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University of South Carolina
The Darla Moore School of Business
Product Management

MKTG 451X-001

Fall 1997
Room BA 204
Monday/Wednesday 2:30 – 3:45

Instructor: Professor Peter Palij
Office Phone: 803-777-4406
Office: Room 375
Office Hours: Monday/Wednesday 9:00 – 12:00 or by appointment

Personal email address: pbp@sc.edu
Course email address: 451X@cards.badm.sc.edu

Course Overview: To develop an awareness and understanding of the issues, tools and techniques used early in a product management career.

Introduction: This syllabus contains detailed information about the Product Management course. Please read it thoroughly.

The course material focuses on the skill set that you will need as an Assistant or Associate Product Manager. As an Assistant Product Manager, you will be responsible for forecasting, budgeting and implementation of product tactics. As an Associate Product Manager, you will be responsible for helping to develop tactics and, to a lesser extent, strategies to best grow the product. In both positions you will be expected to contribute to the price setting process.

The role of product manager is now undergoing rapid and profound changes. In particular, the product manager is no longer the soul individual responsible for a decisions related to a product. Product managers are becoming the marketing voice within a cross-functional TEAM of people responsible for every aspect of a product. This class will reflect that trend and focus on clarifying the product manager’s way of thinking about problems and how that way differs from others within the team. More importantly how to build bridges of understanding between differing roles.

The course uses a mix of topical lectures, guest speakers, a staged product management project, and a product management simulation. I assume you have a basic understanding of fundamental marketing ideas such as the marketing mix, product life-cycle, and portfolios, and of fundamental management ideas. My goals are to enable you to:

• Understand the primary tasks and roles in product management;
• Apply theories, models and analytic tools in addressing a product management problem;
• Think analytically, creatively, critically and integratively about the core business issues;
• Develop a sensitivity for the diverse interests and perspectives other functional areas involved in product management.

Required Textbooks:

Cespedes, Frank V. (1995), Concurrent Marketing: Integrating Product, Sales, and Service. Boston MA: HBS Press.

James, Stuart W., Thomas C. Kinnear and Michael Deighan (1994), PharmaSim: A Brand Management Simulation. Charlottesville VA: Interpretive Software, Inc.

Course Requirements: I expect you to attend all scheduled classes. If you are unable to attend a class, be sure to get any handouts from a colleague. You are expected to be prepared for class and to hand in assignments on time. Grades will be determined as follows:

The mid-term and final examinations will be a combination of multiple choice questions, short calculation problems, and short essay answers. Any material covered in the class at any time or discussed in the textbook readings assigned prior to the exam is fair game for the exams. If you choose to take the final, it will be included in the grade calculation.

You will undertake the traditional product management role using the PharmaSim simulation. Half your simulation grade will be based on your performance relative to the others in the class. Half will be based on a report describing your intended strategy, the reasons for the actions you actually took, and your evaluation of your actions and results. A grading guideline for the written report will be handed out prior to the simulation.

The product reports will consist of six (6) assigned mini-reports on specific issues related to a product or service which interests your group. The best five (5) grades will be counted. The grade will be equally split between the written mini-report and your oral presentation. Each mini-report will consist of a three (3) page written report and an oral presentation. The presentation will be based on your written report. Each oral presentation will receive 15 minutes to persuade the class they should accept your group’s perspective and conclusions. Half your presentation grade will be determined by the audience’s evaluation, half by my evaluation. Brief, persuasive presentations are critical for advancement. First, you must be able to persuade your peers to support your ideas. Second, senior executives are unforgiving of presentations they view as a waste of time.

Each group will receive one (1) get-out-of-presentation-free "card". You may use the card for any presentation without explanation, as long as you let me know prior to the beginning of class. The card does NOT excuse you from turning in a written report on time. The entire grade for the dropped presentation will be based on the written report.

At the end of the final presentation (01-December), you will fill out a group self-evaluation form (see Appendix A). This form should reflect the total contribution made by each member throughout the semester.

Group issues: Managers fire. As future managers, you must learn to do so fairly, based on clear performance standards, and with due process safeguards. It is up to each team to establish the responsibilities and required contributions from its members. I require a policy statement (contract) from each team that binds its members to performance standards in at least the following areas:

• Group meeting attendance
• Meeting Preparation
• Punctuality

and at least a paragraph describing the procedures for dismissal including at least one written warning of non-performance. This policy statement is due 03-September. Every member of the team must sign it. If you refuse to sign your group’s policy, you may: (1) seek to trade membership in another group with a more compatible policy; or (2) drop the course.

If you are fired, you may: (1) seek to join another team; or (2) complete a solo version of the project.

NOTE: Grades will be on the scale: 90+ == A; 87+ == B+; 80+ == B; 77+ == C+; 70+ == C; 67+ == D+; 60+ D; and 59 and below an F. In the event a specific group's oral and written project reports are particularly outstanding (good or bad), I reserve the right to modify the grade component weights.

Course Mechanics: I rely on email as a primary communications link. I will establish an email list for the class. This list will be available for general discussions and as a distribution channel for course information. I expect you to check your email at least once the day prior to class for announcements of any changes. If a change is distributed by 5:00 PM the business day prior to class, "I didn't know about it" will not be an acceptable response. In order to accurately construct the email list, please send the message:

subscribe

to:

451x-request@cards.badm.sc.edu

Course Overview:

25-August	Introduction and The Product Management Job

27-August	Introduction to the Product Life Cycle and Forecasting

03-September	Forecasting, Part I

08-September	Presentations — Short-Term Forecasts

10-September	Category & Environmental Analyses

15-September	Customer Analysis

17-September	Competitive Analysis, Part I

22-September	PharmaSim Simulation

24-September	Presentations — Competitors’ Abilities and Market Directions

29-September	Introduction to the Pricing Decision
	    PharmaSim Simulation Results and Report Due

01-October	Traditional Pricing Strategies

03-October	Persuasive Presentations – Optional Class

06-October	Managing the Zone of Discretion

08-October	Guest Lecture – Consumer Advocate Presentation

15-October	Presentations — Rebuilding the Price List

17-October	Review for Mid-Term Exam – Optional Class

20-October	Mid-Term Exam

22-October	New Product Development

27-October	Discuss Mid-Term Exam; catch up day

29-October	Product Strategies and Extensions

03-November	Presentations — Defining the Next Generation Product

05-November	Competitive Analysis, Part II

10-November	Channel Structure and Conflict

12-November	Customer Service and Support

17-November	Presentations — Channel Management

19-November	Forecasting, Part II

24-November	Market Information Systems

01-December	Presentations — What Information Really Matters

03-December	Guest Lecture – Matching Products and Customer Needs

15-December	Scheduled Date for Final

Appendix A
Group Self-Evaluation Form

The purpose of this evaluation form is to communicate the contribution of each individual in the group. Do this by allocating points among group members: give more points to individuals who did more work or for some reason deserve more credit; give less points to individuals who did less work or for some reason deserve less credit. The total points available for the entire group is 100 times the number of members. Therefore, if there are three (3) members in your group then your points should total 300. If each member did their fair share of work, then give 100 points to each member. If you give one or more members more than 100 points, then one or more other members must receive less than 100 points. For example, if your group has four members, you might give one person 115 points and the other three people 95 points each. Of course, you may as a group decide jointly how you will make the point allocations, if you so desire.

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