Credit Hours = 4 Class limit = 30

Laws Hall 207 (P&G Communications Center)

Tuesday(Laws 207)/Thursday(Laws 10) 3:30 - 5:10 pm

Winter, 2000

Your Name: ____________________________

Telephone Number: _____________________

Professor Jack Gifford

Real Office Hours:

Monday / Wednesday 7:00 - 11:00 am or by appointment

Virtual Office Hours: Anytime GIFFORJB@MUOHIO.EDU

Communications:

Telephone: 529-1207 FAX: 529-1290

Required published materials:

Business @ the Speed of Thought, Bill Gates 1999 [ Order online ]

Webonomics, by Evan I. Schwartz 1998 [ Order online ]

HTTP://courseinfo.muohio.edu

Readings: Library Electronic Article Class Reserves: PASSWORD: MKT419

http://www.lib.muohio.edu/

The most important prerequisite is a sincere desire to learn, to be a human sponge, to act professionally, Marketing 291 and senior or graduate standing. This course "counts" as a professional elective for all business majors and a Marketing capstone for marketing majors.  If you are not in the SBA, this course is either a free elective or a non-professional elective.

"The rate of development in this field of study is simply overwhelming. It is an understatement to say things are moving fast. Things are moving REALLY FAST. If you do not know, in this dynamic virtual market space, we have redefined time. A Web year is at most 2 or 3 months in human terms. It is virtually impossible to know everything that is developing on the Internet at any point in time. Rather we will learn how to keep abreast of the information advances and be able to evaluate its potential as a business tool. Our goal will be to develop an awareness and understanding of relevant issues, advantages and disadvantages, and specific techniques involved in using the Internet as a marketing vehicle." (largely paraphrased from a professor's syllabus at Vanderbilt University)

1. To introduce all students with an interest in business to the enormous role the Internet and ECommerce will have on most dimensions of your professional and personal lives;
2. To change the way you think about problem solving and information searches when preparing to make decisions;
3. To provide you with the opportunity to become an "expert" Internet surfer and intelligent online shopper and marketer for/of goods, services and information;
4. To change the way you think about the 21^st century;
5. To understand and be able to apply leading edge Internet and ECommerce technology in your coursework here at Miami University and on the job;
6. To expand your knowledge and skills on the computer;
7. To increase your marketability in today's competitive job environment;
8. To significantly raise your self-confidence in using leading edge information technology to effectively and efficiently face today's and tomorrow's life challenges.
9. To emphasize teamwork and sharing as a means to learning. In this course we are not competing with others for grades, but only against the standards set by your instructor and yourself for self enlightenment and understanding. Hopefully, both of these are very high!
10. To assist you in thinking outside "the box" and stimulate your ability to transfer knowledge, skills and insights from one application to an entirely different situation;
11. To learn not to become frustrated when WE NEVER finish discussing the sites and issues assigned for the day. It is a survey course! You are still responsible for learning as much as possible about everything!!!
12. To infuse in each of you an excitement and vision of what the future can hold... and the wisdom to make "good things happen." You are the leaders of tomorrow!
13. To all have fun learning together!

We will be holding class in Laws 207 in the P & G Communications Center and Laws 5 the entire semester. It is expected that you will be present at every class, will have prepared all required readings, explored assigned web sights, shared insights on our electronic bulletin board, and be willing to actively participate in the assigned tasks for that day. During class, you will treat your colleagues and teacher with respect, and will not go exploring sights inconsistent with the topic for that day. This includes email! You will be asked to leave the course if you repeatedly act in an unprofessional manner, as defined above.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION:

Since our class periods will largely be spent sharing insights and exploring various Internet and ECommerce locations, it is essential that you attend every class period. I will take attendance at  3:30 pm and 5:10 pm each class period. If you are not present at both these times, plus during the 100 minute class period, you will be counted absent for the entire period. You should not be wandering in and out of the classroom during the class period, with the exception of "essential biological needs."

You are expected to be an active learner and teacher during every class period, making significant and positive additions as appropriate. With 30 students in the class, you should also be aware of your "floor time" to assure everyone has the opportunity to participate daily. Be an active listener and take notes constantly in your daily log book. Ninety percent of the knowledge and skills you acquire in this class will be from your own work, participation on the bulletin board, active thinking about and response to exercises scheduled for each class period, and the observations of your colleagues. Although your teacher has tried to become knowledgeable on all the topics, you collectively will know at least 50% more about every topic than he does. There are no true experts in this field!

Your grades will be based upon five basic activities: 1) written responses to daily exercises; 2) participation in class; 3) participation online; 4) your personal log book; and 5) an 8-10 page individual paper ("final exam"). This may be your only marketing course that does NOT include a group project, exams or a presentation using PowerPoint! You are largely in control of the level of grade you receive based upon your efforts, outputs, and creative insights.

Grade Weights:

Written responses to daily exercises     100 points

Participation online (BB)                            100 points

Participation in class                                  150 points

Personal log book                                      600 points

Individual 8-10 page paper                          50 points

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS                  1,000 POINTS

GRADES: MINIMUM NUMBER OF POINTS EARNED

A       910 or more

A-     880

B+   850

B     820

B-   785

C+ 760

C   720

C-  690

D+  670

D    625

D-  600

F   0 TO 599

A paper not submitted, lack of participation in a class or on the bulletin board for a day, or missing log day, will mean a zero for that daily portion of your grade.

LOGBOOK: For each class period you will have articles or selections of books to read, internet sites to explore, audio and/or video tapes, CDs and a series of questions to examine and answer. For each of the above you should have a list/outline of key information and special insights gained, particularly as they might be applied in your chosen career field. Additional articles read and sites explored should be explained in a similar manner. All exercises written up for class should appear in the log. Notes taken in class (handwritten, but well organized) should also appear in the log. The log should be indexed by day and major topics discussed. By the end of the semester, it should contain a summary of the insights and http addresses gained throughout the semester. It is particularly important to correctly record all Internet sites you come across in your readings, plus surfing, during the semester. I would anticipate that you will have between 1,000 - 2,000 http sites by the end of the semester. All but notes taken in class should be typed or neatly written, grammar and spell checked, and collected in a large 3-ring notebook. Be sure to tab your days and/or topics, and include a Table of Contents. It is obvious that it would be a major disaster if this were lost, so take very good care of your logbook!

WRITTEN RESPONSES TO DAILY EXERCISES: Almost every class period we will have a series of questions to answer or activities to complete prior to arrival in class. These must be typed or neatly written and submitted at the end of the class period. They may not be altered or typed during class unless noted by placing in a box. The questions will be designed to help us collectively explore the topics in this course and will always deal with the "real world". They will be based upon your readings, Internet sites explored, and your synthesis and interpretation of this "data" into "information insights". I would be disappointed if you did not regularly go beyond those readings and sites assigned, and add new sites and articles to the collective knowledge base of the class.

PARTICIPATION IN CLASS: You are expected to participate in a meaningful manner during class every day. This always starts by being a good listener and careful preparation. Your verbal observations should move the class forward and add to our collective knowledge and skill base. My ability to mentally record the quality of your participation daily is very imperfect, but I'll do my best. After 28 class periods, I have a reasonable confidence in my ability to judge your contribution to the total learning experience of the class.  My graduate assistant, Jason Yeager,  will also be helping me in this process.

PARTICIPATION ON THE BULLETIN BOARD: I will check out and download our bulletin board at approximately 8:30 am on the day of our classes. Many of our assigned activities will ask for you to share with your colleagues certain ideas, insights, Internet sites, opinions, or ???. The ideas of your colleagues may often be of assistance to you in completing the exercises due in class, or locating additional information for your individual paper. It will be an excellent opportunity to stimulate thinking about issues before class. You may also ask questions where you need help. Whenever you visit the bulletin board and share insight, your name must appear in parentheses after the comment or question. Your helpfulness, intelligent questions and answers, and contribution to the quality of the discussion will be graded on a regular basis. Proper netiquette should be observed. No flaming unless the person really deserves it, and then still be polite. My graduate assistant will assist in maintaining these records on a continuous basis.   This bulletin board, discussion questions, current activities, this syllabus, including insights, etc. will all be maintained on "Blackboard".

8 - 10 PAGE "Final Exam" INDIVIDUAL PAPER: As seniors I am assuming (maybe incorrectly) that you have some idea about your initial career direction and possible employers. Using the Internet and the insights you have gained throughout the semester, discuss the ECommerce, Internet, Intranet, etc. opportunities and threats to your planned professional position and potential employer. Be sure to look forward into the near future (12-18 months) on what could be; don't only describe what is! For example, if you are going into sports marketing and wish to work for a professional hockey team, there should be dozens of insights that might be applied to the interactive marketing of your team. Describe and prescribe. Be creative and forward thinking. Transfer insights from other functional areas, always remembering the needs and wants of the stakeholders. You personally must present this paper at the time and date designated for the final exam to your teacher in Upham 222B.

You are expected to be present during every class period. If you are not there, you obviously did not participate in the class discussion and add to the total knowledge and skill base of the class. However, as seniors, I realize you may have a limited number of commitments over which you have very limited control, such as varsity athletics, second interviews or personal/family medical emergencies. If you will let me know beforehand, we will jointly come up with a short paper that you can prepare and that can be shared with your colleagues in class in your absence. This will require you to take the initiative, plan ahead, and the duplication of 33 copies. If you miss five classes FOR ANY REASON, you will be asked to leave the class and will receive a WP or WF as appropriate. If you know you are going to miss five or more classes, please drop the class today so someone on the waiting list can add the class.

I assume that everyone is honest unless proven otherwise. You are encouraged to work and study together and to talk to your colleagues, Jason Yeager, or your teacher if you are having problems. Your logbook and final paper are your individual responsibilities. If you wish to discuss and work together on the daily classroom activities this is fine as long as you independently write up the answers in your own words. Always acknowledge direct quotes of one sentence or more. Also be sure to give as much as you receive on the bulletin board. In the unfortunate situation where dishonesty is indicated, the written university, divisional and departmental disciplinary codes will be followed. If you can use anything prepared for this class for another class, that is fine with me as long as you notify both faculty members of this fact prior to submission to either faculty member.

My Roles and Responsibilities as a Teacher

It is my responsibility to create a total learning environment where you are actively encouraged to question, acquire specific cognitive information, evaluate careers and lifestyles, values, attitudes and beliefs, and to improve your communication skills. I will attempt to be a positive role model and maintain high personal ethical standards. As a teacher, I have been entrusted by your parents or guardians with helping to prepare you to live full and valued lives. I accept this responsibility. I will always be fully prepared for all of our classes, will be on time (hopefully at least 5-10 minutes early), and remain after class if needed, and will provide each of you with a comprehensive course syllabus.

I will carefully grade all class assignments and return all materials within 7 days of receipt. I will make myself available a minimum of 8 hours a week, plus additional time by appointment, to assist you in resolving any problems you may be having with course materials, technology issues or career decisions. I will regularly measure your performance toward the stated course objectives, and will keep you informed of how you are doing.

It is my responsibility to remain current in my subject fields and the teaching profession. It is my responsibility as a scholar-teacher to synthesize and assimilate existing knowledge, the sharing of that knowledge, the generation of new knowledge, and to constantly explore ways of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of my teaching. I will follow all known and ethical rules of Miami University and the Student Handbook, with particular attention to "Good Teaching Practices".

I will treat and respect you as a unique individual with special needs and abilities. I recognize that you have very complex lives outside the classroom, and reasonable accommodations are appropriate and necessary when conflicts arise between classroom obligations and personal growth opportunities outside the classroom. This does not include excessive absences (5). However, I do expect in almost all cases that your classes will be your first priority (before that intramural broomball game, etc.)

I believe in constructive, positive reinforcement. A good teacher inspires confidence and motivates students to exceed their own expectations. My role is to be a catalyst in your learning environment that sparks you to achieve your potential.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AND RIGHTS:

[ To be completed in class individually and collectively ]

Grades are a necessity of our current academic environment and will be used to provide constructive feedback to you concerning your level of attainment of the knowledge and learning skills defined in the course under "Course Objectives". There is no ideal, target, or predetermined grade curve for my classes. The grading standards are published within this syllabus, and will not be changed except, as it may be uniformly advantageous to you.

The missions of Miami University, Richard T. Farmer School of Business Administration, and the Department of Marketing can be summarized as follows:

1.    to develop life long learners;

2.    to individualize the educational experience of each student as much as possible;

3.    to provide students with opportunities to achieve understanding and appreciation not only of their own culture, but the cultures of others;

4.    to educate men and women for responsible, informed citizenship, as well as for meaningful employment; and

5    .to provide professional, academic and personal guidance when requested.

In my opinion, the most important part of your education at Miami University is to learn how to learn and to develop a love for life long learning of all sorts. Read everything you can. Meet people with different backgrounds. Take part in one or more international programs. Surf the web. Participate in the life of your university. Grow, share, give, and receive graciously.   Acquire both skills and knowledge. Work hard, and have fun.  Life long learning is one of the greatest investments you can make in yourself.  If you do not do this, your professional knowledge and skills will become obsolete practically overnight.  Remember "The Brand Called You".

All classes will be held in the P & G Communications Center (LWS 207)or Lws 5. We will discuss the issues and questions designated for that day and explore additional sites and resources via the Internet. Often a half dozen individuals will be selected at random to lead some of these discussions. Very few, if any traditional lectures will be given by me, with the exception of Supply Chain Management.  I have attempted to create a shared learning environment where we all have the opportunity, and obligation, to learn from one another. It is unfair to only be a sponge.

(Numbers represent master file numbers that are open to you for further research)