The Lee Kong Chian School of Business
Academic Year 2014 /15
Term 2
MKTG 101 MARKETING
Instructor : Anirban Mukherjee
Title
: Assistant Professor of Marketing
Tel.
: +65-6828-1932
Email
: anirbanm@smu.edu.sg
Office
: LKCSB #5056
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course introduces Marketing as both a professional and an academic discipline. As a profession,
marketers identify consumer needs, determine which target markets to serve, and develop an optimal product,
pricing, promotion, and distribution strategy that best satisfy consumer needs, relative to competition.
Marketers serve a vital role in the long-term success of all organizations, profit-oriented as well as not-forprofit, small as well as large. Academically, marketing is a multi-disciplinary field involving the concepts,
theories and methods used to understand exchanges and long-term relationships between buyers and sellers.
Through a combination of lectures, discussions, videos, individual and group assignments and case analyses, the
course is designed to cover the basic concepts and principles of this challenging field. It is a required basic
course for marketing majors, which complements the theories and skills taught in many of the other majors at
SMU.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
 Apply marketing decision-making skills. This is the primary objective of the course. They should leave
the course with the ability to analyze the marketing and business environment in which an
organization is operating, to determine the major opportunities and problems facing the organization,
to develop a creative set of alternative marketing strategies, to select the most appropriate one for
the organization, and to convert the chosen strategic alternative into an actionable plan.
 Explain and apply some major marketing concepts, such as market segmentation, positioning,
customer satisfaction, value creation, etc.
 Discuss institutional marketing knowledge, practice, and terminology. They should be able to
converse intelligently with managers and understand the marketing situation in a variety of
organizational environments. Much of this will be achieved by the analyses of case studies.
 Create a marketing plan that can be put into practice.
 Identify ethical issues that underlie many marketing decisions.
PRE-REQUISITE/ CO-REQUISITE/ MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE COURSE(S)
Please refer to the Course Catalogue on OASIS for the most updated list of pre-requisites / co-requisites for
this particular course.
Do note that if this course has a co-requisite, it means that the course has to be taken together with another
course. Dropping one course during BOSS bidding would result in both courses being dropped at the same
time.
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ASSESSMENT METHODS
Case write-ups (group write-ups)
TruEarth Healthy Foods
The New York Times Paywall
12%
25%
Examinations
Mid-term Examination
Final Examination
20%
30%
Class Participation
Research Requirement
10%
3%
MIDTERM AND FINAL EXAMS
Both midterm and final exams will be based on all the materials discussed prior to the exam date (lectures,
case discussions, assigned readings, guest speakers, and class assignments). If you are not be able to take the
exam at the scheduled time, please inform me in person of any legitimate conflict at least one week prior to
the scheduled exam date. If I do not receive notice at least one week before the exam, you will not be given an
opportunity to take it another time unless due to an emergency.
REQUIRED COURSE PACKET
A course packet will be available containing cases. The cases will give you the opportunity to apply the
conceptual frameworks discussed during the lectures to current real-world marketing problems.
COURSE TEXTBOOK
There is a recommended course textbook: Kotler P. and G. Armstrong (2014), “Principles of Marketing, Global
Edition (15th Edition)”, Pearson Publishing.
CASE STUDIES
Cases are descriptions of real-world situations that provide opportunities to analyze and evaluate various
managerial strategies. They are an incredibly fun way to get to know the “real” world. In each case, a professor
has carefully described a business situation, and left a puzzle: question(s) that we get to discuss and “solve” in
class. This year, we will be studying TruEarth Healthy Foods and The New York Times. These companies
represent the “best of breed” across industries and should provide an excellent lens to understand general
ideas in marketing.
CASE STUDY WRITE-UPS
At the beginning of the semester you will be assigned to a group of 5-6 students. Groups will jointly prepare
two case write-ups (submit only one write-up per group):


1st Group case write-up: TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction
2nd Group case write-up: The New York Times Paywall
Each case write-up has to be submitted as an electronic copy (on eLearn) by 8 am Monday, the week the case
will be discussed. Absolutely no late submissions will be accepted. Each write-up must be in Times New
Roman 12, single-spaced, with atleast1” margins. Each write-up should include:


Cover sheet: name of the assignment, and names and ID numbers of those submitting the assignment.
Case analysis: five pages maximum of text, excluding the cover sheet, distributed approximately across five
sections:
o
o
o
o
o
Major and minor problems
Strategic options
Recommended strategy
Options grid
Justification of recommendation
(1 page)
(1/2 page)
(1/2 page)
(1 page)
(2 pages)
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ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, facilitation of acts
of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of exam questions, or tampering with the academic
work of other students) are serious offences.
All work (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment must be the student’s own work.
Penalties for violation of the policy range from zero marks for the component assessment to expulsion,
depending on the nature of the offence.
When in doubt, students should consult the course instructor. Details on the SMU Code of Academic
Integrity may be accessed at http://www.smuscd.org/resources.html.
NOTES ON RESEARCH PARTICIPATION
The purpose of the research participation requirement is to supplement the material on marketing research
methodology by giving you direct exposure to academic research in marketing. This requirement earns you up
to 3% of your final grade and may be fulfilled through one of the following two ways:
1.
-
Participation in research studies
1% for each study, subject to a maximum of 3%
To participate in a research study, go to the Subject Pool System website at https://mercury.smu.edu.sg/SPS/.
You will be able to view a list of studies available and the times that they will be conducted. Select a study that
interests you and a time that suits you. Please note that after you have signed up for a study, it is important for
you to keep the appointment. If you miss an appointment, you will not be permitted to sign up a second time
for the same study. If you anticipate not being able to make an appointment, you should return to the website
to delete your appointment.
You should try to register for studies as and when they are announced throughout the term, but do not
despair if you do not get a chance to participate at the times at which you wish to. There will be plenty of
opportunities for everyone throughout the term. You are practically guaranteed to have enough studies to
complete this requirement by the end of the term.
2.
Analysis of articles detailing research studies
- 1% for each article analyzed, subject to a maximum of 2%
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WEEKLY LESSON PLANS
MODULE
TOPICS
1
Course Introduction
2
Course Introduction (cont.)
3
Marketing Orientation: Examples
4
Marketing Orientation: Examples (cont.)
5
Marketing Math I: Theoretical Foundations
6
Marketing Math II: Examples
7
Case Analysis: Rubrics
8
Market Research I
9
Market Research (cont.)
10
Marketing Strategy I: Customer analysis
11
Marketing Strategy I: Customer analysis (cont.)
12
Marketing Strategy II: Company and competitor analysis
13
Marketing Strategy III: Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
14
Marketing Strategy III: Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (cont.)
15
Case: TruEarth Healthy Foods
16
Case: TruEarth Healthy Foods (cont.)
17
P1: Product
18
P2: Pricing
19
P3: Place (Distribution Channels)
20
P4: Promotions (Communications)
21
Ethics and Customer Satisfaction
22
Ethics and Customer Satisfaction (cont.)
23
Case: The New York Times Paywall
24
Case: The New York Times Paywall (cont.)
This outline is subject to change.
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