BMA5009 Asian Markets & Marketing Management

The focus of this course is to provide an overview of the various marketing activities and tasks that the organization performs in order to match the organization’s products and services with the needs and demands of its customers. Whereas other courses are more concerned about the organization’s internal processes (production, accounting, information systems, etc.), marketing is more concerned about the organization’s external constituents. In other words, marketing is very much about where the rubber meets the road.

Besides the 4Ps (product, price, promotion and place), we will also consider other key marketing issues, including market orientation, customers, competitors, segmentation, and value creation. In this course, we are interested in learning how to manage marketing activities. To this end, we will be using a variety of learning tools, including readings, case studies and projects.

BMA5502 Consumer Behavior

his course provides an overview of consumer behaviour theories, research, and applications. It is designed to develop knowledge and skills that will facilitate an understanding of buyer behaviour which can be integrated into the formulation of marketing strategies. This will be accomplished by surveying the social science underpinnings of consumer behaviour as well as various types of consumer research which may be valuable for specific marketing decisions. The course thus emphasizes the content and logical application of theories and research in analyzing consumer behaviour for solving marketing management problems.

BMA5503 Promotional Management

Promotional Management involves the means and methods through which a firm communicates with its customers. This is a managerially oriented course designed to broaden a student's understanding of the marketing communications process.

The course starts with a discussion of the basic concepts involved with consumer decision making and the choice process. It then explores issues such as promotional objectives, budgeting, advertising, sales promotion and personal selling. Case studies are typically included to further comprehend these issues.

BMA5504 Global Marketing

Building on your knowledge of basic marketing concepts, we embark on a journey to understand the global impact of marketing. In the module, we will analyze the various environments in which marketing operates in, including economic, legal and political, and cultural environments. Then, we learn about the intricacies of coordinating and conducting cross-cultural marketing research efforts.

We will also cover the various modes of foreign market entry. We will also be discussing the marketing mix (product, price, promotion and place) from a global perspective. In summing up the module, we will learn how to lead and organize global marketing activities. To achieve these goals, we will be using a variety of learning tools, including readings, case studies and projects.

BMA5506 Product & Brand Management

Managing a product is what every company aims to do well because a well managed product is like a well oiled machine. However, it is not an easy task. Right from its introduction and up to its final days, if any exists, the requirements vary.

In this course, we will see the management of a product in its full blown life size. We will also cover in detail the perils and merits of managing a portfolio of brands, the importance of brand management, the roles of various stakeholders in the supply chain, etc. There will be discussion of some analytical models (using academic research papers on new product diffusion, portfolio models, perceptual maps, etc.), case studies, etc. Also, there will be a simulation game called Markstrat -this game is run in many MBA and executive programs all around the world in top schools - that will run through the course.

The final grade will be based on four items: the simulation game results, case study reports that will be asked to be submitted during the course, a project work, and a final paper (a take home paper). Roughly each will carry 25% weight.

BMA5511 Channels & Pricing

This is a course that is meant for two important marketing mix variables, channel management and pricing.

One can make at least four observations by going through the above list: long term commitment of channel related decisions, existence of channel ‘power play,’ market dynamics caused by channel changes, and the impact of internet on channel intermediaries. All these issues are very difficult to comprehend and solve if we do not understand ‘what channels are for?’ Channel management is not just managing the retailers and the trucks and delivery personnel, but it is much larger than that. This course is designed to help you to systematically analyze the various channel functions and strategies to adopt to address them. Mastering the principles that will be discussed in his course will help you in understanding the Supply Chain issues as well.

The one element of marketing strategy that is least understood and hence constantly feared by many managers is pricing. This is because pricing is a very complex issue. On one hand, it is supposed to reflect all the strategic steps the company has taken to bring the product to the consumer and convince him/her to buy it as well. On the other hand, it is supposed to reflect what the consumer would get out of the product by paying that price to acquire it. Will there be a match between the two? Perhaps and perhaps not.

BMA5524 Applied Market Research

The digital age has fundamentally altered the manner we collect, process, analyse and disseminate market intelligence. Driven by advances in hardware, software and communications, the very nature of market research is rapidly changing. New techniques are emerging. The increased velocity of information flow enables marketers to respond with much greater speed to changes in the marketplace. Market research is timelier, less expensive, more actionable and more precise ... all of which makes it of far greater importance to mar

BMA5505  Services Marketing

The aim of this course is to show that service organizations differ in many important respects from manufacturing businesses, requiring a distinctive approach to planning and implementing marketing strategy. Case studies will be used in addition to lectures in conducting this course and students may also be required to complete a project concerning the marketing of services. 

BMA5523  Customer Relationship Management

In today’s competitive business environment, the scarcest and most important asset is customers. Therefore, managing customer relationships and customer experience is critical to the company’s profitability and long term success. This course will look at CRM as an enterprise wide effort that generates increased loyalty and higher margins. It will look at segmentation techniques to ensure that the resources are properly allocated to the customer base. We’ll also examine practical examples of how CRM has been applied in the B2C and B2B environment including the application to strategy, people, process, technology and metrics.

BMA5501  Competitive Marketing Strategy

This is an advanced course in marketing strategy that focuses on competitive strategy formulation.  Students are introduced to both the Art and the Science of “Strategic Thinking”.  This course aims to: 

- enhance student’s ability to think and to act strategically in marketing,

- provide students some decision heuristics based on Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” to assist them in making marketing strategy decisions,

- introduce students to some fundamental Game Theoretic tools and models for analysing and understanding problems involving  

  strategic interactions, and

- introduce students to some advanced strategy concepts and theories. 

Students are expected to apply both the Art and Science of strategy learnt to solving marketing problems, through case analyses, critiques, and presentations.  There will also be a case research project requirement, which requires students to identify and analyse an actual marketing problem or case, and to make recommendations as to how the problem can be resolved, based on concepts taught in class.

BMA5525  Competitive Strategy for Start-Ups and SMEs

Compared to major corporations, start-up firms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) often face resource limitations in competing for markets.  As such, strategies for major corporations, which often assume implicitly that sufficient resources are available for strategy implementation, may not be applicable for start-up firms and SMEs.

This course focuses on formulating competitive strategy for start-up firms and SMEs, taking into explicit consideration of the limitations of such firms compared to major corporations.  This course aims to:

• Provide students an appreciation of the limitations that start-up firms and SMEs face in competing for markets, and the implications of such limitations in formulating competitive strategies for start-up firms and SMEs.
• Introduce students to some competitive strategy frameworks, concepts and theories that relevant and/or unique for start-up firms and SMEs.
• Enhance students’ skills in applying general marketing concepts and theories to formulate strategies for start-ups and SMEs in competing for markets.

Enhance students’ ability to develop more effective business and marketing plans that take into consideration the particular difficulties faced by start-up firms, and SMEs.