Sample Course

This Course sets the stage for learning about how business works. Beginning with an understanding of what an
organization is and its basic purposes, topics will include vertical and horizontal integration, diversification, the
managerial role, designing incentive plans, business strategy, the central importance of “value” in a business
context, and the concept of industry attractiveness.

Private

Faculty

Prof. Ian Larkin

Professor

Ian Larkin is an Assistant Professor in the Strategy group at the UCLA Anderson

School of Management. He researches the optimal use of formal rewards systems

by companies, given the complex and often unanticipated effects these systems

have on employee motivation and decision making. His research quantifying the

cost incurred by a major enterprise software vendor due to salespeople deliberately

gaming their sales commission system, published in The Journal of Labor Economics,

is one of the most prominently cited empirical studies of incentive system gaming. It

was the basis for a case study widely used in MBA classes on compensation and

human resource management.

His recent research focuses on corporate awards and other programs companies use to formally recognize

employee performance, and demonstrates that these programs often have unintended costs, such as the

demotivation of some employee groups. A final stream of research investigates physician prescribing decisions

in light of different sales tactics used by pharmaceutical sales representatives. His research has been discussed

in a variety of media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes and National Public

Radio.

Ian teaches the core Business Strategy course at Anderson. Before coming to Anderson, he was a member of the

faculty at Harvard Business School, where he taught an elective MBA course on human resource management,

as well as several executive education courses.

He received a Ph.D. from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley
M.Sc. from the University of London, where he was a British Marshall Scholar
Ian worked as an Associate and Engagement Manager for McKinsey and Company, based in Hong Kong and Silicon Valley.

Ian’s hobbies include cooking, traveling and supporting the Green Bay Packers.

Prof. Suzanne Shu

Professor

Suzanne Shu’s research investigates how individuals form judgments and make decisions in uncertain environments. She is especially interested in judgments and decisions that occur over long timeframes. The types of decisions analyzed in her research include consumer self-control problems and consumption timing issues, with important implications for both negative behaviors (such as procrastination) and positive behaviors (such as saving).

Professor Shu received a PhD from the University of Chicago in 2004, where her studies included behavioral economics, decision sciences, and marketing. She also holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and Masters in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.

In addition to her work in academia, Professor Shu has worked as a product line manager, an IT project manager, and as a management consultant in sales force design. She also consults for financial services companies and insurance providers on behavioral influences on consumers’ financial decisions. Before arriving at UCLA, Professor Shu taught marketing and decision making courses to MBA students at the University of Chicago, Southern Methodist University, and INSEAD.

Prof. Carol Scott

Professor

Carol A. Scott is a professor of marketing and faculty director for the Executive Program at The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has taught in the Executive MBA program since its inception in 1982 and was on the faculty of The Ohio State University for three years prior to joining UCLA in 1977.

She was named the outstanding teacher at The Anderson School for the 1983-84 year by the MBA student body. From 1986 through 1994 she served the School in a variety of administrative positions and in 1985 was a visiting associate professor at the Harvard Business School.

Professor Scott’s research interests include marketing positioning strategies and customer analysis for marketing decisions. Her work has been published in marketing and social science journals, and she has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Marketing.

She has served as a consultant to a variety of profit and non-profit organizations on questions of marketing strategy, market positioning, and marketing effectiveness, and she often serves as an expert witness in litigation involving marketing questions. She was a member of the board of directors for Sizzler International, Inc. for six years, and presently serves on the board of United Online, Inc., the parent of Netzero, Juno, Classmates, and MyPoints.

Education

Ph.D. Marketing, 1975, Northwestern University
M.S. Management, 1972, Northwestern University
B.S. Education, 1970, University of Texas at Austin

Interests

Aerospace, Consumer Behavior, Corporate Renewal, Customer Analysis, Global Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Medical Marketing, Retailing, Trademarks, Marketing Trends

Course Learning Objectives:

Distinguish between a product’s features and its benefits to customers.
Conduct the first part of a situational analysis for a particular product, including the first two Cs, company and competition.
Describe in detail the third C, customers, who together form a target market for a new product, given some general facts about the product.
Write a positioning statement that includes the target summary, product offer, competitive alternatives, and support.
Analyze the “4 Ps” of a marketing plan – product, price, promotion, and place – to accurately describe each element.
Research the size of potential, addressable, and target markets for a particular product.
Analyze an existing brand to identify its brand promise; its products, as distinct from the attributes of its brand; and the responses that allow its customers to make an emotional connection with the brand.
For a new brand, create a statement of brand meaning, a statement of brand positioning, and a brand mantra.
Analyze a statement of brand meaning, brand positioning, and brand mantra to determine its brand ideal and associated fundamental human value.
Apply lessons about branding drawn from Apple to a developing brand.
Propose choices for each element of the marketing mix — product, place, price, and promotion – that reflect a brand’s stated message, or mantra.
Create and rank-order a list of five potential brand extensions, based on a core product, providing a rationale for the ranking.
Familiarize with the concept, channels, tools and tactics of growth hacking
Identify key benefits of globalizing a company’s marketing efforts.
Evaluate a specific company’s global market opportunity, using an established six-step model (organizational readiness, product suitability, country identification, industry and target-market assessment, local partner selection, and sales potential estimation).
Justify a recommendation on which elements of the marketing mix (product, positioning, brand, packaging, advertising, pricing, sales promotions, public relations, and distribution) need to be localized, based on the maxim “Globalize as much as you can; localize as much as you have to.

Syllabus

Learning Objectives:

Distinguish between a product’s features and its benefits to customers.
Conduct the first part of a situational analysis for a particular product, including the first two Cs, company and competition.
Describe in detail the third C, customers, who together form a target market for a new product, given some general facts about the product.

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

Introduction to Marketing and Key Frameworks
Situation Analysis
Marketing Segmentation & Targeting

Readings:

SWOT Analysis
Importance of Segmentation & Targeting in Marketing

Quiz:

Building a Marketing Strategy (Part 1)

Learning Objectives:

Write a positioning statement that includes the target summary, product offer, competitive alternatives, and support.
Analyze the “4 Ps” of a marketing plan – product, price, promotion, and place – to accurately describe each element.
Research the size of potential, addressable, and target markets for a particular product.

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

Brand Positioning
Product Branding and Distribution Channels
Pricing and Promotion

Quiz:

Building a Marketing Strategy (Part 2)

Learning Objectives:

Familiarize with the concept, channels, tools and tactics of growth hacking

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

Growth Hacking 101
Growth Hacking Example
A Framework for Growth Marketing
Growth Marketing Channels

Reading:

Growth Marketing Tools and Tactics

Quiz:

Growth Marketing – Quiz

Learning Objectives:

Analyze an existing brand to identify its brand promise; its products, as distinct from the attributes of its brand; and the responses that allow its customers to make an emotional connection with the brand.
For a new brand, create a statement of brand meaning, a statement of brand positioning, and a brand mantra.
Analyze a statement of brand meaning, brand positioning, and brand mantra to determine its brand ideal and associated fundamental human value.

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

Building a Global Brand
Conducting thorough Brand Analysis
Creating Lasting Brand Ideals

Readings:

Three Steps to Creating Your Branding Message
Impactful Branding Strategies
Defining a Brand

Quiz:

Building a Branding Strategy

Learning Objectives:

Apply lessons about branding drawn from Apple to a developing brand.
Propose choices for each element of the marketing mix — product, place, price, and promotion – that reflect a brand’s stated message, or mantra.
Create and rank-order a list of five potential brand extensions, based on a core product, providing a rationale for the ranking.

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

Building a Strong Brand – an Example
Creating a loved brand by telling a story: Tether
Brand Building through the Marketing Mix
Developing Successful Brand Extensions

Readings:

Developing Brands and Brand Lines

Quiz:

Implementing a Branding Strategy

Learning Objectives:

Identify key benefits of globalizing a company’s marketing efforts.
Evaluate a specific company’s global market opportunity, using an established six-step model (organizational readiness, product suitability, country identification, industry and target-market assessment, local partner selection, and sales potential estimation).
Justify a recommendation on which elements of the marketing mix (product, positioning, brand, packaging, advertising, pricing, sales promotions, public relations, and distribution) need to be localized, based on the maxim “Globalize as much as you can; localize as much as you have to.

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

Motivation and Evaluation of Global Opportunities
Global Opportunity Assessment
Glocal Marketing

Readings:

Global Marketing – Driving Expansion
Six Classic Distribution Paradigms for Global Marketing Channel Strategy
Globalization, Converging Commonality and Business Strategy

Quiz:

Global Marketing Management – Quiz

Support

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