on-going discussion!). Are the comments timely and linked to the comments of others? Are the comments action-oriented, or simply descriptive statements? Do the comments move the discussion along by giving a new perspective? Are the comments clear and concise, or obscure and rambling? Do the comments reflect a concern for maintaining a constructive and comfortable classroom atmosphere? 6. Assignments There are three team-based assignments in this class: Assignment 1: Illinois Superconductor Corporation: This assignment requires you to develop a decision-support system for forecasting demand using Excel, and to conduct sensitivity analysis on various variables that affect the demand forecast. You will need to use the Excel solver extensively for this assignment. The report for this assignment should not exceed 7 single-spaced pages, excluding exhibits. Assignment 2: Photo Wars: This assignment requires you to use the PhotoWars simulation game. PhotoWars uses system dynamics to introduce you to a sensemaking framework for analyzing digital opportunity arenas, and to teach you the best practices for placing strategic bets in dynamic technology markets. The arena that PhotoWars simulates is the consumer imaging market, where analog technologies are competing with digital imaging architectures. Detailed instructions for using the simulation are in your case packet. The write-up for this assignment should be presented as a report not exceeding 7 single-spaced pages, excluding exhibits. Assignment 3: Trilogy Case: This assignment requires you to analyze the Trilogy case, and to compute NPVs for various value-based pricing mechanisms that can be used in technology markets. 7. Teams You need to form teams of 5-6 people for the above team-based assignment. Pick a team name of your choice. Team names and composition are due on Monday, January 16 (the second class 3 meeting). 8. Grading Grades will be computed as follows: Case Assignment 1 (Illinois Superconductor): 15% Case Assignment 2 (PhotoWars): 20% Case Assignment 3 (Trilogy): 15% Class Participation and attendance: 20% Final Examination 30% The final exam will be a closed book take-home exam that will be handed out on the last day of class. Completed exams are due in my office by 9 AM on Friday, March 10. Please make sure that you attend class on the last day. If you absolutely cannot attend the class, you should arrange to pick up the exam from my office. 9. Attendance Policy I would like you to attend all classes barring emergencies, but I understand that you may have pressing commitments. Keeping this in view, you are allowed to miss a maximum of two class meetings during the quarter, after informing me in advance about your intended absence. If you miss any sessions beyond the permissible 2, you will lose 5% of your grade for each additional class missed, subject to a maximum of 15%, even if you inform me in advance. If you miss a class without informing me in advance, you will automatically lose 5% of your grade, subject to the maximum of 15%. To allow me to track attendance, I will circulate attendance sheets in every class. It is your responsibility to sign the attendance sheet in each class. 10. Honor Code All students are expected to abide by the honor code of the Kellogg School and Northwestern University. The honor code will apply as follows: The discussion cases may be prepared individually or in groups. In fact, students are strongly encouraged to discuss the cases in groups before coming to class. You are free to discuss the case outside your group, if you feel there is a reason to do so. The written assignments may not be discussed with anyone outside your group, or with other students in the program. 4 11. Session Schedule: Session 1 Day and Date Mon, Jan 9 Lecture/ Case Lecture Lecture Topic/ Case Title Course Introduction and Overview 2 Mon, Jan 9 Lecture A Framework for Strategic Marketing 3 Mon, Jan 16 Lecture Gaining Customer Understanding and Insight 4 Mon, Jan 16 Case Wingcast: Creating and Capturing Value in Telematics 5 Mon, Jan 23 Lecture Analyzing Market Opportunities and Forecasting Demand 6 Mon, Jan 23 Lecture Strategic Market Segmentation 7 Wed, Jan 25 Lecture Developing Value Propositions 8 Wed, Jan 25 Case Motorola Envoy 9 Mon, Jan 30 Case Illinois Superconductor Corporation [Assignment 1 Due] 10 Mon, Jan 30 Lecture Creating and Managing New Offerings 11 Mon, Feb 6 Case Apple Powerbook: Design, Quality and Time to Market 12 Mon, Feb 6 Lecture Managing Channels and Partner Ecosystems 13 Mon, Feb 13 Case Rockwell Automation: The Channel Challenge 14 Mon, Feb 13 Case PhotoWars [Assignment 2 Due] 15 Mon, Feb 20 Lecture Defining, Designing and Delivering Customer Solutions 16 Mon, Feb 20 Case 17 Mon, Feb 27 Lecture Siemens Medical Solutions: Designing a CustomerFocused Organization Managing Brands and Customer Experiences 18 Mon, Feb 27 Case Microsoft Corporation: Branding and Positioning .NET 19 Mon, Mar 6 Case 20 Mon, Mar 6 Lecture Trilogy Software: Customer Value-Based Pricing [Assignment 3 Due] Managing Growth and Evolution 5