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Academic Conduct Code applies; please familiarize yourself
with this code. It is expected that all work on which you are graded will be
the result of your own efforts (i.e. personal knowledge, thinking and labor).
All references used during assignments should be properly cited. All forms of
dishonesty, including but not limited to, cheating,
plagiarism, knowingly
furnishing false information, or academic misconduct is unacceptable. Anyone
suspected of violating this policy will automatically be referred to the school
administration.
Academic misconduct is any act that does or could
improperly distort student grades or other student academic records. Such acts
include but need not be limited to the following:
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Possessing, using or exchanging
improperly acquired written or verbal information in the preparation of any
essay, laboratory report, examination, or other assignment included in an
academic course;
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Substitution for, or unauthorized
collaboration with, a student in the commission of academic requirements;
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Submission of material that is wholly or
substantially identical to that created or published by another person or
persons, without adequate credit notations indicating authorship (plagiarism);
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False claims of performance or work that
has been submitted by the claimant;
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Alteration or insertion of any academic
grade or rating so as to obtain unearned academic credit; Deliberate
falsification of a written or verbal statement of fact to a member of the
faculty so as to obtain unearned academic credit;
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Forgery, alteration or misuse of any
institute document relating to the academic status of the student.
While these acts constitute assured
instances of academic misconduct, the instructor may define other acts of
academic misconduct.
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This courses are taught from a marketing perspective and
effective marketing relies upon successful transmission of information from
seller to buyer. A product "sells" when its benefits are clearly understood and
they satisfy the needs of the buyer. When preparing your work for courses,
please keep this in mind. Think of your papers and exams as marketing problems;
try to use what you learn about in marketing and other courses when you develop
them. For example, if, as perceived by the reader, your paper offers no
evidence that you know or understand of the theories studied in this course
(that is, if the paper could have been written equally well by someone who had
never been in the course or read our text) you will receive a failing grade. A
paper that earns a C has simply met the absolute minimum level of development.
General grading standards for the work you do in this
course are as follows:
A.
This paper (or answer on an exam) demonstrates a clear understanding of
the theories appropriate for the case or question. The theories and concepts
are used as both a framework for analysis and the analysis itself. Options and
recommendations flow logically from the analysis. Potential pitfalls are
identified and contingencies mentioned, if available. The paper is analytical
in nature. This paper is well developed, captures the reader’s attention
quickly, employs deductive reasoning, and uses proper English.
B.
This paper differs from the “A” paper primarily by its development.
While proper concepts and theories are used, they are often used as points of
description than themes for analysis. In addition, this paper may be less
effectively written either by its use of language or by its opening or
concluding remarks.
C.
This paper shows an adequate understanding of the theories and concepts,
but uses these tools mainly to describe the case; there is little analysis and
insight. It does not demonstrate that the author sees the case through the eyes
of a marketer. This paper is usually too short to be effective, too descriptive
rather than analytical, settles on a recommendation too quickly, and/or lacks
any concern for the possible side effects of the recommendation.
D.
This paper uses the terms covered in the course, but does not use them to
gain any insight into the case. This paper could be written by someone who
simply read the table of contents of the text, and it might also suffer from
serious writing problems either in the development of the paper or in the use of
the language.
F.
This paper could have been written by someone who had never read a book
or article on marketing or attended any of the class sessions. This paper is
intuitive rather than theory based and analytical and does not demonstrate that
the author has learned anything about marketing.
These are general guidelines. Papers that
meet the test for an A, but are poorly written will probably receive a B.
Likewise, one that receives a C might be suffering from poor writing of an
otherwise B paper. Effective writing, however, will not be able to disguise
weak content. In other words, you might think of a paper as 75% content and 25%
form.
Since members of the class have a variety of
experience writing, the standards I use for grading will be lower initially but
will significantly increase over time. That is, my expectations for the use of
sound theories and concepts to fully understand both the strategic and tactical
issues in the case will by more complete -- one concept or theory will
not be enough. In addition, my expectations for a well “packaged” product will
increase as the course progresses and you are able to consider perception
processes, strategic options and their implications, the nature of demand, the
product life-cycle, and the like.
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Attendance is required but I normally do not take
attendance. If I notice that you are missing class, you’re missing to many
classes and it will adversely effect your grade (see class participation). If I
am going to miss/cancel class I will let you know via email in advance.
If you attend class, you are expected to be in the room at
the start of class and to remain in the room throughout the class, unless you
let me know in advance you will be arriving late or leaving early. Coming in
late or leaving the room disrupts me and your fellow students.
Class Participation
Class participation is expected in all my classes and
therefore there are no points assigned for participation. However, failure to
participate can result in the loss of up to 5% of your final grade. At the
beginning of each class we will discuss current events that relate to the
particular class and the current topic. Typically, there are several class
preparation tasks spaced throughout the semester, completion of these tasks will
also be considered.
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Download Writing Guidelines Its what you actually turn in
that gets graded. Unfortunately, I cannot observe and grade your actual time
and effort, and even your true knowledge. Therefore, make sure that your work
does not get shortchanged because of hasty last-minute writing. I spend a lot
of effort going over written reports. As I grade, I pay attention to the big
picture but also to the details. Your paper will be graded based on
evaluations of (1) whether you accomplished the assignment, (2) the richness
of your ideas, including the degree to which you generate and support your
ideas and key points, (3) the clarity of your work, and (4) the accuracy of
your work. In terms of
generating and supporting ideas and key points, I look for several things. Are
the ideas and analysis realistic and sensible? Have you provided enough detail
so that I know how your ideas may be applied, or how your recommendations should
be applied differently in different contexts? For example, if your idea involves
making a recommendation about marketing to a specific customer segment, then
identify this segment, and tell me why the idea is appropriate for this segment
but not other segments. To support an idea, try to counter-argue your idea.
Anticipate counter arguments that I might consider, and address them. If you
have an idea that can be supported by referencing a page in an article or book,
then make a reference to the material and include a copy of the key page as an
exhibit to your paper. Try to
follow the guidelines below. However, use your judgment. If a guideline seems to
CLEARLY NOT WORK on a particular assignment, then do something else.
To be accepted, all assignments must be prepared on WHITE 8 1/2 X 11 inch
paper, and all multi-page assignments must be stapled. This is a pet
peeve, believe it.
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All assignments are to be
typed, single sided, double-spaced, 10 to 12-point font, with 1-inch margins.
(Failure to follow these guidelines will result in a loss of points)
All assignments are to be professional quality and incorporate proper
grammar, spelling, word usage, clarity, sentence structure, sentence variety,
and use proper writing principles.
Any suggested paper length should not be seen as a hoop to be jumped through,
or a firm requirement but as an indicator of the instructors expectations of the
depth of coverage an assignment requires. As such, attachments are not
counted in these estimates. Regardless of length, your goal should be to
cover the material as concisely as possible. A short tight paper will
receive a much higher grade than a long puffy paper.
When making claims, use cites. You might or might not need to rely heavily on
cites when you write for manager-audiences, but usually these audiences only
bother reading your reports because they trust you to have the facts right in
the first place. As an instructor, my job is to critique and enhance your
ability to distinguish between the correct uses of facts versus opinions.
When you state facts, please include a cites. For example, if you write
that a certain brand is the category leader, then this is a claim that needs to
be referenced. If you say that a brand appeals to women more than the brand
appeals to men, this too is a claim that needs a reference. After the sentence,
inform me of the cited material in parentheses, and then append a photocopy of
the cited work as an appendix (although you may get your cite from a source such
as a televised news show or a personal interview in which case an appendix may
not be practical). For example, you may be writing about IBM and say that IBM's
corporate revenue grew by 3.3% from 1996 to 1997, from $75,947 million to
$78,508 million (per 1997 annual shareholders report, see appendix C).
I DO require stylized bibliographies. Citations should follow the APA
style guidelines. If don't already have documentation on this style the
writing center can help or buy a book.
If you are not stating a fact, but rather you are stating an opinion, then
state our opinion is .. and then explain why you have formed this opinion,
providing logical arguments that draw on observations or other valid
information. If your writing is
weak, consider contacting the writing center (available for free through the
college). Try to finish your
assignments a few days prior to the due date, and then review and polish them
before turning them in. This review-and-revise tip is one that many people don't
get when they start working with me. However, at the end of the semester many
people have suggested this as an important tip.
Proofread your work, and make sure to review what you actually wrote, not
what you meant to write. It is advisable to read your paper out load. If I can
catch your spelling and grammar mistakes will hurt your grade.
To organize your ideas, please consider using headings and bullet points.
Don't assume that I know what you're discussing as you present your ideas. For
example, even if you met with me and you think I know which target market you
are referring to, be sure to specify your target market explicitly in the paper.
This writing tip puzzles some students. I've had students tell me that they've
been trained to avoid writing things that their reader already knows. A problem,
however, is that you as a writer don't really know what your reader does and does
not know. Thus, you must be careful when deciding whether to include
information. If in doubt, assume that I don't know a piece of information. I've
found that I sometimes cant quite follow the authors train of thought in a paper
because they've omitted information and incorrectly assumed that I know what they
are talking about. However,
avoid replicating facts assume reader has read the case, and our text
Make your sentences short. If you find a sentence that has over 25 words,
make sure it reads well. If it doesn't read well, then turn your sentence into
two sentences.
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If two words mean the same
thing, then use the shorter word. For example, the word use generally means
the same thing as the word utilize so go with the word use and look for
similar ways to make your work short but clear.
Compose a few different versions of a difficult paragraph or section, and
compare these versions to each other. See what you think works best, and don't
become too attached to what you write first.
If you find yourself wondering whether a sentence or paragraph is clear,
then its probably unclear. Fix it.
Try to find someone who was not in our class, and ask him/her how your work
could be beneficially revised. Try to get honest and critical feedback, perhaps
even from a manager or marketing professional.
In terms of exhibits (meaning figures, tables, and appendices), make sure
your exhibits are easy to understand. Use a highlighter to draw my
attention to particular numbers, passages or other key points. Circle a key
piece of information with a crayon if you have to. In other words, do what you
can to make it easy for me to see your point. If possible, write a sentence or
two below each exhibit to tell me how the exhibit helps me understand your work.
For example, if you have a pie chart as an exhibit, you might begin a sentence
under the exhibit that says, Notice that revenues due to direct consumer sales
are small when compared to revenue due to franchise sales. The comparatively
small revenue means that .(put in an interpretation)
Also in terms of exhibits, make sure to label each exhibit and refer to each
exhibit in your text. Don’t include exhibits without referring to them. The
first appendix you refer to should be Appendix-A or Appendix-1, and then the
next should be Appendix-B or Appendix-2, and so on. Reading a paper becomes
harder if the appendix references are not in a logical order, so keep them in
order.
For small tables and figures, instead of making them appendices, insert them
within the text so the reader can see the table or figure without having to find
it on a different page.
In terms of writing style, feel free to write in first person if you want.
Try hard to not be ambiguous. For example, avoid using pronouns where a pronoun
might plausibly refer to more than one noun. And if you use phrases such as
‘more than’ or ‘less than’, then you must tell me ‘more than what?’ to make sure
that I know what you’re comparing.
Avoid using technical terms that a layman might not understand. Also, avoid
using technical terms that you yourself don’t completely understand. However use
the “Jargon” of this class.
If you do use a particular term to express a particular thought, then feel free
to use this term repeatedly when you want to express the particular thought.
When you use more than one term, I generally think that you are using different
terms to express different thoughts. Stick to one word for one thought; peak my
interest with your dazzling ideas rather than your large vocabulary. This advice
does not apply when you write entertaining fiction. But when writing for
business, clarity is critical, and this will help you achieve some clarity.
When reporting numbers, tell me what the units are, for example when reporting
numbers of dollars. Don’t forget, you may think of dollars, but other people may
think of hundreds of dollars, or British pounds, Japanese yen, etc.
Also when reporting numbers, don’t use the word ‘average’ or ‘variation’ if you
are referring to a specific number. An average could be a mean, median, or mode,
so be specific. And variation could be expressed in terms of standard deviation,
variance, or mean absolute deviation. Again, be specific. For example, if you
are referring to a mean, then use the word mean instead of average.
When stating conclusions, provide rationales or reasons to convey that you have
facts and/or logic that support your conclusions. Use the word “because” and
then put something after the “because” that logically supports your conclusion.
In other words, “conclusion, ‘because’, logic/facts”.
Avoid making claims that cannot possibly be true, such as “everybody likes the
brand.”
You may find that your work ties directly to marketing material that we covered
in our course, or that was covered in another course. If so, you can demonstrate
your ability to link specific applications to general principles by noting the
connection, and perhaps even discussing how the principle seems to have
boundaries.
Please answer questions head on. If an assignment asks you to answer a question,
then very directly answer the question. As an example, if asked to make a
conclusion about why people buy a brand, your answer might be something such as
“We found that people buy brand-x for five main reasons: ….”.
Try to deal directly with difficult issues. If your assignment involved a
difficult issue, or an issue that you could not resolve, do not simply avoid
writing about the issue. Instead, very directly state the issue, tell me that it
was a tough issue, explain why it was a tough issue, and then move on to the
next section of your paper.
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