Course Description
The elective course on Creativity in I.T. Marketing is a graduate level course for the Master’s Programme ICT in Business, designed and taught by Prof. Jose M. Faustino, a professor from the Asian Institute of Management. The course will run for 6 sessions over three weeks. The course design of 6 classroom days introduces the students to creativity in the workplace, studying what working environment will result in valuable new ideas, how skilled leadership in the organization will encourage people to team with others and create new approaches, even breakthrough products. The students will realize what new attitudes and thinking habits will develop their own creativity. Prof. Faustino will analyze with the class individuals in the I.T. world who have distinguished themselves with their creations. A good example is how Steven Jobs has led the Apple organization to outperform other bigger organizations with remarkable new products. At the end of the course, the students will sit for a final exam. The class will examine the creation of the latest I.T. driven products and study the processes taken by the responsible organization to develop them. The last session will feature creative selling skills for marketing one’s self as an I.T. practitioner and for selling new I.T. products.
Objectives
The paramount objective of the course is to encourage the development of the student’s own creative skills and to instill leadership capability for molding and supervising a truly creative team. Related objectives are to:
- Scan the current and future global environment, to identify I.T. areas where products and ideas have seen interesting product and service development;
- Learn how to create the work environment that optimizes creative output from the team;
- Assess one’s own creativity and raise it significantly for the future;
- Learn how to sell one’s self during the career hunt process, and how to sell new I.T. products;
- Trace the recovery of Nintendo with its development of the Wii, why it has outperformed Sony PlayStation and Microsoft XBox;
- Study in detail the leadership styles of creative individuals in the I.T. world, like Steven Jobs, to see what lessons the students can adapt;
Course Format
The format of the course will be participative and interactive. The main vehicles of learning will be short lectures with active class discussion, case group discussion and creative class workshops. The students will write short creative papers at the start of most classes. During the plenary class session, Prof. Faustino will follow the Socratic Method, i.e., asking questions and soliciting comments in analyzing the case and the topic. The typical class will start with a short lecture of about 60 minutes followed by the plenary case discussion. At the start of each class, Prof. Faustino will ask the class participants to write a one-page essay on an aspect of the day’s lesson.
Grading
The Global Marketing student will be evaluated and graded on this basis:
Class participation: This means the quality and frequency of participation in class discussion, the ability to defend his/her analysis and decision in a clear, logical manner, and the initiative to take an original approach in any discussion. (WEIGHT 30%)
Short written papers: usually half page essays written in 5-10 minutes in class. (WEIGHT 20%)
Final Exam: a written examination over three hours integrating what the student has learned. (WEIGHT 50%) The total weight adds to 100% of the student’s grade.
Grades will be released upon completion of the Blackboard Course Evaluation.
Examination
Day for Final Exam
Final Exam
- This is an exam taken individually by each student from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon on a designated day after the class lectures are finished. The exam will focus on concepts and similar cases discussed during the six sessions.
Required Reading
The student is expected to look in the Creativity In IT Marketing reader as well as the Blackboard to see the required case preparation and accompanying readings for the next day and future classes.