MRKT 495: Marketing Policies and Strategies
Read Me First
Approach
Welcome to Marketing Policies and Strategies. This is the capstone course in marketing
at University of Maryland University College. It is the culmination of your study of
marketing. As such, it offers you the opportunity to integrate the marketing concepts and
principles that you have studied in the marketing classes thus far. We use case studies to
help you practice analyzing specific business situations, develop alternative courses of
action, and communicate a proposed solution to decision makers. As in real-world
businesses, there are no right or wrong answers to the cases. Rather, you will be
evaluated based on your ability to identify and assess organization problems, then make
appropriate recommendations.
Integration is our goal; that is, to appreciate the relationship between marketing and other
functional functions and the role of marketing strategy in developing business strategy.
You will learn how to apply your knowledge of marketing to the unique circumstances
faced by profit and non-profit organizations today.
Because there are no face-to-face lectures in online courses, you will interact with your
classmates and teacher through the online conferences in WebTycho and by e-mail. The
content you must master is contained in your required course materials (listed in your
syllabus), in the course modules, and in any other content your faculty member provides
within your WebTycho class.
Study each module by first reading the overview and objectives in the online
presentation.
The overview previews the topics and issues covered in the module.
The objectives specify what you should know and demonstrate from reading and
mastering the information in the module.
Next, read the assigned pages in the textbook to become familiar with the material from
the weekly reading assignments, which are in the course schedule of the syllabus. Then
read the online module commentary to reinforce your understanding and bring the topics
into perspective. The commentary is not a substitute for the textbook readings. It
typically does not repeat the information there, but instead elaborates on it, applies it, or
explains the difficult aspects in more depth.
You may need to read the assigned textbook readings again and the corresponding
commentary to ensure that you fully understand the concepts. Throughout the
commentary, there may be interactive examples or exercises, audio or video, and other
links that illustrate the concepts you need to understand. We strongly encourage you to
read all the material in the commentaries.
At the end of each module, there are self-assessment questions or quizzes that will help
you determine whether you have grasped the important concepts of the module. It is
important for you to try to answer these yourself before looking at the answers provided.
These questions are for your self-study only and are not submitted for grading.
Throughout the course, questions, exercises, and other information are presented in the
WebTycho conferences your instructor provides. The conference topics give you an
opportunity to discuss issues in a class forum. Remember that these conferences are your
virtual classroom! Your participation is essential, just like your participation is in a faceto-face classroom.
When participating in conferences, be sure to follow the rules of online etiquette.
Course Components
The four main components of this course are the syllabus, modules, online conferencing,
and required course materials. These components, along with other important
information, are briefly described below.
Syllabus
The syllabus gives general information about the following topics:
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Course Description: the course description and prerequisites as listed in the
schedule of classes
Course Introduction: a brief discussion of what you can expect to learn in this
course, and how to learn it
Course Goals: an overall description of what you are expected to be able to do
after completing this course
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Course Materials: the required texts and recommended references
Grading Information: the grading scale and grading policy
Project Descriptions: a detailed description of the project(s)
Course Schedule: a chart listing all the assignments for the course, week by week
UMUC Policies: provides links to policy information
Modules
Each of the modules for this course is composed of the following parts:
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Overview: introduces the topics, issues, or themes that will be covered in the
module
Objectives: specifies what you should know and be able to apply after
completing the module
Commentary: reinforces your understanding of the concepts, presents new
material, and brings the topics into perspective
Self-Assessment: provides questions and answers so that you can check whether
you have mastered the concepts and principles in the module (these questions are
not graded)
Glossary: gives definitions of key terms
Online Conferencing
By registering for a Web-based course, you have made a commitment to participate in
your course conferences as well as other online activities. As noted in the grading policy
described in the syllabus, your online conference participation counts toward your final
grade.
Course Materials
Specific information is given in the syllabus under Course Materials.
Development Credits
These modules were developed by and for the Office of Instructional Services and
Support (OISS), University of Maryland University College (UMUC).
Content Expertise and Curriculum Review
Nathaniel Calloway; Academic Director, Business and Management Studies, marketing
emphasis, at UMUC; provided curriculum review for the revised version of this course.
Catherine Campbell; Academic Director, Business and Management Studies, marketing
emphasis, at UMUC; provided curriculum review for the original version of this course.
Leland L. Gardner, author of the revised version of this course, works for the U.S.
Department of Transportation as Director of the Office of Economics, Environmental
Analysis, and Administration. He has taught at UMUC and at the Smith Business School
since 1976.
John Wussow, author of the original version of this course, is an adjunct associate
professor, teaching and designing Internet courses at UMUC. He has been on the faculty
of Villanova University, Rutgers University, the University of Delaware, the University
of Tampa, and the University of South Florida. Mr. Wussow teaches MBA and
undergraduate courses in marketing, strategic planning, management, business cases,
advertising, entrepreneurship, marketing research, and ethics.
William F. Magrogan was the peer reviewer for the course revision. He owns a
marketing firm and has taught MRKT and BMGT courses with UMUC since 2003.
Daniel Puma was the peer reviewer for the original course.
Instructional Design and Production
Sharon Biederman, director, Course Development, OISS, supervised the development
and publication of this course.
Andrew Rein, instructional designer, provided instructional design review, and served as
project manager for the revision of this course.
Robert Haroth, instructional designer, provided instructional design review and served
as project manager for the original version of this course.
Jerry Hotakainen, senior editor, edited the original and revised versions of this course.
Glenda Fenwick, Web publishing specialist, contributed desktop publishing and HTML
coding support, input the course materials into the template, and prepared this course for
web publication.
Jose Olivieri, Web specialist, performed the quality assurance checks on these modules
and published them for delivery in the WebTycho platform.
Sharon Goodall, multimedia specialist, provided programming support for this course.
David Clarke and Rafael Ormino, multimedia graphic artists, provided graphic support
for this course.
Traicy Garey, assistant director, Course Development, OISS, managed the quality
assurance and publishing of this course.
Template Design
The course module interface was created by a team composed of instructional designers,
editors, Web specialists, and programmers. Nancy Benson, multimedia graphic artist,
developed the graphics and navigational scheme for the new interface. Mike Gurtzweiler,
Web specialist, programmed the site design to ensure the navigation worked with the
architecture and customized a search tool feature. Sharon Goodall, senior multimedia
Web programmer, developed a significant "print all" functionality, which is provided in
the interface. Sherri Clark, Web production coordinator, developed the stylesheet to
adhere to the site design.