1、 products to professors, a mutually beneficial exchange relationship can be established; professors enjoy seeing students learning progress, while students enhance their communication skills and improve their quality of knowledge by responding to professors feedbacks.Further, students come to unders
2、tand that the foremost goal of marketers is to create and maintain good relationships with their customers (i.e., customer relationship management). As such, students should strive to build relationships with their professors both inside and outside of the classroom in order to effectively understan
3、d product needs and to communicate product values. Students quickly learn that one must know their customers because the requirements of some customers varying dramatically from those of others. These various product needs translate into various product specifications and opportunities for different
4、iation. For example, if a student has a question about a projects instructions, he or she should be encouraged to get clarification from the professor rather than guessing what the customer needs. This opportunity for a one-on-one exchange can be likened to mini-focus groups that seem to energize th
5、e producers by helping them understand the reasons for various requirements. This energy often takes the form of improving product differentiation (e.g., features, conformance, aesthetics, reliability). Further, competitors will be constantly striving to imitate ones best products. As such, students
6、 must learn to continually innovate and strive for uniqueness; todays order winner is tomorrows order qualifier (Hill, 1989). Although one needs to be aware of the competition, there is far less to fear from outside competition than there is from inside inefficiency, discourteous behavior and bad se
7、rvice. Ones own product reliability is the most influential dimension (Zeithaml, et al., 1988).Lastly, students were required to develop marketing principles and strategies based on their perceptions of the professors expectation. First, in order to accomplish this task, each student had to perform
8、market research to determine the customers wants and needs. Students realized, as one-person companies, that market research was critical-there were no margins for errors; they had to hit the bulls-eye the first time because resources (e.g., time) were tight. Second, the students had to formally out
9、line their marketing strategies based on marketing principles, theories and empirical research. These strategies often took the forms of entertaining as well as selling and striving to be unique.Price: The grade for the schoolwork Price is the amount of money or some other valuable that the marketer
10、 asks in exchange for a product. The true value of a product, however, is what someone is willing to pay for it. Similarly, the price or value of a students product (schoolwork) is reflected in the grade that he or she receives from the professor. Unfortunately, students often attribute the grade as
11、 a function of the professor rather than his or her value creation. An interesting exercise to bring this notion into clearer focus is to have the students place the price or grade on the paper prior to submitting it to the customer (Emery, 2001a). The better students have a good sense of the value
12、that they create, i.e. whether they have met, exceeded or failed to exceed a professors expectations. Over time, this exercise tends to raise the performance level of the lower performing students because most want to be acknowledged for their accurate self-assessment and few are willing to acknowle
13、dge that they are intentionally turning in “C” work. Additionally, students come to realize that cost is an important aspect of creating value. For example, they must balance their costs and production schedule across a variety of customers. Also, they must consider which products are the most impor
14、tant (heaviest weighted) to the consumer. Further, they must examine opportunities for reducing their costs by improving production efficiencies through use of technology, strategic alliances, and economies of scale and scope.Place: Hand in works at the desired location and time In marketing mix, pl
15、ace, is a vital aspect of the marketing process in which marketers deliver products to consumers. Further, it has grown in importance as customers expect greater service and more convenience from businesses. Students have come to realize that this trend also applies to the production, delivery (logi
16、stical management) and follow-up (customer service). For example, in business, logistics management is defined as the process of managing suppliers and the movement of raw materials, parts, work in progress, finished products, and related information through the value chain in an efficient, cost-eff
17、ective manner to meet customer requirements. Students participate in logistics management during the course of each semester. Suppliers are the professors, support agencies and other students that provide them with the raw materials or knowledge. Parts represent the bundles of knowledge that one use
18、s to construct the product. Work in progress is the partially completed customer orders. Finished products are the papers and presentations produced for grades.Another aspect of logistics management is the timely delivery of the product through marketing channels. Marketing channels are extremely im
19、portant for all marketers because they function as a network of partners in the value chain that cooperate to bring products from producers to ultimate consumers. Marketers often opt to use channel partners (e.g., other students) because they add value to the marketing process as they complete excha
20、nge functions, logistical functions, and facilitation functions. Students realize that their schoolwork may pass through various channels to the consumers and that each of these channels has advantages and disadvantages. For example, a direct channel action of taking the schoolwork directly to the p
21、rofessors office has the advantage of offering the opportunity for a last minutes sales pitch, but has the disadvantage of finding a time in which you both can meet. Indirect channel actions, such as, transmitting the product via email, posting the project on their personalized website, letting othe
22、rs hand in their schoolwork, or leaving it in the professors drop-box, offer a certain convenience and reduced cost but lack the opportunity for face-to-face branding. Most important, however, is to understand the customers desired place and to insure that it meets the promised due date. Meeting the
23、 due date is a customers basic expectation of the producers reliability. As such, meeting the deadline doesnt increase customer satisfaction but missing it certainly produces customer dissatisfaction.Promotion: Marketing the ProductPromotion is a vital component of the marketing mix because it infor
24、ms and educates consumers about the product while building a healthy relationship with them through two-way communications. Objectives of promotion include building brand loyalty; providing information; managing demand and building sales. Central to promotion is the notion of persuasion. Producers m
25、ust dedicate time for a one-on-one sales pitch to persuade customers that you fulfill their wants and needs. Further, persuasion is closely linked to the producers need to differentiate his or her product from competitors, to influence the customers perception, attitudes and behaviors and to build b
26、rand image. This suggests several actions on the part of the students. First, producers must take the time to understand the products and features offered by the competition and to benchmark off of the best producers. Second, producers must create a memorable image. For example, in a large classroom
27、, a professor inevitably grows weary of reading mediocre paper after paper. However, if a student uses different techniques and creates a unique product, the professor will be more than likely remember that paper and perhaps grade future work more favorably (i.e., the creation of brand loyalty which
28、 allows customers to overlook minor imperfections in the future).By implementing promotion theory students realize the format of their works is as important as the content, just like the packaging of a real product. They also agree that it is significant to establish and maintain good relations with
29、 professors. For instance, in order to make sure the professor knows individual students are dedicated and efficient they must personalize themselves to the professor and create a reputation. The students must let professors know their commitment to superior work and communicate their dedication to
30、the professors who are the ultimate customers of their schoolwork. Moreover, a successful student should be open to constructive criticism and be willing to change the “product” according to the instruction of the professor. After all, good producers want to hear complaints so that they have the cha
31、nce to improve and perhaps prevent customer defection.Customer: The ProfessorThe primary principle of Total Quality Management suggests that providers achieve success by understanding and satisfying the customers needs. As previously suggested, this can be applied to education by using a paradigm in
32、 which the professors are the customers (Emery, 2001b). Students become the providers and it is their responsibility to determine and satisfy customer expectations. It is, however, not enough for the students to merely understand customer needs or expectations; they must be able to accurately quanti
33、fy them. All needs are not created equal, and the resolution of all needs does not have the same impact on customer satisfaction or a project grade (payment).This concept is easily illustrated by using the Kano model (Kano, et al., 1984) (Figure 1.) (Note: The Kano model is used with the Japanese ma
34、nufacturing industry to determine and prioritize/weight customer requirements.) The horizontal axis in this figure shows the extent to which customers expectations are achieved. The vertical axis shows the customer satisfaction associated with this achievement. Three types of needs are identified in
35、 this model: basic needs, satisfiers, and delighters. The first type of expectation is the “basic need” or assumptions that customers have about a service, i.e. the availability of a restroom in a restaurant or error-free spelling on a homework assignment. While achievement of these needs do not sat
36、isfy the customer, their absence quickly causes dissatisfaction. The second type of expectation is the “satisfier” or the list of items that customers would normally mention as keys to their satisfaction, i.e. responsive server in a restaurant or well-justified recommendations for a case study. Achievement of the satisfiers increases customer satisfaction, but only at a linear
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