| Principles of Marketing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Instructor: | Professor Joon Ro | Class: | TBD |
| Office Hours: | Monday 1:30-2:30pm or by appointment | Time: | TBD |
| Office: | CBA 5.334T | Location: | TBD |
| E-mail: | joon.ro@austin.utexas.edu | ||
This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamental aspects of marketing: how firms discover and translate customers’ needs and wants into strategies for providing products and services. For students majoring in marketing, this course is intended to provide you with a foundation on which to build subsequent marketing courses and work experience. For students majoring in other business disciplines, this course is intended to help you understand the objectives of marketers with whom you will interact professionally. For all students, the course is intended to enhance your appreciation of the different marketing activities that we encounter every day as consumers.
Over the course of the semester you will:
- Gain knowledge of the evolution of the marketing concept, including the historical context of changes in the concepts of marketing, and the role that marketing currently plays in the interaction between business and society.
- Learn how to analyze overall business strategy within an organization and connect it to the development of marketing strategy.
- Gain knowledge of the basic framework of the marketing process, including the situation analysis (5 Cs), market strategy development (STP), and marketing mix decisions (4 Ps), and learn how to apply them to key issues that marketers encounter in implementing marketing strategy.
- Gain knowledge of basic responsibilities and activities of the marketing process/system and the relationship of those to the other functional areas of organization, such as accounting, finance, MIS, and management.
- Learn how to analyze qualitative and quantitative data using common tools and methods as part of a critical analysis of a marketing situation.
- Develop creative marketing solutions, using key marketing terminology, tools, and tactics, and evaluate them via considerations of potential business impact (e.g., financial analysis).
Class sessions will include lectures, guest speakers, discussion of text and business press articles, in class exercises and other activities and films. The class sessions will be based on content from the textbook and on business press articles. Class participation will be graded.
I expect you to conduct yourselves professionally. This includes arriving to class on time; turning off your computers, tablets, cell phones, etc., during the class sessions; refraining from conducting personal conversations during class and being respectful to your classmates and your instructor. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to contact a classmate for missed notes or other announcements.
You will be evaluated based on three tests, an optional final, class attendance, class contribution, in-class exercises and a marketing project in the following manner:
| Exam 1 | 60 points |
| Exam 2 | 60 points |
| Exam 3 | 60 points |
| Marketing Project | 30 points |
| Exercise | 20 points |
| Contribution | 10 points |
| Attendance | 10 points |
| Total | 250 points |
These points will be translated into a letter grade as follows:
| [230, 250]: | A | [180, 195): | C |
| [225, 230): | A- | [175, 180): | C- |
| [220, 225): | B+ | [170, 175): | D+ |
| [205, 220): | B | [155, 170): | D |
| [200, 205): | B- | [150, 155): | D- |
| [195, 200): | C+ | [0, 150) : | F |
Note
[: inclusive, ): exclusive
Once the final course grading scale is set, there is no possibility of changing it. There will be no extra credit work outside of the opportunities available via the Marketing Department Subject pool (described below). Also, there is no rounding of decimal points. If you miss the next highest grade by 0.1 point you will have my sympathy - but I will not change your grade.
The tests will cover assigned chapters, assigned business press articles, exercises, class discussions, and guest speakers. Some topics in the textbook will not be covered in class due to time constraint, but will still be in the exams; make sure to read the assigned chapters thoroughly when preparing for the exams.
Each of the three tests given during the semester will consist of multiple choice questions and open ended questions. You will have the opportunity to take an optional comprehensive final exam. The optional final will consist of multiple choice questions only. Should you score higher in the final than your lowest test score, the optional final will replace the lowest test score.
Note
See also
Each student will be assigned to a group to work with on a business project. This project will span the entire semester and will involve two parts: a mid-term report and a final presentation. In this project you will come up with a new product and a simple marketing plan for the product applying what you learned in class.
See also
During the last 20-40 minutes of class time there will often be an in-class group exercise that allows you to apply the concepts from that day’s lecture. On days that you are asked to complete these exercises, you will turn them in to be graded. Some exercises will be assigned to complete outside of class (think of them as group homework). Same group members will receive the same score. Your three lowest exercise grades will be dropped at the end of the semester.
In the beginning of every class, there will be an “Attendance and Participation Sign-Up Sheet” in front of the classroom. If the sheet does not have your signature, you are considered absent. It is your responsibility to fill out this sheet to prove your attendance. If you are late to class, you must notify the instructor of your presence AFTER the class is over. Do NOT try to fill out during class - it is a distraction to everyone.
Everyone starts with 12 attendance points and maximum 10 attendance points will be counted for the grade. Each absence will result in 1 point reduction and being late/leaving early with a legitimate reason will result in 0.5 point reduction in the attendance points. 2 additional points are for excused attendance in case of emergencies (such as doctor’s appointment, etc).
Note that attendance will be taken for guest lectures, in-class project work days, and project presentation days, but will not be taken on test days and exam review sessions.
In addition, those of you who feel prepared (read the chapters and assigned articles for the class) should place a check mark next to your name in the sign-up sheet. Everyone who places a check mark will receive 1 participation point for that day. I will cold call several students among those who placed a check mark. These will be reasonably easy questions that you can answer as long as you read and understood the major concepts. If you provide a good (or at least reasonable) answer you will receive 1 extra point (total 2 points in this case). If you cannot answer the question at all, making it obvious that you have not read the textbook and article, you will not only be taken away the 1 point you received for signing up, but will also receive a -1 point (this is to prevent students from signing up for credit when they are, in fact, unprepared). You can earn up to 10 points for class contribution.
Your participation score for that day will be dropped by 1 point for every unprofessional classroom behavior such as using your phone. A negative score is possible if you keep showing such a behavior during classes and coming unprepared.
Read the assigned business press articles as well as the assigned chapters from the textbook prior to attending a class. This will help you become familiar with the language we will use in our class discussions and provide you an overview of the concepts you will apply during class activities.
The class discussions and activities are intended to give you a chance to apply the information discussed in the text. This application will help you understand the information more intuitively and recall the information for tests.
On the surface marketing may appear easy, but it is much more complex than people think. During class take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions and participate in the class discussion. After class, review the class notes and if you have any questions see the instructor. It is best for you to get your answers before you take a test, not after.
One thing I will constantly ask you to do in class discussions, exercises, and the group project, is to apply the marketing concepts that you learned in class. Always look for links between what you learned in class and what you see in the world, instead of relying “common sense.” Such applications will help you develop stronger arguments.
E-mails with important class-related information will occasionally be sent via Blackboard. Make sure that your official UT email address on the record is correct to receive those important messages.
You exam, attendance, contribution and exercise scores will be posted on Blackboard within a week after each exam.
Marketing 337 will operate in full compliance with the Policy Statement on Scholastic Dishonesty for the University of Texas at Austin, which is described in detail at: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php
By enrolling in this class you have agreed to observe all student responsibilities described in that document. If the application of that Policy Statement to this class and its assignments is unclear in any way, it is your responsibility to ask me for clarification. Students who violate University rules on scholastic honesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. You should refer to the Student Judicial Services Web site at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/ or the General Information Catalog to access the official University Policies and Procedures on Scholastic Dishonesty.
Because of the large size of the group with whom you will be taking tests, some students may be tempted to cheat. DON’T. I will refer students to Student Judicial Services when necessary.
Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259.