Program of Marketing
Dr. Claire P. Bolfing, Director
Professors
K. Bahn, T. Bertsch, C. Bolfing, C. Claiborne, R. Reid, K. Williamson
Associate Professors
I. Clarke, W. Faranda, T. Flaherty, V. Larsen, R. Shelton, N. Wright, G. Wynn
Assistant Professors
J. Guthrie, A. Stanton
Instructors
R. McMillen, C. Snyder, M. Yankey
Mission Statement
The Program of Marketing prepares students to assume professional and leadership roles in the rapidly changing, technically-oriented and competitive world of marketing. Students majoring in marketing are introduced to the marketing management process, which is a systematic review of the principal activities required to understand (1) the context in which products and services must be marketed, (2) customer needs, (3) strategic options, (4) marketing program development and (5) evaluation of marketing effectiveness. The marketing curriculum focuses on traditional and online marketing skills needed in various business settings and industries. All courses and educational experiences focus on developing competence in five areas: factual and conceptual knowledge, problem solving skills, communications skills, experiential learning and use of information technology. Students will be prepared to enter corporate or small business environments with highly valued skills and an understanding of the need for continuous learning.
Because of the ProgramÕs commitment to innovation, quality and assessment with continuous improvement, marketing faculty are actively involved in
- curriculum and instruction development,
- theoretical, applied and instructional research,
- strong academic-industry relations, and
- professional organizations that help foster education advancement.
Goals
- To deliver a solid foundation of the concepts and theories of the marketing discipline, including market environmental issues; strategic market planning, implementation and evaluation; marketing research; buyer behavior and market segmentation; and development of marketing programs.
- To engage students in critical thinking processes, requiring in-depth analysis of qualitative and quantitative market data and development of subsequent marketing strategies based on this analysis.
- To enable students to evaluate marketing program alternatives and commit to a course of action, using financial, organizational, environmental and ethical criteria as bases for decision-making.
- To teach students a variety of information technology tools and techniques to improve marketing and overall business performance and deliver greater value to customers.
- To facilitate studentsÕ continuing development of verbal, written and listening communication skills.
- To develop studentsÕ marketing-based interpersonal skills, such as group-based negotiation, consensus building, delegation and performance evaluation.
- To integrate classroom study with exposure to industry practices throughout the marketing curriculum and ensure marketing students access to experiential learning opportunities in all marketing career tracks.
Career Opportunities
- Retailing-store management, merchandise buying and analysis, graphics design and visual merchandising.
- Consumer marketing and business-to-business marketing : sales, consumer relations and market analysis, web-based marketing, event marketing.
- Communications Ð advertising account management, direct marketing account management, technical writing, copywriting, media planning, sales, and public relations
- Consulting Ð data analysis and sales.
- Marketing research Ð database modeling, database management and account analysis, and project management.
- Banking and services marketing Ð branch management and project management.
- Not for profit marketing Ð fundraising, public relations, customer service
Co-curricular Activities and Organizations
- Madison Marketing Association. This student club is affiliated with the American Marketing Association, a national marketing association for marketing professionals, faculty and students. MMA is open to all JMU students. MMA is comprehensive with its marketing programming and offers students information and activities in direct marketing, retailing and marketing management.
- Pi Sigma Epsilon. PSE is a professional fraternity, which focuses on programming and extracurricular experiences in sales and sales management.
- Mu Kappa Tau. This is an honorary marketing fraternity for students with high scholastic records. Admission is by invitation only. The club invites speakers and engages in joint programming with other JMU student organizations.
Special Admission Requirements
Admission to the Marketing major is limited and competitive. All students interested in majoring in Marketing must complete a supplemental application, in addition to the application for admission to the College of Business, as part of the entry process into junior-level coursework. Only those students who have been formally admitted to the College of Business will be considered for admission into the Marketing Program.
Degree and Major Requirements
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Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing
Marketing majors conform to the general structure of the B.B.A. degree program. The B.B.A. degree in marketing requires a minimum of 120 credit hours of undergraduate course work.
Degree Requirements
|
Credit Hours |
| General Education requirements1 |
41 |
| B.B.A. lower-level core courses |
23-30 |
| B.B.A. upper-level core courses |
15 |
| Marketing major requirements |
24 |
| Non-business electives |
10-12 |
|
120 |
Fifty percent of this work, or 60 credit hours, must be taken outside of the College of Business. In counting the 60 credit hours of non-business courses, B.B.A. students may include all hours taken in general education (usually 41), up to a total of nine hours in economics (GECON courses must be counted as economics), and three hours of COB 191, Business and Economics Statistics. The remaining hours, to bring the total to 60 must be taken from any department outside the College of Business. Students should carefully select these non-business electives to help them gain additional knowledge and expertise for their careers and personal lives.
Major Requirements
Additional required courses are determined by the chosen concentration.
Concentration
As a result of Marketing being such a broad field there are many areas of specialization. Students majoring in marketing commit to a course of study and obtain career-specific knowledge and skills by selecting a concentration. Presently, concentrations include:
Business to Business Marketing
Business to Consumer Marketing
eCommerce
Marketing Information Systems
Business to Business Marketing Concentration
The Business to Business Marketing concentration is designed for marketing majors who wish a more in-depth review of the issues facing businesses that market products and services to other businesses and organizations. This concentration will focus on the development of knowledge and problem-solving skills relating to business segmentation and buying processes, product development and direct selling and sales management.
Students interested in sales and sales management may be responsible for increasing sales and if successful will advance to assume management responsibilities. Product development deals with marketing related to a specific product. Activities may involve planning and development, production and distribution, direct marketing and other types of promotion. The Business to Business Marketing concentration is the ideal concentration for a job in sales, customer service, account management, and product development, both in direct marketing and industry-specific sectors.
| Required Corses |
Credit Hours |
| MKTG 382. Market Database Development |
3 |
| MKTG 385. Buyer Behavior |
3 |
| MKTG 430. Professional Selling |
3 |
| MKTG 450. Business Marketing |
3 |
| MKTG 480. Product Development and Management |
3 |
| MKTG 484. Integrated Marketing Communications |
3 |
| MKTG 485. Marketing Management |
3 |
| Choose one marketing elective from the following list: |
3 |
| MKTG 405. Survey Research |
|
| MKTG 460. Global Marketing |
|
| MKTG 470. Strategic Internet Marketing |
|
| MKTG 494. Marketing Internship |
|
Business to Consumer Marketing Concentration
The Business to Consumer Marketing concentration is designed for marketing majors who want in-depth study, analysis, development, and marketing of goods and services for sale to consumers using store, catalog, and electronic buying methods. Students will develop knowledge, market skills, and experience relating to: store management, site management, consumer segmentation, interactive retailing, and development of marketing strategies for reaching consumer markets.
Graduates in this concentration will be suited to begin careers in business-to-consumer marketing, relationship marketing, merchandise management, human resource management, new business creation, customer service operations, catalog marketing, retailing, Internet marketing, not-for-profit marketing, and promotional account management positions.
| Required Corses |
Credit Hours |
| MKTG 382. Market Database Development |
3 |
| MKTG 385. Buyer Behavior |
3 |
| MKTG 388. Retail Marketing |
3 |
| MKTG 484. Integrated Marketing Communications |
3 |
| MKTG 485. Marketing Management |
3 |
| Choose one marketing elective from the following list: |
3 |
| MKTG 391. Merchandising1 |
|
| MKTG 470. Strategic Internet Marketing1 |
|
| Choose two marketing electives from the following list: |
6 |
| MKTG 386. Hospitality and Services Marketing |
|
| MKTG 391. Merchandising1 |
|
| MKTG 394. Merchandising Buying |
|
| MKTG 420. Data Mining |
|
| MKTG 430. Professional Selling |
|
| MKTG 460. Global Marketing |
|
| MKTG 470. Strategic Internet Marketing |
|
| MKTG 494. Marketing Internship |
|
eCommerce Concentration
eCommerce is designed for marketing majors interested in studying the application of information technology (IT) to important business and marketing processes. Students in this concentration study these processes as played out in the digital marketspace, and the application of relevant hardware and software technologies to these business processes and marketing practices so as to enable them online. Students study and work with the technology infrastructure that enables the Internet, the World Wide Web, and eCommerce. By virtue of better understanding the technology and coupling this understanding with a solid grounding in business fundamentals, graduates from this concentration are better able to help organizations conceive ways to apply technology to develop new revenue opportunities and improve organizational efficiency and productivity.
Only 30 students will be admitted into the eCommerce concentration every year. Students who have completed COB 300 or are currently enrolled in COB 300 must apply in the fall semester to begin the required sequencing of concentration courses in the spring semester. Admission is limited to marketing majors only and is on a competitive basis, with studentÕs cumulative GPA used to rank order applications for selecting the top 30 students into the concentration. Students will be notified of acceptance into the concentration in time for the online spring registration process, which occurs in November.
The eCommerce concentration consists of the eight courses shown below.
| Required Corses |
Credit Hours |
| CIS 321. Introduction to Computer Programming |
3 |
| MKTG 370. Electronic Commerce |
3 |
| MKTG 382. Market Database Development |
3 |
| MKTG 385. Buyer Behavior |
3 |
| MKTG 420. Data Mining |
3 |
| MKTG 470. Strategic Internet Marketing |
3 |
| MKTG 485. Marketing Management |
3 |
| OM 426. Supply Chain Management |
3 |
Marketing Information Systems Concentration
The Marketing Information Systems concentration is designed for marketing majors who wish a more in-depth study of the issues relating to the management and use of information systems in order to support marketing management decision-making. Students learn the importance of: (1) using and managing existing company and external data and databases, (2) conducting marketing research studies, (3) analyzing and interpreting online and offline data, (4) using data mining techniques to conduct market segment analyses and build predictive models, and (5) incorporating technology tools to develop marketing information systems and decision support systems in a global environment.
Students who desire careers in consulting, Internet marketing, database marketing, marketing research, and direct marketing should consider this concentration.
The Marketing Information Systems concentration consists of the eight courses shown below.
| Required Corses |
Credit Hours |
| MKTG 382. Market Database Development |
3 |
| MKTG 385. Buyer Behavior |
3 |
| MKTG 405. Survey Research |
3 |
| MKTG 420. Data Mining |
3 |
| MKTG 470. Strategic Internet Marketing |
3 |
| MKTG 485. Marketing Management |
3 |
| Choose two marketing elective from the following list: |
6 |
| CIS 221. Introduction to Computer Programming |
|
| GEOG 366. Geographic Information Systems |
|
| MKTG 460. Global Marketing |
|
| MKTG 484. Integrated Marketing Communications |
|
| MKTG 484. Integrated Marketing Communications |
|
Recommended Schedule for Majors
Marketing majors will follow the course schedule below to complete the final two years of their program. It is possible to deviate from this program but care must be taken to ensure that all course prerequisites are met.
Third Year
| First Semester |
Credit Hours |
COB 300A. Integrated Functional Systems: Management
| 3 |
|
| COB 300B. Integrated Functional Systems: Operations |
3 |
| COB 300C. Integrated Functional Systems: Operations |
3 |
| COB 300D. Integrated Functional Systems: Marketing |
3 |
| General Education courses or non-business electives |
3 |
|
15 |
| Second Semester |
Credit Hours |
| MKTG 382. Market Database Development |
3 |
| MKTG 385. Buyer Behavior |
3 |
| Marketing concentration course |
3 |
| Free elective |
3 |
| Non-business elective |
3 |
|
15 |
Fourth Year
| First Semester |
Credit Hours |
| Marketing concentration courses |
9 |
| General Education or non-business elective |
6 |
|
15 |
| Second Semester |
Credit Hours |
| COB 487. Business Policy |
3 |
| COB 487. Business Policy |
3 |
| MKTG 485. Marketing Management |
9 |
| General Education or non-business electives |
6 |
|
15 |
Transfer Credit
The marketing program will accept no more than two courses for transfer credit toward the major. In addition to this general College of Business policy, there are restrictions on which courses will be accepted for transfer credit, depending on the selected concentration.
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