Course Number

MKT301-001
Course Name Marketing Principles

VCU School of Business Mission & Vision

The VCU School of Business has the mission to be a dynamic hub of business education and
research, fueled by creativity and a commitment to preparing students to lead in a complex
world.  The vision is to drive the future of business through the power of creativity.  The
strategic pillars through which the School will achieve this vision are Experiential
Learning, Problem-Solving Curricula, Impactful Research, and Creative Culture.

Instructor Name and Contact Information

Dr. Wayne M. Slough, Associate Professor of Marketing
804.828.7089; sloughwm@vcu.edu, Snead Hall Room B3180
Faculty Office Hours:
Please see Communicating and Requesting Meetings with me p. 11, this syllabus
Tuesday and Thursday: 11:00 to 11:45 AM and 1:30 to 2:30 PM
Wednesday 1:30 – 2:45 PM, and by appointment

Course Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will able to:
1. Describe marketing, including the elements of the marketing mix.
2. Identify issues of ethics and corporate social responsibility in marketing.
3. Explain why managers should understand consumer behavior, and identify factors
that influence consumer buying decisions.
4. Compare and contrast business-to-business marketing and business-to-consumer
marketing.
5. Discuss the steps necessary for market segmentation.
6. Apply concepts of product, price, promotion, and distribution to real-world business
scenarios.
7. Explain how marketing relates to other areas of business.

Required Textbook Marketing: An Introduction (14th edition; Gary Armstrong and Phillip
Kotler, Pearson). While purchasing the text content for this course is required, students will
have options for doing so. See the course Blackboard for detail. Options will also be
explained in detail on the first day of class, August 20, 2019. It is not acceptable for students
to use an older version of the text. I will teach from the 14th edition exclusively. Students are
responsible for what is presented in class.

Course Requirements:

Page 1 of 7
Assessment (your grade) will be based on a combination of your (a) completion and posting to
Blackboard the MKTG301 Course Contract, (b) class attendance and active participation in
class discussions and activities, (c) performance on four Individual, On-Line Assignments
(IOLA’s – we’ll also refer to these as quizzes, these having two or more formats), and (d)
performance on three term exams and a final, comprehensive exam. Explanation of each of
these assessment areas follows.
A) Course Contract: This is a required, ungraded assignment. Please go to the Assignments,
Requirements, Course Contract tab at Blackboard. See Step 2: Submit the Course
Participation Contract. Open and read this contract, then “sign” (initial) the contract, doing
as you are instructed, including posting the contract back to Blackboard by the deadline:
5:00 PM Friday, August 24, 2019 at the icon you will find at this same tab at Blackboard.
Please note: if you are for whatever reason unable to adhere to the provisions of this
contract you should seriously consider dropping this course, taking something else in its
place.
B) Class Attendance/Participation: Class begins at 9:30 AM, concluding at 10:45 AM. You must
be seated and ready to begin at 9:30. Habitually arriving late, or leaving early, is rude,
disruptive and unacceptable. Both are detrimental to learning, and will not be tolerated. In
this, a survey course, your attendance and active participation are paramount as they play an
important role in your, and your peers’, learning.
Attendance
• It is Marketing Department policy for attendance to be monitored in all undergraduate
courses taught by the department.
- Very regular attendance is extremely important as a primary means to learn,
understand, and master course content. Interacting with your peers – being in class,
speaking up, actively listening and engaging with others - is one of the best ways to
learn. In MKTG301, that means coming to and participating in class!
- Regular monitoring of class attendance and Top Hat polling will begin Tuesday
August 27, 2019.
- While we will use interactive polling (classroom response) technology primarily for
class engagement and learning enhancement, records I capture will serve as evidence
of student attendance and participation (See Top Hat introduction below). IN-
CLASSROOM Top Hall polling – our measure for class attendance and participation -
will count for 12.5% (up to 125 points on the class 1000-point scale) of your semester
grade in MKT301. The content of polling questions asked in class will be from reading
assignments made for respective class sessions as well as from in-class lecture
examples to which Professor Slough will refer. We will also take our 3 term exams,
and the final exam, using “Top Hat Test.”
- Please note: should your attendance and participation in class be poor, you can
expect to be administratively withdrawn from MKTG301-001! Any student who at
any time during the semester is missing class at a running rate 33% or greater of
class sessions is subject to this administrative withdraw from the class! The VCU
School of Business resolutely enforces this policy.
Participation will be assessed by the following criteria:
• Completing assigned reading in advance: For your superior learning of course content, for
preparation for class lecture and discussion, you are expected to complete any and all
assigned readings prior to the date each topic will be covered in class (see the course
calendar section of this document)!
• Your active participation in class sessions is defined as follows: being seated and ready
when class begins, staying and participating in each full, 75-minute session, paying attention,
avoiding side conversations and other disruptive activities, volunteering responses to my

2
questions, participating in Top Hat polling, and taking an active leadership and participation
role in small group discussions and class any other class activities.
• I will not call people out, but I will call people in. In this class, you are expected to be
involved in the discussion, to speak up, speak out, and speak often. Beyond simply “being
expected” to do this, you will find it enhances your learning and very likely, your enjoyment
of this class.
Top Hat:
We will be using the Top Hat (www.tophat.com) classroom response system in class. You will
be able to submit answers to in-class polling questions using smartphones, tablets, laptops, or
through text messaging. You can visit the Top Hat Overview (support.tophat.com/hc/en-us/
articles/200019034-Top-Hat-Overview-Getting-Started) within the Top Hat Success Center
which outlines how you can register for a Top Hat account, as well as provides a brief
overview to get you up and running with the system. You must create your student account
at tophat.com. You will be required to purchase a Top Hat license (subscription) online in
order to access any quizzes, tests, or polling questions your instructor creates in the Top Hat
system. Should you require assistance with Top Hat at any time, due to the fact that they
require specific user information to troubleshoot these issues, please contact their Support
Team directly by way of email (support@tophat.com), the in app support button, or by
calling 1-888-663-5491.
There are three pricing options for Top Hat at the University Book Store:
It is your responsibility, not your professor’s, for you to be “up and running with Top Hat” by
not later than Tuesday, 8/27/19.

-$20 for 1 semester access + $10.00 for Top Hat Testing = $30.00 (this is the option
you are to choose!)
-$30 for 1-year access
-$60 for 4-year access
B) Individual On-Line Assignments (IOLAs): On dates earmarked on the syllabus for these
assignments (IOLA 1, 2, 3, 4), an assignment interface will be made available for you at the
Pearson (course text) My Lab MKTG, or in a separate tab at Blackboard, to complete
INDIVIDUALLY, ON-LINE, and OUT-OF-CLASS. These assignments will generally take the form of
your participation in “Mini-simulation,” “Dynamic Study Module,” or “Marketing by the
Numbers” exercises at My Marketing Lab. You will access My Lab MKTG through a tab at the
home page of your course Blackboard.
• Your Individual Online Assignments will be administered on class days, but as a rule
NOT during class time. These assignments will as a rule open at 7:00 PM on the
assigned day and remain open for approximately 24 hours for you to open and
complete. See the course calendar which follows and pay attention to my in-class and
Blackboard announcements about these.
Warning: upon opening the assignment, you must complete it. You may not open
the assignment to begin it, sign off, and come back later! Students will have one
attempt to complete each IOLA assignment.
D) Exams
Term Exams: These are scheduled for 9/12, 10/8, and 11/5, 2019. Unless otherwise
announced, exams will consist of 50 objective (multiple-choice) questions and will be
administered in Top Hat Test.
Final Exam: Comprehensive, objective: Thursday, 12/12/19, 8:00 – 10:00 AM.
Approximately 75% of the cumulative exam will assess your knowledge of the final 4
chapters we cover in the text (chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16) and approximately 25% of

3
 the exam will be cumulative, assessing your knowledge of text material covered in
term exams 1 – 3 (in other words, material from chapters 1 – 12).

Course policy regarding examinations and grades

You will determine your final course grade by your performance in the following
assignments:
Attendance and Top Hat participation 125 points: 12.5%
Individual Online Assignments (4 @ 50 pts. each) 200 points: 20%
Exam 1 150 points: 15%
Exam 2 150 points: 15%
Exam 3 150 points: 15%
Final Exam (Comprehensive) 225 points: 22.5%
TOTAL 1000 points: 100%

Final Semester Grades will be assigned using the following scale:

An “A” requires 900 – 1000 points earned
A “B” requires 800 – 899 points earned
A “C” requires 700 – 799 points earned
A “D” requires 600 – 699 points earned
An “F” results from 599 or fewer points earned

Makeup Examinations: Be CERTAIN to READ, UNDERSTAND, and be FAMILIAR with the

exact rules about makeup exams in this section as they will be strictly enforced!

This same “makeup” policy (timely notification, providing evidence) applies for
quizzes!

1. You must take the examinations in the classroom – via Top Hat Test - on the dates
scheduled in the syllabus unless extraordinary circumstances arise. The following
procedures govern the administration of makeup examinations. These procedures will be
followed in every case, with NO EXCEPTIONS. Again, THESE RULES WILL BE STRICTLY
ENFORCED.

2. There is a limit of one makeup examination during the term (this assumes you meet all
stipulations for the makeup privilege). If you miss more than one exam, you will be assigned
a grade of zero for the additional exam(s) missed. NO EXCEPTIONS.
3. If you are granted permission to make up one of the three term exams, your one
option for doing so will be on the last class day of the regular semester: Friday,
December 6, 2019, at a time and place I designate (should this day and time need to
change, I will notify you in advance). If, for some reason, you require a makeup but
cannot make up the exam on the scheduled makeup date, you will receive a grade of
zero for that exam. NO EXCEPTIONS.
4. You can only make up an exam if you have received PRIOR (to the “missed exam”
date) approval from me. Examples of excuses that are not acceptable reasons for being
granted permission to take a makeup exam include: (a) not knowing that an exam is

4
 scheduled for that day (such as, “I didn’t know we were having an exam today.”); (b) lack
of preparation for the exam (such as, “I knew we were having an exam, but I’m just not
ready to take it.”); (c) having exams in other classes scheduled for the same day (such as,
“I have two other exams today. Can I take this exam another day?”); (d) oversleeping
(such as, “I knew we were having an exam today, but I overslept.”); (e) arriving late on
the exam date, or (f) travel for pleasure as opposed to business or emergency travel (such
as, “I’m going out of town to visit my family on the day of the exam.”).
5. If you know in advance that you will miss an examination due to attendance at religious
services or for travel associated with intercollegiate athletics, work responsibilities, or for
any other reason, you must inform me of your expected absence not less than 48 hours
prior to the scheduled exam date. You must provide written documentation that shows why
it is necessary for you to be absent on the regularly scheduled exam date in order to get my
pre-exam date approval for a makeup exam. When making end-of-semester travel
reservations, you should delay your departure until after the final exam date for the course.
6. On extremely rare occasions, there may be unexpected situations which might cause you
to miss an exam without the opportunity to provide me advance notice. Examples of these
types of emergencies might include sudden, extreme illness, an automobile accident, a
family emergency, the death of a close relative or friend, or some other problem. If you
have such a problem, contact me immediately at sloughwm@vcu.edu and at
804.828.7089 – leaving email and voice messages, including the date and time those
messages. In these unexpected situations, if you miss an exam and do not contact me with
an explanation within 24 hours of the exam’s scheduled date and time, I will record a
grade of zero for that exam. In all cases, you must provide authorized, verifiable,
written, hard copy documentation that shows why it was necessary for you to miss the
exam in order to get my approval for a makeup exam. Hard copy is required as I will keep
this in permanent course files. If you have missed the exam due to illness, this means you
must provide an authentic (dated and signed, with contact information) doctor’s note,
signed by the examining physician, detailing your illness and stating you were physically
unable to take the exam at its scheduled date and time. Remember, it is your
responsibility to acquire, then provide me, EVIDENCE which provides defensible proof of
why you have missed the exam. There will be NO EXCEPTIONS to this policy. A student’s
failure to provide such evidence will result in a GRADE OF ZERO for the exam.
To cite some specific examples of documentation (EVIDENCE) in the case of unexpected

absences:

• In general, notes, emails, or phone calls from other family members or acquaintances
explaining your absence are not acceptable.
• As stated, if you are absent from a missed exam due to illness, within 48 hours of the
scheduled exam date and time, you must present to me in hard copy a note – from,
and signed by, the examining physician – this documenting the illness and the exam
date and time and the reason for your inability to complete the exam at that time. In
all such cases, you must notify me not later than the exam date, class time, you are
forced to miss the exam due to illness.
• If you are absent from a missed exam due to the death of a family member or close
friend, you must immediately bring to me hard copy of a newspaper obituary notice, a
program from a funeral or memorial service, a letter from a funeral director or
member of the clergy, or something similar. The documentation you provide must
provide indisputable evidence of your relationship to this deceased person.
• If you are absent from a scheduled exam due to a car accident or car mechanical
problems, acceptable documentation would include a copy of the police report and/or
the repair service order/receipt. In the case of injury from an accident, a physician’s

5
 note is in order. If you are absent due to unexpected obligations at your place of
employment, a hard copy personal note of explanation from your supervisor, signed by
him/her, referencing the date of absence, and including his/her contact information,
must be presented to me.
In each instance stated above, the hard copy EVIDENCE you present to me must
be
presented to me within 48 hours of the beginning of the exam you have missed and
for which you hope to makeup.
7. “Re-takes” of exams are not permitted under any circumstances. Once you have
completed an exam, there is no opportunity to go back and take an exam again in order to
get a better grade.
8. There will be no opportunity to take an exam early. All makeup exams will be
administered on the last class day of the regular semester (Friday, December 6, 2019,
at a time and place I designate) unless I communicate to you differently.
9. It is your responsibility to check the final exam schedule for all of your classes to make
sure that you do not have more than one final exam scheduled for a single time slot during
exam week.
10. For security reasons, makeup exams will not contain the same questions as the regular
exam. The chapter/topic coverage will be the same, but the questions will be different.

Use of classroom management software (e.g. Blackboard)

As with the overwhelming majority of your classes, we will use Blackboard for communication
of all assignments, changes, and updates to the class. I will use your VCU email address
exclusively to communicate with you individually and collectively about any and all
matters pertaining to the class, including any changes in the class schedule, assignments,
and the posting of your assignment grades. As such, you must check your VCU email regularly!

Communicating and Requesting Meetings with me: My ability to speak with you immediately
before or after class will be somewhat limited due to my own teaching schedule. I therefore
encourage you to visit me during my office hours (see page 1 of this syllabus). It may be to
your advantage to see me by a pre-arranged appointment. For those appointments, you are
best served by contacting me well in advance of your desired meeting date (if possible) at
sloughwm@vcu.edu to schedule a specific meeting time. I respect the fact that students
maintain full, busy schedules. Know that I do as well. I will check my voice mail and email
frequently, but generally not before 9:00 AM or after 9:00 PM weekdays.

To SCHEDULE a meeting with me, first, read this:

You will increase the likelihood of being able to see me for an individual consultation by,
in advance of when you want to see me, scheduling an appointment to do so during
my office hours.

HERE’S WHY:
You are welcome to just stop in during my office hours, BUT, as I am teaching about 250
students this semester, “stopping in” may have you finding me already meeting with
another student(s)!

If you agree with the above, then do this:

• To ensure you can see me during my posted office hours, you are best served by
contacting me in advance via email at sloughwm@vcu.edu to schedule a specific meeting
time within those hours.

6
• Please state in the email subject line your class and section # and reason for wanting to
see me.
• Then in the body of the email offer me at least 2-3 dates and times which align with my
office hours as stated on page 1 of this syllabus. I will reply back, generally within a 12 to
24-hour period, with a time which works for us both. Upon hearing back from you to
confirm that time remains agreeable to you, your meeting time will then be secured!
• Please be advised that college students and college professors often maintain
significantly different schedules. I check my email frequently, but, generally, as stated
above.

Wayne M. Slough, Ph.D.

Dr. Slough is Associate Professor of Marketing in the VCU School of Business. The recipient
of the 2016 Faculty Council Term Faculty award and 2013 Professional Teacher of the Year
award, he has taught at VCU since 2010. Dr. Slough brings to VCU an accomplished career
in sales and marketing, with service in the financial, technology, and management
consulting industries. He is the business school’s lead faculty member for the professional
selling discipline. Dr. Slough serves as the Director of the VCU Academy of Selling and
Sales Management (https://rampages.us/vcu-sales-academy/) and is faculty advisor to
High Performing Sales Students, the school’s student organization focused on professional
selling.