COURSE TITLE: High Technology Marketing

UNITS OF CREDIT: 3

INSTRUCTOR: Ray Gadbois

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Tuesday, 2:00-5:00PM, C110 Cheit

PREREQUISITES: BA206

CLASS FORMAT: Lectures, cases, and guest speakers

REQUIRED READINGS: Inside the Tornado by Geoffrey A. Moore, plus selected readings and case studies

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Class participation, individual cases, and group project

ABSTRACT OF COURSE CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
The primary objective of this course is to explore the unique business challenges and opportunities associated with high tech markets. Students will learn to apply the basic concepts of marketing strategy to the management of high tech products. More specifically, this course will focus on the technology adoption life cycle, its impact on high tech markets, organizations and products, and its implications for marketing strategy, management and tactics. The primary emphasis will be on the practical application of marketing strategy to management decision-making in a high tech environment, as illustrated through lectures, readings, case studies, guest speakers and a group project. The scope of the course will include
both consumer and industrial products, but with primary emphasis on the business-to-business segment of the market. The group project involves the detailed research and analysis of the market and competitors associated with a particular high tech product. Groups may choose their own product, but the instructor must pre-approve the choice.

The group project deliverable is a written analysis and presentation to the class at the end of the course. The analysis and presentation should include a comprehensive discussion of the history and evolution of the market, a detailed analysis of each of the key competitors and their current position in the market, and strategic marketing recommendations for each of the key competitors.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Ray Gadbois is a Guest Lecturer at the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, where he teaches a class in High Technology Marketing. He is also an active investor, consultant and advisor to a number of internet start-ups. From 1992 to 1999, Ray Gadbois was the Vice President of Corporate Marketing at PeopleSoft, a leading vendor of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. During his time at PeopleSoft,
annual revenues grew from $32 million to over $1.3 billion. From 1987 to 1992, he was a Marketing Director at Oracle Corporation, a leading vendor of database and applications software products. Ray Gadbois received his MBA from the UCLA Graduate School of Management.