Keele University Prospectus Undergraduate | 2016 | Page 68

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Business Management
and Marketing
Overview

Marketing lies at the heart of business, linking
the strategic decision making of the firm with the
marketplace. As a result, marketing managers
require not only an understanding of the marketing
process and consumer behaviour but also a solid
grounding in core business functions and the
modern business environment. The dual honours
programme in business management and marketing
provides precisely this background, and is one of
the most popular programmes offered by Keele
Management School.
The business management and marketing
programme offers:
• in depth knowledge of modern approaches to
business, management and marketing;
• an understanding of the broader societal context
of the world of business;
• excellent career prospects in the business, public
and social enterprise sectors.
Business mana gement and marketing at Keele share
a distinctive critical approach that will enable you to
understand marketing, business theory and practice
in their historical, cultural and philosophical context.
As a result the programme provides the opportunity
for you to develop the analytical skills to successfully
apply theory to everyday practice, while recognising
the advantages and limitations of how business
currently operate. Programme content is also
strongly research led and is designed to develop the
intellectual skills required in an increasingly complex
and dynamic business environment.
Such skills are highly valued in the workplace or as
a precursor to further study. The critical approach
means that our graduates have the capacity to
think differently, unconventionally and with new
perspectives to approach problems creatively. By
promoting the asking of cogent questions and the
deployment of ideas with imaginative insight, your
studies enable you to use what might be partial or
incomplete information to its fullest extent. This
is a valuable skill that is widely applicable and of
considerable benefit in the workplace, especially
where more than one possible solution may exist.

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Course content

The progressive structure of the business
management and marketing degree is designed to
support you and will enable you to develop your
knowledge and understanding of the subject in a
systematic manner.
First year
Key study skills that will help you make the
transition to effective university level study are also
introduced in the first year, and developed across the
programme to support you.
Second year
The key components of the programme are
developed systematically through the core modules.
These build upon background modules introduced
in the first year to provide a thorough grounding
in organisational behaviour, operations and
quality management, business strategy, consumer
behaviour, marketing research, strategic marketing
and international marketing. Alongside the core,
the degree offers a wide range of elective modules
which enable you to deepen your understanding
of important areas of marketing and business
behaviour, including the use of brands and branding,
digital marketing communication, leadership,
entrepreneurship and international business strategy.
Third year
In the final year, these strands are drawn back
together in a project that involves either a report
based upon an independent piece of consumer
research, or a project which involves establishing and
managing a new business venture.
The dynamic nature of the business environment
highlights the importance of covering up to date
developments in your studies. As a student of
business management and marketing you will explore
these contemporary issues and developments
in core modules in the third year. Some of these
developments, such as those in digital technology,
are already profoundly changing the way businesses
work and the nature of the marketplace. In business
management, for example, it is possible to explore
the growing significance of visual media, including
film, as resources in management and organisational
communication. In marketing, you can examine the
role and use of digital marketing and communication
for companies seeking to market their product.