Marketing Planning and Information Systems

This course examines the practical systems utilized by marketing management in planning and monitoring marketing operations and in handling various types of marketing information. Consideration is given to the growing body of practical computer-assisted applications used by marketing managers who possess no technical background in computers or quantitative methods. The specific, practical management-systems applications covered include marketing databases and information systems, salesmen planning and control systems, inventory systems, systems for advertising planning and analysis, physical distribution systems, market and marketing management simulations, marketing management games, market forecasting systems, and other systems. The course focuses primarily on the marketing manager's viewpoint on whether or not (and, if so, how) to use the above-cited applications.