Mkt00075_unit Info Guide

Southern Cross Business School

MKT00075Marketing Principles

Unit Information GuideSession 2 2011

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Contents

Contacts and MySCU ............................................................................................................... 3

Unit assessor ................................................................................................................... 3

School enquiries ............................................................................................................. 3

MySCU ........................................................................................................................... 3

Elluminate Live! ............................................................................................................. 3

Unit statement ............................................................................................................................. 4

Description ..................................................................................................................... 4

Aims ............................................................................................................................... 4

Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 5

Graduate attributes ......................................................................................................... 5

Handbook entry .............................................................................................................. 6

Syllabus .......................................................................................................................... 6

Prescribed texts and materials ....................................................................................... 6

Recommended reference materials ................................................................................ 6

Student assessment requirements ................................................................................... 8

Mode of delivery ............................................................................................................ 8

Student academic integrity ............................................................................................. 9

Student feedback ............................................................................................................ 9

Assessment details ..................................................................................................................11

Assignment 1 – Oral presentation to critically analyse a contemporary issue in marketing ................................................................................................................. 12

Online multiple choice question (MCQ) quizzes (3) ................................................... 15

Assignment 2 – A marketing plan for a new sustainable offering ................................16

Assignment 2 Part A – Concept development and situation analysis .......................... 20

Assignment 2 Part B – Final marketing plan ............................................................... 24

Assignment 2 Part C – Reflection on marketing plan and group work (mini-essay) ... 28

Census dates ................................................................................................................. 30

Suggested study timetable ...................................................................................................31

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Contacts and MySCU

Unit assessorName: Tania von der HeidtLocation: R215 Lismore campusPhone: +61 2 6620 3086Email: [email protected]

School enquiriesEmail: [email protected] (Business

Students)Email: [email protected] (IT Students)Website: http://www.scu.edu.au/business-

schoolPost: Southern Cross Business School

Southern Cross University PO Box 157 (Military Road) Lismore NSW 2480 Australia

Phone: +61 2 6620 3835 or free call 1800 111 890 and ask for extension 73835

Fax: +61 2 6622 1724

MySCUThe MySCU site for this unit enables you to access resources and communication tools and links that are integral to your study throughout the teaching period. Contact details for teaching staff and information and messages specific to the unit are provided, together with grades and grading standards and the referencing requirements specific to your area of study. You will also find links to services to support your study, such as the University Library and Academic Skills Development Unit.

You should check the following location in your browser:

http://study.scu.edu.au

This opens the MySCU student intranet page. The names of units in which you are currently enrolled that have an online presence will be listed here under ‘Learning Sites’.

If your unit is not listed under ‘Learning Sites’ and you have been instructed by your lecturer to access the online site, please check your enrolment status through MyEnrolment. If you do not appear to be enrolled in that unit, either enrol in that unit or email a variation request to Student Services:

[email protected]

If you are enrolled in that unit but cannot access the online site send an email to:

[email protected]

Elluminate Live!Your unit assessor may choose to use Elluminate Live! in this unit. Elluminate Live! is web-based audio-conferencing software for real-time collaboration; a mix of a teletutorial and virtual classroom with additional features. You can find out more by clicking the ‘Elluminate Live! Help’ button within your MySCU unit, or go to:

http://www.scu.edu.au/elluminate

mailto:[email protected]



http://www.scu.edu.au/business-school

http://www.scu.edu.au/business-school







http://www.scu.edu.au/elluminate

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Unit statement

Southern Cross University

Southern Cross Business School

Description

Unit title: Marketing Principles

Unit code: MKT00075

Undergraduate, postgraduate: Undergraduate

Prerequisites: See other enrolment conditions

Corequisites: Nil

Antirequisites: MKT00127 Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality Marketing

Other enrolment conditions & requirements:

Assumed knowledge:

1. COM00207 learning and Communications2. BUS10699 Business Language and Learning Skills

OR Year 12 Business Studies

Available subject to student demand

Student Services enrolment category: Internal/external

Graded/ungraded: Graded

Field of education: 080505 Marketing

Credit points: 12

Aims

The unit aims to introduce students to the fundamental truths or elements of marketing. It provides the opportunity to explore how marketing creates utility in ways that benefit the organisation and its stakeholders. The unit will examine the process whereby products and or/services are exchanged, usually for money, to satisfy a need. It will explore ways in which marketers incorporate sustainability into their practice. In addition the critical element of creativity is considered as the capacity to be creative and innovate is critical for marketers. In this way the unit introduces students to the way marketers seek to deliver meaningful solutions to consumer ‘problems’ into the future.

5MKT00075 – Unit Information

Objectives

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

• identify the key concepts and principles used in contemporary marketing

• research, critically analyse and communicate orally a critical opinion on a contemporary marketing issue

• collaboratively develop a new market offering positioned on ‘sustainability’ using the principles of creative problem solving

• research and construct a marketing plan for the market offering

• demonstrate professionalism by reflecting on your marketing plan and/or group work experience

• demonstrate basic skills in the use of software relevant to the marketing discipline, e.g. Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox for Internet searching, SCU Library databases (e.g. Proquest) for article searches, Microsoft PowerPoint for presentations, Turnitin for assignment submission, Elluminate Live for online lectures and for presentations (external students only) and Endnote (optional) for managing references.

Graduate attributes

As a graduate of the Bachelor of Business at Southern Cross University, you are more than just the sum of the knowledge you have acquired through your units. During your studies, you will have developed other skills, values and attitudes that are essential for gaining employment and advancing lifelong learning. The University refers to these skills, values and attitudes as the graduate attributes. They shape the contribution you are able to make to your profession and as a citizen. Graduate attributes are qualities that also prepare you as an agent of social good in an unknown future (Bowden et al. 2000).

In the unit MKT00075 you will be assessed towards your attainment of the following graduate attributes, as identified by the Southern Cross Business School:

1. Discipline competency: a command of the theoretical underpinnings related to a business discipline; and the ability to apply integrated business knowledge within their profession and undertake further learning

2. Critical reasoning: the ability to make valid judgements that result in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, synthesis and inference; and explain the evidential, conceptual or contextual considerations upon which that judgement is based

3. Creativity: the ability to explore, develop and apply innovative and creative solutions to theoretical and applied problems

4. Research/information literacy: the ability to recognise when information is needed; locate information using appropriate technologies; use information effectively; and evaluate sources of information

5. Numeracy: the ability to explain, interpret and apply relevant numeric data and models (Not assessed)

6. Communication: the ability to communicate effectively in an academic, organizational and social context

7. Professionalism: the ability to apply domain specific knowledge; work independently; work effectively in teams; reflect on their own practice; and respond appropriately to change

8. Ethical understanding: the ability to analyse ethical issues and find solutions which balance the rights of all stakeholders

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6 MKT00075 – Marketing Principles

9. Global mind set: the ability to demonstrate intercultural understanding; explain global business practices; and recognise the importance of cultural diversity (Not assessed).

Bowden, J, Hart, G, King, B, Trigwell, K & Watts, O 2000, Generic capabilities of ATN university graduates: Final report to DETYA (Australian Technololgies Network Teaching and Learning Committee).

from http://www.clt.uts.edu.au/ATN.grad.cap.project.index.html/

Handbook entry

Introduces students to the world of modern marketing – creating and delivering value in both profit and non-profit organisations. Examines strategic marketing planning and analysis within a dynamic environment, buying behaviour, target market selection and marketing mix strategies. Emphasises practical and ethical perspectives. Equips students to build a marketing plan for a sustainable offering.

Syllabus• Foundation, key concepts and ethics

• Strategic marketing planning and environment

• Creative problem solving in marketing

• Marketing information and research

• Consumer behaviour

• Target market selection

• Marketing plan direction, objectives, metrics

• Product strategy

• Pricing strategy

• Placement strategy

• Promotional strategy (IMC).

Prescribed texts and materialsvon der Heidt, T (compiler) 2011, Marketing Principles: MKT00075, A custom publication of Solomon,

MR, Hughes, A, Chitty, B, Fripp, G, Marshall, GW and Stuart, EW 2011, Marketing 2 and Wood, MB, 2011, The Marketing Plan Handbook, 4th edn, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest (ISBN 9314994246582).

Summers, J & Smith, B 2010, Communication Skills Handbook, Wiley & Sons, Milton, Qld.

Recommended reference materialsBly, RW 2006, The White Paper Marketing Handbook, Thompson (South Western) Mason, OH.

Cooper, S & Patton, R 2010, Writing Logically, Thinking Critically, Longman-Pearson, New York.

Cropley, AJ 2001, Creativity in Education & Learning: A Guide for Teachers and Educators, Kogan Page Ltd, London.

Czinkota, MR et al. 2000, Marketing Best Practices, Dryden, Orlando, FA.

De Weaver, L 2001, Marketing for e-business in Australia, Prentice Hall, Frenchs Forest, NSW.

Elliot, G, Rundle-Thiele, S & Waller, D, 2010, Marketing, Wiley & Sons, Milton, Qld.

http://www.clt.uts.edu.au/ATN.grad.cap.project.index.html/

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Enis, BM & Cox, KK (eds) 1994, Marketing Classics: A Selection of Influential Articles, 8th edn, Allyn & Bacon, Boston (includes ‘Marketing myopia’ by Theodore Levitt).

Greene, CL 2009, Entrepreneurship: Ideas in Action, 4th edn, South Western-Cengage Learning, Mason, OH.

Hartley, RF 2009, Marketing Mistakes & Successes, 11th edn, Wiley & Sons, New York.

Kerin, RA, Hartley, SW, Rudelius W & Theng, LG, 2009, Marketing in Asia, McGraw Hill, Singapore.

Kotler, P, Adam, S, Denize, S & Armstrong, G 2009, Principles of Marketing, 4th edn, Prentice Hall, Sydney.

Kurtz, DL, 2011, Contemporary Marketing, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH.

Martin, N 2008, Habit: The 95% of Behaviour Marketers Ignore, FT Press-Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Pride, WM & Ferrell, OC 2011 Foundations of Marketing, 4th edn, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH.

Journals

You will also find a number of journals and magazines useful. Many of these are available online from Southern Cross University’s Library homepage.

Australasian Marketing Journal

B & T Today

Business Review Weekly

Harvard Business Review

Journal of Consumer Research

Journal of Marketing

Marketing Magazine

Marketing Notes (official journal of the Marketing Association of Australia and New Zealand (MAANZ))

Professional Marketing (official journal of the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI))

Retail World.


Student assessment requirements

Task Unit objectives assessed

Graduate attributes assessed

Weighting %

Week due

Assignment 1 – Oral presentation (individual)

1, 2, 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 20%In week following

Elluminate Live! recap of chosen topic area

Three online MCQ quizzes (individual)

1 1 20% Weeks 4, 9 and 12

Assignment 2A – Marketing plan first steps (group)

1, 3, 4, 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 25% Week 7

Assignment 2B – Full marketing plan (group)

1, 4, 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 25% Week 14

Assignment 2C – Reflection on marketing plan and group work

(individual)5 7 10% Week 15

Students must keep copies of work submitted.

This is a graded unit and grades shall be awarded as detailed in Rule 3.8 of the University’s Rules Relating to Awards.

In order to achieve a passing grade in this unit, students must attempt all assessment tasks worth 20% or more, achieve 50% in individual assessment tasks and achieve an overall mark of 50%. The criteria upon which performance in the assessment tasks is judged will be made available to students during the first week of the study period.

School extension policy

Students wanting an extension must make a request at least 24 hours before the assessment item is due and the request must be received in writing by the unit assessor or designated academic.

Extensions within 24 hours of submission or following the submission deadline will not be granted (unless supported by a doctor’s certificate or where there are exceptional circumstances – this will be at unit assessor’s discretion and will be considered on a case by case basis). Extensions will be for a maximum of 48 hours (longer extensions supported by a doctor’s certificate or exceptional circumstances to be considered on a case by case basis).

A penalty of 10% of the total available grade will accrue for each 24-hour period that an assessment item is submitted late. Therefore an assessment item worth 20 marks will have 2 marks deducted for every 24-hour period and at the end of 10 days will receive 0 marks.

Students who fail to submit following the guidelines in this Unit Information Guide will be deemed to have not submitted the assessment item and the above penalty will be applied until the specified submission guidelines are followed.

Mode of delivery

This unit will be delivered on-campus and externally. All students will have the opportunity to attend and/or review the recording of weekly, one-hour online sessions. On-campus students will also be expected to attend weekly, two-hour on-campus sessions.

The unit has been designed to ensure that all students have access to all learning materials by providing these online on a fully developed MySCU site.

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Student academic integrity

It is a University requirement that a student’s work complies with the Academic Policy, Chapter 4.20 on Student Academic Integrity. It is a student’s responsibility to be familiar with the Policy. Failure to comply with the Policy can have severe consequences in the form of University sanctions. For information on this Policy please refer to Chapter 4.20 on Student Academic Integrity at the following website:

http://www.scu.edu.au/governance/academicboard/policy/

under ‘Student Values and Rights’.

As part of a University initiative to support the development of academic integrity, assessments may be checked for plagiarism, including through an electronic system, either internally or by a plagiarism checking service, and be held for future checking and matching purposes.

Student feedback

Students are encouraged to complete the online student feedback on learning and teaching survey. This is offered for all units in every study period.


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Assessment details

Assignment due dates and the examination period provided here apply to the Australian study period. These may be varied for students studying elsewhere, please confirm dates with your local tutor.

At a tertiary level students are not assessed on their ability to recite facts or reproduce information. Assessment includes the ability to interpret a question intelligently, to demonstrate depth of understanding of a topic, to critically analyse and to report upon a situation (Cope 2006).

In this unit we particularly emphasise the graduate attributes of ‘lifelong learning’ through independent research and ‘reasoning’ or critical thinking. You will practice these skills through each of your non-exam assessment items. Before looking at these assessments, please read through the brief recap on critical thinking below to check your understanding.

A brief recap of critical thinking adapted from Epstein (2003)

Critical thinking is evaluating whether we should be convinced that some claim is true or some

argument is good, as well as formulating good arguments. Critical thinking is something we need

to do everyday – while reading, watching television, talking to friends, working at our jobs, etc.

It sharpens your reasoning and helps you make better decisions. You should be able to distinguish

a good argument from a bad one. Use the critical abilities you are developing to read your own

work. Learn to stand aside outside your work and judge it as you would judge an argument made by

someone else.

Basically, reasoning well begins with being able to recognise and make both claims and definitions.

A claim is a declarative sentence used in such a way that it is either true or false. A claim can be

• objective – uses impersonal standards, e.g. ‘It’s 38 degrees centigrade today’

• subjective – uses personal standards based on what someone thinks, feels or believes, e.g. ‘It’s

hot today.’

Either is acceptable, as long as there is only one way to understand it. If it is not clear which standard

is being invoked, it is a vague sentence, not a claim.

A definition is an explanation or stipulation of how to use a word or phrase. Definitions are not

claims. A definition is good (clearly understood, used interchangeably) or bad. Often getting a good

definition and showing how it works is a major piece of research.

An argument is a collection of claims, comprising premises and the conclusion:

• Most claims are called premises. These are supposed to lead to, support or convince that the

conclusion is true. Premises are indicated by words such as ‘since’, ‘because’, ‘due to’.

• The conclusion is a claim whose truth the argument is intending to establish. The conclusion

is your decision (judgement) on the issue that is being debated. Conclusion indicators include

‘hence’, ‘therefore’, ‘thus’, ‘we can then show that’, ‘it follows that’.


For an argument to be good, it must pass two independent tests:

• There should be good reason to believe the premises. Your premises must be highly plausible.

This means that they have passed your evaluation.

• The premises lead to or support or establish the conclusions. An argument is no better than its

least plausible premise.

Your argument should be able to withstand the obvious counterarguments or questions ‘So?’ or

‘Why?’. It’s wise to consider these in your work.

You may provide an argument for both sides of an issue if you treat it as a debate. Depending on the

strength of each argument, you may or may not choose one side over the other. However, you still

need to articulate your position in a conclusion.

For further reading on critical thinking, please refer to the following sources:

• Your study of EDU10235 (Learning and Communication) or COM00207 (Communication in Organisations)

• your Communications Skills Handbook by Summers and Smith (2010)

• the resources available at MySCU’s Academic Skills Development Unit http://www.scu.edu.

au/academicskills/index.php, in particular ‘What is critical thinking’, ‘Critical analysis’ and ‘Developing an argument: Essay’.

• Excerpt from Epstein’s (2003) The Pocket Guide to Critical Thinking available on the unit Blackboard: Chapter 1 (‘Claims’), Chapter 3 (‘Arguments’) and Chapter 20 (‘Writing good arguments’).

Assignment 1 – Oral presentation to critically analyse a contemporary issue in marketing

Marketing is all around us and affects many aspects of our lives in different ways. It is as fast-changing as the society in which we live. Because it is ubiquitous and dynamic, marketing raises many issues, with which we grapple every day. People’s viewpoints may vary widely.

The aim of this assignment is two-fold: (1) to stimulate your critical thinking in relation to a contentious, contemporary marketing issue and (2) to encourage you to develop and practise your public speaking and presentation skills (key success factors in business) in relation to this issue. Share your research findings and viewpoints with the audience!

Due: Workshop week corresponding to unit topic chosen (see Syllabus)

Form: Individual assessment

Length: 7–10 minutes plus approx. 5 minutes question/answer time

Weighting: 20%

Topic: Reflect on one (1) of the topic-related contemporary issues in marketing from the list provided (see below) and present your argument in the workshop week corresponding to the pertinent unit topic.

http://www.scu.edu.au/academicskills/index.php

http://www.scu.edu.au/academicskills/index.php


List of contemporary marketing issues

Choose one (1) issue only by Session Week 3. If you are an on-campus student, advise your tutor in-class. If you are an external student, please register your topic in the appropriate Discussion Board thread.

Unit Topic No.

Presentation week

Unit Topic Contemporary marketing issues

(Choose 1 issue only)

2 5 Environment (a) The rapid globalisation of business and the boundless nature of the Internet have made it possible for every marketer to become and international marketer.

OR

3 CPS in marketing

(b) Marketers need to be more proactive in directing their target markets toward sustainable consumption.

OR

4 Marketing research

(c) Marketing research is not beneficial from a customer’s perspective – it merely gives marketers new insights into how to convince consumers to buy something they don’t really want or need.

5 6 Consumer behaviour

(a) Carbon footprint labelling will not make consumer buying behaviour more green.

OR

(b) What is ‘cool’ is determined by marketers, not consumers. Marketers direct consumer needs.

OR

(c) Marketing junk food to children contributes to growing childhood obesity and should be banned.

6 8 Target market selection

(a) Ries & Trout’s (1989) immutable marketing law that ‘perception is reality’ is as true as ever.

OR

(b) Positioning is far more important than segmentation or targeting.

7 9 Marketing plan objectives and

metrics

(a) Marketers need to be more metrics-focused.

OR

(b) The external environment is changing so quickly that contingency planning is becoming more critical in marketing.

8 10 Product (a) Service characteristics – are they really so different from branded goods?

OR

(b) Customers don’t know what they want when it comes to new products because they don’t understand what is possible.

9 11 Price (a) Consumer won’t keep paying more for brands. Branded products need to be more price-competitive to survive the onslaught of generic brands.

OR

(b) Pricing should be ruled by the Finance people, not the Marketing people.

10 12 Place (a) Marketing supply chain management (distribution and logistics) decisions are among the most important facing management today.

OR

(b) The growth of e-tailing spells the decline of store-based retailing.

11 13 Promotion (a) Advertising has gone too far – there is too much sex in advertising.OR

(b) The emergence of online one-to-one marketing communication spells the decline in the use of mass communication in marketing.


Requirements

You will need to apply your critical thinking skills to develop a valid argument and clear standpoint on your chosen presentation issue. Aim to convince the audience of your point of view. For content, you will need to undertake some research into theoretical concepts and real-life examples to inform your position. Illustrate your points using at least one (1) recent (last 12 months), original example. Use at least one type of visual aid (e.g. PowerPoint slides, photos, videos, product samples, props, artwork, handouts) suitable for your delivery mode to help communicate your message. Presentations will commence in Session Week 5 and will continue each week until end of session (Week 13 inclusive).

Tips on preparing effective presentations are available in the Communications Skills Handbook by Summers and Smith (2010), on the unit Blackboard site and also on the Teaching with Technology website http://www.scu.edu.au/twt/pre_slides01.html.

The presentation delivery options vary for internal and external students:

• Internal students will deliver their presentation live in-class in the corresponding Workshop session. Allocation of presentation issues will be finalised in Session Week 3. Your tutor will aim to have an even spread of presentations – approx. three per class per week. (Note: If you are unable to present in the scheduled week and your presentation cannot be rescheduled, you will need to present online (see external students).

• External students will deliver their presentation using Elluminate Live or as a video recording (DVD or online link). Please register your chosen presentation issue by end of Week 3. To do so, please click on the ‘sign-up for oral presentation’ in the main menu (left-hand side) of the unit Blackboard and follow the prompts.To ensure an even spread of presentations across issues, registrations will be capped. So, register early to avoid disappointment! Choose one of the following presentation delivery options:

Elluminate Live!:

� Deliver and record your presentation in the Elluminate Live Presentation FINAL RECORDING Room. In addition to your presentation time, please anticipate one or two possible questions from an imaginary audience and prepare responses. Advise your marker by email of the date/time of your presentation to facilitate marking. Note: If you happen to join an Elluminate Live session while someone else is presenting, ask the presenter whether you may stay. Before recording your own session, you will need to exit and re-enter the session.

OR

� For a more authentic presentation experience (i.e. one involving an audience), present live in the weekly Elluminate Live Presentation LIVE Room. (Dates and times of these sessions will be posted on Blackboard.) A tutor will be present to facilitate and mark the presentations. All students are invited to join to learn about new topics, ask questions and provide feedback to presenters. Presenters simply turn-up and arrange speaking order with other presenters. Note: All presentations will be recorded as one session.

The Elluminate Live! for Dummies guide available on the Blackboard provides an easy-to-read, step-by-step guide to presenting in Elluminate. Help on Elluminate Live! is also available at http://www.scu.edu.au/flds/index.php/7. Come along to the weekly Elluminate Live topic recap sessions to further familiarise yourself with this software. Note: If you are using Elluminate, try to include a photo of yourself in your presentation. Avoid using webcam, however, as it increases file size considerably. No animation, no transitions, no videos. Each slide must be still image.

http://www.scu.edu.au/twt/pre_slides01.html.

http://www.scu.edu.au/flds/index.php/7.

http://www.scu.edu.au/flds/index.php/7.


Video recording:

Note: This option is only for students familiar with video technologies using Youtube, Windows media or Quicktime file formats. NO technical support will be provided by the academic team. You are responsible for ensuring the tutor can successfully view the video.

� For Youtube recordings, post the link to the appropriate Discussion Board thread.

� For other videos,

– Save and optimise file for the web. Check that you are satisfied with the recording. Upload to the unit Blackboard under Assessment details for the Oral presentation.

OR

– Save the file to a DVD. Check that you are satisfied with the recording. Mail to the unit assessor. Keep a back-up copy for yourself.

All students are encouraged to rehearse prior to being assessed – live or online (in one of the Elluminate Live! Presentation Practice Rooms). In the Elluminate Live! Presentation Practice room you can record and critically review your recorded practice presentation before it is assessed! Make a note of the date and time of your recording, so that you can retrieve it through the Calendar in Elluminate Live. Note: If you happen to join an Elluminate Live session while someone is already practicing, ask the presenter whether you may stay. If you wish to record your presentation, go to another Practice room. (To record your own presentation, you need to will need to enter a new session, otherwise your presentation will be added to the first recording.)

Marking criteria1. Discipline competency: Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of relevant topic (10%)

2. Research and information literacy: Level and appropriateness of research undertaken on relevant topic (10%)

3. Reasoning: Ability to develop an effective argument (10%)

4. Reasoning: Ability to convince audience of his/her viewpoint (10%)

5. Creativity: Demonstrated new and imaginative responses throughout the presentation (10%)

6. Oral communication (50%):

a. Organisation of material: Logical, seamless structure

b. Use of visual aids: Effective PowerPoints, props, other visual material

c. Clear delivery: Audible, well-paced speech, effective pausing, confidence

d. Contact with audience: Eye contact, engage audience

e. Handling of questions: Anticipate and answer questions, elaborate on responses.

Online multiple choice question (MCQ) quizzes (3)

Due: MCQ quiz 1 (Topics 1, 2 and 4) – Quiz open Weeks 4 to 7 MCQ quiz 2 (Topics 5, 6, 7 and 8) – Quiz open Weeks 8 to 10 MCQ quiz 3 (Topics 9, 10 and 11) – Quiz open Weeks 11 to 13 Quizzes open Monday 9.00 (AEST) and close Sundays 23.00 (AEST)

Form: Individual assessment

Length: around 25 MCQ questions per quiz (quizzes are timed – 60 minutes)

Weighting: 20% total (6.7% per quiz)


The aim of this assessment is to encourage you to read the textbook and to regularly check your knowledge and understanding of the concepts you have learned.

Requirements

You need to individually attempt each online quiz during the three-week period it is available. Access to the quizzes is via MySCU – unit Blackboard’s ‘Assessment details’. Although the quizzes are open-book, they are individual assessment tasks, not to be taken in groups or by anyone other than the enrolled student. Academic integrity is just as important for quizzes as for other assessment tasks, and breaches will be taken seriously.

You will be given three attempts. On each attempt, questions will be randomly drawn from a question pool. This means that no two students’ quizzes are identical.

Further, quizzes are timed. You must complete the test, in order for a score to be recorded in the Grade Centre. If you exceed the time limit, your marks will not be recorded. (If this applies to you, you will see a ‘!’ symbol instead of a mark for your quiz. Note that the unit assessor regularly checks these situations and generally reinstates marks for minor ‘overtime’ infringements.) For multiple completions (up to three) of a given quiz, the best score will be automatically recorded in the Grade Centre.

It is expected that all students will have the opportunity to undertake each test during its three-week period of availability. Therefore, no extensions will be granted. The quiz cut-off times are automatic, and the quizzes cannot be reinstated.

Assignment 2 – A marketing plan for a new sustainable offering1

Developing a marketing plan is one of the key tools used by marketers to ensure that their marketing strategy for a particular product has a greater level of success. There are four special reasons why you are asked to undertake a marketing plan in this unit:

1. You will gain insights into trying to actually ‘do’ marketing that will go beyond what you will read in the text. Marketing will make a whole lot more sense to you, because you will better understand how its components fit together.

2. You will increase your market worth by showing prospective employers (or equivalent) your marketing plan as part of a ‘portfolio’ of samples of written work from university.

3. By working in a group, you will improve your teamwork and project management skills, which are critical in the contemporary workplace. You will also learn from your fellow group members, and they may even become part of your personal or professional network.

4. By focusing on a ‘sustainable’ offering, you will ‘raise the bar’ for marketers and consumers alike. Your creative problem solving skills will be challenged. By acquiring a more pro-active market orientation (one which anticipates future needs rather than just responds to expressed needs), you will help the marketing industry become part of the sustainability solution.

This assignment is in three (3) related parts:

• Part A: Concept for new sustainable market offering (group)

• Part B: Marketing plan (group)

• Part C: Reflection on marketing plan and group work (individual).

1 We use the term ‘offering’ and ‘product’ synonymously. As per the Solomon et al. (2011, p. 11), a product is ‘a tangible good, service, idea or some combination of these that satisfies consumer or business needs through the exchange process; a bundle of attributes, including features, functions, benefits and uses’.


As you learned from your studies in Management, planning addresses three main questions: (1) Where are we now? (situation analysis), (2) Where do we want to go? (objectives) and (3) How do we get there? (strategy). Part A of your assignment covers the situation analysis. Objectives and strategy are the covered in Part B.

Group work rationale and instructions

You are required to undertake your work on Parts A and B collaboratively in groups. This section prepares you for group work by addressing common group work issues. It follows the widely recognised resource kit ‘Enhancing experiences of group work’ developed by University of Technology Sydney (UTS)2.

Rationale for group work

The reasons for group work in this assessment are manifold:

• sharing the workload – the CPS and marketing planning tasks are challenging and require a lot work

• peer learning – your group members’ understanding of CPS and marketing planning will compliment and help you to deepen your own

• developing your confidence in interpersonal communication and teamwork (e.g. managing self and others, making decisions collectively and dealing with conflict) – this will serve you well in a variety of contexts, including current or prospective workplace.

Group size

Given the work demands of Parts A and B, groups of 3 to 4 students are thought to be optimal. A size of less than 3 students reduces the benefits from team work. It also increases the risk to the remaining students in the case of a student pulling out. On the other hand, more than 4 students increases the coordination costs to the extent that they start outweighing the benefits of group work. Further, 4 is the maximum number of speakers which can be enabled in Elluminate Live! for meeting purposes.

In special cases there may be unique circumstances in which a student faces extraordinary challenges (e.g. military service, confinement, illness with medical certificate). In such circumstances, the student may seek unit assessor approval to do the assignment individually.

Group tasks

The ‘deliverables’ for Parts A and B are set-out clearly in the following sections. Most tasks could be readily allocated to group members, if you/your group prefer. Of course, some of the work will need to be undertaken jointly, notably:

• CPS and decision on the final offering in Part A

• Executive summary in Part B

• Full review and final edit of Parts A and B. The various components within and between Parts A and B are related. Therefore, all members of the group need to ensure that both documents presented are consistent and coherent.

2 University of Technology Sydney 2010, Student assessment at UTS, from http://www.iml.uts.edu.au/learnteach/groupwork/

http://www.iml.uts.edu.au/learnteach/groupwork/


Forming of groups

Groups will be formed in Week 2 using a technique called selective appointment. The aim will be to form homogenous groups on the assumption that groups work better when the members have more in common. The primary shared criteria will be your grade expectation (High Distinction/Distinction, Credit or Pass) for this unit. This serves as an indicator of the amount of effort you are likely to invest in this assignment. According to UTS (2010), there are many advantages associated with this mark aspiration appointment system:

• students have some choice in the formation process

• high achieving students do not feel as though their marks will be dragged down by students aiming for a pass

• students with lower mark aspirations do not feel the pressure to have to perform.

• it is relatively easy to administer.

If required, the secondary shared criteria will be convenience of meeting time or place.

Administration of the mark aspiration group appointment scheme varies somewhat for internal versus external students:

• If you are an internal (on-campus) student, you will be allocated a group during your workshop class. If you miss the Week 2 workshop, you will be allocated in the next workshop you attend.

• If you are an external (distance) student, please assist us with the group allocation by clicking on the ‘marketing plan group allocation’ in the main menu (left-hand side) of the unit Blackboard. Please answer the two questions re your grade aspiration and your location by 4 July (beginning of Week 3). If you have not posted this information, we will randomly assign you to a group of other external students.

Getting started and managing your group

Effective groups generally have regular and productive meetings, that is members get together synchronously – whether face-to-face or virtual (phone, Skype, Wiki, Elluminate Live!). The initial start-up (or kick-off) meeting is particularly important, as it sets the ground rules and goals – a team charter – for the group. Once this is accomplished, you might find that asynchronous (non-timebound) communication within the group works sufficiently well, especially for external students.

Once the groups are finalised (by end of Week 3), please make contact with your group members through your group wiki (or in-class) to establish a start-up meeting. At your first-meeting (by Week 4) we highly recommend that your group undertake the following two exercises – both available on the unit Blackboard Group work resources:

• ‘“Getting to know you” group exercise’ – an easy way to learn more about your fellow group members. This exercise includes gathering group members’ contact details

• ‘Team charter exercise’ – agree on name of group, meeting methods and times, procedures for poor contribution from other students, decision-making processes and, importantly, goals. Internal students will undertake the team charter exercise in Week 3.

Remember, the two big goals for your group are to develop and complete Assignment 2 Parts A and B on time!


To ensure that equal status of group members is maintained, we urge you to adopt a rotating role structure. The means that the following common team roles are randomly assigned in the first meeting and then rotated on a regular basis:

• Facilitator – who is responsible for chairing the meeting

• Time keeper – who ensures that the meeting keeps to time

• Recorder/note taker – who is responsible for taking the minutes of the meeting

• Devil’s advocate – who is responsible for critically examining the ideas of the group members and trying to avoid ‘group think’ emerging within the group

• Team players – who support the other roles through active promotion.

As your group gets underway, there are some other useful tools available on the unit Blackboard Group work resources. You can fill out the forms, talk about your responses or adapt them as you see fit:

• Team meeting report – a basic action plan (What to be done? By whom? By when?). We recommend you completing it at every group meeting. This will help the group stay on track. You can easily place this on your group wiki.

• Team review exercise – rate your group’s strengths and weaknesses – by yourself and together with the group. We suggest you undertake this exercise twice – during completion of Part A and Part B respectively.

Monitoring group work

Each group is essentially self-regulating. This means that your group is responsible for managing its own meetings and achieving its goals. To help monitor progress, a different member from each group will be asked to give a verbal progress report at workshop or Elluminate Live! sessions on a weekly or fortnightly basis. This report should focus on what the group has been achieving. Regular verbal reporting is beneficial because it:

• holds members accountable

• allows each member to gain experience with making presentations

• keeps communication channels open in the group (between members)

• helps groups compare their progress to other groups.

Managing risks of group work problems

Students may face a number of risks by working in a group, e.g. social loafing, dominating members, conflict. This is a true reflection of a workplace environment where people must work together. The instructions and resources we are providing are designed to help you take responsibility for making your group work.

If you feel your group is not managing these risks sufficiently well by itself, you may contact your tutor for assistance – in person or by email. If you choose to do so, please provide the tutor with completed copies of the following to demonstrate that you/your group have/has already taken all possible steps to address the issue(s):

• getting to know you group exercise

• team charter

• team review exercise(s) to date – individual and group

• team meeting report(s) to date.

Further, please develop your own proposed solution to resolve the conflict. If you do not provide this information, your tutor’s ability to intervene will be limited.


If your group chooses to separate, the team work component of the mark will be deducted.

Collecting and writing-up group data

To facilitate the collection and writing-up of data within each group, a wiki for each group will be established by the end of Week 3, once group membership has been finalised. You can record your contributions on your group wiki and edit other group members’ work. You can use the Wiki page to draft the content of Parts A and B. You can also post the various team exercises mentioned above to your group wiki. Use of the group wiki is optional.

Note: A wiki is a website of one or more pages that allows people to add and edit content collectively. Each Wiki has an easy-to-use editor that lets you quickly add content and style your work. Your wiki starts off with one page – the homepage – and you can add new pages at any time. There is no ‘required’ format for the Wiki page. Essentially you are using it to discuss issues with other group members and to develop a draft of your report. You can access your group Wiki from the Assignments section of the Unit Blackboard site. Please note that no student can access the Wiki page of another group. For more information on wikis, please refer to http://staff.scu.edu.au/it/blackboard/index.php/9/ or contact [email protected]. (Tip: To help identify different students’ contributions, each student can work with a unique text font colour.)

Submitting group reports

Parts A and B are to be submitted by one (1) member of the group only via ‘Turnitin’ within the unit MySCU ‘Assignments’ by the due date. Please ensure that all group members’ names and SCU student numbers appear on the cover page. For more information on using Turnitin, please visit http://study.scu.edu.au/turnitin/.

Assessment of group work

Group members will receive the group mark for assessment purposes, whereby peer assessment will be used to moderate the mark. You are asked to indicate – for each group member – whether the contribution to group work was more than, less than or equal to ‘fair share’. To do this, please complete the individual and confidential ‘Peer assessment of group contribution’ form for Assignment 2 Parts A and B and submit to MySCU by the respective due date. If no forms are submitted, a ‘fair share’ contribution by all students will be assumed.

More information on group work

Resources on group work are available on the unit Blackboard and at MySCU’s Academic Skills Development Unit http://www.scu.edu.au/academicskills/index.php.

Assignment 2 Part A – Concept development and situation analysis

Due: Monday Week 7

Form: Groups of 3–4 students

Length: 3,000 words (excluding figures, tables, references, appendices)

Weighting: 25%

Topic: Develop a market offering positioned on sustainability upon which your plan will be based. Analyse the current situation.

http://staff.scu.edu.au/it/blackboard/index.php/9/or



http://study.scu.edu.au/turnitin/.

http://study.scu.edu.au/turnitin/.

http://www.scu.edu.au/academicskills/index.php.


Requirements

Within your group – using the information and format provided in Study Guide Topic 3 on Creative problem solving (CPS) in marketing – go through the CPS process for deciding upon the offering. The offering must be positioned on sustainability. It must be one of the following:

a. an existing non-sustainable offering capable of being marketed in a sustainable way

b. an existing sustainable offering capable of being marketed more effectively

c. a new offering with a key sustainability benefit that overcomes an existing ‘problem’.

A sustainability positioning implies that it reflects a ‘triple bottom line’ approach to marketing decision making. This involves environmental/ecological stewardship (maintaining and renewing ‘natural capital’), social stewardship (equity and well-being of humans and community) and economic stewardship (valuing financial continuity over profit).3 In other words, sustainability replaces the contemporary celebration of growth with a new ethic of sufficiency and attention to what is enough and what is too much.4

To simulate a client-based situation, your group will act as a marketing consulting company or as the organisation marketing the proposed offering. Make any necessary assumptions (e.g. about the organisation behind the market offering) to ensure that you can proceed to the commercialisation step, of which your marketing plan is an important part. As indicated above, your chosen offering may relate to an existing organisation. In fact, we would welcome a real ‘client-based’ project if you can scope it to the demands of the assessment task.

Week 3 lecture and workshop activities will support you with CPS required for developing and deciding upon your group’s sustainable marketing offering.

Within your group, document the CPS process, develop a situation analysis for the chosen offering and report using the format recommended below.

Format of the concept and situation analysis

The report is to be set-out in two main parts:

1. background to the selection of the offering

2. situation analysis relating to the offering.

1. Background to selection of the sustainable market offering

Document the process the group went through in deciding upon the offering. Each of the following five pre-implementation stages of CPS needs to be addressed5:

i. Problem identification: Identify the unmet needs (e.g. through a ‘bug list’)

ii. Problem delineation: Thoroughly understand and define the problem

iii. Information gathering: Develop an adequate base of domain-specific knowledge. Identify and list the assumptions held about the problem

iv. Idea generation: Think divergently to generate novel ideas (e.g. through brainstorming, mind mapping, forced associations, de Bono’s six hats)

3 Bridges, CM & Wilhelm, WG 2008, ‘Going beyond green: The “why and how” of integrating sustainability in to the marketing curriculum’, Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 30, no. 1, April, pp. 33–46.

4 Princen, T 2005, The Logic of Sufficiency, MIT Press, Cambridge, p. 18.

5 Titus, PA 2000, ‘Marketing and the creative problem-solving process’, Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 225–235.


v. Idea evaluation and refinement: Critically examine quality of ideas generated using appropriate evaluative criteria (e.g. problem solving ability, viability, timeliness) through reverse brainstorming. The outcome of this step should be the final chosen offering to be taken forward in the marketing plan.

(Note: Working toward the final step in the creative problem solving process – implementation – is the aim of the marketing plan.)

2. Situation analysis of the selected sustainable market offering

This section of the report elaborates on those parts of Section 1 that relate to the chosen market offering positioned on sustainability. It comprises three parts:

i. Profileofthesustainablemarketoffering,e.g.intermsof:

� nature of the offer – what combination of good, service and experience

� level – core, actual and augmented product

� type – industrial or consumer good (convenience, shopping, speciality or unsought)

� unique selling proposition (USP) or sustainable competitive advantage (CSA)

� existing brand perceptions (if applicable)

� information needs to be filled and an outline of the marketing research (secondary, primary) required to do so.

ii. Environmental analysis

An assessment of current external macro- and microenvironmental factors pertinent to the future of the sustainable market offering:

� main issues and trends within political/legal, economic, socio-cultural, technological and ecological (PESTE) macroenvironment

� competition: main direct and indirect competitors (e.g. in terms of their size, goals, market share, product quality, marketing strategies and other characteristics that are needed to understand their intentions and behaviour). Focus on their key competitive advantages and weaknesses. How are they positioned?

� suppliers and intermediaries: main issues and trends

� information needs to be filled and an outline of the marketing research (secondary, primary) required to do so

� SWOT analysis

– Describe the sustainable market offering’s internal strengths (things it does well) and weaknesses (things it does not do well).

– Describe the opportunities and threats in the external environment that would influence the prospects of the offering.

– Assess how strengths might be matched to opportunities to produce leverage.

– Assess the problems that result when environmental threats attack weaknesses in the offering.

– Anticipate how internal weaknesses or limitations may prevent the offering from taking advantage of opportunities.

– Anticipate how strengths might be used to used reduce the vulnerability to threats.


iii. Market and customer analysis

� Consumer or business market?

� Market type: potential (interested customers), available (interested with income and access to offering), qualified (available and suitable on other criteria, such as age) and target (qualified and to be served) and penetrated (current buyers)

� Customer need

� Market growth, market share (if applicable)

� Influences on consumers (e.g. cultural, social, personal) or business customers (e.g. size, industry, growth, resources, supplier relationships)

� Information needs to be filled and an outline of the marketing research (secondary, primary) required to do so.

3. Appendices

4. References

5. Evidence of team work (not included in word limit)

Include any two (2) of the following:

• ‘Getting to know you’ exercise

• Team charter

• Team review exercise

• Team meeting report

• Reference to work on Wiki.

In addition to the group submission, please complete the individual and confidential ‘Peer assessment of group contribution’ form for Assignment 2 Part A and submit to the unit MySCU ‘Assignments’ by the due date.

Marking criteria1. Discipline competency: Business knowledge i.e. demonstrating an understanding of business and

marketing concepts (5%)

2. Creativity: Demonstrated commitment to achieving an imaginative and creative response by attending to each of the five steps to the creative problem-solving process (CPS) (35% – 7% each)

3. Ethical values: Demonstrated commitment to sustainability in CPS and selecting market offering (10%)

4. Research and information literacy: Existing and primary research (5%)

5. Reasoning: Critical thinking and analysis of situations:

a. Synthesis of creative problem-solving outcomes into a meaningful product profile (10%)

b. Environmental analysis (10%)

c. Market and customer analysis (10%)

6. Written communication: Organisation (report structure, use of paragraphs), writing style (clarity, readability, consistency), spelling and grammar, use of visuals (5%)

7. Professionalism: Working effectively in a team – based on evidence of functional group of 3–4 students (10%).

Note: Proper referencing is assumed. Poorly referenced or unreferenced assignments are a result of inadequate research and/or plagiarism (accidental or intentional) and will not be marked. If the marker suspects plagiarism (a breach of academic integrity as outlined under Student Academic Integrity in the Unit Statement section of this Unit Information Guide), the assignment will be referred to the unit assessor for scrutiny and, if confirmed, to the Head of School for further action. If the marker does not suspect plagiarism, students will be asked to resubmit within one week or fail the assignment.


Assignment 2 Part B – Final marketing plan

Due: Monday Week 14

Form: same groups as in Assignment 2 Part A

Length: 3,000 words (excluding figures, tables, references, appendices)

Weighting: 25%

Topic: Complete the marketing plan for the sustainable market offering chosen in Part A.

Requirements

Within your group, work through the elements of the marketing plan format set out below and report accordingly.

FORMAT of the Marketing Plan: FinalExecutive summary

This is a synopsis of the overall marketing plan. On one page, outline the major issues and recommendations covered in your plan. Although this is the first thing that will be read, it is best written last.

1. Current situation (Briefly recap Part A; refine if necessary)

• background to sustainable offering

• environmental analysis

• market and customer analysis.

2. Objectives

State the financial, marketing and other stakeholder objectives you would like the sustainable marketing offering to achieve during the plan’s term (1, 3 or 5 years). They need to be SMART (specific, measurable, accurate, realistic and time-bound). These are the outcomes required from the marketing plan. Objectives need to be consistent with an organisation’s mission (in case you have identified one). Provide:

• financial objectives (e.g. sales, net profits p.a., ROI)

• marketing objectives (e.g. market share, consumer awareness, number of dealers)

• other stakeholder objectives, e.g. ecological (waste reduction), community (awareness of or participation in sustainability projects).

3. Target market

Build on the target market description in the situation analysis by detailing the preferred target market(s). Describe the general characteristics (e.g. demographic, psychographic) and needs of the target market(s). Identify whether they are present users, users of competitive products, or non-users of the product category. Support your recommendation for selecting this particular segment, i.e. why does it have the biggest potential? Identify any further information needs to be filled and outline the marketing research (secondary, primary) required to do so.

4. Marketing strategies

This section outlines the broad marketing logic by which the organisational unit hopes to achieve its marketing objectives for your sustainable market offering. It includes the following components:


4.1 Positioning

• Develop a value proposition for your sustainable market offering, i.e. how will it create differentiated value for a key target segment and what ‘position’ will it occupy in that segment. Basically, how will it beat the competition? Recall that product position is ‘the way that the product is defined by consumers on important attributes or the place the product occupies in consumers’ minds relative to competing products’.6

• Identify any further information needs to be filled and outline the marketing research (secondary, primary) required to do so.

4.2 Product (offering)

• Rework/update your product profile from Part A, i.e.

� nature of the offer – what combination of good, service and experience

� level – core, actual and augmented product

� type – industrial or consumer good (convenience, shopping, speciality or unsought)

� unique selling proposition (USP) or sustainable competitive advantage (CSA)

� existing brand perceptions (if applicable).

• Detail your recommendations concerning branding, packaging, labelling, extensions and provision of augmented aspects.


4.3 Price

• Explain how you will set the price for your offering. Your pricing should be consistent with your financial objectives and address each of the following steps:

1. pricing goals – profit-oriented, sales-oriented or status-quo oriented

2. forecast demand, costs and profits

3. pricing strategy – penetration, skimming or status quo. Include an assessment of your price/product quality positioning

4. tactics for fine-tuning the base price.


4.4 Placement (distribution)

• Explain how you will get your offering to the final consumer. Consider the following decisions in your discussion:

� channel structure – direct or indirect

� level of distribution intensity – intensive, selective or exclusive

� logistics services – the desired level of supply chain service which maximises service yet minimises cost (e.g. value-added services, product transformation).

These decisions should reflect the factors that affect the channel choice, i.e. market factors (e.g. buyer behaviour), product factors and producer factors.


6 Kotler, Adam, Denize and Armstrong. 2009. Principles of Marketing 4E, Pearson, Frenchs Forest, p. 246.


4.5 Promotion (marketing communications)

• Explain how you will apply the integrated marketing communications (IMC) concept to the promotion of your offering. Your discussion should cover:

� target audience – should match your target market

� communication goals (to perform, persuade or remind)

� message design – should be consistent, unified and customer-focused

� promotional mix (advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, direct and digital marketing). The allocation of your communication budget to the promotional mix should reflect the factors that affect the promotional mix (nature of the product, stage in the product life cycle, target market characteristics, type of buying decision, available funds for promotion and use of push or pull strategy.)

• identify any further information needs to be filled and outline the marketing research (secondary, primary) required to do so.

4.6 People (internal marketing; customer service) – OPTIONAL

• Explain how you will:

� develop a customer service culture

� select, train, motivate and reward service providers/staff

� manage customer expectations through service providers/staff.

4.7 Process (systems; procedures) – OPTIONAL

• Explain how you will design and deliver operational systems and procedures that enable staff to consistently match customer expectations e.g. information systems, queuing systems.

4.8 Physical evidence (internal marketing; customer service) – OPTIONAL

• Explain how you will offer tangible cues to the quality of your service e.g.

� ambient conditions, e.g. exterior facilities (building, gardens, parking), interior (light, colour, sound)

� space/function, e.g. store layout (allocation of selling space, cash register placement)

� signs, symbols, artifacts, e.g. staff uniforms, store signage, brochures and information, logos.

5. Marketing implementation

Develop an action plan that shows for each strategy element:

• What will be done? (marketing activity)

• When will it be done? (target completion date)

• Who will do it? (responsibility)

• How much will it cost? (expenditure)

6. Budget

Develop an approximate budget for the time horizon of your plan (1, 3 or 5 years) covering the following elements:

• Revenue: Forecast sales volume in units multiplied by the average price

• Less: Cost of production

• Less: Cost of distribution

• Less: Marketing costs (from action plan)

• Projected profit.


7. Evaluation and control

Explain how marketing activities will be monitored to ensure success. Give specific directions as to who will be responsible for evaluation and how it will be carried out. In particular, explain how you will use the following (and/or other) metrics to evaluate your marketing performance against your marketing objectives:

• Financial (e.g. sales, profitability, ROI)

• Marketing

� Consumer attitudes (e.g. awareness of ad or brand, knowledge, perceived quality, satisfaction)

� Consumer behaviour (number of new consumers, loyalty leads generated, conversions)

� Market (market share, market penetration)

� Relative to competitor (relative consumer satisfaction, perceived quality)

• Environmental (e.g. carbon emissions, recycling of operational inputs and product, operational waste, consumer waste).

8. Appendices

9. References

10. Evidence of team work (not included in word limit)

Include any two (2) of the following – undertaken after completion of Part A:

• team review exercise

• team meeting report

• reference to work on Wiki.

In addition to the group submission, please complete the individual and confidential Peer assessment of group contribution form for Assignment 2 Part B and submit to the unit MySCU ‘Assignments’ by the due date.

Marking criteria1. Discipline competency: Business knowledge i.e. demonstrating an understanding of business and

marketing concepts (10%)

2. Creativity: Demonstrated commitment to achieving an imaginative and creative response by attending to each of the marketing strategies (5%)

3. Ethical values: Demonstrated commitment to sustainability in marketing objectives, strategies an implementation (5%)

4. Research and information literacy: Existing and primary research (5%)

5. Reasoning: Critical thinking and analysis of situations:

a. current situation (Recap) (5%)

b. marketing objectives (5%)

c. target market (5%)

d. marketing strategies (25%)

e. marketing implementation (5%)

f. evaluation and control (5%)

g. budget (5%)

6. Written communication: Effectiveness of Executive summary (5%)


7. Written communication: Organisation (report structure, use of paragraphs), writing style (clarity, readability, consistency), spelling and grammar, use of visuals, correct referencing (5%)

8. Professionalism: Working effectively in a team – based on evidence of functional group of 3–4 students (10%).

Note: Proper referencing is assumed. Poorly referenced or unreferenced assignments are a result of inadequate research and/or plagiarism (accidental or intentional) and will not be marked. If the marker suspects plagiarism (a breach of academic integrity as outlined under Student Academic Integrity in the Unit Statement section of this Unit Information Guide), the assignment will be referred to the unit assessor for scrutiny and, if confirmed, to the Head of School for further action. If the marker does not suspect plagiarism, students will be asked to resubmit within one week or fail the assignment.

For more information on report writing, please consult your Communications Skills Handbook by Summers and Smith (2010) and/or the resources available at MySCU’s Academic Skills Development Unit http://www.scu.edu.au/academicskills/index.php.

Assignment 2 Part C – Reflection on marketing plan and group work (mini-essay)

Due: Monday Week 14

Form: individual

Length: 500 words

Weighting: 10%

Topic: Reflect on your marketing plan group work experience over this Session.

The aims of this short assignment are to help you:

• see the skills you have learned through (a) the group experience and (b) the marketing plan activity

• articulate the lessons from group work and marketing planning for next time.

Required

For each of the following four (4) areas pertinent to Assignment 2, reflect (explain what happened, what worked, what didn’t and what would you do differently next time) on two (2) or three (3) aspects that were particularly significant to your experience.

1. Your performance in the group, for instance:

� your tasks (e.g. researching competitors, developing budget) and roles (e.g. facilitator, devil’s advocate)

� your strengths and weaknesses

� your relative contribution to the workload (better, same or less than others).

2. The skills you have learned/improved by participating in the group, for instance:

� how to give and receive criticism

� how to work with other people

� how to motivate other people

� how to overcome difficulties

� how to take a fair share of the work.



3. The creative problem solving skills you have learned, for instance

� insight into customer needs

� divergent thinking, mental flexibility

� willingness to take risks

� tolerance of ambiguity, opportunity seeking

� preparedness, motivation, commitment.

4. The marketing skills you have learned by undertaking a marketing plan, for instance:

� disciplined, methodical, systematic planning

� integrated, big-picture thinking

� customer value orientation

� competitor orientation

� future (sustainable) orientation

� securing management commitment.

In addition, conclude by reflecting on the extent to which you feel more prepared for professional life as a result of this group worked marketing plan.

Present your individual reflection in a simple text document with appropriate headings. Submit to the unit MySCU ‘Assignments’ by the due date.

Further resources on reflective writing are available at MySCU’s Academic Skills Development Unit http://www.scu.edu.au/academicskills/index.php.

While it is not mandatory, you are encouraged to undertake the task with reference to the appropriate literature (especially if you are aiming for a higher grade), as it will allow you to elaborate on your points of reflection. Literature on group work (e.g. Turner, Ireland, Krenus & Pointon 2009; Grellier and Goerke 2006) may be found on the unit MySCU. CPS literature is provided in Topic 3. Marketing skills literature is provided in your textbook.

Note: If you do decide to draw on the literature, the usual referencing requirements apply. This means that if the marker suspects that you have plagiarised (a breach of academic integrity as outlined under Student Academic Integrity in the Unit Statement section of this Unit Information Guide), the assignment will be referred to the unit assessor for scrutiny and, if confirmed, to the Head of School for further action.

Marking criteria1. Professionalism: the ability to critically reflect on own practice (80% – 20% for each area; 5% for

each aspect):

1. Your group work performance: (a) what happened? (b) what worked? (c) what didn’t work? (d) what do you recommend for next time?

2. The group work skills you used and learned: (a) what happened? (b) what worked? (c) what didn’t work? (d) what do you recommend for next time?

3. The creative problem solving (CPS) skills you used and learned: (a) what happened? (b) what worked? (c) what didn’t work? (d) what do you recommend for next time?

4. The marketing skills you used and learned: (a) what happened? (b) what worked? (c) what didn’t work? (d) what do you recommend for next time?



2. Professionalism: the ability to critically reflect on own practice: The extent to which you feel more prepared for professional life as a result of undertaking this group-worked marketing plan. (15%)

3. Written communication: Organisation (report structure, use of paragraphs), writing style (clarity, readability, consistency), spelling and grammar, use of visuals, correct referencing (5%).

There will be nofinalexam in this unit.

Census dates

The census date is the day upon which your enrolment for the study period becomes fixed. You cannot enrol or withdraw from units after census date without significant academic and/or financial penalties. If you are using the FEE-Help or HECS-Help Government loan schemes, your debt for the study period is deferred on census date.

You will need to go to My Enrolment at http://www.scu.edu.au/myenrolment to check your census dates. Select ‘Current Enrolment including Census date’ from the menu item called ‘My Study Plans’. Each unit in which you are enrolled will be displayed with its census date clearly identified.

31

Suggested study timetable

This timetable applies to the Australian study period. It may be varied for students studying elsewhere. Please confirm dates with your local tutor.

Week/ commencing

Topic no.

TopicChap.

(Solomon)Chap.

(Wood)

Workshop (on-campus,

2.0 hour sessions)

Elluminate Live! (virtual,

1.0 hour sessions) & Assignment due

dates

1 20 June

1Foundation, key concepts

and ethics1, 13

Introductions, assessment overview

and Topic 1

EL Topic 1 recap and Q/A

2 27 June

2Strategic marketing

planning2, 12 (opt) 1

Topics 1 (cont.) & Topic 2; Presentation

allocation; Group allocation for marketing

plan


3 4 July

3Creative problem-solving

in marketingNew material in SG Topic 3


4 11 July

4Marketing information &

research3

Topic 3 continued, finalise offering for

marketing plan

EL Topic 4 recap and Q/A; Online quiz 1

5 18 July

5 Consumer behaviour 4Topic 4 +

PresentationsEL Topic 5

recap and Q/A

6 25 July

6 Target market selection 5Topic 5 +


recap and Q/A

7 1 August

Study Week Submit Assignment 2A

8 8 August

7Marketing plan direction,

objectives, metrics5, 10

Topic 6 + Presentations


9 15 August

8 Product strategy 6, 11Topic 7 +

Presentations


10 22 August

9 Pricing strategy 7Topic 8 +


recap and Q/A

11 29 August

10 Placement strategy 10Topic 9 +


recap and Q/A

12 5 September

11 Promotional strategy (IMC) 8–9Topic 10 +

Presentations


13 12 September

ReviewTopic 11 +

PresentationsEL Review

and Q/A

14 19 September

Submit Assignment 2B and 2C


Mkt00075_unit Info Guide

Documents