BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT

BA 340 - Marketing Principles

Dr. Geoffrey Lantos Summer I 2006

Optional Term Paper Project

OVERVIEW

In order to earn a better grade in this course and in lieu of the short written assignments, you may select one of the following term paper options designed to have you parallel and apply concepts learned from the readings and from class. This assignment is designed to show some evidence of significant learning taking place outside of the classroom.

The rationale for this assignment is two-fold: (1) you should learn more from independent study of a topic in which you have expressed a personal interest, and (2) it encourages the expression of creativity—an important but often underemphasized characteristic of a good marketer.

This assignment will be worth 24 to 36% of your final grade under the standard grading plan, depending on your individualized weights. As extra incentive to do this more demanding and challenging assignment, there will be a 10 percentage point weight deduction from your poorest grade on another course requirement.

OPTIONS

You are to choose one of the following term paper alternatives.

Option 1: Local Company Study: Product/Service/Retail Establishment

Either for a specific product or service marketed by a local company or for a local retail establishment or service provider (e.g., restaurants, health clubs, department stores, gasoline stations, doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc.), write a short report describing and analyzing the following:

A. Organizational Strategy

1. Organizational mission

2. Organizational goals and objectives

3. Any other elements of organizational strategy relevant to marketing

4. Organizational strengths and weaknesses pertinent to marketing

B. Marketing Strategy

1. Marketing goals and objectives

2. Marketing organization/systems (marketing department organization, marketing information system, and use of outside suppliers such as marketing research firms and advertising agencies)

3. Market: size, segments, competitors (including competitive marketing mixes, strengths and weaknesses), and marketing environment (including threats and opportunities)

4. Customers: characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors

5. Product: design; features, functions, and benefits; branding; packaging and labeling; reliability and quality; services (presale and postsale). (Note: Some of these might not be relevant.)

6. Price: basis for pricing policy and strategy (demand, customer psychology, costs, competition, etc.); base/list price; terms of sale

7. Distribution: design of distribution system; availability of product to customers; producer accessibility; facilities; in-store merchandising (Note: Some of these might not be relevant.)

8. Promotion: promotion tools used; message and creative execution; media strategy

Relate the firm’s success and/or problems to their corporate and/or marketing strategy, to any competitive advantages/disadvantages they have or that their competition might have, and to any environmental circumstances beyond their control. Additional comments should be made if you disagree with aspects of their marketing strategy or feel it is inadequate. (To answer this question properly you should be very familiar with the organization or else arrange for an interview with appropriate marketing personnel working there.)

The above topics parallel the written assignments and class topics.

Option 2: Marketing Audit of a Local Firm

Choose a local organization (manufacturer, retail outlet, service establishment, or not-for-profit organization). Based on personal interviews with its managers, personal observations, and/or any published or online information available, perform a marketing audit using the framework found in a textbook I can lend you or a source you find. Be sure to include short-run and long-run corrective action plans to improve the company's overall effectiveness.

Option 3: Marketing Plan for a Hypothetical New Product

Using your creative abilities, invent a new product idea. Write a complete marketing plan for this new product idea, as outlined on p. 35 and described in Chapter 2 in your textbook.

Option 4: Event Marketing Plan

Choose an event that will be held this year on our college campus; in your hometown, church, or synagogue; or any other organization you are familiar with or belong to. Write a complete marketing plan for this event as outlined on p. 35 and described in Chapter 2 in your textbook.

Option 5: Write Your Own Marketing Case

Relying on published and/or personal sources of information, write your own marketing case similar to those found in the textbook and discussed in class. For the purpose of this assignment, a case shall be defined as a report written in narrative form which describes one or more functional problems faced by an organization and the alternative solution(s) to the problem considered by the firm. The case should involve a time pattern with data and events presented in chronological order. Enough detail should be provided to allow the reader to fully understand the situation. The case should be written in such a manner that the reader could express an opinion even if no prior knowledge of the company or industry exists. This requirement means that the case should be quite informative on the details of the company and the status of the industry. The problem should be described fairly early in the case. The decision maker should be introduced by name and title. The time frame, the company's name, and location should also be divulged.

Include discussion questions and an instructor's teaching note with the suggested answers to your questions. Your solution to the managerial problem in this teaching note should state the alternative courses of action and the pros and cons of each. Select the best alternative and support it. If it is a quality case, I'll work with you to see if we can get it published in a textbook!

Option 6: Non-Marketing-Oriented Company/Industry

Conduct in-depth research on an industry or organization that had trouble because of a non-marketing orientation (such as a production, product, or selling orientation). (You may not use as a topic any firm thoroughly discussed in the classroom or the textbook). Use the library, the Internet, and/or personal interviews to answer this question. Then, suggest how the organization could adopt a marketing orientation, outlining a plan of action.

Option 7: Marketing Diary

Keep a marketing diary or a record of interesting marketing experiences you have outside of the classroom this semester. This can include many observations, activities, and readings (outside of those required in this course). For instance: What consumer buying decision processes did you use? What new products did you see or consume and how did you evaluate them? Did you see or buy any products that were quite overpriced or inexpensive? What experiences did you have with shopping and retail stores? Did you obtain any product information or go shopping on the Internet? What ads did you like and dislike? Did ads or sales promotions affect your purchases? What did you read that relates to marketing? Pay attention to interactions with salespersons - how did they go about trying to make a sale? If you had a reason to complain to a marketer, how did the seller respond? Did you run into any particularly good or bad customer service? What delightful experiences or horror stories have your friends and family shared with you? Etc., etc., etc.. Be sure to apply what you've learned in this course, describe your personal reactions to the events (e.g., "I feel," "I believe," "In my opinion," etc.), point out particularly effective marketing strategies, and make recommendations for the marketers where appropriate.

Option 8: Marketing Journal 1

Summarize and analyze articles related to marketing that you find during the semester. These should come from commercial publications and the business press (e.g., Advertising Age, Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times, etc.). Your analysis of each article should include an explanation of how the article relates to/applies one or more concepts learned in the course, plus any other factors in the NOTE for Assignment Nine in the “Applications--oriented Written Exercise” handout. You should find at least eight articles from four or more different publications. Attach the articles in an appendix at the end of your report.

Option 9: Marketing Journal 2

Write an approximately two-page mini-report on each of six chapters and the associated class discussions. Each mini-report is to consist of three blocks of information:

A. Synopsis - A one-paragraph synopsis of the chapter topic. Analogous to an executive summary, this should be a concise summary of about 100 to 150 words (about half a page). It must reflect your knowledge gained from reading the textbook and listening to and participating in the class discussion.

B. Career Opportunities - A listing and brief explanation of the three or four career opportunities that are related to the chapter topic. Each of these should be accompanied by a reference citation (e.g., see position openings listed in Advertising Age, BrandWeek, Marketing News, and in newspapers such as the Boston Globe and the New York Times). Discuss the nature of the position plus education, experience, and skill requirements. Tell whether you would personally consider any of these career opportunities and why or why not. This should be about three-quarters of a page.

C. Contemporary Anecdote - A current, very interesting illustration or example of the chapter topic, a subtopic or a concept in the chapter. Describe how the topic was used in the context of a marketing strategy or tactic. Each of these entries must cite a source.

Option 10: Marketing Your New Product to Venture Capitalists

Imagine that you've heard that a successful venture capitalist, in addition to being an alumnus of your alma mater, is seeking a product or a service in which to invest $3 million. Your task is divided into three parts:

1. You must come up with an exciting product or service that you believe will satisfy genuine consumer needs/wants.

2. You must demonstrate as completely as possible the marketing plan for that product or service, as well as the reasoning behind it.

3. You must sell this product and marketing plan to the investor in a written report (which, in the “real world,” would be supplemented by an oral presentation).

Option 11: Current Events Articles

For twelve of the chapters in the textbook, find a recent article on a subject in the chapter from sources such as newspapers, magazines, business and marketing magazines, websites, and/or marketing "scholarly" journals (see list on the “Applications-oriented Written Assignments” handout). For each article, explain why you chose the article, give a short (about two paragraphs) abstract summarizing the article, and relate the article to one or more concepts learned in the course (about two paragraphs). (Sidebar: Marketing is rapidly changing, and to keep up-to-date, you must read business publications and newspapers. This is something you will be expected to do on or off the job).

Option 12: Marketing Plan for Stonehill College

The major part of this assignment involves your own marketing plan to attract prospective students to Stonehill College (see p. 35 outline and Chapter 2 in the textbook). However, before you do this you should write a summary of what has already been done by the Admissions Office regarding marketing, since there is no sense in "reinventing the wheel." Your plan should place major emphasis on the promotional elements, including sample ads and other appropriate promotional materials.

Option 13: Marketing Plan for Your Job Search (Personal Marketing)

Develop a comprehensive marketing plan for the marketing of your own product—you! Personal marketing involves considering yourself a product - a human problem-solving machine – and viewing the employer as a customer for your services. Select three possible target markets, i.e., three organizations you might want to work for, along with the appropriate position in each. Do a situation analysis for each organization (including their needs and wants for the position and how you can satisfy these). Then, develop a creative marketing strategy for each. Your plans for yourself (your capabilities and limitations) should include elements such as a description of why your product is a good fit to each organization/position (product); expected salary and benefit package (price); cover letter, resume, interviewing strategy, thank-you letter (promotion), and any other creative marketing ideas you develop.

Option 14: Service Learning Project (Student Community Service)

Select a community service agency/not-for-profit organization for which you can commit performing fifteen hours of volunteer work in a context that will allow you to see some aspect of their marketing in action. (Note: The Campus Ministry Office has an Into The Streets Directory of Community Service Agencies you can use.) You will meet with agency personnel and arrive at an agreement detailing tasks to be performed and hours to be worked.

While working at the agency, you are to be a keen observer of organizational operations and take notes so that you can write a paper detailing your experience and making connections between your experiences and marketing knowledge. For example, you could discuss one or more of the following: the agency’s approach to the marketing mix; how the organization implements the marketing concept; how they develop new services; or their promotional strategies. Your paper should include both a description of what is being done and a critical analysis, including why what they are doing is either effective or else needs modification, plus recommendations for charges (if any).

Option 15: Personal Applications of Chapter Topics

Choose six of the chapters in the textbook. For each chapter, select what you consider to be an important concept (this could be as narrow as a key term or as broad as an entire section of the chapter) discussed in the chapter (as well as possibly in class lecture and discussion). Explain why you think the concept is important from two perspectives: (1) an organization and (2) your own personal situation (as a future businessperson, as a consumer, or in some other role you do or will have). Give an example from both (1) an actual organization’s perspective or experience as well as (2) your personal perspective or experience that illustrates the concept and establishes its importance.

Option 16: Oral Presentation of a Chapter

Select a chapter from the textbook and present what you think is the important material in this chapter to the class in a 25-to-30 minute lecture/discussion format. You should draw on several sources outside of our textbook, such as other Marketing Principles textbooks and/or readings books (you might wish to browse my personal library), articles, websites such as adage.com or marketingpower.com), interviews with marketing professors, etc. You may include audiovisual support (e.g. PowerPoint slides, overhead transparencies, short videotape clips, audiotape clips, pass-arounds, flip charts, ads, product samples, etc.). Include in your discussion how the material relates to us as consumers of goods/services as well as to marketing managers of these goods and services. Criteria you will be graded on will be content (70%), organization and presentation (15%), and oral delivery/style (15%). (See the “delivery and style” grading criteria on p. 3 of the “Classroom Group Debates” handout.)

GUIDELINES

1. The report may be undertaken individually or by two people (if the latter you will both receive the same grade)

2. Both the subject and presentation form must be approved by the instructor to allow him to give direction, suggest sources, offer encouragement, or exercise his veto power.

3. The paper should be typed, double-spaced, using 10- to 12-point font size and one-inch margins on all sides. Include a title page, table of contents, headings/subheadings, an introductory section (stating objectives and logic of your paper), endnotes, and a list of references used (include individuals interviewed along with their titles, if appropriate.) You may use the referencing procedure described in the “Applications-oriented Written Assignments” handout.

4. Paper length should be approximately twelve to fifteen, double-spaced typewritten pages, excluding exhibits (for one person--about eighteen to twenty-two pages for two people). Option 7 requires fifteen to twenty pages (for one person), since it involves less research than the other options.

5. All other format procedures found on the syllabus and “Applications-oriented Written Assignments” handout should be followed.

Evaluation of Papers

Your papers will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Criterion Relative Importance

1. Thoroughness of Background Research 20%

Thoroughness means sufficient documentation and analysis of all relevant data. This includes the use of (where appropriate) primary and secondary sources.

2. Effectiveness of Analysis 30%

All analysis should be logically justified, be based on the background research, and show evidence of application of theory learned in this course.

3. Creativity and Originality 20%

Creativity is the ability to see new relationships and combinations for more efficient problem solving. Originality means that your ideas are not based on what already exists.

4. Organization, Presentation, and Appearance- 15%

Includes both text and accompanying exhibits.

Organization includes matters such as:

a. Coherence - the paper is sequentially logical; paragraphs and sentences are in the right order; topics are developed within paragraphs; each paragraph represents a single topic; transitions between sections, paragraphs, and sentences flow smoothly and logically.

b. Unity - introduction and conclusion (summarizes and provides closure); the theme is clear; everything in the paper defends or explains the theme.

c. Development - everything is fully explained.

Presentation and appearance involves matters such as neatness and proper formal paper format (including table of contents, title page, endnotes, bibliography, headings and subheadings, page numbers, margins, use of exhibits and illustrative charts, etc.)

5. Clarity of Communication 15%

a. Writing style - the paper is clearly and concisely written, not to impress, but to make the reader understand; active voice; verb tense consistent; professional tone (absence of contractions, appropriate vocabulary, etc.); interesting.

b. Mechanics - grammar, syntax, spelling, punctuation, word divisions.

100%

Due Dates

June 2 1. Paper proposal: Which option, subject, and why selected. If your paper is on a company, contact appropriate individuals and secure their cooperation. (Approximately 1 page).

June 12 2. Progress Report #1: Tentative outline of topic coverage plus list of information sources found so far and list of tasks completed to date. You may include any unresolved issues and concerns you wish for me to respond to. You may choose to meet with me, if you wish, around this time (or any other time) for suggestions and guidance.

June 21 3. Progress Report #2: Specify what has been done to date and what has to be done to complete the paper. Include a list of all references used to date. Again, you may include any unresolved issues and concerns you wish me to respond to.

June 26 4. Completed paper.