Marketing Field Problems

BUS M&L 849

MARKETING FIELD PROBLEMS

Spring 2011

Professor James L. Ginter

Room 542 Fisher Hall

2100 Neil Avenue

Office Hours: by appointment

Phone: 292-2267

Fax: 292-0879

Email:

COURSE FLEXIBILITY

Schedule:

This course is structured with flexibility to meet the various scheduling needs of students in the different versions of our MBA programs. The published schedule for the course (Tuesday evenings 6 to 10 pm) does NOT accurately reflect the actual class meeting times.

The entire class will meet three times throughout the term, and each of these class meetings will last approximately two hours. These class meetings will be held on Tuesday evening, March 29, April 19, and May 31, and attendance is required for all students in the course. Other meetings will be scheduled separately with each team. For full time students, that time may well be during the day. For evening students, that time may be early evening (on Tuesdays or on other days) as is mutually convenient. Students will, of course, need to schedule two or three client meetings that are mutually convenient.

Team Composition:

There is maximum flexibility with respect to team membership. You are invited to self-select a group with which you are familiar, all sign up for the course, and work on the course project in that group. The only restrictions on group membership are: (1) each student in the class must be a member of a group, and (2) ideal group size is four students, with a minimum of three and a maximum team size of five.

Project:

As the first class nears I will identify the appropriate number of group projects. In the first class meeting teams will select their project. Some negotiation will be likely, since the goal is for each project to be selected by one, and only one, team. If your team is formed prior to the term and you have a project your team would like to undertake, please see me before the first class.

MARKETING FIELD PROBLEMS

Spring 2011

Professor James L. Ginter

Room 542 Fisher Hall

2100 Neil Avenue

Office Hours: by appointment

Phone: 292-2267

Fax: 292-0879

Email:

INTRODUCTION

Marketing Field Problems is designed as an advanced Marketing course for full time and evening MBA students. The students act as a consulting team and work with a client firm on a marketing problem through the 10 week quarter. At the end of the term the team presents a final written report and a final presentation to the client. In addition, each team will submit a written report to the instructor that provides substantive foundation and justification for the report submitted to the client.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The general objective of the course is to provide students with an opportunity to develop their problem solving skills on an actual business problem. Specifically, the course is designed to provide students with:

an opportunity to develop and apply their knowledge and skills in an actual business setting while receiving guidance and feedback from the professor and the client firm.
an opportunity to frame a research question from a business problem, develop a research design, analyze and evaluate the results, and communicate these results and their implications to an executive audience.
important knowledge on business practice and problem solving in marketing.

For students concerned about their lack of marketing experience in the U. S. business climate, this course can provide an extremely valuable opportunity.

COURSE FORMAT

The course will be a combination of classroom sessions and individual team meetings. The format of the course is:

The professor will meet with potential client organizations and assist them in preparing a problem description that provides background information.
Students will organize themselves into teams of four or five members.
Student teams will review the potential projects and select the project on which they will work for the term. It is possible that there will be two student teams working with a single firm.
The class will meet on the first day of the quarter (Tuesday, March 29, 2011) at 6 pm to establish course mechanics, expectations, and evaluation.
Each team will meet with the client firm and then develop a draft proposal for review by the professor and subsequent submission to their client. Proposals are to be submitted, revised, and accepted by Tuesday, April 12.
In weeks two through nine each team (all members) will meet with the instructor regularly to discuss progress, develop plans, and discuss marketing issues associated with their project.
In week four of the quarter (April 19) the entire class will meet at 6 pm. Individual teams will make an interim report (20 minutes) and the class will offer questions and suggestions with respect to the team’s approach to the problem.
On week seven of the term (Tuesday, May 10) each team will submit a detailed outline of their marketing underpinnings report. This outline is to include a listing of the bibliographic entries of the expected resources for the underpinnings report.
On the last week of the term (Tuesday, May 31) the entire class will again meet. Each student team will make a practice presentation (30 minutes) of their final client report. Although these are practice presentations for the purpose of collecting useful feedback, they should be as complete and polished as if they were the final version.
The written marketing underpinnings report is due on Friday, May 27.
The written client report is due on Friday, June 3.
Final client presentations will be scheduled for no later than Wednesday, June 8.

DELIVERABLES

Each team is responsible for several deliverables throughout the term:

Project Proposal

The team will study the client’sproblem, prepare a written project proposal, and submit it to the client firm. Elements of the proposal are:

A restatement of the problem to be addressed and a statement of the key issues that surround the problem.
Statement of the key research questions to be answered by the team.
A description of how the research team proposes to answer the questions (research design). This should include information and other support expected from the client.
The work plan (milestones, timetable). This should include interim meetings with the client.
Estimated expenses for the project.

A draft of the proposal is to be submitted to and approved by the professor before it is sent to the client. Once the project proposal is signed off by the client, any revision of the project plan must have agreement of the client (and the professor).

Project Log

Each team will maintain a project log. The log begins with the project proposal. The intent of the log is to encourage you to think carefully about the management of the project as well as the substantive issues. It should include a sense of the progress of the project, challenges that were faced, how they were overcome, and any lessons for future projects. Specifically, the log will include:

Meeting minutes for all client contacts.
A listing and minutes for all team decision-making sessions.
Agenda and minutes for each status meeting with the professor.
Evaluation of objectives versus outcomes for each client meeting and each status meeting (with the professor).
Any project workplan changes and how they were presented to and accepted by the client.
A client satisfaction report that describes how well the team met the client’s expectations with the final deliverables.

Teams submit a copy of the log at the same time as the final written report (June 3).

Presentations

Each team will make an interim presentation to the class, a draft final presentation to the class, and a final presentation to the client. Each of these presentations is to be formal and professional, with appropriate visuals, etc.

Reports

The team will prepare two written reports.

A final written project report will be submitted to the client. This report will include an executive summary as well as appropriate references.
A “marketing underpinnings” report will be submitted to the professor. This report will tie the logic and the recommendations of the client report to underlying marketing concepts. It will describe how material in marketing books, texts, and articles supports the client report. The marketing underpinnings report must be developed from at least fifteen different bibliographic entries (all parts of one book count as one entry).

GUIDELINES

The project team is under the same restriction as a consultant in honoring the confidentiality of information collected from the client or for the client. All information collected for or from the client remains the property of the client. Each class member will sign a confidentiality statement that includes these materials for all course projects by all teams.
Each team will appoint one member as a point of client contact. All client contacts should be made through this team representative. To ensure that we do not burden or confuse the client, the professor should be apprised of all client contacts before they take place.
A client representative will be appointed by the client firm. All contact with the client firm should be made through this designated client representative.

COURSE EVALUATION

Evaluation of course performance will be based on the following course components.

Process management and log10%

Project proposal10%

Written client report30%

Client presentation20%

“Marketing Underpinnings” report 30%

A group grade will be assigned to each project team. Peer evaluations will also be taken. On the basis of these peer evaluations and/or instructor evaluations, the grade of an individual team member may vary from the group grade.

The following statement is provided by and requested by the OSU Office of Academic Affairs:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

(ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT)

Academic integrity is essential to maintaining an environment that fosters excellence in teaching, research, and other educational and scholarly activities. Thus, The Ohio State University and the Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM) expect that all students have read and understand the University’s Code of Student Conduct, and that all students will complete all academic and scholarly assignments with fairness and honesty. Students must recognize that failure to follow the rules and guidelines established in the University’s Code of Student Conductand this syllabus may constitute “Academic Misconduct.”

The OhioStateUniversity’s Code of Student Conduct (Section 3335-23-04) defines academic misconduct as: “Any activity that tends to compromise the academic integrity of the University, or subvert the educational process.” Examples of academic misconduct include (but are not limited to) plagiarism, collusion (unauthorized collaboration), copying the work of another student, and possession of unauthorized materials during an examination. Ignorance of the University’s Code of Student Conduct is never considered an “excuse” for academic misconduct, so I recommend that you review the Code of Student Conduct and, specifically, the sections dealing with academic misconduct.

If I suspect that a student has committed academic misconduct in this course, I am obligated by University Rules to report my suspicions to the Committee on Academic Misconduct. If COAM determines that you have violated the University’s Code of Student Conduct (i.e., committed academic misconduct), the sanctions for the misconduct could include a failing grade in this course and suspension or dismissal from the University.

If you have any questions about the above policy or what constitutes academic misconduct in this course, please contact me.

Other sources of information on academic misconduct (integrity) to which you can refer include:

The Committee on Academic Misconduct web pages (oaa.osu.edu/coam/home.html)
Ten Suggestions for Preserving Academic Integrity (oaa.osu.edu/coam/ten-suggestions.html)
Eight Cardinal Rules of Academic Integrity (

3/11

Field Studies in Marketing

Prof. James L. Ginter

Spring 2011

Note to Business Clients

Background:

The use of student projects as a practical educational tool is becoming more common in the Fisher College of Business MBA program. These projects give our students experience in identifying the key issues underlying a problem or management question, i.e. in learning the right questions to ask. In addition, the projects can give valuable experience in “putting it all together” into a marketing plan…an experience that does not come from serial coverage of individual topics in a text.

Prof. Ginter has developed an offering of Field Studies in Marketing. This course has been offered in prior years and has been well received by both students and client firms. Professor Ginter recently retired from full-time status with the university and continues to teach this course periodically. Prior to retirement, he served as Director of the MBA programs in the Fisher College of Business and Chair of the Marketing Department. He has taught the MBA elective course in marketing planning for several years.

In the field studies course students work as a consulting team (in groups of three to five) with a client organization over a ten week quarter. At the end of the quarter they present a written report and make an oral presentation to the client/sponsor. Students in this course are second year MBA students in our full time and evening programs.

Objectives:

an opportunity to develop and apply their knowledge and skills in an actual business setting while receiving guidance and feedback from the professor and the client firm.
an opportunity to frame a research question from a business problem, develop a research design, analyze and evaluate the results, and communicate these results and their implications to an executive audience.
important knowledge on business practice and problem solving in marketing.

Client Firm Benefits:

We anticipate that participation in this course will provide several benefits to the client firms.

A group of highly motivated second year MBA students will spend considerable time focusing on a client problem. This can result in:

acquisition of data that the client did not have,
analysis and interpretation of data that the client has not been able to develop on their own,
some new ideas and perspectives on the client’s problem,
a well thought out plan for addressing the problem.

The client firm and the students will get to know each other. This could lead to exploration of employment opportunities.

3.The client firm will have been an active and valuable partner in the instructional mission of the Fisher College of Business.

Format:

The course will be offered in spring quarter of 2011, from late March through early June. Prior to the beginning of the quarter the professor will discuss the possibility of sponsoring a student group with potential course clients. These discussions will involve scoping a project in a way that will enable the students to understand the problem without providing too much structure to their approach.

Student teams will review the potential clients’ problem descriptions and select the project on which they will work. It is possible for two student teams to work with the same client. It is possible that some potential clients may not be selected by a student team. It is important that potential clients prepare a thoughtful description of their project so that the students can easily see the educational benefits of selecting it.

The client’s problem description will provide a basis for a proposal from the student team to the client. Specifically, it will allow students to select their projects and to prepare for an initial client meeting. Students will develop a proposal that outlines the objectives of the project, describes the research to be conducted, and specifies the methodology, the time table, and the cost. The project cost will include an estimate of out-of-pocket costs (e.g. phone, copy work, postage, travel) that may be incurred in the research process. The proposal will also include a timetable for reporting interim project status to the client.

Since the ten week term provides a very short time frame for the course, the client is expected to turn around the proposal within a few days so that the students can begin their work.

Other Issues:

The client will be asked to designate one person as the contact in the company for the student team. This contact should be capable of obtaining data clearance etc. on short notice and respond to the students with quick turn around.
The student team will designate one person as its contact with the company. This person will be responsible for scheduling all meetings, communicating data requirements, and serving as the primary contact between the firm and the student team.
The students are expected to manage the client relationship as part of the project requirement. The professor will intervene only if the project objectives and/or progress seem to be breaking down. The professor will meet with the entire team several times during the quarter.
All proprietary information and reports collected during the course of the project will be held confidential and returned to the client at the end of the term.
Each student and the professor will keep one copy of the final report. These will be considered confidential documents by both the students and the professor. Clients should be aware, however, that these documents may be discoverable under Ohio open records legislation.

The Professor in charge of this course is: