This course is designed to give the student a good understanding of how marketers develop and implement marketing strategies and programs to meet with the needs of their customers, while achieving their business objectives. The focus is on understanding of the basic concepts and application of the concepts in the form of case analysis, discussion of real-world examples, decision-making using game simulations, and development and presentation of marketing solutions. The course emphasizes the following key elements: 1. Strategic Analysis of Market Opportunities: Issues of focal concern include analysis of company, industry, competitors and customers, segmentation analysis, target segment selection, and product positioning; 2. The Marketing Program/Mix: The important elements include the 4 P’s of marketing mix, viz., product, price, promotion, and place (channels of distribution): and 3. Marketing Decision Making Process: This process enables the marketing manager to systematically organize the relevant issues to make appropriate decisions on marketing strategies and programs based on analysis of the market situation. The major emphasis of this process is on application of the relevant marketing tools of analysis to the marketing decisions. Financial analysis of marketing decisions is stressed. The course also highlights special topics in marketing such as digital or online or interactive or direct or Internet marketing, services marketing and international marketing, which are weaved into the course in the form of cases and industry examples.
Category Archives: Teaching
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Research for Marketing Decisions
With the spurt in complexity of problems facing the marketing executive, there has been an increase in her/his need for relevant marketing information about the environment, competition, and particularly customers. The sophistication in information technology has accelerated this process and has underscored the utility of marketing research toward managerial decision-making. The objectives of this course are to: to develop marketing research problem definition skills, to develop the abilities to create marketing research designs as well as critically evaluate alternative research designs, and to provide an introduction to the various data analysis procedures. This course is designed to make the interaction between management and marketing research as productive as possible, by making each student an intelligent user and consumer of marketing research. Three learning vehicles are used in the course: a) textbook and readings, b) lectures, and c) discussion of problems and cases. This course is designed primarily for executives who will be using marketing research than just doing marketing research. The course recognizes that to be an intelligent user of marketing research, the marketing executive needs to have a very good understanding of the various stages in the marketing research process. The learning vehicles aim to provide this understanding.
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Digital Business Strategy
This course is designed to give you a good understanding of strategic digital business thinking for start-ups and bricks and mortar corporations (bricks and clicks businesses). It will cover digital business strategy formulation and implementation of programs to meet with the needs of the customers, while achieving the business objectives. The focus will be on understanding of the basic digital business concepts and frameworks and application of the concepts in the form of case analysis, discussion of real-world examples, and development and presentation of digital business ideas and plans. The course will emphasize the following key elements: 1. Strategic analysis of digital business opportunities: Issues of focal concern include analysis of the e-business space including markets, business models, company, competitors and customers, segmentation analysis, target segment selection, and product positioning. 2. Digital business steps: The important elements include digital business vision, digital strategy, digital business model, marketing, and organization in the digital environment. 3. Digital business plan: This includes the process of writing and presenting a business plan for a digital business venture. It involves your team coming up with a digital business idea or concept, writing and presenting a detailed business plan based on that concept. The course will also highlight special topics in marketing such as B2B, B2C and wireless in the form of cases and several industry examples. An innovative feature of this intensive course is a presentation of your business plan summary to venture capitalist(s) and to other digital business experts and an ability to receive feedback from them.