Full Time MBA Marketing

Marketing management has emerged over the last two decades as a key function in determining the success of business organisations. Moreover, public sector organisations have become aware of the significance of marketing to their effectiveness. The tasks of marketing managers have become increasingly strategic in nature.

The MBA option specialising in Marketing Management provides an opportunity for graduates (or those with advanced professional qualifications) to develop strategic management skills and to obtain an advanced qualification in this field.

The Marketing pathway aims to promote a comprehensive understanding of the role of marketing management in consumer, industrial markets and service industries in addition to developing problem-solving and decision-making capabilities in these fields. The purpose of this is to develop a critical and analytical approach to marketing managers’ tasks within the context of the organisation as a whole.

Programme Modules

Marketing Planning and Promotion

Module Description
As an essential element of the management of organizations, marketing is significant as a theoretical and practical base for all managers. Whatever their specialist roles, all managers should be aware of the nature of the markets served and the relationships with their customers, since these factors have an impact on the ways in which all operations are planned and managed.

Module Content
The strategic nature of marketing; market segment characteristics; bases of consumer behaviour; elements of marketing plans; assessing marketing opportunities by using market information; marketing mix; use of controls in marketing; integration of marketing communications; promotion and communications; integration of marketing policies with other management functions; applying marketing and customer communications to particular company situations and public sector organizations; setting a promotion plan; identifying the promotion mix; measuring the cost effectiveness of promotion; relating sales and promotion policy to market size and structure.

Business Environment and Strategic Management

Module Description
Since the management of organizations is influenced by many external as well as internal factors, it is necessary to identify and understand the ways in which they influence management policies. It is also essential to understand how they influence strategic aims and how interrelationships affect long term planning and decision-taking.

Module Content
The nature of strategic planning and its relationship to operational policies; organizational objectives and their impact upon resource acquisition and deployment; internal and external factors governing organizational objectives; compatibility of objectives; strategic choices, the direction and pace of change; evaluating strategic risks and methods of minimisation; methods of controlling strategic change; process of planning and managing organizational strategy; time horizons for long term planning, the effect of technological innovation and the emergence of new competition.

Marketing Research and Sales Management

Module Description
Understanding the nature and structure of the market and relating these to product design are of fundamental importance to the effectiveness of marketing management and maximising corporate profitability. The issues require a deep understanding of customer desires and perceptions and a close liaison between the organisations planning operations and effective demand. Both marketing and sales managers and those responsible for policy making should have a clear understanding of the issues and management techniques involved.

Module Content
Nature of marketing research and the reasons why it is important; the constituents of marketing research and the ways in which they determine product design and communications with customers; determining communication policies; research techniques and how these relate to market size and characteristics; consequences of poor communication and the failure arising from ineffective market research; cost effectiveness of communications and research; difference in communications and research between public and private sector and between service and manufacturing industries; organising the sales function; relating sales to other promotional policies; the legal framework of sales management.

Public Relations

Module Description
An important constituent of modern marketing policy is the method of projecting the image of a product, brand or company to both the market and the wider public. There are various ways of projecting an image which are related to, but not identical to, advertising. It may, or may not, be concerned with the particular attributes of a product or service, but is frequently designed to influence the context in which a company’s operations take place. It is important for marketing managers to understand the role of public relations in the spectrum of policies pursued by an organisation.

Module Content
Nature and objectives of public relations; place of public relations in the marketing mix; relationship between public relations and advertising; role of public relations in manufacturing, services, and the public sector; cost effectiveness of public relations; reason for failure of public relations; media selection for public relations and message formations; sponsorship; limitations of public relations as a promotional tool; evaluation of campaigns.

Accounting and Finance For Managers

Module Description
For non-specialist accountants this module introduces the basic concepts and techniques of Accounting and Finance and demonstrates the tasks and methods of identifying and resolving management financial issues.

Module Content
The purposes of accounting; the uses of accounting information; the role of the financial accountant and the management accountant; the nature of financial information; company financial statements; the use of financial statements for management decisions; nature and techniques of financial controls; investment appraisal; raising finance; allocation of resources; use of working capital.

Management Information and Communication Systems

Module Description
Successful organizations depend upon the quality of the information available and the system of communicating both within the organisation and externally with suppliers and markets. Thus the technology employed is a crucial factor in effective management. It is therefore imperative that managers understand and are able to use this technology to enhance the quality of their decision-taking.

Module Content
The dependence of management decision on information and communications systems; the strategic role of MICS; the technological features of MICS; innovation in MICS; the formation and integration of functional management policies; evaluation of MICS; the limitations of systems; the differing needs of organizations according to size, structure, technology employed and markets served; use of systems for control purposes; private and public sector management applications; developing MICS capabilities and knowledge management; e-commerce applications.

Human Resource Management

Module Description
This module introduces the nature of corporate culture and change in organisations and the roles played by managers, individuals, groups and teams. It is also designed to develop an understanding of both the strategy and operational aspects of the management of human resources in organisations, and also the ways in which the quality of HRM affects all the functions of management.

Module Content
The nature of HRM and the principal problem areas; significant functional areas of HRM; human resource planning; organizational change and human resource deployment; causes of conflict and methods of resolution; nature of organisational culture and the factors contributing to it; individual perceptions and motivations; HRM and impact on other management functions; HRM and teams; career development and promotion of personal skills; strategy of HRM.

Research Skills and Project Management

Module Description
This module provides a grounding in project planning, literature review and the principles of research methodology as a preparation for undertaking the major project as a culmination of the programme. The module covers the selection of an appropriate topic for the dissertation; methods of identifying and recording primary and secondary sources of information; strengths and weaknesses of different types of research methodology; methods of referencing information gathered from published work; compiling a bibliography; effective presentation techniques including a logical connection between objectives, methods, evidence and conclusions.

Dissertation

Module Description
Managers should be capable of investigating the nature of and optimal solutions to a major business problem (or set of related problems) in one company or a number of companies operating with similar technologies or in similar markets. Such an investigation encompasses knowledge acquired from the subject matter of the taught modules of the programme and also methods of research of both a primary and a secondary nature.

The dissertation element of the MBA programme involves the preparation and presentation of a project of approximately 15,000 words in length directed towards the identification of a significant business problem of a company or industry and recommendations for policy making and action based upon a thorough examination of evidence and information relevant to the problem. The dissertation will also contain an examination of the published literature and will select a methodology appropriate to the problem investigated.

University of Plymouth Programme

Full-time DAY
Mode of Study
- Full-time (Day) 12 Months
Full-time courses are conducted during the day between Monday and
Friday.
Intakes
- February
- June
- October