Syllabus

In this course we seek to:

• Introduce you to key marketing ideas and phenomena, especially the core theme of delivering benefits to customers.
• Develop your skills in marketing analysis and planning.
• Familiarize you with the tactics of the marketing (product strategy, advertising and communications [promotion], and distribution [place], and price - 4P's) and enhance your problem solving and decision making abilities in these areas.
• Provide you with a forum (both written and oral) for presenting and defending your own recommendations and critically examining and discussing those of others.

We explore theory and practice that draws on Customer needs, Company skills, Competition, Collaborators, and Context in marketing and product development (5C's). We use cases, discussions, and readings to provide a mix of integrating concepts and hands-on problem solving. We encourage a variety of perspectives on marketing issues.

Many ideas of marketing transcend the specific application. For example, ideas of customer input, matching channel of distribution to product, matching technology to market segment, and understanding company and collaborator strengths relative to competition apply to financial services, consumer products, software, automobiles, airline services, not-for-profit eye clinics, and even Swatches. They apply to both bricks and mortar companies and to eCommerce companies. We draw material from a variety of sources including services, consumer products, industrial products, and from a variety of settings. This final step of transferring the ideas from the cases to your own situation is critical to making these ideas work for you.

The course is designed to be an introduction to the theory and application of marketing. It is coordinated with the MBA Core Curriculum (and some spring electives) and limited to students in the MIT Sloan MBA program.

Course Materials

The course draws upon a readings packet containing cases, required readings, and background readings. There is no required textbook for this subject. For a basic textbook on marketing, including marketing terms, examples, and a general taxonomy of issues, I recommend: Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management. 11th ed. London: Prentice Hall, 2003.

Evaluation of Work - Approximate Weightings

Organization of Course

The course is organized so that each class is either a theory discussion or a case discussion. Theory sessions and case sessions alternate with roughly the order: theory, case. The theory discussions introduce material relevant to the cases they precede, however, each case can draw on material from all preceding theory discussions. Copies of the slides for the theory discussions are available on the class server. You should plan to review these slides before coming to class.

The theory-discussion slides are the basis for class discussion, but we expand on this material in class. If you miss a class make sure you get annotations from a colleague. In the spirit of continuous improvement, the slides will be changed as the course progresses.

The cases expand upon the material in the theory discussions and, sometimes, introduce new material. You should come to class prepared to discuss the cases critically. You are encouraged to discuss these cases among yourselves, especially within your team, prior to class. There is rarely a "right" answer to any case - the course of action often depends upon assumptions not present in the case facts. However, the process by which you arrive at a recommendation and principles you draw upon are extremely important.

Forming Teams

To get the most out of 15.810, you should form teams to prepare for the cases, both written and oral. The target size is three people. Four is viable but more than four or less than three is strongly discouraged.

The basic ideas of marketing transcend national borders and it is essential to be able to analyze and adapt to new environments. To explore these issues and to learn from your fellow classmates, I encourage you to form multinational teams. You will be better able to understand the issues in these cases if your team is drawn from a variety of regions with a variety of experience.

Please submit to your TA a roster of your team members. Do this by the end of the first day of classes i.e. session 1. Please designate a contact person and provide a telephone number for that person. If you are a free agent or a team of only two members, submit your name or roster anyway. We will perform a random matching and distribute a list in class on the day of session 2. For teams formed this way, please designate a contact person and let us know his/her name and telephone number as soon as possible.

I encourage you to name your team to give it some personality. This is, in a way, your first exercise in branding. For example, the last time I taught 15.810, teams had names such as the Java Junkies, the Crazy Dragons, and the High Values.

Cases Generally

The cases facilitate the discussion of marketing problems in real situations. You should read these cases carefully and come to class prepared to provide constructive input as the class works together to address the issues of the case. The situations in the case are complex. It is rare that the entire class will come to a consensus because the appropriate response often depends upon which assumptions are accepted. Real learning takes place when you see how others address a problem about which you have thought carefully. The better you are prepared, the more you learn.

The best way to prepare is to attempt to answer the discussion questions. These questions provide an outline of how we might proceed in class. If you can answer each question well, you will understand the basic issues of the case.

I strongly encourage you to discuss the case within your group. You will benefit from defending your ideas and you will learn by discussing other group members' approaches. For the cases which are not due as written cases you may discuss the general issues with other students. However, you should not discuss these cases with any students who may have studied them in a prior year or in the fall of this year. For the two written cases you should discuss the cases only within your group. All group members should contribute to the case write-up which is expected to be original material. Because a key benefit of case discussion is that you form your ideas and defend them to your peers, you are not to consult any files from previous years on the cases.

Early in the semester there may be some uncertainty as to what is expected in preparation for a case for 15.810. The TAs are here to help you. I have asked your TA to meet with each group as you prepare for one of the early case discussions. Your TA will attempt to arrange a time and place that is mutually convenient. (Because I have been on sabbatical from 15.810 for two years there are no second-year students who have taken a class from me. The TAs are an excellent source of buzz on how you might maximize your experience for 15.810. They are here to help you in all aspects of the course.)

Class Discussion

The benefit that you derive from the course depends upon the extent to which you expose your own viewpoints and conclusions to the critical judgment of the class. You should view class participation both as an opportunity to ask questions to enhance your understanding as well as an opportunity to suggest examples that demonstrate your understanding of the material. Comments and questions should be relevant to the material being discussed. Please try to avoid lengthy discourses on extraneous material.

It is imperative that you read all of the cases and come to class with a series of comments that you think will be interesting to the class. If you must miss a class, warn the professor or TA at least one day prior to class. Remember that you can only get credit for class participation if you are actually in the class. In addition, your colleagues are counting on your insight and it is not fair to them if you miss many class sessions. Everyone learns from your comments. Please remember to bring your name cards to class. This is your second exercise in branding - you want the professor, TAs, and colleagues to associate your insights with you, the brand.

In order to help Prof. Hauser get to know you and to give you credit for your comments, I request that you to sit in the same seats throughout the semester. I will hand out a seating chart on the first day of classes. You are free to select your seat for this class and free to move to other seats on the second day if they are open. You may also make trades on the second day. (For example, you may want to sit with your teammates.) However, because the course goes by so quickly, once you complete (or update) the seating chart on next day, please keep seat assignment for the rest of the semester. This makes it easier for you to build your brand equity.

An important concern in any discipline is the ethics of its practitioners. This is certainly true in marketing and advertising. Ethical issues will arise in the case discussions. Indeed, some managers in the cases act in ways you might not consider ethical. These actions are left in the case specifically to raise ethical issues. We encourage you to address these issues in class discussion.

We subscribe to the Sloan professional standards. Please arrive on time for class with uninterrupted attendance for the duration of the class. I will endeavor to end class on time. Furthermore, please maintain a professional atmosphere. This includes, but is not limited to, using respectful comments and humor, employing appropriate manners and decorum, utilizing computers and technology suitably (e.g., silencing wireless devices, no web-browsing or emailing), and refraining from distracting or disrespectful activities (e.g., avoiding side conversations and games).