Advanced Market Strategy

The course comprises three main pillars: intellectual content provided by Professor Capon; hands-on decision-making via the Markstrat simulation; developing market strategy and implementation for an Entrepreneurial Start-up – you will meet and advise the CEO. This capstone market strategy course is specially designed for both full-time MBA and EMBA students. The course is offered in an intensive block-week format. The course builds upon the core marketing courses – B6601, B7601. The course goal is to prepare students to make critical strategic marketing decisions in today’s modern corporation – established firms and entrepreneurial start-ups. The environment firms face today is increasingly complex and fast-changing. Hence, the core job of marketing -- attract, retain, grow customers; earn profits; survive and grow, increase shareholder value -- is ever more important, but ever more difficult. Clear thinking and decisive decision-making are important currencies for practicing managers and entrepreneurs. In increasingly difficult environments, thoughtful leaders/managers can construct substantial numbers of strategic options. A critical consequence of this variety is that leaders/managers must learn how to allocate and concentrate available resources. This task is particularly challenging for marketing executives, positioned at the crucial interface between senior management -- with its diverse mix of motives and responsibilities -- other functional areas, and constantly evolving external environmental forces. To secure differential advantage, market strategies and plans must be data-driven, analytically based, comprehensive, actionable, and flexible; but also understood and supported by senior management. With such diverse requirements, it is unsurprising that many well-conceived market strategies and implementation plans/programs fall far short of achieving their objectives. This course is designed to help you develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) necessary to create and implement a market strategy. We emphasize planning for a three-year time horizon. You receive hands-on experience in using well-developed processes to create a market strategy and plan execution. Course content is particularly relevant for students who seek responsibility for developing, executing, and/or assessing market strategy as owners, employees, and consultants. Specific course objectives include: • Provide insight into market strategy development roles at high organizational levels; • Enhance KSAs necessary to understand and apply critical frameworks, concepts, and methods for developing effective market strategy; • Gain practical experience in applying systems, and processes to develop market strategy; • Discuss internal and external barriers to strategy implementation, and approaches for overcoming these barriers; • Enhance skills in verbal and written persuasive communications.