Teaching Principles

In the Area of Marketing and Sales, the education of our students is shaped by four teaching principles.

1. We cover all dimensions of marketing. Within the Area of Marketing and Sales, the University of Mannheim offers a comprehensive curriculum which covers all marketing perspectives.
2. We practice a critical quantitative orientation by imparting knowledge on the opportunities but also on the limits of decision-making based on quantitative modeling.
3. We practice theoretical pluralism by covering both micro-economic theories and behavioral theories and by emphasizing the teaching of a broad theoretical foundation in marketing classes.
4. We design our education within the context of a well-grounded background closely related to pratice. This priciple is mainly expressed by the incorporation of numerous field-proven approaches and the use of practical examples from a wide range of industries as well as in-depth discussions of problems related to the difficulty of implementing marketing concepts. We also attach great importance to empirical foundation and to the application of practical teaching methods, and we systematically integrate lectures held by practitioners into the curriculum.

With regard to content, our curriculum is based on the seven perspectives of marketing. These seven perspectives impart a systematic overview of the subject of marketing.

1. The theoretical perspective comprises general theoretical foundations as well as the fundamentals of micro-economics, behavioral science, and decision-making theory.
2. The strategic perspective deals with analyzing the strategic position of a company and the planning, evaluation, and selection of market-based strategies.
3. Marketing tools are systematically applied in the areas of product, price, promotion, sales, and customer relationship management to attain marketing goals. These tools are covered by the instrumental perspective.
4. The information-related perspective addresses the acquisition of information necessary for making well-grounded marketing decisions. Found at its core is the field of market research, that is to say the systematic collection, editing, analysis, and interpretation of market data as well as potentials to influence the market.
5. The implementation-related perspective is about implementing marketing concepts in companies and particularly deals with questions regarding marketing organization and marketing controlling.
6. Within the institutional perspective, the focus is on the distinctive features which characterize service, trade, and business-to-business marketing.
7. The management perspective completes the holistic view of seeing marketing as the market-oriented management of companies and business units. This area incorporates the market-oriented design of management systems and corporate culture as well as the leadership behavior of individual executives.