Marketing Strategy and Leadership MKT6047

MODULE GUIDE

COLLEGE: Business, Digital Transformation and Entrepreneurship

MODULE TITLE: Marketing Strategy and Leadership

MODULE CODE: MKT6047

LEVEL: 6

CREDIT RATING: 20

SEMESTER: Semester 1, 2024-25

MODULE LEADER: David Cashmore

1. Module overview

1.1. Introduction

Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

~ Sun Tzu, The Art of War (5th Century BC)

Whilst the great strategist was discussing military strategy in his influential treatise, the quotation is perfectly valid for business today - without a well-defined business strategy, organisations run the very real risk of losing market share to competitors and potentially going out of business.

Through the development and implementation of strategic plans, organisations are ultimately seeking to identify and adapt to trends in the business environment in order to create a competitive advantage for themselves and grow their businesses. In short, it is the process of asking: (1) 'Where are we now?'; (2) 'Where do we want to be?'; (3) 'How do we get there?'; (4) 'Did we get there?'.

It is these questions that you will be attempting to answer for a client organisation. In doing so, you will develop an understanding of the fundamental role that strategic planning plays in business, undertake research into the internal / external environment in which the organisation operates, offer solutions for helping the organisation achieve competitive advantage, and outline the best way to manage the implementation of these solutions. As a result, you will enhance your employability by adding to your toolbox of commercial skills.

Module Leader and teaching team

Timetable

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

1. Assess and apply strategic models to analyse an organisation's current strategic position
2. Evaluate strategic alternatives
3. Create a marketing plan for a given scenario

1.5. Indicative content

This module explores:

• The need for strategy
  
  
  • Explains why organisation need strategies, identifying drivers of disruption in the marketing environment and outlining different approaches to the development of business strategies
• Situational analysis
  
  
  • Establishes key methods through which the organisation can identify trends in the external environment and understand the internal resources and competences the organisation can use to address these trends
• Setting objectives
  
  
  • Outlines different methods by which clear objectives can be established that can then be cascaded to all departments to ensure that all employees are working towards the same desired outcomes
• Developing strategies
  
  
  • Examines key theories and frameworks that can be utilised to identify a competitive position within the market, including the identification of a target customer segment
• Developing tactics
  
  
  • Considers a range of tactical marketing tools that can help the organisation deliver its chosen marketing strategy
• Implementing strategic plans
  
  
  • Identifies fundamental tools that would be used to create a realistic plan for the successful implementation of a marketing strategy, considering the most appropriate leadership styles for the given context
• Measuring plan performance
  
  
  • Investigates appropriate control mechanisms that can be put in place to measure and monitor progress of a marketing strategy

2. Assessment overview

2.1. Method of assessment

Please download and read the full assessment brief, which is available on the modules Moodle site.

Assessment will be via individual coursework in which students will be working with a live client in order to undertake research and develop a strategic marketing plan for the organisation.

To pass this module, you must achieve a final overall mark of at least 40%. If your mark is less than 40%, you will be required to retake the assessment..

For full details about the university regulations applied to this module, please refer to iCity or contact the faculty / college office for any specific questions.

2.2. Submission

The deadline for submissions is: 6^th January 2025, 3pm

Assignments must be submitted online via link provided in the Assessment area of the modules Moodle site. Please follow the University policy regarding online submission and submitting assignments on time, which are outlined in the assessment brief.

2.3. Re-sit

The deadline for re-sit submissions will be 7^th April 2025, 3pm. If you are required to re-sit the module then it is recommended that you start work on the re- sit assessments as soon as possible, so that these do not impact your semester two module assessments.

Please note that there is a different assessment brief for the re-sit, which will be made available via Moodle following the semester one exam boards in February.

3. Support

3.1. Tutor support

Support is available at any time throughout this module; simply contact your tutor if you need help. Specific, detailed feedback on individual assessments will only be available via scheduled, face-to-face meetings, not via email.

To make the most of tutor support sessions, it is expected that you will have already begun work on your assessment and have a list of questions for your tutor prepared in advance tutors will not just tell you what to write or repeat information that has already been provided during sessions or via Moodle.

Please note that tutors will only provide detailed feedback on one draft. Feedback on multiple drafts is not allowed as there is a danger your work becomes your lecturers work. However, your tutor will still be able to answer specific questions relating to the assessment.

Students can book a tutorial at any time up to one working week prior to the deadline tutorials and draft reviews will not be provided in the final week prior to the deadline, so it is important that you start work on your draft early and book a meeting as soon as possible. The final date that you can book a tutorial for this module is stated in the assessment brief.

Please note that tutors are unable to indicate a provisional grade for your work at any point prior to the official release date. As such, it is requested that you do not ask tutors what grade your work is likely to achieve prior to final submission.

3.2. Additional support

The Centre for Academic Success (CAS) is the University's central learning development service, which offers additional help to students in a variety of ways. They run workshops as well as one-to-one or small group tutorials offering a valuable extra resource in a range of study skills. You can use them to help with academic writing, report writing, referencing, statistics and much more.

CAS are based in the Curzon Building in C033A or you can contact the team on:

• Tel: 0121 331 7685
• Email: success@bcu.ac.uk

Please visit https://www.bcu.ac.uk/about-us/education-development-service/centre- for-academic-success-student to book a tutorial or learn more about the support services offered.

4. Teaching and learning

4.1. Methods of learning

You are expected to engage with the following weekly activities:

• Lecture - Weekly, one-hour sessions in a lecture theatre, which will cover the core material that you need to learn for your assessment
• Classroom workshop Weekly, two-hour classroom sessions, which provide an opportunity to learn how to properly apply the core marketing frameworks covered in the lecture
• Online activity - Additional weekly reading, videos and activities to enhance your knowledge and help you make progress on your assessment; this should be completed by the end of the week in which they are released

All module resources, including online activities, will be accessible via the Moodle e- learning platform.

4.2. Expectations

We are sure that you will embrace your learning with enthusiasm and make the most of the opportunities this module offers. We are committed to providing an enriching and accessible learning environment with a wide range of resources and services to support you.

However, it is important to remember that learning is a partnership, so you need to take an active role! As such, the module leader and teaching team expect you to:

• Attend all of your classroom sessions - this is monitored
• Arrive on time and stay until the end
• Behave appropriately - respect the tutor and other students
• Actively listen - keep phones on silent and out of sight
• Participate in all classroom activities
• Engage with all online learning material and recommended reading
• Follow the news in order to identify relevant articles that may inform your work

The more you engage with your course and tutors, the more you will get out of your course!

5. Reading and resources

Recommended reading

There is no single core text - the material will be pulled from different sources - but the following books will help provide a solid foundation for this module:

• Chaffey, and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2022). Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. 8^th Ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd
• Doyle, (2008). Value-based marketing strategies for corporate growth and shareholder value. 2^nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons (2008)
• Grant, (2021). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. 11^th Ed. Wiley
• Hooley, , Nicoulaud, B., Piercy, N. and Rudd, J. (2020). Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning. 7^th Ed. Harlow: Pearson

5.2. Research databases

To ensure a pass and optimise your grade, it is essential that you engage with the various commercial research databases that you have access to via the BCU library website: visit the BCU Library A-Z Databases page. The type of commercial research offered by these types of resources is the foundation of a credible strategic marketing plan

Key business databases include:

• Marketline Advantage
• Mintel
• Passport (Euromonitor)

5.3. Additional reading

In addition to academic literature and commercial research, you need to stay abreast of issues in the mainstream media. As such, you are advised to download the BBC News app onto your mobile devices and spend a few minutes each day reviewing the main stories of the day. You can download them from here:

• App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
• Google Play for Android Devices

Furthermore, it is advised that you identify the types of industry publications that the client organisation might engage with.

5.4. Moodle

All module resources will be accessible via the Moodle e-learning platform, including the session materials and the assessment brief. All notices and announcements will also be sent out via this platform.

Resources will be published on a weekly basis, usually no later than the weekend before the session.

You can access Moodle via an internet browser go to https://moodle.bcu.ac.uk or by downloading the Moodle app onto your mobile device.

Students registered on this module should automatically have been given access to the module on Moodle. If this is not the case, please contact the Faculty Student Centre in the first instance to check whether you are correctly enrolled on the module; if you are still unable to access this area, please inform the module leader.

6. Learning Schedule

Below is a draft schedule for the module. This is subject to change - any changes will be communicated through the modules Moodle site.