Courses

• QST MK 856: Consumer Behavior
  Marketing, in particular, begins and ends with the consumer -- from determining consumer needs to ensuring customer satisfaction. In this course, we will explore the most recent scientific research in marketing, psychology, and behavioral economics related to consumer behavior. We will develop your ability to understand and influence what people want, how people decide what and when to buy, and whether people will be satisfied or dissatisfied with their decisions. These psychological insights are particularly useful for marketing strategy, brand positioning, and marketing communication decisions, but also yield insight into common biases in judgment and decision making, beyond marketing, to which you would otherwise fall prey. Why people are willing to drive across town to save $5 on a tank of gasoline, for example, when they would not drive a minute to save $5 on a refrigerator. We will discuss some of these applications in class. In addition, we will examine the methodology of market research (specific to consumer behavior) to build the tools you will need to interpret and base decisions on it. Readings will include primary empirical research articles (e.g., Journal of Consumer Research articles), business journal articles, and research reviews (e.g., Harvard Business Review articles). The course includes lecture, discussion, an exam, and a team term project.
• QST MK 862: Marketing High-Tech Products
  This course provides you with a good understanding of how marketing works in a high-tech context. When it comes to marketing, there are five important characteristics that make high-tech offerings (products and services) special: technological uncertainty, customer uncertainty, competitor volatility, high- tech offerings are often used not singly but in larger overall systems, and high-tech offerings often exhibit network externalities. These five characteristics have a big impact on the type of challenges, analysis, and marketing decisions made in high-tech industries. The overall purpose of this course is to impart concepts, tools, and frameworks that you can apply as you pursue careers as marketers of high-tech offerings, consultants, investment bankers, and service professionals. The key objectives of the course are to: Understand the special challenges involved in marketing high-tech products Learn how to analyze high-tech marketing problems which involve significant customer, market, and technological uncertainties; Examine approaches to improve the market orientation of, and the marketing-R&D interface in, high-tech companies; Understand the impact of diffusion of technology and adoption of innovation on targeting and segmentation decisions; Explore the effect of complementary products, databases, and systems on product and pricing decisions; Identify the challenges and drivers of success at different stages in a technology's life- cycle; and, Understand the concept of value networks and the role of complementors, partners, and competitors in high-tech industries.
• QST MK 864: Pricing Strategy and Tactics
  This course focuses on the practical needs of the marketing manager making pricing decisions. Students learn the techniques of strategic analysis necessary to price more profitably by evaluating the price sensitivity of buyers, determining relevant costs, anticipating and influencing competitors' pricing and formulating an appropriate pricing strategy.
• QST MK 867: Marketing Social Change
  Globalization, increasing transparency in business operations and the prevalence of social media have forever changed the way stakeholders view and interact with organizations. Societal and business imperatives are not only often considered compatible; they can be increasingly viewed as one and the same. People today often communicate, organize and engage based on mutual interests, and, generally, place greater trust in organizations and individuals that work for a better world. Marketing has often been referred to as the "science of sales." Whether you are selling a product, an intervention or an idea, it can be a powerful tool for advancing social change in today's dynamic environment. The strategic integration of a relevant social purpose into a product, business or nonprofit organization through brand-building citizenship activities can drive consumer and donor recall, consideration, acquisition, retention and propensity to recommend. However, these efforts do not usually constitute a "silver bullet" and may not be the best solution to a business problem or societal need at all. In the worst cases, ill-conceived citizenship marketing strategies can result in damaging consequences. Practitioners must be pragmatic when engaging in marketing social change. Understanding how to apply best practice, identify opportunities, address challenges, engage stakeholders and innovate strategically are essential skills in this rapidly evolving sector. The purpose of this course is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of how marketing principles can be applied to create both short-term and lasting social change. Students will explore dimensions of the modern landscapes of brand, corporate and nonprofit "citizenship" and how they relate to marketing. Areas of study include: cause-related marketing and cause branding; nonprofit branding and social movements, as well as corporate social responsibility and shared value creation.
• QST MK 870: Luxury Marketing
  Introduction to the marketing of luxury goods and services. It explores the origin, the history, and the evolution of luxury and gives an overview of the global luxury industry. It highlights the specificities of marketing in the luxury sector. Luxury brands must manage a number of inherent paradoxes and tensions. Differences in a mass versus luxury marketing approach are discussed. Finally, the course focuses on examining the main challenges with which luxury brands are currently confronted. As markets are becoming increasingly polarized, the course is relevant to a wide range of marketing and business professionals who may have to "premiumize" their offerings or revitalize their brands through an upscale positioning. Through a combination of interactive discussions, cases, practical examples, and individual assignments, the course enables participants to take both a theoretical and practical approach to the luxury industry and its marketing practices.
• QST MK 878: Managing Marketing Spend
  The course will focus on managing marketing spend from the perspective of a marketing manager. The first module of the course is on customer analytics and will cover the fundamental frameworks needed for customer-centric marketing with topics such as customer lifetime value, customer acquisition and retention, and customer equity. The second module of the course focuses on assessing marketing performance and will cover decision support tools that can help brand and product managers make decisions with regard to marketing spending including advertising, pricing, and promotions. The course will require quantitative skills and will use a combination of cases, lectures, and a hands-on project.
• QST MK 898: Directed Study: Marketing
  Graduate-level directed study in Marketing. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Program Office website.
• QST MK 914: Seminar in Consumer Behavior
  This course is designed to familiarize students with the current major theoretical streams of research in consumer behavior. It is meant to instill in the student not only a knowledge of the current "state of the art" in consumer behavior research, but also an ability to apply behavioral science theory to consumer behavior research issues. It is expected that students will develop and refine the ability both to critically evaluate the theoretical contribution of articles in consumer behavior and to formulate theory-based hypotheses capable of advancing the discipline's understanding of consumer behavior.
• QST MK 998: Directed Study: Marketing
  PhD-level directed study in Marketing. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Program Office website.
• QST MS 600: Msms Launch
  
• QST MS 711: Diagnosing Organizations
  This course provides an introduction to the tools and data that constitute an analytical lens on organizational challenges and opportunities. Learning vehicles include computer simulations, exercises, case studies, discussion, teamwork, and a client consulting project.
• QST MS 712: Customers and Markets
  This course serves as a foundation for understanding how the organization must align to deliver a value proposition for customers in an increasingly competitive and fragmented marketplace. Learning vehicles include computer simulations, readings, exercises, case studies, discussion, teamwork, and a client consulting project.
• QST MS 713: Financial Decision Making
  This course introduces the economic concepts that underlie the fundamentals of finance, risk and tradeoffs. Learning vehicles include computer simulations, exercises, case studies, discussion, teamwork, and a client consulting project.
• QST MS 714: Career: Strategy and Skills
  This course focuses on the strategy and tactics of assessing individuals' professional fit, pursuing career opportunities, and managing the process of finding a job. Emphasis will be on understanding individual strengths and weaknesses, taking inventory of work style (MBTI), writing resumes, creating career profile, networking and interviewing.
• QST MS 719: Client Consulting Project A
  The project uses a mentored team structure to analyze, investigate and deliver value for a company client. The focus will be on understanding multiple aspects of a company's performance relative to the competition and identifying key recommendations for improving results.
• QST MS 721: Communicating in Teams
  This workshop takes an in-depth look at individual and group communication by establishing principles of communications and using hands-on exercises to practice effective presentation, speaking with impact, and writing to influence.
• QST MS 722: Leadership and Persuasion
  This workshop introduces the principles and sources of leadership. The focus will be on understanding how to inspire, persuade and connect with others in the service of achieving a goal.
• QST MS 723: Data Analysis for Business
  This workshop takes a pragmatic approach to understanding data and its potential for aiding decision-making. Emphasis will be on identifying relevant information using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Activities will include designing research, collecting and analyzing data and converting findings into actionable insight.
• QST MS 724: Strategic Analysis
  This course surveys strategic action and response in a competitive environment. By building on an understanding of the organization's alignment of its strengths with the marketplace (customers and competitors), this course considers growth, differentiation and innovation. Learning vehicles include current events, exercises, case studies, discussion, teamwork, and a client consulting project.
• QST MS 725: Data and Taking Action
  This course sharpens skills in analysis and data visualization for the purpose of persuasive impact. Observational, ethnographic, numerical, and statistical data are the focus. Learning vehicles include data exercises, teamwork, and a client consulting project.

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