FAU, Seminar in Marketing Theory, MAR 7783

SEMINAR IN MARKETING (AND MANAGEMENT) THEORY
MAR 7783

Eric H. Shaw, Ph.D. Spring 2011
Fleming Hall 209
Office: Business East 163 Telephone: 561 297-2123
E-mail: shaw@fau.edu
Web: http://www.fau.edu/~shaw

Syllabus

Objective: The purpose of this seminar is to provide you with a scientific toolkit for constructing and evaluating theories in and theories of marketing and management.

Textbook: Shelby D. Hunt, Marketing Theory, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe Publisher, 2010 edition. (Priced $67.76 new and includes free shipping at Amazon.com.)

We will also discuss additional readings on theory from the across the social sciences literature, particularly contributions from management and marketing. Most of the additional readings listed in the assignments, below, will be provided. However, you will be expected to find some examples of classification schemes, models, theories and scientific laws from the management or marketing literature for some class discussions.

Grading: Your final grade is based on:

Weekly hand-ins and critiques = 25%,
Class discussion = 25%
Term paper = 25% *
Final exam = 25%

Academic Honesty: Be sure you are familiar with the university and college policies on academic honesty (good=:)) and academic dishonesty (bad=:(), as described below:

http://www.fau.edu/regulations/chapter4/4.001_Code_of_Academic_Integrity.pdf

http://business.fau.edu/clientuploads/COB/Policies/AcademicHonestyPolicy.pdf

________________
*If your term paper is accepted for publication in a peer reviewed conference proceedings, then it is graded “A” counts 70 percent of your final grade and remaining criteria drop to 10 percent each. If your term paper is accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal, then it is graded “A” counts 91 percent of your final grade and remaining criteria drop to 3 percent each.

Tentative Schedule:

January 12
Assignment:
Prior to class find about 7-10 definitions of management from the early twentieth century to the present (you can find earlier definitions in management textbooks, which can be found in the library). Identify and know something about each major school of management thought that has evolved since the twentieth century.

Topics:
* Introduction to the Seminar on Theory
* What is Management? What is Marketing? What is Marketing Management?
* Schools of Management Thought/Schools of Marketing Thought
* Kipling’s six friends meet Socrates’ Method
* Means of knowing, or basis for believing, something exists or there is a relationship among things.
* Scientific Method

January 19
Assignment:
Prior to class read Chapter 1. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
AS 1,7,13,19; HP 2,8,14,20; JL 3,9,15,21; LJ 4,10,16,22; RA 5,11,17; RD 6,12,18.

Also write a one page or less (double spaced with wide margins) review comparing and contrasting either (1) or (2):

(1) Van de Ven, Andrew (1989) “Nothing Is Quite So Practical as a Good Theory,” Academy of Management Review, V. 14, No. 4, 486-489;
and
Hunt’s (2002, 7 or 2010, 6) “apparent contradiction…(a) students believe that theory is impractical, yet (b) this book concerns theory, while (c) claiming to be devoted to a practical intellectual pursuit.”
or

(2) Sutton, Robert I. and Barry M. Staw (1995) “What Theory Is Not,” Administrative Science Quarterly, V. 40: 371-384;
and
Weick, Karl E. (1995) “What Theory Is Not, Theorizing Is,” Administrative Science Quarterly, V. 40: 385-390

Topics:
* Theory v. Practice
* What Theory Is? and What theory Isn’t?
* Management/Marketing: Art or Science
* Nature and Scope of Marketing/Management

January 26
Prior to class read Chapter 2. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
HP 1,7,13,19; JL 2,8,14,20; LJ 3,9,15 21; RA 4,10,16,22; RD 5,11,17; AS 6,12,18.

* The Academic Origins of Management and Marketing
* Marketing or Management as a …
* University discipline
* Applied discipline
* Professional discipline
* Social Science discipline

February 2
Prior to class read Chapter 3. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
JL 1,7,13,19; LJ 2,8,14,20; RA 3,9,15,21; RD 4,10,16,22; AS 5,11,17; HP 6,12,18.

* Structure and Role of Scientific Explanation
* Criteria for Evaluating Explanatory Models

February 9
Prior to class read Chapter 4. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
LJ 1,7,13,19; RA 2,8,14,20; RD 3,9,15,21; AS 4,10,16,22; HP 5,11,17; JL 6,12,18.

* Scientific Explanation and Prediction (also Retrodiction)
* Correlation and Causation

February 16
Prior to class read Chapter 5. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
RA 1,7,13,19; RD 2,8,14,20; AS 3,9,15,21; HP 4,10,16,22; JL 5,11,17; LJ 6,12,18.

* Structure and Role of Scientific Laws

February 23
Prior to class read Chapter 6. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
RD 1,7,13,19; AS 2,8,14,20; HP 3,9,15,21; JL 4,10,16,22; LJ 5,11,17; RA 6,12,18.

* Types of Scientific Laws
* Axioms and Theorems

March 2
Prior to class read Chapter 7. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
AS 1,7,13,19; HP 2,8,14,20; JL 3,9,15,21; LJ 4,10,16,22; RA 5,11,17; RD 6,12,18.

* Structure and Role of Theory in the Social Science

March 9
Prior to class read:
Whetten, David A. (1989) “What Constitues a Theoretical Contribution?”Academy of Management Review, V. 14(4), 490-495.
Yadav, Manjit S. (2010) “The Decline of Conceptual Articles and Implications for Knowledge Development,” Journal of Marketing, V. 74(January), 1-19.

* We will discuss the drafts of your term papers.

March16
Prior to class read Chapter 8. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
HP 1,7,13,19; JL 2,8,14,20; LJ 3,9,15 21; RA 4,10,16,22; RD 5,11,17; AS 6,12,18.

* Types of Classification
* Types of Theory

March 23
Prior to class read Chapter 9. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
JL 1,7,13,19; LJ 2,8,14,20; RA 3,9,15,21; RD 4,10,16,22; AS 5,11,17; HP 6,12,18.

* Scientific Realism in Management and Marketing Theory

March 30
Prior to class read Chapter 10. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
LJ 1,7,13,19; RA 2,8,14,20; RD 3,9,15,21; AS 4,10,16,22; HP 5,11,17; JL 6,12,18.

* Nature of Science
* Science/Non-science Controversy
* Qualitative v. Quantitative Methods in Marketing and Management Research

April 6
Prior to class read Chapter 11. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
RA 1,7,13,19; RD 2,8,14,20; AS 3,9,15,21; HP 4,10,16,22; JL 5,11,17; LJ 6,12,18

Also read: Astley, W. Graham (1985) “Administrative Science as Socially Constructed Truth,” Administrative Science Quarterly, V. 30, 497-513. We will compare and constrast with Hunt.

* Philosophy of Science:
* Nature of Truth
* truth v. TRUTH

April 13
Prior to class read Chapter 12. Provide short answers to your assigned questions and email your answers to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.
RD 1,7,13,19; AS 2,8,14,20; HP 3,9,15,21; JL 4,10,16,22; LJ 5,11,17; RA 6,12,18.

* Philosophy of Science:
* The Search for Objectivity

April 20
Prior to class read handout on Resource Advantage Theory. Using your scientific toolkit, critique Resource Advantage Theory as (a) a General Theory of Competition, (b) a General Theory of Marketing, and (c) a General Theory of Management. Email your critiques to the rest of class by Saturday midnight. Then critique everyone else’s answers and email critiques to the rest of class by Tuesday midnight.

* Discuss critiques

April 27
Prepare for Final Exam

* Final Exam

May 4
Prepare a power point presentation of your term paper.

* Presentations of Term Paper

Eric H. Shaw, Ph.D. Spring 2011
Fleming Hall 209 561 297-2123
shaw@fau.edu www.fau.edu/~shaw

Syllabus

Seminar in Marketing (and Management) Theory
(MAR7783)