Class Projects for High-Tech Marketing- (Great opportunity for companies in Montana!-Russ)

I am in the process of preparing my "Marketing of High-Technology Products and Innovations" class for the Fall semester.
Students in my class are required to work with a high-tech marketing 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."

I am sending this email to you to solicit companies who would like a student group to work with them during the fall. The
specific course requirements for the students are as follows.

"Working with a high-tech firm, identify an important, meaningful, specific
marketing problem, and bring your knowledge from the course to bear on the problem.
You must:
* conduct a thorough situation analysis for the firm in question,
* analyze the value chain; external environment; competition; positioning;
* address customer behavior issues (segmentation, buying criteria, etc.). I
* provide a critique of the firm’s marketing strategy in terms of product, price,
promotion, distribution, and relationships,
* assess the firm’s strengths and weaknesses.

Only after this thorough assessment can you meaningfully diagnose and offer
solutions for the company’s problem at hand."

Companies who are interested in can access my course Web page at:
http://www.business.umt.edu/faculty/mohr/HighTech/hightech%20default.asp (Look under assignments, at both the semester
project and industry presentation assignments.)

If you want to be considered by the students for this work, please send me an email 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 by Friday August 30th. 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.

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 more broad-stroke in
nature with less supporting detail in each area. 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.

You should also be aware that this is a student-driven project; while I advise the students and work closely with them,
the quality 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.

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 December 19, and getting their evaluation forms back to
me by December 20th at 3:00 p.m. in order for me to submit grades on time. You may also choose to attend your student
groups’ oral industry presentation. 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.’

–Jakki

Jakki J. Mohr, Ph.D.
Ron and Judy Paige 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