Professor: Dr. Kathy Winsted

Offices:  Graduate Center, Room 538
                Goldstein Academic Center in Pleasantville, Room 121

Phone Numbers:  Graduate Center  914/422-4158
                                Goldstein   914/773-3905
                                Home office:  914/962-3029
                                FAX:  914/962-2419

email address:  kwinsted@pace.edu
Web page:  http://webpage.pace.edu/kwinsted
Course Discussion Page:  blackboard.pace.edu

Office Hours:  Monday: 9:30 - 11:00 (PLV)
                         Monday:  2:30 - 3:30 (PLV)
                         Wednesday:  12:15 - 1:15 (PLV)
                         Wednesday:  5:30-6:00 (GC)

Class Session:  Wednesday: 6:00-8:40,  Graduate Center 311

Texts:

• Entrepreneurial Marketing, Custom Reading and Cases, Harvard Business School Publishing online custom course materials
  
• Pricing Strategy and Price Production Marketing Strategy, computer simulation case studies, J. Ronald Frazer, Arbogast Publishing.

Each graded component of the course will be evaluated on a 100 point scale, with each weighted as shown to determine a final grade.  Grades will be assigned as follows:  A(93-100), A-(90-92), B+(87-89), B(83-86), B-(80-82), C+(77-79), C(70-76), F(0-69).

Extra credit will be given for winning competitions as follows:  1 point (one percentage point on grade) for winning the pricing strategy simulation game, 1 point for winning the price production marketing strategy simulation game, 3 points for winning the marketing plan competition.

This course offers students interested in starting a business or students interested in working for small businesses, the opportunity to learn about marketing creatively with limited resources.  Students solve problems posed in cases involving entrepreneurs.  Students also get hands-on experience working in teams to develop a marketing plan for a small venture in a competitive environment with meager resources.  An in-class competition helps students to evaluate their work.

       To give all students in the class a better understanding of: 

•  The role of product, price, place and promotion in a new venture
•  How to apply marketing concepts in a startup situation offering scant resources
• The creativity needed to implement successful marketing plans in a small business environment
• The fine art of guerrilla marketing tactics
• The experience of developing a marketing plan in a competitive situation
• The issues, challenges and rewards of teamwork in a new venture setting

Class Participation:

This class will be run as a discussion class. All sessions involve either a case analysis or some other type of interactive discussion. The success of the class is highly dependent on careful student preparation prior to class and active student involvement during class discussions.   It is expected that students will have read assigned readings and cases prior to the class in which they are discussed and will have made written notes responding to questions posed for the cases. Class participation grades will be based both on quality and quantity of participation in class discussions and on attendance in class.

Each student will pick two of the eight cases assigned from the custom text to write up and hand in for grading.   Questions to be answered for each case are available on my web site and will be handed out in class.   Case analyses should be approximately 8-15 pages long (though no minimum or maximum is required), typed, double-spaced and stapled, and should clearly identify each question being answered (it's useful to use the questions as section headers).  Be sure to thoroughly answer each question.  Grading will be based on thoroughness and on understanding of the case and of relevant concepts discussed in previous classes and in assigned readings.   Papers are due at the end of the class session in which they are discussed.   Late case writeups will not be accepted, nor will handwritten changes or additions made during class discussion.  In addition to turning in a hard copy of each case analysis and paper, students must also submit the paper electronically via the digital drop box on the course website.

Any student wishing to write a third case may do so and the best two grades will be used.  (Clearly, this option is not available to someone not handing in any cases before the last two which are due.)  Anyone not handing in two cases by the date the last case is due will receive a zero for the one or two cases missing.  All students not selecting to write up a particular case should still write notes for class discussion and be prepared to state and defend a recommended course of action. Students should be prepared to show prepared answers to the professor at any class session if requested.

In lieu of writing up a case analysis (or as a third paper to improve a grade), any student may choose to write up a case based on one of his or her own entrepreneurial experiences or those of a family member or acquaintance.  For this option, the written work should include a case that describes a situation that links well to one of more of the concepts discussed in class, a decision to be made with alternative possible courses of action, at least five questions that link to appropriate concepts, and a suggested answer for each of the questions.  The case should also include a source for all material include phone number of anyone interviewed in drafting the case.

All papers will be graded based on appropriate use of applicable marketing terms, responsiveness to the specifics of the assignment, presentation (including organization, appearance, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and readability), thoroughness of analysis, and demonstration of an understanding of the subject matter.  Because no exams are given in this course, written assignments, together with participation, need to demonstrate learning that has taken place in the course.  Therefore, it is very important to reflect as many of the concepts learned from class discussion and the readings as possible in each assignment.  Use of any work that is found to be not original will result in a grade of zero on the assignment.  The department academic honesty policy will apply to all honesty issues.  Submittal of papers to the digital drop box will serve as student consent for the professor to submit papers to Turnitin.com to screen for plagiarism.

An actual entrepreneurial client, Samanta Shoes, will present the students in class with a mini-case outlining the company's needs in attempting to expand business.  In addition to the case, information is also available on the company's website, http://www.samantashoes.com, and in Regine magazine provided to the students in class.  Students will be divided into teams to develop marketing plans for the client.  The first part of the marketing plan is a situation analysis which is due to the professor about halfway through the semester (see date due on course schedule).  This paper should be 10-20 pages long (though no minimum or maximum is required), typed, double spaced, and stapled.  Comments on this paper will be provided by the professor and this paper can be modified for inclusion in the final marketing plan due at the end of the semester.  The final marketing plan should include the revised situation analysis and marketing proposals for the new business, including sample advertisements that would be used and original copies of any completed survey instruments.  The full paper should be no more than 40 pages long (not including cover and any appendices), typed, double-spaced and bound.  Four copies of the final paper should be submitted, as well as an electronic copy on the course Blackboard site.  The client and one or more independent judges will read and evaluate the marketing plans.

On the last day of class, each team will present its marketing plan to the client and independent judges.  The presentation should be thoroughly prepared and rehearsed with use of PowerPoint for visuals.  Handouts of the Power Point slides (six to a page) should be provided to the professor at the time of the presentation.  Presentations will be limited to 20 minutes in length, followed by a 10 minute question and answer period.  The judges will rank each marketing plan based on both the written plan and the presentation.  A winner and ranking for all teams will be announced prior to the end of the last class.  Three extra credit points and a certificate will be awarded to the winning team.

Grading of the papers will be based on creativity, thoroughness, understanding of concepts developed in class, understanding of the case, appropriateness for the assignment, and presentation (spelling, grammar, organization, appearance).  Grading of the presentations will be based on creativity, organization, visuals, presentation skills, and appropriateness of ideas.  All members of a team must participate in the presentation.

A course discussion board is available for online group meetings, exchanging files, and conversation about the marketing plan assignment.  All course materials are also posted on the discussion board.  All discussions on the group page (within the communication tab) are available only to members of your group.  All discussions on the overall discussion board (also under communication) are open to all class members.  Watch the discussion board for occasional announcements or supplemental materials.  To access the discussion board, go to blackboard.pace.edu, then login using your Pace email ID (without @pace.edu) and your social security number as your password.  Click on this course and you're in business.  As soon as you are logged in, you can change your password if you wish.  If you use an email address that is not your Pace email, you should be sure to forward your Pace email to the one you use more frequently so that you will receive any email sent from the Blackboard site.  All assignments must be submitted using the digital drop box on the Tools tab of the Blackboard site.

Two computer pricing strategy simulations will be played using an in-class group format.  Students should read the cases and think about a strategy for each game before the class in which they are played.  Students will make pricing decisions in groups and compete against other teams to make the most cumulative profit.  Copies of the cases for the game will be handed out in class.  One extra credit point toward the final grade will be given to each member of each winning team.

If the office hours listed at the top of the syllabus are inconvenient for you, feel free to call me at home at any reasonable time of day or night with questions or concerns.  If you need to miss class when an assignment is due, it can be faxed to me at my home office (best place to be sure it gets to me) or emailed to me, as well as submitted through the file exchange on the discussion board.  You can also contact me by email and I will respond promptly (I check messages each evening) or via my voice mail in my Pleasantville or home offices.  You can check for information on the syllabus, assignments, office hours or course schedules on my web page (see address at top of syllabus) or on the course discussion board (blackboard.pace.edu) if your printed versions are not easily accessible.

All assignments should be handed in as hard copy no later than the end of class on the day for which they are due.  Any student not able to come to class on a given day is still responsible for getting the assignment to me on time.  All papers must also be submitted electronically on the course Blackboard site by submitting the paper in the File Exchange box.  Submittal through the Blackboard site authorizes the professor to submit the paper to Turnitin.com for plagiarism screening.  Late assignments will be graded based on a starting grade of 10 points off per day or partial day late unless approved in advance.  All notes for exams and all written assignments must be original work.  Use of any work that is found to be not original will result in a grade of zero on the exam or assignment involved.  The department academic honesty policy will apply to all honesty issues.

A schedule of discussion topics, assigned reading and other assignments follows.  The "Topics and Cases" column describes the planned content for the day's discussion, including cases which should be read and analyzed in preparation for class. Students should be prepared to answer all questions at the end of any case assigned.   The "Reading and Assignments" column shows the reading and other assignments due on the date shown in the same row.

Click here to view the course schedule.

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