Part A: Markstrat Simulation Performance 

Task Description: Students will participate in Markstrat - an online marketing management and strategy simulation. It is a sophisticated marketing simulation that provides a challenging decision-making exercise in which complex strategic marketing decisions must be made within a competitive and realistic context. Students will participate in their allocated study group and, as a group, will manage their hypothetical firm in competition with other teams over the course of the program. The objective of this exercise is to place students into a realistic operating environment that requires the integration of complex strategy, marketing research, planning, and decision-making. Groups will be evaluated on the basis of their overall strategies and competitive results. Marks will be allocated based on the groups share price index (SPI) calculated by the simulation, along with the group's ability to submit their strategic decisions on time. 

Groups are expected to be democratic and self-managing. The decision rules of the game are detailed and extensive. Thus, it is essential that each student has access to a copy of the student manual and makes continual reference to it. The game requires seven decisions to be made simulating seven years of operations. Decisions will be made according to the program in this guide. Decisions must be received by due dates as the simulation closes at the beginning of each seminar session. Teams will also be expected to give an informal debrief outlining their initial strategies, where they went right (and wrong), their results and key conclusions.

The Markstrat licences will be supplied by MGSM and distributed in the first seminar.

Weighting: 15%

Due: Each Session

Type of collaboration: Group

Submission: Markstrat Simulation

Part B: Markstrat Performance Reflection

Task Description: Each group member must produce an individual reflection on how your Markstrat team worked, the challenges you faced, how those challenges were managed, and what you would do differently to improve your competitive position.

To help you wite your reflection, you should keep a journal in which you document the current competitive environment, the problems and opportunities facing your brand portfolio, the market analysis you relied upon, the concepts and marketing strategy frameworks you used to help inform your strategic decision making, and the outcome of those strategic marketing choices. You should update this journal for each simulation decision period.

Weighting: 15%

Due: Session 9

Type of collaboration: Individual

Submission: Please submit via Turnitin link on iLearn. For students in 'block mode'  it is due at the end of day 5. Specific dates will be provided on ilearn.

Format: Extended written response

Length: 2000 Words

More information and supplementary documents will be located on iLearn and will be discussed in class. Marking criteria is available on iLearn. No extensions will be granted. Late submission is subject to penalty.

Task description: The strategy workbook component commences in the second session. Students will apply the concepts discussed in class to a product/company of their choice. Over the sessions, the Strategy Workbook will help students to identify the areas of marketing strategy that pose critical threats and opportunities to their chosen product/company. At the conclusion of the coursework, students will use the content of their strategy workbook as a starting point for their marketing strategy audit and strategic marketing plan.

Type of collaboration: Individual

Submission: Please submit the completed workbook via Turnitin on iLearn. For students in 'block mode' it is due 1 week after day 3. Specific dates will be provided on ilearn

Format: Written response to seminal 'workshop questions' available on iLearn

More information and supplementary documents will be located on iLearn and will be discussed in class. Marking criteria is available on iLearn. No extensions will be granted. Late submission is subject to penalty.

Task description: You will be required to make recommendations for the future marketing strategy for the company/product you have been using as the focus of your strategy workbooks.

The purpose of the assignment is to give you practical experience in deploying strategic marketing planning. For your assignment, you will:

• critically evaluate the current marketing strategy; this is an audit of the current marketing strategy’s strengths and weaknesses, given the overall company business plan and model, and the product/company’s competitors and customers; 
• identify strategic marketing alternatives for the company, over a 1 to 5 year time frame;
• make recommendations for key strategic marketing initiatives based on the theory/practice we have covered in class, plus situational analysis and additional company-specific data; 
• recommendations may include changes to the branding or positioning of the company/product, distribution, target segments, and/or changes to its product portfolio, service delivery, etc;
• anticipate and document factors influencing the success or failure of the proposed strategy 

Type of collaboration: Individual

Submission: Please submit via Turnitin link on iLearn. For students in 'block mode',  it is due 1 week after day 5. Specific dates will be provided on iLearn.

Format: Extended written response

Length: 2500 words.

More information and supplementary documents will be located on iLearn and will be discussed in class. Marking criteria is available on iLearn. No extensions will be granted. Late submission is subject to penalty.

Duration: 3 hours plus 10 minutes reading time

The exam format will be CLOSED book, and will consist of a case study with a combination of essay style questions.