Dr. Jakki Mohr of the University of Montana School of Business Administration Offers High-Tech Marketing Assistance to Montana Businesses – Class Projects for High-Tech Marketing Fall 06

Hello all —

I’m in the process of preparing for my high-tech marketing class for the
fall semester, and am looking for companies who would like a student
group to work with them on their high-tech marketing needs.

The class I teach is Marketing of High-Technology Products and
Innovations. Students in the class are required to work with a firm to
assist them with their marketing needs. The two quotes below from
students indicate that their semester project with a high-tech firm is
an important part of their learning process.

"The project is an incredibly good way to join the technical and
marketing aspects of the class. The projects fits well into the
experiential-based learning objective of the school."

"This is a very worthwhile course and contributed to a sense of being
connected to the business world."

Here’s what a company from last semester’s project had to say about the
student’s work:
"The single most important observation that [the student] made
was that we needed to re-work and clarify our value proposition. That
observation was valuable, and we will address it. Our company really
got something out of this project! …I’ve contributed to the
university over the years….It’s great to see the payback."

If you would like your company to be considered by the students for
their semester project, please send me an email by Monday, August 28
with a brief (2-3 sentence) description of your company/product, and a
brief (2-3 sentence) description of the nature of the marketing problem
you would like the have the students address.

Be aware of the fact that there will be a trade-off between breadth and
depth of the work the students can do. For example, if you would like
the students to write a marketing plan for you, it will–by
necessity–be broad-stroke in nature (with less supporting detail in
each area than if you wanted input on only a specific facet of
marketing). On the other hand, if you would like a competitive analysis,
a marketing communications plan, a distribution channel analysis, or a
segmentation/target market analysis, you can expect proportionately more
detail for such a focused request.

I typically have more companies than I do students, so if your project
is not used this semester, there would be another opportunity for next
semester. Please feel free to pass this email along to others who might
be interested.

Disclaimer: This is a student-driven project; while I advise the
students and work closely with them, the quality of the work can be
highly variable. In the past, company responses have ranged from those
who said the students did not provide them with any new information to
companies who have actually used the student’s work as the basis of
their marketing plan.

Your obligations: The companies who seem to get the most benefit from
this project are those who are willing to provide the students with some
time/information at the outset of the project regarding the company, the
industry, and the specific marketing needs/problem of the company.
Therefore, please think carefully before submitting your company for
this program. Companies will need to plan on reading the students’
reports on a timely basis sometime in November/December (specific dates
will be given to you shortly), and getting their evaluation forms back
to me on a timely basis in order for me to submit grades on time. If
you will not be able to spend some time with the students, helping to
tailor their focus and providing some guidance/feedback, or if you are
early in the marketplace and not yet focused on marketing concerns, you
might consider participating during another semester.

Finally, if you have concerns about confidentiality, you may request
that I and the students sign a nondisclosure agreement.

Thank you in advance for your willingness to help the students with a
vital part of their learning process: bridging the gap between the
classroom and the ‘real world.’ (Please pass this email on to any you
would think are appropriate.)

–Jakki

Jakki J. Mohr, Ph.D.

Jeff and Martha Hamilton Distinguished Faculty Fellow

Professor of Marketing

School of Business Administration

University of Montana

Missoula, MT 59812

(406) 243-2920

(406) 243-2086 (fax)

[email protected]

http://www.business.umt.edu/faculty/mohr

http://www.markethightech.net