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.
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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.
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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