Strategic Marketing

Teacher(s)

Ducarroz Caroline;

Language

English
> French-friendly

Prerequisites

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Main themes

This course is organized around a simulation of strategic management, in which different groups of students (4 students on average), each managing a virtual company, compete in one or two competitive markets, with the aim of maximize the value of their products for consumers and the value of their business. The simulation emphasizes the strategic aspects of running a business. This management simulation, rather than being an end in itself, serves as a field of exploration, so as to deepen the concepts seen by the students in their previous courses of Strategic Marketing and Market Studies, and to put them in perspective with the situation of their virtual company.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	Learning Outcomes At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to: analyze the possible strategic options for a company/organization, in particular from the point of view of its market positioning and customer segmentation; build the most appropriate strategy(s) for a company/organization, referring to theoretical concepts; understand and link information from advanced marketing studies; identify and focus on information that allows him to feed his reflection and achieve his objective, when a significant amount of information is provided to him; reconcile the points of view of his team; anticipate all the activities of his work over time, under pressure in terms of time; synthesize one's thinking in a clear way, to argue the choices made and to communicate them effectively, orally and in writing; critically evaluate the relevance of the choices made. Competencies Given the « competencies referential » linked to the LSM Master in Management and in Business Engineering, this course mainly develops the following competencies: 2. Master an active and integrated command of a multidisciplinary body of knowledge (content, methods. models, conceptual frameworks) essential to act expertly in the various areas of management. 6. Integrate and work in a team, exercise enlightened leadership within the group. 7. Define and manage a project to completion, taking into account the objectives, resources and constraints that characterize the project environment. 8. Communicate, converse effectively and convincingly with the stakeholders.

Content

This course goes thoroughly into strategic aspects of managing a company, and thus covers decisions linked to strategic marketing (positioning, segmenting, targeting, …), strategic diagnosis, competitive strategies and product portfolio (strategic options, demand forecast, …), highlighting essential sustainability and circular economy stakes.
This course is organized around a strategic business game, in which groups of students (4 or 5 students on average) manage a virtual company and compete one or two competitive markets. Students will be asked to include, in their strategic reasoning, the potential sustainability of their products (product characteristics in terms of repairability, durability, carbon footprint, recycled materials and of their company (Eco-Score, …). Students will be invited to make the most of customer experience in a sustainability perspective, but also through interactions echoing the evolution of customers’ expectations and habits and of the digital communication actions that can be implemented by an organization, in a more and more digitalized world. In other words, essential assets of this course are connecting with customers, managing product innovations, creating value, use data to set up strategies, with a meaningful sustainability perspective.
The business game is far from being an end in itself: it helps as an exploration field, in order to go deeper in theoretical concepts, and put them in perspective with the situation of the students’ virtual company. Once their strategic options defined, students implement them in the business game (R&D product design, pricing, retailing, communication).
After a session devoted to an introduction to the business game "Circular Markstrat", each group acts as a company active in a specific industry, in order to maximize the value of products and of the company, evaluated on both company performance and ability to cope with environmental stakes. During each session, students present the evolution of the strategy of their company, argue for their choice (depending on the changing competitive environment), and state their strategy on an operational level. Feedback is given during each session on the decisions made during previous sessions, and on the theoretical concepts used by students. Theoretical points are underlined by the teacher at the beginning of sessions, and also after sessions, through a system of inverted classes (videos, tutorials, etc).
Learning outcomes
At the end of the class, students will be able to:

• Analyze the potential strategic options for a company/organization, especially linked to its positioning on a market and the customer market segmentation;
• Build the most adequate strategy for a company/organization, by referring to theoretical concepts;
• Understand sustainability stakes for a company in a competitive market;
• Better grasp sustainable and digital initiatives;
• Master frequent and advanced marketing studies, and connect the results provided by these studies;
• Point out and focus on pieces of information that enrich their thoughts and allow them to reach their goal, while they get overwhelmed by information;
• Reconcile the different points of view expressed by the members of the team;
• Anticipate and organize their work, under pressure of time;
• Summarize their thoughts in a clear way, provide arguments for each choice, and communicate them in an efficient way, verbally as well as in written reports.
• Evaluate and appreciate the relevance of their choices, a posteriori.
• Improve their written and oral competencies in English and gain insights in Public speaking and Report writing.

Teaching methods

This course alternates verbal interactions between the professor and each group of students (discussions), carrying out written reports (with “challenges” to fulfil), a system of inverted class (short tutorials/videos on some theoretical concepts, to be viewed between sessions), feedback provided to groups and global theoretical deepening. So, students have to make preparation work, individually, before some of the sessions, and have systematically to carry out group work after each session (intermediate reports and final report).
For linguistic aspects, students will be accompanied by Quentin Zèques (maître de langues, Institut des Langues Vivantes ILV). Through the English support sessions, students will gain the essential skills for achieving proficiency in both written and oral English. They will receive valuable feedback on formal aspects of report writing (e.g. structure, style, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and cohesion), along with guidance to enhance their English presentation skills.

Evaluation methods

Student evaluation will be determined by:

1.  a group on-going evaluation (60% of the global grade), based on:

- progression in terms of results (company performance)
- evolution in strategic reasoning (consistence in decisions, relevance in the positioning of brands in the different markets, attitude towards risk, learning from mistakes);
- thorough understanding and application of the theoretical concepts
- group dynamics
- challenges and intermediate reports. Specific instructions will be provided during the first session.

1. An individual on-going evaluation (20% of the global grade).
2. A final report (20% of the global grade). Specific instructions will be provided during the first session. This report will be orally presented by the students during the white week between parts 1 and 2 of the quadrimester.

If the student did successfully pass the 3 evaluation activities, the integrated method mentioned above (group on-going evaluation 60% - individual on-going evaluation 20% - written final report 20%) will be applied. If the student got a failure grade on the individual on-going evaluation, the final grade will be a failure (corresponding to the grade obtained on individual on-going evaluation).
This system of on-going evaluation requires student's participation to each session.
In case a student does not get a sufficient grade to get credited for this class, and if s/he wants to be able to improve his/her grade for the current academic year, s/he will be asked to elaborate an extra individual written report, whose grade will replace the grades obtained in (2) and (3) - individual on-going evaluation and written final report. S/he won't be able to improve the grade obtained for the group on-going evaluation.
Note: In the group/team work assigned in this course, information sources must systematically be cited, according to the academic references standards. In case the student has used a generative AI, s/he must systematically mention the parts of his/her work in which s/he used this tool, by adding a bottom page note indicating if the generative AI tool has been used and the purpose of this use (information search, text writing and/or text revising). The student remains responsible for the content of its production, independently of the references used. Thus, by submitting a team/group or individual work report for evaluation, the student asserts that: (i) it accurately reflects the phenomenon studied, and to do so, s/he must have verified the facts; (ii) s/he has respected all specific requirements of the work assigned to her/him, in particular requirements for transparency and documentation of the scientific approach implemented. If any of these assertions are not true, whether by intent or by negligence, the student has violated his/her commitment to truth with respect to the piece of knowledge produced in the context of his/her work, and possibly to other aspects of academic integrity, which constitutes academic misconduct and will be considered as such.

Online resources

Pedagogical material, put on Moodle (Student Corner), is made of:
- Slides (Power Point)
- Syllabus (Markstrat)
- Short videos prepared by the Professor

Bibliography

Faculty or entity

CLSM