EXECUTIVE MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (EMBA)

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Semester : Fall 2021
Course : MKT 303.1.5 Strategic Marketing
Credits : 1.5
Instructor : Sohan Babu Khatri ([email protected]) - 9851184100
Class Days : Fridays (6:00 PM – 9:00 PM)
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Course Outline

This course aims at equipping the students with the knowledge and skills to analyze markets,
strategies and situations and to formulate market strategies and plans.

This course takes a practical and managerial approach to marketing. It will provide rich depth of
practical examples, applications and cases. It will dwell on bringing out the major decisions that
marketing managers face in their efforts to balance the organizational objectives and resources
against needs and opportunities in the market place.

The course focuses on development, implementation, and control of marketing strategies needed to
attain and sustain an organization’s competitive advantage. Techniques that assist in developing and
evaluating the effectiveness of marketing strategies are introduced and contemporary issues in
marketing practice are discussed. Instructional methods include the use of case studies and the
development of a strategic marketing plan.

Course Objectives

The main objective of the course is to give the students a comprehensive, innovative, managerial and
practical introduction to strategic marketing management. Generic objectives are:

 To develop a sound understanding of the nature of dynamic competitive business

environments and the implications for marketing strategy;
 To enable students to attain the requisite knowledge to devise and implement productive
strategic marketing solutions;
 To support the personal development of participants in the intellectual journey from ‘student’
to ‘businessperson’.

On completion of the course, the students will be able to identify and evaluate marketing
opportunities, get acquainted to contemporary marketing developments and environment, make
decisions about marketing and formulate marketing strategies.

Course content

1. Introduction (touching the topics – as most of it has been dealt by students in basic
marketing course)
* Marketing Tasks
* Meaning of marketing, business philosophies and marketing concept

Course Outline – Strategic Marketing _ Sohan Babu Khatri

* Dynamism in business and marketing
* Marketing mix
* Marketing environment
* Marketing Organization

2. Strategic Market Management

* Business strategy and sustainable competitive advantage
* Strategic business unit
* Strategic market management: development characteristics, trends and needs
* Components and process of strategic market management

3. Strategic Analysis
* External Analysis: customer analysis, segmentation, consumer motivations and unmet needs
analysis
* Competitor analysis: identifying, evaluating and dealing with competitors
* Market analysis: market size, market growth, market profitability, cost structure, distribution
system, market trends, key success factors and risk in high growth markets
* Environmental analysis: dimensions forecasting environmental trends and events, strategic
uncertainty and impact analysis and scenario analysis
* Internal analysis: shareholder value analysis, sales and profitability analysis, strategic options
and business portfolio analysis

4. Marketing Strategies
* Sustainable competitive advantage: synergy, strategic vision, strategic opportunism and
dynamic vision
* Differentiation strategies: quality options and building strong brands. Low cost strategies,
focus strategies and preemptive strategies
* Growth strategies: penetration product development, market development and vertical
integration
* Diversification strategies: related and related diversification. Entry strategies, Strategies in
declining and hostile markets
* Global marketing strategies: motivations for going global standardization vs. customization
strategic alliances
* Brand Positioning, Brand Building and Identity Aspects

References

Any book and materials relevant to Marketing, Strategic Marketing, Brand Management.

The above exposition provides a tentative schedule for the course that will be followed generally but
students are reminded that there could be changes both in the topics as well as the grading system
depending on the circumstances. Students will however be informed of all changes prior to them
taking effect.

Much of the slides and lecture notes given by the instructor shall cover the issues in above books.
However, the list is not all inclusive. Students are advised not to rely on specific book, but basically
on the notes and lectures. Studying this subject requires lots of discipline, dedication with interest
and active research into various websites, articles, journals, magazines etc. Students are advised to
open all of their senses towards the news and information of the market and entrepreneurial
economy.

Course Outline – Strategic Marketing _ Sohan Babu Khatri

Reading Materials and all references will be shared in the Dropbox folder with students over
their email ids.

Delivery of the course

The course will be divided into 9-10 sessions of three hours.

In delivering the course, the faculty member will serve as facilitator of learning, rather than a
teacher/lecturer with all the knowledge necessary to work through the course. Students will be
informed in advance the subject to be discussed in class. They are advised to go through the
suggested readings on the topic in advance. The classes will be based on the referred material.

Students are required to actively participate in class. The sessions will be interactive and facilitated
by the instructor to discuss in depth the subject being dealt. There will be lectures by the instructor,
case analysis and presentation by students, presentation of reviews and assignments and regular
feedback will be provided to students on their progress.

Dialogue and discussions in the classrooms will be effectively complimented with well-designed
assignments. In order to enable students to base their learning upon real world occurrence, a
comprehensive project assignment is incorporated in the internal assessment.

Various articles and write ups of credible sources will be shared in the class for students to go
through and analyze/discuss.

Evaluation Criteria

Assessment

The activities listed below will be used to test learning through the course:

TEST ACTIVITIES WEIGHT

Oral Contributions: 10%
input in discussions, attendance and presentation in
class

Term Exam End Term 40%

Average of:

Case Studies and Paper Preparation like Consumer

Segment Analysis 15%

Project Assignment (Term Paper):

50%
Marketing Audit of a chosen organization
(in pairs, requiring field work) 20 %

Analytical questions (Tutorials) AND/OR

Essay or Paper Writing OR Quiz 15%
Total 100%

Course Outline – Strategic Marketing _ Sohan Babu Khatri

NO ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED AFTER STIPUTATED DATE AND TIME SHALL BE
ENTERTAINED / ACCEPTED.

ANY FORM OF PLAGIARISM AND/OR CHEATING DURING TESTS/EXAMS/QUIZZES

AND/OR ACTIONS AGAINST NORMS/RULES/REGULATIONS OF THE COLLEGE AND
CLASS WOULD BE PENALIZED WITH NQ STATUS.

Students will be asked to submit the assignments in soft copy in the mail of the instructor. In such
case, the rule of submission is:

 Submission Format: Word or PDF File with filename having “EMBA->-<Your Name>-
Assignment <No. of Assignment>” eg. “EMBA- Sohan Khatri -Assignment I”
 Submission Mode: Word or PDF File to be sent in email id [email protected] in
prescribed format by pre-announced deadline day.
 Subject Line of Email should be “EMBA-Assignment <No. of Assignment>” eg. “EMBA-
Assignment I”

Additional Readings of HBR (will be supplied in class/ shared in dropbox and discussed upon)

 Rethinking Marketing
Roland T. Rust, Christine Moorman, and Gaurav Bhalla
 Branding in the Digital Age
David C. Edelman
 Marketing Myopia
Theodore Levitt
 Marketing Malpractice
Clayton M. Christensen, Scott Cook, and Taddy Hall
 The Brand Report Card
Kevin Lane Keller
 The Female Economy
Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre
 Customer Value Propositions in Business Markets
James C. Anderson, James A. Narus, and Wouter van Rossum
 Getting Brand Communities Right
Susan Fournier and Lara Lee
 The One Number You Need to Grow
Frederick F. Reichheld
 Ending the War Between Sales and Marketing
Philip Kotler, Neil Rackham, and Suj Krishnaswamy
 Transient Advantage
Rita Gunther McGrath

The End

Course Outline – Strategic Marketing _ Sohan Babu Khatri

INTRODUCTORY CREDENTIALS OF THE RESOURCE PERSON

Mr. Sohan Babu Khatri, CEO of Three H Management is a well-known management consultant with
experience ranging across the cross-section of industries and sectors in Nepal as corporate business
consultant, resource person for trainings and development, researcher and program designer. Having
started his career as a Civil Engineer, he widened his qualification through MBA in India, with
specialization in Finance and Marketing and took it further from there to specialize in finance and
investment through professional certification courses namely Certified Financial Manager (India)
and Licensed International Financial Analyst, Charterholder (US). He has served as a BoD of a
commercial bank namely Grand Bank Nepal Ltd. (formerly DCBL Bank Ltd. and now merged with
Prabhu Bank Ltd.) for about 7 plus years (2008-2016) and has served as a committee member
(convener in some) of various Board level committees like Audit Committee, Risk Management
Committee and HR committee during his tenure as BoD member. After some experience of teaching
in Bachelors level of Engineering, he has also been involved in academics as lecturer and research
supervisor in relation to the finance related subjects namely Financial Management, Strategic
Financial Management, Investment Decisions (current), Portfolio Management. He has been visiting
faculty in various renowned colleges of Nepal and continues to be adjunct faculty of
Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Strategic Management, Strategic Marketing, Rural Marketing and
Agribusiness and related subjects in two of them. His experience, among others includes
contribution to the entrepreneurial development of youths in various sectors in either role of mentor,
coach, trainer, evaluator, consultant through entrepreneurial boot camps, start-up accelerator
programs, development/social organizations. He has rendered his consultancy service across the
sectors/industries which include agri-business, hydropower, tourism/hospitality, retail, hospitals,
social organizations, banks and financial institutions, manufacturing, information technology to
name a few. He has been involved in research supervision, business planning and assessment team
of various organizations, including academic institutions. As a passionate hobbyist, he is also an
artist and has four painting exhibitions under sleeve executed for social cause to his credit.

PROFILE

 Chief Executive Officer – Three H Management Pvt. Ltd

 Director of Board – White Space Pvt. Ltd. (threadpaints.com, butta.us)

 Resource Person:

o Ace Institute of Management (Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Business

Development and Planning, Strategic Management, Strategic Marketing, Emerging
Concepts in Management, Strategic Brand Management, Business Development and
Planning)
o Ace International Business School (Advanced Management Concepts and Analysis,
Business Management, Consulting and Research; Business Impact and Practice)
o Global International College (New Product Development and Management, Brand
Design and Development, Managing Business Strategy)
o Various for-profit and non-profit institutions and organizations across the range of
industries and field of work.

Course Outline – Strategic Marketing _ Sohan Babu Khatri

General Areas of Expertise:

 Business Planning and Management

 Financial Analysis, Planning and Management
 Entrepreneurship and Leadership Capability Enhancement
 Capacity development of Small and Medium Enterprises.
 Social Business and Social Enterprising
 Commercial Banking and Risk Management
 Marketing of Financial Services
 Econometrics and Research
 Investments and Portfolio Management
 Project Management and Financing
 Management Consultation and Business Solutions
 Civil Engineering Management
 Corporate Governance/Corporate Social Responsibility and related strategies

PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENTS AND ROLES

 Managing Director
Centre of Professional Studies (COPROS)
2007-2008
 Head – Social Business Wing
Child Watabaran Center, Nepal (CWCN)
2005-2007
 Business Development Officer
Vaidya’s Organization of Industries and Trading Houses (VOITH)
2005-2006
 Lecturer
Civil Engineering Department
Acme Engineering College
2002-2003
 Consultant Engineer
Multi-Disciplinary Consultancy Pvt. Ltd
2002-2003
 Visiting Faculty
o Kathmandu University School of Management – EMBA (Financial Management,
International Financial Management) , MPhil (Financial Econometrics), MBA
(Project Analysis and Financing, Investment Management)
o Apex College – BBA and BCIS (Operations Management, Principles of
Management)
o Ace Institute of Management – MBA (Investment Analysis, Portfolio Management
and Security Analysis, Financial Management)

Course Outline – Strategic Marketing _ Sohan Babu Khatri

 o Kathmandu College of Management – BBA (Managerial Finance, Financial
Management, Commercial Bank Management)

EDUCATION

Licensed International Financial Analyst (LIFA)- Charter Holder

International Research Association, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2009

Certified Financial Manager (CFM)

Centre for Financial Management
Bangalore 2006

Masters of Business Administration (MBA - Finance and Marketing)

National First Grade College
Bangalore University 2005

Bachelor’s of Civil Engineering (BE- Civil)

Pulchowk Campus, Institute of Engineering
Tribhuwan University 2002

Course Outline – Strategic Marketing _ Sohan Babu Khatri