SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Business
Department of Marketing

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REQUIRED READINGS:
Kotler, Philip (2003), A Framework for Marketing Management (2nd Edition), Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Cadotte, Ernie (2003), Marketplace (simulation game), South-Western College Publishing. [play against competitors]

Wall Street Journal

COURSE OBJECTIVE:
To thoroughly investigate the broadly defined topic of marketing management from a strategic perspective. Marketing management concepts will be analyzed as will their strategic implications. Our focus will not be limited to marketing management that involves "tangible products"; rather, we will consider purveyors of services as well as products. Most concepts developed in the context of product apply to services although terminology may differ somewhat. We are concerned, not only with the assimilation of concepts, but also with the development of critical thinking skills. Thus, whenever possible we will attempt to identify 1) the potential for application and/or 2) the actual application of the concepts with respect to marketing strategy and tactics. This should provide insight regarding how to fine tune a marketing program in order to effectively satisfy consumer needs.

CLASSROOM FORMAT:
Your command of the marketing management material and the development of critical thinking skills will be facilitated in the context of 1) class discussion/activities and 2) the strategy simulation game. Class discussions will generally do one or more of the following: 1) further explain material from the text, 2) provide examples of concepts covered by the text, and/or 3) provide pertinent material which goes beyond the scope of the text. The simulation game provides a meaningful opportunity in which to develop your strategic and tactical abilities and demands that substantial energy be devoted to critical-thinking. I encourage you to ask questions and to make comments. The simulation game will provide exposure to actual strategic decision-making involving product, price, promotion, and distribution decisions via preparatory material as well as the decision-making/feedback itself.

GRADING POLICY:
Grades will be determined on the basis of four grade components. Note that there are actually five grade components. I will automatically drop your lowest grade from among Exam #1, Exam #2, or the Quizzes.
The Simulation Performance and Simulation Presentation are mandatory and cannot be dropped.

Dropped Component -50 points (Exam#1, Exam#2, or Quizzes)

Total 150 points

*subject to peer review

All exams will be unit exams - the final is not comprehensive. Your final grade will be based on the 150 point total. Letter grades of A-, B-, C-, and D- will require 90% (135), 80% (120), 70% (105), and 60% (90), respectively. Plus/minus grading will be used.
There are no makeup exams or quizzes since you are able to drop either a 50 point exam component or the 50 point quiz component.

EXAM POLICY:
Exams are individual efforts.
Exams will include essays and multiple choice questions.
Exams will not be issued after the first person has left an exam session.
Visit the restroom before the exam begins! If you must leave, you will be given an alternative version of the test upon your return.
Put all books and papers on the floor.
Protect your answers to ensure that others are a not tempted to copy your mistakes!
Exams will include 60 points of which you are required to complete 50. The exams will consist of 30 multiple choice questions (1 point each) and 2 of 3 essay questions (10 points each). You must drop one of the essays and you must indicate which you have chosen to drop.

Calculators will not be needed.

Please use 880 Scantron

QUIZ POLICY:
Quizzes will be primarily multiple choice format.
Put all books and papers on the floor.
Protect your answers to ensure that others are not tempted to copy your mistakes!
Six quizzes will be administered over the course of the semester. I will automatically drop your lowest quiz score.
Calculators will not be needed.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and applications of the course materials. However, graded exercises must be executed independently, except where noted by the instructor. This course operates under the SJSU academic code as described in the SJSU Catalog. Breaches of academic integrity will be dealt with to the fullest extent.

SIMULATION GAME:
The simulation game provides you with the opportunity to test your marketing decision-making knowledge in a realistic marketplace. Participants will operate within groups of 3-5. The large number of interrelated decisions that you will make are probably best managed by organizing/specializing within your group. But although specialization is recommended, coordination is necessary to achieve success. Decisions made in isolation are likely to result in unsatisfactory performance indices.

Performance Points:
Teams can earn up to 25 points for their game performance. Points are determined by factoring your overall game performance points with grade cutoffs at 125 (A-), 75 (B-), 25 (C-), and 0 (D-).

Presentation Points:
Teams can earn up to 25 points for their game presentation. It is possible to earn maximum points on the presentation without earning maximum points on performance. The corollary, maximum performance points do not ensure maximum presentation points.

Teams should focus on presenting a post mortem of their final results (period #9) explaining what was done right and how and, perhaps more importantly, what could have been done differently and how. A period-by-period account of your decisions is a substantially inadequate approach for the presentation.

To earn maximum presentation points you must expertly document the mistakes that you made and the successes that you engineered in achieving your objectives. A data-driven approach is the most effective way to document your successes and failures.

Endeavor to identify and understand all of your mistakes. The manner in which your team is able to respond to questions about mistakes that you have not covered in your presentation is another important determinant of the presentation grade.

Peer Review:
You will have the opportunity to evaluate your team colleagues. Be sure to maintain an active profile throughout the duration of the game. Less than satisfactory evaluations can result in point deductions for those who did not contribute and point additions for those who did.

To sign up:
Go to bookstore to pay for certificate/sign-up number.

Log on to:
www. student.marketplace-simulation.com

To make decisions:
Complete the sign-up procedure.

Log on to:
www.marketplace6.com

For websupport:
websupport@marketplace-simulation.com

CALENDAR*

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