Graduate Courses

The faculty has approval to offer the following courses in the academic years 2015–2016 and 2016–2017; however, not all courses are taught each semester or summer session. Students should consult the Course Schedule to determine which courses and topics will be offered during a particular semester or summer session. The Course Schedule may also reflect changes made to the course inventory after the publication of this catalog.

International Business: I B

I B 191, 291, 391. Directed Studies in Global Management.

Global business practices studied through lectures on campus and trips to international partner schools. One and one-half lecture hours a week for one semester, and thirty hours of fieldwork abroad. Students may count more than three hours of credit only when the work is completed in different locations. May be repeated for credit. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

I B 395. Seminar: International Trade.

Study of contemporary topics in international trade and investment theories, policies, and problems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing; some topics also require consent of instructor.

Topic 1: Global Strategic Management. The changing global business environment and the ways multinational corporations compete in this environment. Case studies and readings, followed by a global management computer simulation.
Topic 2: International Trade and Investment. The basis for international trade, foreign exchange determination, balance of payments, and international trade and investment policy. Macro-level aspects of the international economy, which provide the basis for the functioning of the global economy.
Topic 3: Global Business Operations. Overview of management in a multinational context, focusing on the multinational corporation; the economic, political, and social environments in which it operates; and its basic managerial concerns with finance, management, marketing, and personnel. Includes an international operations computer simulation.
Topic 4: Business in Developing Countries. The traditional challenges to business in developing countries and the new challenges of market liberalization. Similarities and differences among countries and regions.
Topic 5: Business in Japan. Comprehensive examination of macro-level and micro-level issues involved in conducting business in Japan and in competing with the Japanese in the global marketplace. Macro-level issues include government industrial policy, interfirm relationships, and United States-Japan trade relationships; micro-level issues include management style, foreign expansion strategy, research and development strategy, and distribution practices.
Topic 6: International Marketing Management. An overview of international marketing, with emphasis on the multinational corporation. Subjects include the changing international environment, researching and entering foreign markets, and the marketing mix in international marketing.

Marketing: MKT

MKT 282, 382. Analysis of Markets.

Introduction to the data and tools used to analyze the business environment and enable marketing decision making. Uses real world data and problems to evaluate strategic market opportunities and assess the impact of marketing decisions in the marketplace. Discusses analytical and empirical tools that address strategic issues of market sizing, market selection, and competitive analysis, as well as product management, customer management, and marketing function management decisions. For 282, four lecture hours a week for half a semester; for 382, three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

Topic 1: Market Area Analysis. Marketing X82 (Topic 1) is same as Geography 394C. Conceptual and methodological aspects of analyzing the geographical dimensions of demand. Students complete a field project in which they apply concepts and techniques to the analysis of a problem. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 2: Analytical Methods in Marketing. Basic analytical techniques that are used to improve market-oriented decisions: brand-switching, linear programming applications in advertising, competitive bidding, distribution and location models, conjoint measurement, and multivariate data analysis for strategy formulation. The course stresses the use of the models to deal with marketing variables and problems and the acquisition of relevant data. Case analyses and projects. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 3: Business and Public Policy. Provides a historical framework in which to study key issues in contemporary government and business relations in the United States and, to a limited extent, in other countries. Settings range from the Depression and the New Deal to more recent periods of social regulation of business; topics range from the role of the international oil companies to the deregulation of the airlines. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 4: Strategic Marketing. Strategic marketing decisions made at the corporate and business-unit levels, and organizational issues that affect the formulation and implementation of marketing strategy; an experiential course, taught primarily through the case method and a marketing strategy computer simulation game. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 5: Current Topics in Consumer Marketing. Reasons for the shift in allocation from advertising to promotion, and implications of this shift for the structure of packaged-goods marketing. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 6: Buyer Behavior in Global Markets. The application of marketing strategy and buyer behavior principles in the global environment. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 7: Industrial Marketing. Concepts, theories, and models from industrial marketing strategy provide the foundation for case analyses of a variety of technology-intensive firms, primarily in electronics, data processing, and pharmaceuticals. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 8: Product Policy and Tactics. Tactical and strategic product decisions, with emphasis on the former. Consumer goods, with some attention to the marketing needs of industrial products and service industries; decisions about a firm's product portfolio. Uses case analyses and personal computer-oriented analytical exercises. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Additional prerequisite: Completion of Master of Business Administration core courses.
Topic 9: Marketing Strategy for Small Business. Basics of marketing strategy and marketing plan development; students develop such a plan for a beginning business. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 11: Quality and Competitiveness. The globalization of competition, the challenge to the United States position in the world economy, and the total quality management movement as a competitive response. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 12: Customer Strategy. External resources for competitiveness, such as customer relationships that can help deliver superior quality and drive down costs. The course brings together experienced managers and students who have interned with them to explore issues underlying total quality in marketing. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Additional prerequisite: Completion of an instructor-approved internship.
Topic 13: Pricing and Distribution Channel Strategies. Analysis of distribution and pricing decisions, factors that influence these decisions, and the role of pricing and distribution in the formulation of marketing strategy. Lecture/discussions, cases, and group projects. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 14: Marketing of Services. Organizations that market services rather than goods; differences between tangible goods and services; unique service-marketing problems and opportunities. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 15: Marketing High-Tech Products. The forces driving competition in industrial markets, with emphasis on technological products. This course focuses on honing students' analytical skills for leveraging marketing decision making. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 16: Project Management in Fast-Cycle Environments. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 17: Business Data Analysis With Data Mining. Restricted to Red McCombs School of Business graduate students. The equivalent of two or three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 18: Leveraging Marketing Metrics. Examines the link between marketing decisions and financial performance. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Additional prerequisite: Admission to the McCombs School of Business.

MKT 383. Acquisition, Consumption, and Disposition Behavior.

The acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, time, and ideas by individuals, families, and organizations, examined from a managerial viewpoint. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

MKT 384. Marketing Research Methodology.

An applied approach to advanced marketing research, covering both the design and execution of marketing research projects and the management of the marketing research function. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing, three semester hours of coursework in marketing, and three semester hours of coursework in statistics.

MKT 386. Advanced Marketing Management.

Major marketing concepts and variables, their interrelationships, and their implications for policymaking, problem solving, and strategy formulation. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

MKT 397. Seminar: Current Topics in Marketing.

Survey and analysis of current marketing problems; their significance, evaluation, and probable outcome. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Topic 1: Marketing Theory and Development of Marketing Thought. Analysis of marketing phenomena and their causes. Provides a historical framework to study issues among key components of the marketing system (customers, distributors, and manufacturers).
Topic 2: Marketing Management and Strategy. Examination from the marketing perspective of the process of strategy development and implementation at various levels of the organization: corporate, strategic business unit, and product line/brand.
Topic 3: Buyer Behavior. Theoretical examination of the acquisition and consumption of goods, services, time, and ideas by individuals and groups.
Topic 4: Marketing Research Methods. Advanced statistical procedures and analytical methods for data analysis; reliability and validity of data.
Topic 5: Research Topics in Marketing. Current research issues, methods, and models in marketing; focus on both theory and methodology.
Topic 6: Advanced Research Methods in Marketing. New methodological developments and research procedures; selected topics.
Topic 7: Marketing Models. Analytical techniques and models developed by management scientists to aid marketing-oriented decisions in contexts such as marketing mix management, new product development, and product adoptions.
Topic 8: Quantitative Marketing Strategy. Decision models and analytical procedures used in strategic decision making in marketing; strategic planning approaches, industry analysis (models related to growth in sales and competition), competitive structure (approaches for market structure analysis), and new product design and development models.
Topic 9: Behavioral Decision Research.
Topic 10: Marketing Models II. Restricted to doctoral students in McCombs School of Business. Introduces state-of-the-art theoretical and empirical marketing models using deductive mathematical analysis and inductive statistical reasoning. Create novel quantitative marketing models and estimation methods and critically evaluate the models in the literature of quantitative marketing. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.

MKT 698. Thesis.

The equivalent of three lecture hours a week for two semesters. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: For 698A, graduate standing in marketing and consent of the graduate adviser; for 698B, Marketing 698A.

MKT 398R. Master's Report.

Preparation of a report to fulfill the requirement for the master's degree under the report option. The equivalent of three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in marketing and consent of the supervising faculty member.

MKT 399R, 699R, 999R. Dissertation.

Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree.

MKT 399W, 699W, 999W. Dissertation.

Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Marketing 399R, 699R, or 999R.