This capstone market strategy course is especially 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 firm 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 managers can construct substantial numbers of strategic options. A critical consequence of this variety is that 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, 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 and programs fall far short of achieving their objectives.

This course is designed to help you develop the knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs) necessary to create and implement market strategy. We emphasize planning for a three-year time horizon. You receive hands-on experience in using well-developed processes to create 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, consultants.

Specific course objectives include:

• Provide insight into market strategy development roles at high organizational levels;

• Enhance the 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.

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 Stat-up – you will meet and advise the CEO.

Noel Capon

R.C. Kopf Professor of International Marketing

Professor Capon teaches the electives Advanced Market Strategy: Development and Execution, and Sales, Managing the Sales Force, Key/Strategic/Global Account Management. His research interests are in Key/Strategic/Global Account management, and Market Planning and Strategy. Professor Capon has published more than 80 articles and book chapters, and in excess of 40 books. Recent books include —Managing...

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