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=GSMPR 604 CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING MARKET DRIVEN STRATEGIES=

This is the wiki for Willamette University's Atkinson Graduate School of Management's MBA for Professionals marketing management course.


 * COURSE FACEBOOK GROUP:** http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24152977239

To some, marketing is the business function that identifies customer needs and wants, determines which target markets it can serve best, and designs appropriate products, services, and programs to serve these markets. However, marketing is much more than an isolated business function—it is a philosophy that guides the entire organization. The goal of marketing is to create satisfaction efficiently by building value-laden relationships with customers. Thus, this course will introduce you to marketing as a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products, services, and/or value with others.
 * WHAT IS THIS COURSE ABOUT?**

In the first half of the course, we will use lectures, readings and case studies to explore key marketing concepts. In the second half of the course, students participate in a computer simulation designed to reflect the dynamic, competitive situations markets face by today’s managers. Success in the simulation requires students to apply concepts discussed in the first half of the course to develop marketing strategies that maximize market share and profitability. This course emphasizes learning by doing and requires substantial work in teams.


 * WHAT'S THE COURSE WIKI FOR?**

There is a revolution going on in marketing today. There used to be a strong demarcation between producers (i.e., companies) and consumers (i.e., you and me). However, we are seeing an evolution toward co-production (products being created by a partnership between companies and their traditional consumers). Currently we see co-production in such things as open source software projects, Wikipedia, blogs and Second Life. Much insight can be gained by watching consumers’ co-production behavior. To give you some experience in co-production, we will all be co-creating the course wiki. You will form groups of about three (3) students each. Each group will be responsible, on a round robin schedule, for creating the initial barebones wiki page for the weeks listed for your section of the course within 24 hours of the class. The rest of the students will then build on this skeleton to flesh out notes documenting the week’s readings and class discussion by Tuesday/Wednesday 6pm of that week (i.e., the day before your class). Since wikis maintain a history of edits that indicate the editing user and what they contributed, I can see who participated and will assess their weekly contribution on the following scale:

0. No contribution. 1. Weak or trivial contribution. 2. Marginal contribution. Shows some preparation but provides little value (unthinking regurgitation) and may be off topic. 3. Solid contribution. Relevant and extends the discussion by showing true understanding. 4. Profound contribution. Well-reasoned, new and significant insights that connect ideas from different sources together in a logical way.

Your final score will be assessed out of a maximum number of points equal to three (3) times the number of weeks listed for your section of the course.