Format

Marketing 491J
Tools for Professional Success
Fall 2007

Course Format and Skill Development

Course members will be treated as staff consultants rather than students. Professor Schewe will act as a principal in a consulting firm. His role is to monitor activities and direct students to effective methodologies to solve their problems. Class meetings will allow sharing of knowledge and information sources among students about better avenues to successful client problem solution. Staff consultants/course members will use their creative abilities to learn frameworks that will promote better recommendations. Some of the skills acquired in this course include:

Managing relationships with client company and its executives/managers
Problem Solving
Interpersonal skills that enable effective and efficient working with other class/internship company members
Organization and Planning
Time Management
Leadership and delegation of responsibility
Relentless pursuit of sources of information and interviewing skills
The use of technology to solve business problems
Improved writing ability and desktop publishing capabilities
Audio-visual and verbal/powerpoint presentation skills

Students’ company problems will comprise the basis for applying course understanding. At about a third of the way through the course, students will turn in a report that states the company problem that is being addressed, the research methods that are being used to solve that problem, and a complete list of references used and persons spoken with. This assignment will allow students to see how business reports are written. At the end of the course, students will turn in a report [approximately 25 pages] that sets out the company problem, the methods used to investigate the problem, and the recommendations made to the company. This short business report must be professionally written. Standards for written work are those of first class companies in terms of organization, clarity, conciseness, and English grammar. Students will have access to Undergraduate Business Writing Program consultants for assistance in their written reports. The expectations for the quality of the desktop published report are sky high. Ms. Gail Cruise and other members of the Undergraduate Business Writing Program will be available to help you in your report writing. Copies of prior semester “Best Reports” are on reserve in the ISOM Library under Marketing 491.

All in-class presentations should be engaging, professional, and educational to the class...and will be graded accordingly. See “Beware These Presentation Pitfalls” in this syllabus. Students also are encouraged to study I Can See You Naked, an excellent book on making presentations that is also on reserve in the ISOM Library. Each class member [in teams where more than one class member is working with one company] will make three separate presentations during the semester [See Schedule]. Each presentation must be a powerpoint presentation. Students will be helped by feedback from Ms. Cruise. Students must provide a VHS tape for their presentations.

The first powerpoint presentation will be about 15 minutes in duration and focus on a description of the student’s company, the internship and the nature of the company problem. The second 20 minute powerpoint presentation will focus on the problem and the methodology used to solve the problem. The final presentation will be 30 minutes and briefly revisit the problem and methodology but will focus on the solutions to the problem. This final presentation will be videotaped for each student to review and self-assess one’s presentation skills. Class members will make a final presentation to the company [along with a written report] as well and that will constitute a fourth presentation.

Course participants in the past have praised this course for making their conceptual coursework in ISOM come alive, learning how to manage an employer, finding sources of information never before known to exist, learning how to handle interpersonal problems that arise when working with a group, meeting a deadline, and coping with uncertainty that accompanies solving real-world problems. They have also indicated that the course workload and time commitment is far greater than expected, especially from the first of April forward…so be well-prepared.