Course Syllabus - Kellogg School of Management



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Marketing 468

Technology Marketing

Spring Quarter 2005

Prof. Mohan Sawhney

Reaching Me:

Office: Room 5245B, Donald P. Jacobs Center, Evanston Campus

Office Hours: By appointment.

Voice: 847-491-2713

Fax: 847-467-5505

Assistant: Rahi Gurung (467-1705, rgu131@kellogg.northwestern.edu)

E-Mail: mohans@kellogg.northwestern.edu

URL:

COURSE OUTLINE

1. Objectives:

The objectives of this course are to:

1. Provide you with an end-to-end overview of the processes for understanding, creating and delivering value in technology markets

2. Equip you with actionable conceptual frameworks and analytical tools for making strategic marketing decisions in uncertain and dynamic technology markets

3. Help you to understand the landscape of the computer, communications and media industries through cases, best practices and examples.

2. Course Design

The design of this course is unique in terms of the content as well as in the pedagogy. The design of the course reflects the following themes:

• Decision Orientation: The assignments and cases in the course will emphasize decision-making and learning by doing. For instance, you will be required to do assignments where you will need to do quantitative analysis. You will also use a simulation game as a tool for action learning. Several cases in the course are "real-time" cases, where the situation is evolving by the day. This decision orientation is time-consuming and demanding, but results in superior learning.

General Management Perspective: Management in fast-paced technological environments requires tight integration across all functional areas. Therefore, the course content will span and synthesize several functional areas, including Marketing, Organization Design, Industrial Design, Anthropology, Strategy, and Economics. This may sometimes raise the question - "is this really Marketing?". I consider this question to be irrelevant. In designing the course, the only question I have asked is - "is this tool or concept useful for managing technology-intensive businesses?"

Process Orientation: The course does not take an “Instrumental” view of marketing (the traditional 4Ps approach). Instead, it takes a value-centric approach, where we define marketing as a set of value-creating processes. This is more consistent with how marketing actually works in companies.

Continuous Evolution: A significant proportion of the lecture and case material for the course is relatively new, because the course deals with a very dynamic knowledge domain. Therefore, things may sometimes not work as promised, and some case discussions may be a little choppy. I expect students in this course to be lead users, and to provide constructive feedback on a continuous basis during the course on course design and pedagogy. I also ask you to be patient and understanding when things do not quite work right.

3. Pedagogical Style

The pedagogical style will be a hybrid of lectures and cases. The cases and examples chosen for the course will focus on technology firms from the computer, communications, and consumer electronics industries, but will also include examples of industries that are being transformed by digital technology (i.e., automobiles and telematics).

4. Required Course Materials

The only required materials for the course are the case packet and the course Web site. The case packet and the Web site together contain all the required readings. Class notes and assignments will be posted in PowerPoint or Microsoft Word format on the Web for downloading. The class notes are the intellectual property of the instructor. You may not distribute or duplicate these notes without my written consent.

5. Student Expectations

I expect every student to be present, punctual, prepared, and participative in all class sessions. Attendance is mandatory for all regularly scheduled class sessions, including the guest sessions. Absence from any class session without prior notification will severely affect your class participation grade. I find late arrivals and early departures from a class session to be very distracting and disrespectful, so please arrive on time, and stay for the duration of the class.

Students are expected to be prepared with the assigned readings and cases for each class. I will "cold call" on you to present or defend your viewpoint on the assigned readings or the case, so please save yourself from being embarrassed by being prepared with the material.

Every student is expected to contribute to class discussions. Do not expect to do well in this course by simply coming to class, taking notes, and synthesizing, recalling, or reproducing the material we cover in class. To do well, you must learn from active participation in class discussions. In evaluating class participation, I emphasize the quality of participation a lot more than the quantity. I try to assess how your contributions enhance both the content and process of a discussion:

• Do your comments merely restate the facts or does they provide new insights?

• Do the comments add to our understanding of the issues or are a frivolous attempt to get "air time"? (i.e. you have only one thing to say, and want to say it no matter how irrelevant it is to the on-going discussion!).

• Are the comments timely and linked to the comments of others?

• Are the comments action-oriented, or simply descriptive statements?

• Do the comments move the discussion along by giving a new perspective?

• Are the comments clear and concise, or obscure and rambling?

• Do the comments reflect a concern for maintaining a constructive and comfortable classroom atmosphere?

6. Assignments

There are three case-based team assignments in this class:

• Assignment 1: Illinois Superconductor Corporation: This assignment requires you to develop a decision-support system for forecasting demand using Excel, and to conduct sensitivity analysis on various variables that affect the demand forecast. You will need to use the Excel solver extensively for this assignment. The report for this assignment should not exceed 7 single-spaced pages, excluding exhibits.

• Assignment 2: Photo Wars: This assignment requires you to use the PhotoWars simulation game. PhotoWars uses system dynamics to introduce you to a sensemaking framework for analyzing digital markets, and to teach you the best practices for placing strategic bets in dynamic technology markets. The arena that PhotoWars simulates is the consumer imaging market, where analog technologies are competing with digital imaging architectures. Detailed instructions for using the simulation are in your case packet. The write-up for this assignment should be presented as a report not exceeding 7 single-spaced pages, excluding exhibits.

• Assignment 3: Trilogy Case: This assignment requires you to analyze the Trilogy case, and to compute NPVs for various value-based pricing mechanisms that can be used in technology markets.

7. Case Study Project

The case project is a significant component of the course, because it will allow you to apply all the frameworks and concepts you learn in the course to a real technology company’s marketing problems. The objective the group project is to develop a state-of-the-art academic case study that can be used in future versions of this course. As such, the group project should focus on a particular topic/decision problem, corresponding to one of the topics in the course outline. In particular, I am looking for case studies in the following areas:

Customer insight and market intelligence

Channel design and channel conflict management for technology firms

Partnering and alliance decisions for technology firms

Customer relationship management

Branding decisions and integrated marketing communications

Product line management and SKU strategy

Market opportunity analysis for new technology products

Value capture mechanisms and business model design

Managing technology standards and technology architectures

Managing rapid development programs for new products

Customer experience design

The steps in the case study project are as follows:

• Pick a topic that your team finds most interesting and wants to learn more about.

• Identify a real firm or a real problem context within which you will study this topic. I will suggest some companies as possible sponsors for projects, or you may find your own company to work with.

• Sometimes, the process outlined above may proceed in reverse, in that you may have contacts with a company, and then decide on the topic. This is fine, as long as you eventually “map” the firm’s decision problem into one of the topics that we will cover in the course. I will expect your group to read more deeply about that topic from the academic perspective, using the list of books that I have given, and other sources that I may recommend to individual groups.

• Once you have identified a topic and a company, submit a one-page project proposal. The proposal should identify the theoretical issues that the proposed case study will illuminate, and the learning objectives for the case study. Note that you need to work backwards from the teaching/learning objectives to the case/problem. The note should also briefly describe the company/problem context, and should briefly outline the research action plan. I will expect secondary data collection, and most groups should do some form of primary data collection. Primary data may be interviews with industry executives, or may be collected by conducting consumer research.

• After I approve the topic, you will then be expected to work as “consultants” for your client (if you have a client) on the topic/problem you have identified. Typically, you will formulate a recommended strategy for your client, which you believe to be the “best answer” for the decision problem. However, what you turn in to me will be somewhat different. You will need to create viable decision alternatives that are reasonably balanced, for the purposes of the case. Even though you will recommend one of these alternatives to your client, you will need to develop more than one alternative for the case. You may submit two reports - the draft of the case study, and the report to your client (which will contain your recommended strategy/solution). The client report will serve as the “teaching note” for the case.

Deadlines: To ensure steady progress on the group project, the following intermediate deadlines will need to be met:

1. Team Composition (Names): Tuesday, April 4

2. One-Page Proposal Due: Friday, April 14

3. Approvals Finalized: Tuesday, April 18

4. Final Project Report Due: Friday, June 2.

8. Teams

You need to form teams of 5-6 people for the above team-based assignment. Pick a team name of your choice. Team names and composition are due on Friday, March 31 (the second class meeting).

9. Grading

Grades will be computed as follows:

Case Assignment 1 (Illinois Superconductor): 10%

Case Assignment 2 (PhotoWars): 15%

Case Assignment 3 (Trilogy): 5%

Class Participation and attendance: 15%

Final Case Project 25%

Final Examination 30%

The final exam will be a closed book take-home exam that will be handed out on the last day of class (Friday, June 2). Completed exams are due in my office by 9 AM on Monday, June 5. Please make sure that you attend class on the last day. If you absolutely cannot attend the class, you should arrange to pick up the exam from my office.

10. Attendance Policy

The first class session is mandatory. If you do not attend the first class session, your name will be deleted from the class roster. I would like you to attend all classes barring emergencies, but I understand that you may have pressing commitments. Keeping this in view, you are allowed to miss a maximum of two class meetings during the quarter, after informing me in advance about your intended absence. If you miss any sessions beyond the permissible 2, you will lose 5% of your grade for each additional class missed, subject to a maximum of 15%, even if you inform me in advance. If you miss a class without informing me in advance, you will automatically lose 5% of your grade, subject to the maximum of 15%. To allow me to track attendance, I will circulate attendance sheets in every class. It is your responsibility to sign the attendance sheet in each class.

11. Honor Code

All students are expected to abide by the honor code of the Kellogg School and Northwestern University. The honor code will apply as follows:

• Discussion cases may be prepared individually or in groups. In fact, students are strongly encouraged to discuss the cases in groups before coming to class. You are free to discuss the case outside your group, if you feel there is a reason to do so.

• Written assignments may not be discussed with anyone outside your group, or with other students in the program.

12. Laptop and Class Etiquette

You may use laptop computers in the class only to take notes. Please do not use laptops for any other purpose in the class. If I get complaints from any of your class members, I reserve the right to ban the use of laptop computers entirely. Please arrive in time for the class – I find late arrivals very disruptive and disrespectful. And please stay till the end of class, unless you absolutely have to make an interview or flight. If you do have a situation like this, you should let me know in advance.

13. Session Schedule:

|Session |Day and |Lecture/ |Lecture Topic/ |

| |Date |Case |Case Title |

|1 |Tue, Mar 28 |Lecture |Course Introduction and Overview |

|2 |Fri, Mar 31 |Lecture |A Process Framework for Strategic Marketing |

|3 |Tue, Apr 4 |Lecture |Gaining Customer Understanding and Insight |

|4 |Fri, Apr 7 |Case |Wingcast: Creating and Capturing Value in Telematics |

|5 |Tue, Apr 11 |Lecture |Analyzing Market Opportunities and Forecasting Demand |

|6 |Fri, Apr 14 |Lecture |Strategic Market Segmentation |

|7 |Tue, Apr 18 |Lecture |Developing Value Propositions |

|8 |Fri, Apr 21 |Case |Motorola Envoy |

|9 |Tue, Apr 25 |Case |Illinois Superconductor Corporation [Assignment 1 Due] |

|10 |Fri, Apr 28 |Lecture |Developing and Managing New Products |

|11 |Tue, May 2 |Case |Apple Powerbook: Design, Quality and Time to Market |

|12 |Fri, May 5 |Lecture |Managing Channels and the Partner Ecosystem |

|13 |Tue, May 9 |Case |Rockwell Automation: The Channel Challenge |

|14 |Fri, May 12 |Case |PhotoWars [Assignment 2 Due] |

|15 |Tue, May 16 |Lecture |Defining, Designing and Delivering Customer Solutions |

|16 |Fri, May 19 |Case |Siemens Medical Solutions: Organizing for Solutions Marketing |

|17 |Tue, May 23 |Lecture |Trilogy Software: Customer Value-Based Pricing [Assignment 3 Due] |

|18 |Fri, May 26 |Lecture |Managing Brands and the Customer Experience |

|19 |Tue, May 31 |Case |Microsoft Corporation: Branding and Positioning .NET |

|20 |Fri, Jun 2 |Lecture |Managing Growth and Evolution [Final Case Assignment Due] |

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