The In-Basket Memo Exam in Marketing 335 (formerly 351) is designed to give students practice in close reading, prioritizing problems, communicating in writing, and engaging with co-workers; generally, to provide a real life, intensive practice session in understanding business contexts and influencing business situations in writing.
One of the primary motivating factors in the design of this exam was to provide marketing students the opportunity to use their expertise in a real world business context and to demonstrate and transfer knowledge in writing. The memo exam is noteworthy for several reasons: it has a long history in the Marketing curriculum, it is part of the folklore of the undergraduate Marketing experience, and, year after year, it is singled out by students, alumni and faculty as an assignment which embodies the RTFSBA's commitment to preparing students in extraordinary and original ways for their professional lives. In short, the In Basket Memo Exam is a great example of a writing assignment that productively takes advantage of the close relationship between learning and writing.
Given the history of this exam and the amount of work students and instructors put into this project, it is not surprising that the memo exam takes on a life of its own once students get involved. Check out comments in the Notebook from student writers who have lots to offer in the way of tips for preparing for and taking the exam, and commentary about how the exam enriched their educational experience in the SBA.
When students arrive at the exam, they find a stack of 5-7 memos on their desks. In addition to the memos, they are also provided with a full case report of a company which may include a short history, financial data, an organizational chart, and any other pertinent information about the company's current status that may be important in their decision making processes. Acting as the Vice President of Marketing for the company (who has been away from the office for a conference), students respond in memo form to the communications written by their colleagues and provide relevant statistical calculations on the back. With each memo, students must consider who they, as Vice President of Marketing, are in relation to the authors of the memos and the information that is necessary for that particular audience to know. For example, when writing to their boss, the CEO, it may be necessary for the student, as the Vice President of Marketing, to present bad news to this audience cautiously, without making the situation seem better or worse that it really is. Or, when writing to an employee, the writer might want to take on the tone of a teacher who must help that person understand the figures they have before them. As in the professional world, these students are gaining practice in writing to a variety of audiences and considering their position in relationship to those audiences to convey information in a timely, effective manner. (see student comments in the Student Notebook for more tips on preparing as a writer).
The memos may require students to explain/suggest research methods, interpret data, or provide/analyze statistical information. This scenario encourages students to write under time constraints and to use their decision making skills carefully but quickly. After working through their problems, calculating relevant analyses, making decisions, and writing their memos which include both the articulation and justification of their decisions, students then create an agenda for the next staff meeting. In these agendas, student writers must prioritize the issues raised by their colleagues in the memos, consider both the financial and managerial priorities of the company, and provide a short rationale for the placement of each issue on the agenda.
Dr. Tim Greenlee points out that students are not thrown into this complicated translation process without extensive preparation. In addition to the four hours of classroom instruction that students receive each week, they are also asked to prepare two sets of practice memo exams in the weeks preceding the exam, which the instructors then review extensively in class. Reviews include practice in statistical analysis, decision making, and practice writing the actual memos, paying attention to, among other things, the specialized language of the field.
In the mid-1980s, Marketing 335 was taught solely by Chuck Crespy. Professor Crespy was interested in assuring that his students went beyond simple regurgitation of statistical principles and research methods. In an effort to provide his students with an opportunity to use statistics within authentic business contexts, Crespy designed the now infamous "Memo Exam" as a final exam for his students. More than fifteen years later, the memo exam is still being administered in Marketing 335. This year, 335 is being taught by Tim Greenlee, Jim Sterns, and Sabrina Neeley.
The memo exam is given late in the semester. Each semester, the faculty teaching the course meet to design a new scenario for the exam including a case study and a set of memos (and sometimes to revise an older exam). Traditionally, one faculty member researches a company (the company may either be a real entity or a fictional company based on contemporary business practices and issues) that the group has collaboratively chosen as appropriate and interesting for the exam and then writes the case study. The other members of the team then write two or three memos with an eye to including the issues and concepts covered in the course. The team reads these memos and then meets again to revise for clarity, comprehensiveness, and content. Each instructor then chooses the five memos which best reflect the material covered in their individual sections.
In addition to the reputation the exam has rightly acquired over the years among current students, SBA alumni have repeatedly attested to the effectiveness of the exam in preparing them for the careers both as decision makers and proficient writers. Tim Greenlee often invites former MKT 335 students who are now employed in the marketing field to talk to his students about their professional experiences.
Marketing faculty (and SBA alumni) especially appreciate the way this assignment provides students with many chances use writing to learn. Equally important, it also provides these budding professionals rich opportunities to practice the rhetorical skills they will need as marketing professionals.
Last modified on 10/23/07 | Content maintained by HWI
