Undergraduate Program - Wharton Marketing

Undergraduate

Program Info
· Structure
· Requirements
· Dual Major
· Planning Courses
· Program Advising

Course Info
· Descriptions
· Fall 2005
· Spring 2006

Undergraduate Orientation Announcement - Spring 2005

For more information or to request admission application forms, see:

· Wharton Undergraduate Programs

Page last updated:
August 18, 2005

Undergraduate Program - Course Descriptions

Note: Current syllabi (PDF format) for courses are available only to Wharton users through SPIKE.

MKTG 101
INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
Faculty: Kahn, Fader
Description: The objective of this course is to introduce students to the concepts, analyses, and activities that comprise marketing management, and to provide practice in assessing and solving marketing problems. The course is also a foundation for other Wharton courses, and for advanced electives in Marketing. Topics include marketing strategy, customer behavior, segmentation, market research, product management, pricing, promotion, channels of distribution, sales force management and competitive analysis.
Format: Lectures, recitations, discussions, and cases.
Requirements: Regular attendance, mid-term, final, case write-ups, class participation.
Materials: Textbook and course pack.

MKTG 211
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Faculty: Reed, Niedermeier, Small
Description: This course is concerned with how and why people behave as consumers. Its goals are to: 1) provide conceptual understanding of consumer behavior, 2) provide experience in applying consumer behavior concepts to marketing management and social policy decision-making, and 3) develop analytical capability in using behavioral research.
Format: Lectures, discussions, cases.
Requirements: Regular attendance, mid-term, final, case write-ups, class participation.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101.
Materials: Textbook and course pack.

MKTG 212
MARKETING RESEARCH
Faculty: Eliashberg, Iacobucci
Description: This course examines the role of marketing research in the formulation and solution of marketing problems, and the development of the student's basic skills in conducting and evaluating marketing research projects. Special emphasis is placed on problem formulation, research design, alternative methods of data collection (including data collection instruments, sampling, and field operations), and data analysis techniques. Applications of modern marketing research procedures to a variety of marketing problems are explored.
Format: Lectures, discussions, cases.
Requirements: Regular attendance, case write-ups, mid-term, final.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101, STAT 101, or equivalent.
Materials: Textbook and course pack.

MKTG 221
NEW PRODUCT MANAGEMENT (mini-course)
Faculty: Adams, Armstrong
Description: Examination of the marketing aspects of products or services exclusive of their promotion, pricing, or distribution. Focuses on decisions regarding product introduction, positioning, improvements, and deletion, and the tools available for making these decisions. Covers both industrial and consumer products and services.
Format: Lectures, discussions, cases.
Requirements: Regular attendance, cases, mid-term, final.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101.
Materials: Textbook and course pack.

MKTG 222
PRICING POLICY (mini-course)
Faculty: Raju, Zhang
Description: The pricing decision process including economic, marketing, and behavioral phenomena which constitute the environment for pricing decisions and the information and analytic tools useful to the decision maker.
Format: Lectures, discussions, cases.
Requirements: Regular attendance, class project.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101 and sophomore standing
Materials: Textbook and course pack.

MKTG 223
CHANNEL MANAGEMENT (mini-course)
Faculty: Wadhwa
Description: This course presents concepts and analytical tools necessary to manage distribution channels. We will view channels both as value delivery systems and as interorganizational systems. The course is organized around three themes: designing a go-to-market approach and channel structure, coordinating the channel participants, and changing channels. Specific topics include going direct vs. indirect, incorporating the Internet into hybrid systems, e-commerce and value integration,, franchising, channel conflict, legal issues regarding channel policies, category management, and efficient consumer response (ECR) initiatives.
Format: Lecture, case discussion, small group project.
Requirements: Class participation, case memos, small group project.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101.

MKTG 224
ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT (mini-course)
Faculty: Armstrong
Description: Examination of the practice of advertising directed by relevant behavioral science and management science theory. Focuses on decisions regarding advertising objectives, copy selection, budget setting and media selection.
Format: Lectures, discussions, cases.
Requirements: Regular attendance, discussions, class project, possible mid-term, final.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101
Materials: Textbook and course pack.

MKTG 225
PRINCIPLES OF RETAILING (mini-course)
Faculty: Cody
Description: This course explores the domain of retailing; marketing to the final consumer. Emphasis is placed on marketing aspects of Retailing not covered in other courses: retail strategy, merchandising, vendor relations and location.
Format: Lectures, discussions, cases.
Requirements: Regular attendance, case discussions, possible group project, mid-term and/or final.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101.
Materials: Textbook and course pack.

MKTG 226
SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT (mini-course)
(Not offered every year)
Faculty: Di Benedetto
Description: Students who take this course will: learn the basic functions of sales force management as well as theories and concepts about appropriately managing that function; become familiar with some recent research in sales management that underlies the theories and concepts; and be able to apply the research, theories, and concepts to practical situations. The course is concerned with how to manage a sales force rather than with how to sell. The emphasis is on business-to-business (rather than consumer) sales force management. Topics covered include salesperson effectiveness, deployment, organizational design, compensation, and evaluation.
Format: Lectures, discussions, cases.
Requirements: Regular attendance, case write-ups, mid-term and/or final.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101, STAT 101, or equivalent.
Materials: Textbook and course pack.

MKTG 235
ADVERTISING
Faculty: Adams, Williams
Description: This course focuses on the development of strategic integrated marketing communications (IMC) programs, including traditional advertising and other forms of communication such as packaging and "buzz" marketing, among others. The course focuses on understanding the role of IMC in the overall marketing process and specifically in the creation and maintenance of a branding strategy. Emphasis is placed on product positioning, understanding the communication process and consumer behavior (psychology), the measurement and evaluation of advertising effects, thinking critically regarding different creative strategies, and developing appropriate media plans. Students will work in groups to create their own IMC plans for a brand of their choice.
Format: Lectures, discussions, cases.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101. May be substituted for MKTG 224 as part of major. Credit will not be given for both courses.
Materials: Textbook and course pack.
Requirements: Williams: Several individual written assignments and an advertising pla for a new or existing product.

MKTG 236
LAW OF MARKETING AND ANTITRUST
(not offered every year)
Faculty: Swaine
Description: Study of the antitrust laws and the law of intellectual property. Emphasis on the legality of various pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies. Current developments are emphasized.
Format: Lectures, discussions, cases.
Requirements: Regular attendance, case write-ups, mid-term and/or final.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101.
Materials: Textbook and course pack.

MKTG 271
MODELS FOR MARKETING STRATEGY
Faculty: Eliashberg
Description: The purposes of the course are to help participants become better managers by giving them better tools for analyzing marketing decision problems; to acquaint participants with and help them to understand different types of models that have been used to aid marketing decisions; to give participants critical skills for evaluating new marketing models about which they may read in the literature and to enable them to read the literature; to help participants understand marketing problems more clearly by analyzing them quantitatively; and to produce managers who will not be taken advantage of by some quantitative consultants.
Format: Evaluating marketing models papers; building marketing models; cases discussing model applications; group presentations of model-based marketing strategy.
Requirements: Short papers and exercises, computer-based case analyses and presentations, group assignments, and class participation
Prerequisites: MKTG 101 and STAT 101.

MKTG 274
FORECASTING METHODS FOR MARKETING
Faculty: Armstrong
Description: Better forecasting can lead to better short-term and long-term planning and, in turn, to better decision-making. Forecasting Methods for Marketing examines judgmental forecasting methods such as prediction markets, analogies, intentions, and expectations. The course also examines quantitative methods such as extrapolation and econometric, with the latter as especially useful for assessing the effects of changes in key variables such as pricing or advertising. These methods can be used to forecast consumer behavior, market share, and sales (for production and inventory control). They can also be used to forecast actions by competitors, governments, unions, and retailers. Recently developed methods have been shown to substantially improve accuracy and to provide better assessments of risk.

MKTG 276x
APPLIED PROBABILITY MODELS IN MARKETING
Faculty: Fader
Description: This course will expose students to the theoretical and empirical "building blocks" that will allow them to construct, estimate, and interpret powerful models of customer behavior. Over the years, researchers and practitioners have used these models for a wide variety of applications, such as new product sales, forecasting, analyses of media usage, and targeted marketing programs. Other disciplines have seen equally broad utilization of these techniques.

The course will be entirely lecture-based with a strong emphasis on real-time problem solving. Most sessions will feature sophisticated numerical investigations using Microsoft Excel. Much of the material is highly technical. Students must have a high comfort level with basic integral calculus, and recent exposure to a formal course in probability statistics would be helpful (such as STAT 430).

MKTG 277
MARKETING STRATEGY
Faculty: Oliva, Van den Bulte
Description: This course introduces the student to problems in high-level marketing decision making with several strategic marketing planning frameworks frequently applied during the analysis of those problems. The course will focus on a variety of management problems which include the following characteristics:

Several strategic business units are involved in the decision.
Competitors' behaviors are formally taken into account.
Long-term marketing advantages are sought.
Profit and other financial consequences are considered.

Format: Lectures, discussions, cases.
Requirements: Regular attendance, case write-ups, mid-term and/or final.
Prerequisite: MKTG 101.
Materials: Textbook and course pack.

MKTG 281 (.5 cu - 1/2 semester)
ENTREPRENEURIAL MARKETING
Faculty: DiBenedetto
Description: This course focuses on the key marketing concepts and methods relevant for entrepreneurs. In particular, it covers the marketing elements of new venture initiation (including a business plan), as well as marketing decisions for small and growing organizations. Topics include product/service design, assessment of market potential, creation of successful distribution relationships, and new product pricing. In contrast to the product development course, the emphasis here is on a new startup business rather than a new offering from an existing business. Topics covered in this course also include low-budget or no-budget market research, successful strategic alternatives for small business, alternatives to high-cost advertising (e.g., direct marketing, alternative media, and personal selling), segmentation, and targeted marketing. Students will prepare a marketing plan for an entrepreneurial organization of their choice, possible for a new venture they are considering.
Format: Case, lecture, class discussions.
Requirements: Development of an organizational marketing plan for a entrepreneurial venture; readings; class discussion.
Prerequisites: MKTG 101; MKTG 212 (can take concurrently); students are discouraged from taking this course and MKTG 221 unless with permission of the marketing undergraduate faculty advisor.

MKTG 282 (.5 cu - 1/2 semester)
MULTINATIONAL MARKETING
Faculty: Ward
Description: The main purpose of this course is to explore the substantive issues, information sources, and cultural sensitivities required to develop an effective international strategy and associated market plan. Since the international environment changes so quickly, we will no doubt have occasion to discuss current events. Central to the course is a group project involving the development of a marketing plan for a product of service or your choice to be marketed in at least two countries.
Format: Cases, lectures, discussions.
Requirements: Readings, development of a marketing plan.
Prerequisites: MKTG 101

MKTG 286 (.5 cu - 1/2 semester)
(Not offered every year)
BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MARKETING
Faculty: Ward
Description: This course is designed to provide an opportunity for students to develop an understanding of the process by which industrial and other institutional buyers' needs are identified and met. Following an examination of the setting in which business-to-business marketing takes place (i.e., market and system characteristics), the course focuses on the managerial process of identifying and evaluating industrial marketing opportunities and strategy decisions to effectively serve industrial markets.
Format: Lecture and cases.
Requirements: Active participation in discussion of cases and selected readings; brief written analysis of three or four cases; final exam.
Prerequisites: MKTG 101

MKTG 288x
PRICING
Faculty: Zhang
Description: This course is designed to equip you with the concepts, techniques, and latest thinking bearing on pricing issues, with an emphasis on ways in which you can help a firm to improve its pricing. The overall orientation of this course is not about the theory but the practice of pricing. Rather than focusing on the allocative role of pricing, this course focuses on how firms can improve its profitability through pricing. We will take a close look at how firms go about setting their prices and how one may improve firms' current practices to increase their profitability.
The first half of the course covers analytical tools and conceptual frameworks needed for analyzing a pricing environment and for formulating a sound pricing strategy. From this part of the course, you will learn not only how to analyze costs, customers, and competitors in order to formulate proactive pricing strategies, but also specific ideas that you can use to help a firm to identify the opportunities for improving its pricing. The second half of the course focuses on developing pricing tactics. This part of the course will help you to gain insights into successful pricing strategies in various industries and discuss how to improve a firm's pricing through engineering a sophisticated pricing structure. The topics of discussion include price promotions, price bundling, price discrimination, versioning, nonlinear pricing, pricing through a distribution channel, dynamic pricing, etc.
Upon successful completion of this course, you will (a) gain in-depth knowledge of current pricing practices in diverse industries, (b) learn the state-of-the-art analytical framework for making proactive pricing decisions, (c) master the basic quantitative techniques for analyzing and making profitable pricing decisions, and (d) improve your acumen for strategic thinking, so that you can excel in today's competitive business environment.
Format:
Requirements:
Prerequisites: MKTG 101

MKTG 289 (.5 cu - 1/2 semester)
MARKETING METHODS AND APPLICATIONS: STRATEGY CONSULTING SKILLS
Faculty: Wadhwa
Description: This course introduces students to the structured problem-solving and communication skills that are required for strategy consulting. These skills are broadly applicable across business functions and industries, and besides their relevance to consulting, will be valuable to entrepreneurs and managers in the strategy, business development and marketing planning aspects of their work. The course is organized around the phases of a typical consulting engagement: problem definition, problem structuring, data gathering & analysis, recommendations development & presentation. Students will get to learn and practice specific consulting tools and principles associated with each of these five phases, such as issue trees, hypothesis-driven problem-solving, interview guides, pyramid structure and storylines. The course emphasizes hands-on practice and real-time feedback. Formal discussion of consulting tools and skills will be supplemented by mini-cases and consulting cases based on real-life engagements.
Format: Cases, lectures, class participation.
Requirements: Short assignments, business consulting project, cases, and presentations.
Prerequisites: MKTG 101 and STAT 101; instructor permission required.

MKTG 341
SENIOR SEMINAR � MARKETING PROBLEMS SEMINAR
Faculty: Armstrong
Description: Project course oriented toward developing a marketing plan for a sponsoring organization. Research (primary, secondary, or both) is a major component. Students are required to integrate marketing concepts into a consistent whole and to make firm recommendations for decision making in real world situations. Most projects are done in teams, although evaluation is individual. MKTG 211 and 212, while not required, are very helpful.
Format: Group project.
Requirements: Research, presentation, and final report.
Prerequisite: Senior standing and completion of 3 CU in marketing. Open to non-majors with written permission of instructor.
Materials: Possible textbook and/or course pack.

MKTG 394
SPECIAL TOPICS: MARKETING OF MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT
Faculty: Gayton
Description: This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the strategic decisions in marketing media and entertainment products. It is a course about developing, financing, producing, marketing and distributing media and entertainment, and the role these functions play in shaping the creative and commercial decisions of media and entertainment companies. Using the case method, the course examines these companies from the perspective of entrepreneurial and multinational organizations in businesses as varied as film, television, music, video games, theme parks and sports entertainment. Marketing of Media and Entertainment is a course that evaluates the global, technological and social landscape of media and entertainment in the context of both the content and distribution side of these businesses. Examples of case studies may include Jurassic Park, Fox Sports, the Blair Witch Project, Electronic Arts, Sega/Nintendo, Liverpool Football Club, Bertlesmann. EuroDisney and Beavis & Butthead, just to name a few.
Format: Lecture, class discussion, and guest speakers
Requirements: Three one-page papers and one team project
Prerequisites: Completion of MKTG 101.

MKTG 396
RETAIL MERCHANDISING
Faculty: Werner
Description: This course provides a detailed introduction to the role of merchandising at various retailers, including apparel and other softlines businesses, grocery stores, mass-merchandisers and �category killers�. Selected topics may include:

Product development
Line planning
Sourcing
Product lifecycle
Forecasting
Planning and allocation
Pricing and markdowns
Vendor relations

Format:
Requirements:
Prerequisite: Marketing 225-Principles of Retailing is prerequisite for enrollment.
Materials: Possible textbook and/or course pack.

MKTG 397
RETAIL DESIGNSCAPE
Faculty: Klimchuk
Description: The course will use design as the medium to link consumer need to retail. This will include basic design elements, such as space, form and color, as well as retail-specific topics like point-of-purchase displays. Both macro and micro elements of retail design will be explored, including issues from mall development to individual customer transactions. Selected topics may include:

Principles of design
Environmental design
Store design � macro and micro (e.g., traffic patterns, adjacencies, lighting, layout, merchandising, branding)
Graphic arts (e.g., signage)
Visual merchandising
Comparison of shopping venues
Role of consumer behavior and psychology as drivers for design and architecture
Design of virtual retailing channels (e.g., online and catalog)

Format:
Requirements:
Prerequisite: Marketing 225-Principles of Retailing is prerequisite for enrollment.
Materials: Possible textbook and/or course pack.

MKTG 399
SUPERVISED INDEPENDENT STUDY
Description: Content arranged by supervisor.
Prerequisite: MKTG 212 and written permission of instructor and the department undergraduate advisor.