Marketing – Session #1 (05/24/2008)

Attendees : – 195

Course :- POM (Principles of Marketing Management)

Professor :- Prof.Venugopal

Coverage :- Definition of Marketing, Marketing Vs Sales, Types (Product vs Customer), Definition of Need, Hierarchy of Needs, Maslow Needs, Needs Vs Market/Value.

Summary :-

Definition of Marketing – According to Wikipedia, Marketing is an ongoing process of planning and executing of the marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) of products, services or ideas to create exchange between individuals and organizations.

In a way it is driven by the needs of the Customer/Market. Good Marketing needs to create a value proposition for the customer. 

One of the key differences between Marketing and Sales is Marketing is focussed on long term goals, and creation of a broader base (Branding, Loyalty, Repeat business), while Sales is purely an execution of a short term goal and transaction specific.

Marketing can be categorized as Product Centric and Customer Centric.

Product Centric – Product is given/developed and then marketed to the customer. Examples of these would be Marketing of Ideas (Env Protection). Product-Market FIT.

Customer Centric – Need based, Analyze and Establish Market and then design/develop/Market Product. e.g. Tata Nano, Two Wheelers in India. Market – Product FIT.

Satisfying the need is the core concept of Marketing. According to Maslow, there is a hierarchy of Needs. More of a psychology concept than a marketing concept, though.

The third level may be classified as Individual as well as Social needs. Individual needs are characterized by Convenience, Comforts and Relaxation, while Social needs have a couple of levels (Social Acceptance – Basic to Social Esteem – Ego/Envy).

Social Needs may conflict with Individual needs and based on the context a Social need may supercede Individual Need (e.g. Need to wear a Tie/Suit in Indian Context, not comfortable but a Social Acceptance/Ego need)

Rebel Needs help marketing Individual needs as social needs. These are needs typically considered unacceptable in the society (social need) at the point in time/context. e.g. Liquor, Cigarettes, Fashion Products.

 

PGCBM, PGCH(R)M – Inauguration Session Highlights, FAQ

As scheduled, the course inauguration was done by XLRI, with the students joining the same from their respective locations (HughesNet). Summary of the Inauguration course, some of the FAQ by students with their answers (The best I could comprehend), and some general do’s and dont’s.

Summary

People Present (XLRI):- Prof. Srimanarayana (Dean, XLRI Satellite Courses), Prof. Venugopal (Marketing Management), Mr. Partho (Hughes), Mr. Roy (AIS), TA’s, Studio Assistants, Students (Both CBM and HRM) (Attendance was close to 273 – Last I saw the count :-))

Prof. Srimanarayana introduced fellow people and welcomed one and all enrolled for the course. He spoke at length about the Composition, Schedule, XLRI policies, Summer Campus Visit, the professors who will be handling various courses, grades, minimum pass criteria, chat window usage. He also outlined the importance of joining the yahoo groups to receive regular updates on courses. Mr.Rohit is the TA for MAC, and has already sent out the course contents.

Prof. Venugopal was fairly brief on his introduction and welcome address.

Mr.Partho joined the session from Gurgaon and spoke about Hughes/XLRI partnership to bring this course to people across India in various cities/towns. He also highlighted that XLRI has been a pioneer in terms of the satellite courses. He also appraised the students about potential disruptions (rains etc) which may potentially cause issues in bringing the course live to us across cities.

Mr.Roy addressed the audience about the usage of AIS (http://xlri.ac.in/satellite), the various features of the web site. One of the key things highlighted was to complete the CV in AIS, before we can use all the features of the system. He opened the session for QnA from fellow students. A few people raised their questions and got them addressed (Though most of the Qs were repeated). And before he could complete the briefing, there was this audio problem which ended the session prematurely, though I felt that most of the items were covered.

Then we got the course material from the respective centres for MAC and MakMan (Marketing Management), signed the attendance, and Ms.Sandhya centre head Koramangala briefed us about certain policies and centre rules, before we drew curtains for yesterday.

(P:S – Koramangala Bangalore Centre – Hughes has been voted the best centre for quite some time now)

FAQ (based on questions asked in the chat medium/to Mr.Roy/Prof.Sriman/Ms Sandhya – Centre Coordinator Koramangala, Bangalore)

1.When is the campus visit planned?

Campus visits are planned when the regular XLRI courses (full time) have their summer placements. Hence it will be around May/June, next year . The exact dates will be communicated later.

P.S- These visits have separate fees and are not included in the course fees

2. Will the sessions be available online (Internet)?

Sessions are not available on the internet. In case of genuine absence from the class, you can request your centre coordinator for a session to view the archives. The max time period to view the archives will be 21 days, from the session.

3. Will the archives be available for review purposes or studying for exams?

NO.

4. Can we take break from the course?

Course Breaks are not entertained for the first term. However due to contingencies, if you have to take a break (post the first term), you can do so. However you will have to complete the course within 36 months of joining (Needs some clarification). Also there is a break fees charged when you re-join the course. Application for course breaks have to be submitted in advance.

4.Can I view the session from anywhere (HughesNet centres) in India?

Yes. However you need to inform your centre atleast a few days in advance so that they can intimate the target centre of your arrival.

5. Can I get my course centre changed, in case of a permanent transfer?

Yes. Again there is a process to do so. A fee of Rs 1,000/- will be charged.

6. How do I get my course material?

Course Material (Books) are despatched to the various centres and you need to contact the centre for the books.

7. What is the stucture of each course?

The course content is determined by the Professor for each course. There is not standard template. However in a generic basis, a course may have assignments, surprise quizes, classroom activity, project, exams.

8. How do I get notification about course details?

Please join the yahoo groups. The directions would have been sent out to the email registered with HughesNet.

9. How do I submit my homework/assignments?

Typically it depends on how the professors may want it. It may be via emails or uploading the assignment via AIS.

10. What is the pass criteria to get the certification?

You should clear all courses with no more than 3 “C” grades. However you could get a “D”, and beyond in any of the courses (need clarification). The corelation of grades and marks is provided in the course content manual.

11. Will there be a convocation for this course?

Yes.

12. Is attendance a criteria?

Yes. A Minimal of 75% attendance is expected for the student to clear a course.

13. Would viewing the archives fetch me attendance for the course?

No.

14. How is attendance marked for the course?

Typically this is a two way approach. You get a pop-up while logging into the session, through which you should submit your attendance (This will appear for 20 seconds at any point in time during the course, So do not sleep in the class :-)). Also the centre has a physical attendance (signing the attendance sheet) just for back up purposes.

15. Do I have Internet access in the centre?

No.

16. Do I have copier/printer in the centre?

No. Not for student use.

17. How do I participate in the class?

You can use the various options provided in the communication platform. This can be done raising your hand (using the app. button), or using the chat window. The chat window is monitored and hence pls avoid personal communication.

A request to fellow students….

The chat window provided is to best use it to participate in the class in terms of asking questions, addressing doubts of fellow students.

Please do not do the following using the chat window

1. Greet fellow students

2. Everyone wishing the professor, students (Good Evening, Thanks etc)

3. Introduce yourself as such and such

4. Have personal conversation

5. Post messages not relevant to the course (IPL scores etc)

MAC – Management Accounting

By now all of you would have received the syllabus for MAC (Management Accounting) and the course contents. In case you have not seen it yet, login to the email ID you have subscribed for the egroups, and check it out.

The primary reading material for the course is “Financial Accounting For Management” by Ramachandran and Kakani, 2nd Edition, McGraw Hill Publications.

Just in case you failed to notice, this is the same Dr.Rama Kumar Kakani who will be our course instructor. Some more insight on Mr.Kakani (Best Young Teacher Award, AIMS 2005), Please refer http://kimelody.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_archive.html

So it is indeed a great privilege to have Dr.Kakani as our course instructor.

Happy Accounting!

Course Inauguration Start Date

The word I have from HughesNet is that they plan to have the inauguration on the 20th May and the course will start at the respective centres on the weekend following the 20th i.e. 24th May. The directive is to watch out for your email (subscribed to XLRI, HughesNet) for a confirmation.

Guess we are all aboard now. Let the fun begin (!!!!).

Hello fellow (executive) students

I am starting this blog as an unofficial discussion blog for PGCBM14-XLRI executive course for folks based out of Bangalore.

Hope this will help us share information down the line.

I believe the selection process is already over and the Date for the first installment of fees is 30th March (XLRI, Jamshedpur) or 28th March (Hughesnet Bangalore).