Stevens Institute of Technology
Howe School of Technology Management
Syllabus
MGT 646
Marketing Strategy
2014
Gaurav Sabnis
Babbio 407
Tel: 201-216-3463
Fax: 201-216-5385
gaurav.sabnis@stevens.edu
Office Hours:
Thursdays 5:00 and 6:00 pm
and by appointment
Course Room:
Course Description
Every firm needs to devise and execute marketing strategies for their offerings to
translate into customer value and profits based on an understanding of the consumer and
the marketplace. This course is designed to give students an intensive and applicationoriented look at how marketing strategy works in the real world. It will include examples
and exercises of the role quantitative analysis plays in marketing strategy decisions. The
emphasis of this course will be on cases, analysis, real life examples, and presentations.
Prerequisites: MGT 641 - Marketing Management.
Course Objectives
The objective of this course is to introduce students to various strategic decisions that a
marketing manager must take, and teach them a structured approach towards this decision
making process. Students will be able to integrate their knowledge of consumers,
markets, distribution channels, regulators, technology and other aspects of the
environment to decide the viability and desirability of the strategic marketing concept.
Students will also learn how to translate quantitative input from various sources into
strategies that can be executed and prove successful over the short term as well as the
long term.
Additional learning objectives include:
Communication skills: students will improve and polish their oral communication skills
through the case analysis and team project presentations.
Technology role in business: Students analyze four Harvard Business Review cases set
in the technology context.
Analytic problem-solving: The course incorporates case study methodology which is
built on analytic problem solving.
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Ethics: Students learn about the ethical issues involved with consumer data collection.
Team skills: Students will work in teams on the majority of the course tasks such as case
analysis and advertising analysis project; an online survey instrument will be used to
measure individual contributions to team performance.
Global awareness: The course material includes cases that deal with international
marketing issues.
Course Outcomes:
After completing this course, students will be able to:



Make appropriate marketing strategy decisions within the framework of
underlying market complexities.
Integrate facts and quantitative data into actionable decisions.
Work in groups to devise strategies and present them in a convincing fashion.
Pedagogy
The course integrates lectures, case analysis, team projects and discussions to focus on
the implications of social science concepts for marketing strategy.
Readings
Textbook(s) or References Harvard Business Review course pack that includes cases
and articles.
Assignments
Class participation
Quizzes
Case Analysis
Case presentation
Case write-ups
:
:
:
:
:
20%
20%
30%
20%
30%
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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 web-based
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. Your feedback is an important contributor to decisions to modify course content/pedagogy
which is why we strive for 100% class participation in the survey.
All course teacher evaluations are conducted on-line. You will receive an e-mail one week prior to the
end of the course informing you that the survey site (https://www.stevens.edu/assess) is open along
with instructions for accessing the site. Login using your Campus (email) username and password.
This is the same username and password you use for access to Moodle. Simply click on the course that
you wish to evaluate and enter the information. All responses are strictly anonymous. We especially
encourage you to clarify your position on any of the questions and give explicit feedbacks on your
overall evaluations in the section at the end of the formal survey that allows for written comments. We
ask that you submit your survey prior to end of the examination period.
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COURSE SCHEDULE
Topic(s)
Reading(s)
Week 1
Introduction and Overview
Week 2
Math and Marketing Strategy
Pre-assigned contemporary examples
Week 3
Case Analysis Methods
Alpen Bank case
Week 4
Segmentation
Sarvary and Elberse note
Week 5
Targeting
Fashion Channel
Week 6
Positioning
Ford Focus
Week 7
Social Media and STP
Week 8
Student Presentations
Strategy articles
Week 9
Pricing
Dolan and Gourville
Wee 10
Branding and Brand Management
Keinan and Avery
Week 11
Student Presentations
Mountain Man Brewing Co
Week 12
Advertising
Mednet
Week 13
Communication and PR
Facebook
Week 14
Student Presentations
NYT Paywall
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