Syllabus

Title
1135 Developing and Implementing Marketing Strategies (Markstrat)
Instructors
Dr. Margit Kastner
Contact details
Margit Kastner (margit.kastner@wu.ac.at)
Type
PI
Weekly hours
2
Language of instruction
Englisch
Registration
09/13/23 to 09/17/23
Registration via LPIS
Notes to the course
This class is only offered in winter semesters.
Dates
Day Date Time Room
Thursday 11/16/23 09:00 AM - 12:00 PM D1.1.074
Thursday 11/30/23 09:00 AM - 12:00 PM D2.1.491
Thursday 11/30/23 12:30 PM - 02:30 PM TC.2.02
Friday 12/01/23 09:00 AM - 06:00 PM D2.1.491
Saturday 12/02/23 09:00 AM - 05:30 PM D2.1.491
Thursday 12/14/23 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM D3.0.222
Contents
This course offers a hands-on experience of essential strategic marketing concepts and tools in highly challenging B2C environments by playing MARKSTRAT, a powerful strategic marketing simulation game. Thanks to the nature of the strategic marketing simulation game MARKSTRAT, every aspect can be experienced as close to reality as possible: from competitive forces to the effects of sales, distribution, R&D, and advertising. Each team’s actions have a direct impact on the market. Competitive analysis is thus a must! Competitor actions and reactions, new product launches, sales and distribution strategies all define how teams will manage their own product portfolio, R&D projects, positioning, pricing, and distribution channels.Just like in real life, teams must plan not only for short-term profits, but also for long-term objectives; the name of the game is not just tactics, but also long-term strategy.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, participants will:
  • have understood fundamental strategic marketing concepts,
  • be able to use essential marketing tools such as perceptual maps as well as conjoint, regression, and portfolio analysis,
  • know how to balance between long‐term versus short‐term objectives,
  • have prepared a strategic marketing plan, appreciating the challenges involved in implementing this plan,
  • have analyzed consumer needs, attitudes, and decision strategies whilst relating consumer behavior knowledge to marketing programs.
Participants will also train their skills to:
  • communicate their insights into consumer behavior that lead to strategic decisions to third parties,
  • work effectively in a team setting, make decisions under conditions of uncertainty and time constraints.
  • understand better the decision-making heuristics and thought processes of marketing managers.
Attendance requirements

For the individual appointments, compulsory attendance is mandatory! If there are important reasons, the absence of 2 hours is possible. According to the WU examination regulations, important reasons are all those that are beyond the control of the student (e.g., accident). Professional obligations are not considered an important reason in the sense of the examination regulations, as these are in the disposition of the students.

Teaching/learning method(s)

The course is taught using a blend of interactive lectures, reading assignments, and the computer simulated marketing strategy game Markstrat. It emphasizes learning-by-doing with the objective that students internalize rather than memorize marketing strategy related issues, concepts, and tools related to STP marketing and new product design.

The Markstrat challenge involves a substantial amount of work in teams. The strategic marketing planning teams are competing with each other for the long-term success of their companies. As the game lasts over eight planning periods (years), the teams need to adopt a strategic perspective on their marketing decisions because a focus on short-term gains (quick wins) may counteract the long run success. Here you are also expected to learn how to present persuasive oral and written reports. Parallel to the decisions per simulation period the teams are also required to deliver reports and critical reflections on their strategic choices. If written assignments are requested, they need to be submitted via the learn@wu plattform within the indicated deadline (see timetable below). Preparation and active participation in team work and class discussions is essential to the course and will be part of the grading.

Assessment

Grading of this course is based on the following components: exam/quizzes (20%), initial report - strategy memo (15%), Markstrat performance (15%), final presentation (20%), discussant during final presentation (10%), and final report - key learnings (20%).
The percentages will be used to arrive at a weighted final grade percentage.

  • Grading Scale:

    90% - 100%: 1 (excellent)
    80% -   89%: 2 (good)
    70% -   79%: 3 (satisfactory)
    60% -   69%: 4 (sufficient)
Prerequisites for participation and waiting lists

This course is part of the elective pool "Advanced Topics in Marketing" of the MSc Marketing at WU.

MSc Marketing students can only register if they have successfully completed the following mandatory courses from the 1st year:

  • Management by Experiments (5 ECTS)
  • Marketing Analytics (7.5 ECTS)
  • Digital Marketing (5 ECTS)
Readings

Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.

Recommended previous knowledge and skills
Students should be familiar with the principles of marketing management before taking up this course.
Availability of lecturer(s)
Dr. Margit Kastner: margit.kastner@wu.ac.at
Last edited: 2023-06-05



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