Applied Decision Task

Applied Decision Task

In this assignment, you will complete one Applied Decision Task based on concepts from Chapter 13 (Retailing and Wholesaling) and Chapter 14 (Interactive and Multichannel Marketing).

This task is designed to simulate a real managerial situation. In practice, managers rarely have perfect information, and they often face several plausible explanations for the same problem. Your job is not to list every possible issue. Your job is to make one clear marketing diagnosis and justify why it is the strongest explanation.

This assignment evaluates your ability to:

·       identify the most important marketing problem,

·       apply course concepts accurately,

·       reject competing explanations clearly and decisively.

Your response will be graded on diagnostic accuracy, use of concepts, and decisiveness, not on length or completeness.

Scenario

You are a marketing manager for a mid-sized retail company called UrbanNest.

UrbanNest sells home lifestyle products such as furniture, décor, and small appliances through both physical stores and an online platform.

Recently, the company has experienced several performance problems:

·       Store traffic is decreasing

·       Online traffic is increasing, but the conversion rate remains low

·       Many customers visit stores, examine products, and later purchase online from competitors

·       Customer reviews include comments such as:

o   “Good products, but I can usually find better prices online.”

o   “I use the store to look first, then buy later.”

o   “The website recommendations are not very helpful.”

·       The company recently invested heavily in:

o   A website redesign

o   AI-based product recommendations

·       Despite these investments, sales continue to decline

Your Task

You must identify ONE primary marketing diagnosis.

Choose only one of the following:

1.    Retail positioning problem

2.    Pricing strategy problem

3.    Lack of value-added retail experience

4.    Multichannel strategy failure

5.    Poor interactive marketing / personalization failure

You must make one explicit choice.

Do not argue that “all of these are problems.”

Do not give a general discussion of the case.

This is a decision task, so your goal is to choose the best diagnosis and defend it.

Required Format

Your response must be written in bullet-point format only.

Use the following structure:

·       Chosen diagnosis: State your one diagnosis in one sentence.

·       Why this is the primary problem: Provide 2–3 bullet points explaining why this is the strongest diagnosis.

·       Why other options are not the main problem: Reject at least two alternative explanations with clear reasoning.

Important Rules

·       Write in bullet points only

·       Do not write in paragraph form

·       Do not list multiple diagnoses as equally correct

·       Do not simply summarize the scenario

·       Use concepts from Chapters 13 and 14 when relevant

·       Be specific and decisive

What a Strong Response Looks Like

A strong response will:

·       make one clear diagnosis,

·       use course concepts correctly,

·       explain why that diagnosis fits the evidence,

·       show why other plausible explanations are less convincing.

A weak response will:

·       list several diagnoses without choosing one,

·       describe everything as a problem,

·       rely on vague statements,

·       fail to reject competing explanations.

Submission Guidelines

·       Submit your response in Canvas by the posted deadline

·       Keep your response concise and focused

·       Quality of reasoning matters more than length

Grading Criteria

Your Applied Decision Task will be evaluated based on:

·       Diagnostic accuracy – Did you identify the strongest explanation?

·       Concept application – Did you use course ideas appropriately?

·       Decisiveness – Did you make a clear choice and reject alternatives?

·       Clarity – Is your response organized and easy to follow?