You are required to be physically present at the case discussion for at least five of the ten cases in this unit. This is because the teaching method is case discussion and you are expected to participate in those discussions. You can't participate unless you are there. Your assessment is also predominately based on what you can say you learned from the case discussion (and not the case per se). The audio-recording equipment does not guarantee high quality recording all the time, as the microphones may not capture every student talking, due to their proximal distance with the microphones.

You will write up summaries for all the 10 cases we will discuss in lecture. Prior to the case, you need to write up a brief (maximum 250 word) discussion of the following points:

• What the brand is;
• What the product is;
• Who the customer is (target market); what their wants are;
• How the competition looks like;
• What the problem(s) is (are).

You are supposed to include all the above points in your summary to potentially receive the maximum mark for the summary. The pre-lecture summary will be turned in online before any lecture/tutorial activities on the lecture days (i.e., 13 pm of Mondays). Late submissions are NOT accepted. Students who have an approved Special Consideration application will be granted consideration.

This submission would not be marked (at this stage) and is viewed as the requirement for the main submission following the lecture. This means if you fail to submit the summary, you won’t receive any mark for your case submission later, if you submit the case discussion later on (i.e., you will receive a zero for the entire case submission). The lecture would first deliver core marketing concepts related to the focal cases, followed by case discussions. At the end of the case discussion, the lecturer will sum up the case and explain his motivations for using it. This includes how companies can find solutions (remedies) for the problems at hand. A strong recommendation is made to look at the textbook chapters for the topic and make yourself familiar with the concepts of the week. That would help you identify your areas of interest or weakness, as you attend lectures.

You then have until 11 pm Wednesday night (post-lecture) to turn in the complete case discussion, and this one will be marked (NB: on Turnitin, you are allowed to submit once only, so it is your responsibility to make sure that you submit the latest/appropriate version. Once you submit, you can’t change anything). You are to include an exact copy of your summary at the first part of the document (NB: you should not change even a word. Failure to do so would result in a zero for the entire submission) and then you write an additional 250 words to address the following points:

• How do you think the company’s practice (i.e., case) would relate to theory? That is, how has the focal business benefited from appropriate use of theories, or conversely, how has the focal business overlooked related theories and encountered problems? This is where you should define the problem: the discrepancies you can find between marketing concepts and practices by a company.
• What solutions do you offer the company?

As course material progresses over time, you would have more material (not in terms of length but depth) to include in your complete submissions. That said, you are supposed to highlight the concept of focus discussed in that week (e.g., price) and just pinpoint with what other concepts is the focal concept in line (e.g., production concept). The key issue here is that your main submission should be written at a relatively high level (i.e., abstract and less focused on details). Hence, you are to avoid specific details and instead focus on the overarching concepts or underlying mechanisms.

Marking rubrics for this task is available on iLearn. You are strongly suggested to read the rubric carefully, before attempting any case. In short, allotted marks for each section are as follows:

• Summary: 25%
• Relation to theory: 35%
• Remedies (i.e., solutions): 20%
• Originality: 20%

Late assessments: No extensions will be granted, except for students who have an approved Special Consideration. Late submissions are subject to 10% penalty for every 24 hours up to 72 hours. Otherwise, a zero will be applied for the submission (exceptions are only students with approved special considerations). 

NB. Throughout the semester, you are required to have 5 complete submissions only (each constituting 14% of the entire 70% for case submissions). Submission of the pre-lecture summary is mandatory for all students and a pre-requisite for the complete submission: without these being submitted by the due time, any complete submission will not be marked resulting in a zero for the case submission. Each week students will be randomly allocated to submitting their complete work by the lecturer. That is, at the end of lectures, the lecturer will reveal the student IDs randomly selected for the case of the week, which means those selected are to complete their submissions by the due date. If you are present in that session, this will be recorded and you will then have 2 days to complete your submission on Turnitin (by 11 pm of the Wednesday following the lecture). However, students who fail to submit their case in line with the procedure explained OR overlook their IDs in the list will receive zero for that case. That would mean that your overall case mark would therefore be considered out of 4 cases (i.e., maximum of 56% of the total of 70%). This penalty does not apply for cases in which Special Consideration has been made and approved. As this allocation process is random, you are highly recommended to attend all lectures.

Students will present the outcome of their tutorial work in a presentation and there is a product category assigned for the whole unit. Each week for tutorial, students will work in small groups of four working on each of the four Ps as well as other key marketing concepts and this work will culminate in a presentation for an offering in the category due in week 13 (note that there is an online submission due in week 13). These groups are supervised by the tutor.

Peer assessment will be used to adjust marks for your contribution to the group, and your attendance at tutorials will be part of that assessment. Hence, you will need to sign the role each tutorial, in case there is a disagreement on contribution of group members, you can refer to attendance rate as one criterion. It is imperative that all members submit their peer review prior to submitting their presentations. Otherwise, the submission would not be marked. Your final mark for the group presentation is computed based on the group performance (50% of your mark) and your performance defined through peer reviews (the other 50% of your mark). 

After the last tutorial, you have one week to electronically submit your presentation through Google Drive. There is a clear video instruction on how to do so on iLearn. Make sure you follow the steps explained there to avoid any issues. A recorded submission would give you the opportunity to rehearse your presentation at ease and much flexibility to enhance the way you would deliver your marketing offering. You should note that your presentation should not be mainly a set of slides with voice over them. Otherwise, a penalty of 50% will be applied. Instead, members should be actively engaged in the presentation like a live presentation. You should also make good use of slides where appropriate (e.g., pricing, promotion costs etc.). You can find marking rubrics for assignment 2 on iLearn. Each presentation is assessed by 3 judges. The final mark that a group receives would be the weighted mean of marks by all 3 judges. However, the group mark would be adjusted in line with peer review results. This means that members of one group could receive different grades. For that matter, each student will find their mark on their grade book and there will not be any written feedback for assignment two.

The group must make sure the video is uploaded and submitted according to the guideline and is publicly accessible. For any 24 hours of delay, the entire group will suffer from 10% penalty up to 72 hours after which the submission will not be marked, resulting in a zero for all members. This also includes submissions that are not made public and therefore not accessible to the judges.