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2026/2027  KAN-CGMAO2002U  Market Informed Decisions

English Title
Market Informed Decisions

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory (also offered as elective)
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for Governance, Law, Accounting & Management Analytics
Programme Master of Science (MSc) in Economics and Business Administration - General Management and Analytics (GMA)
Course coordinator
  • Michel Van der Borgh - Department of Marketing (Marketing)
Main academic disciplines
  • Marketing
  • Statistics and quantitative methods
  • Strategy
Teaching methods
  • Blended learning
Last updated on 26-06-2026

Relevant links
Learning objectives
At the end of the course, students will be able to manage work- and development situations which are complex, unpredictable, and require new solution models by demonstrating the achievement of the following learning objectives. More specifically, students will be able to:
  • Frame, describe, and diagnose a wicked business management challenge analytically using exploratory and explanatory research diagnostics.
  • Specify the objective and design components of the solution model by utilizing qualitative and quantitative output from exploratory and explanatory diagnostics.
  • Develop, on a scientific basis, solution directions that address the identified management challenge.
  • Describe procedures for systematically determining interventions that follow from analyses of the model(s).
  • Follow academic conventions in their communications.
Examination
Market Informed Decisions:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam on CBS' computers
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Assignment type Case based assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer
Aids Open book: all written and electronic aids, including internet access
Read more here about which exam aids the students are allowed to bring and will be given access to : Exam aids and IT application package
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
The number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination may warrant that it most appropriately be held as an oral examination. The programme office will inform the students if the make-up examination/re-take examination instead is held as an oral examination including a second examiner or external examiner.
Description of the exam procedure

The students will need to respond to a case situation in which a business challenge is outlined and accompanied with sufficient information and data for students to engage in analytical efforts to develop and present market informed decisions. The recommendations should be well grounded in theoretical and methodological approaches covered during the course and communicated clearly to a target audience of business decision makers.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Managers are confronted with wicked market challenges daily. A wicked problem has innumerable causes, is tough to describe, and doesn’t have a right answer. Environmental degradation, climate change, and inequality are classic examples of wicked problems. Managers face wicked challenges related to strategy shaping, new product diffusion, and customer engagement.

 

This course aims to develop students’ abilities to make informed decisions on how to deal with wicked market challenges. By combining economic theory (e.g., market structure, demand elasticities, economic performance, customer behavior, ecosystem management) with simulation techniques (e.g., agent-based modelling, system dynamics), students will develop the skills, capabilities, and knowledge to (a) identify and frame a company’s market challenge (What is the challenge?), (b) diagnose the market context (What do we know, and what not?), (c) utilize available market information to provide solutions for the challenge (How can we (re-)shape the market?), and (d) explain ways to implement and evaluate the suggested solution (What is the impact of the chosen solution?).

 

As such, this course provides students with the capabilities to effectively deal with complex markets, help companies develop market agility, utilize market intelligence, and, finally, improve customer success management.
Research-based teaching
CBS’ programmes and teaching are research-based. The following types of research-based knowledge and research-like activities are included in this course:
Research-based knowledge
  • Classic and basic theory
  • New theory
  • Teacher’s own research
  • Methodology
  • Models
Research-like activities
  • Development of research questions
  • Data collection
  • Analysis
  • Discussion, critical reflection, modelling
Description of the teaching methods
Making informed decisions requires decision-driven analytics in which developing a holistic system-level understanding of the problematic situation facing the manager is the starting point. Throughout the course students will be introduced to different ways of conceptualizing and modelling decision situations. The foundation for the course is the real-life decision situation of business firms. The course gradually encompasses more elements of complexity by introducing methods and techniques that capture different facets of the situation. Students will be introduced to different economic models and simulation techniques as well as methods to empirically estimate critical parameters.
Feedback during the teaching period
Teacher and group feedback on presentations.
In tutorials students will work firsthand with a real-world business situation. The tutorials focus on (a) identification, characterisation, and framing of the wicked problem, (2) diagnosing of the framed problem, and (c) using simulation techniques to facilitate the creation of possible managerial interventions to solve the framed problem. Students will receive direct feedback during the tutorials.
Student workload
Teaching 33 hours
Preparation 73 hours
Group work outside of class 50 hours
Exam 50 hours
Expected literature

A list of relevant literature will be provided in class. Below please find an indicative literature:

 

Articles and chapters from books:

Bonabeau, E. Chr. Meyer,(2001).“Swarm Intelligence: A Whole New Way to Think About Business”. Harvard Business Review,(May), 106-114. (recommended background reading)

Buchanan, R. (1992). Wicked Problems in Design Thinking. Design Issues, 8(2), pp. 5-21.

Chica, M., & Rand, W. (2017). Building agent-based decision support systems for word-of-mouth programs: A freemium application. Journal of Marketing Research, 54(5), 752-767.

Frank, Magnone, and Netzer (2023). Decisions over Decimals – Chapter 1, 2

Frank, Magnone, and Netzer (2023). Decisions over Decimals – Chapter 3, 4, 5

Simon, H.A. (1962), “The architecture of complexity”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 102 No. 6, pp. 467-482. (recommended background reading)

Sterman, J. D. (2000). Business dynamics: Systems thinking and modeling for a complex world. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.; Chapter 3

Sterman, J. D. (2000). Business dynamics: Systems thinking and modeling for a complex world. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.; Chapter 9

Sterman, J. D. (2001). System dynamics modeling: tools for learning in a complex world. California management review, 43(4), 8-25.

Sterman, J. D., Repenning, N. P., & Kofman, F. (1997). Unanticipated side effects of successful quality programs: Exploring a paradox of organizational improvement. Management science, 43(4), 503-521.

Van der Borgh, M., Xu, J., & Sikkenk, M. (2020). Identifying, analyzing, and finding solutions to the sales lead black hole: A design science approach. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 136-151.

Zeithaml, V. A., Jaworski, B. J., Kohli, A. K., Tuli, K. R., Ulaga, W., & Zaltman, G. (2020). A theories-in-use approach to building marketing theory. Journal of Marketing, 84(1), 32-51.
Last updated on 26-06-2026