Senior Leader Apprenticeship+ Marketing and Leadership MSc: Course modules

• Dr Annmarie Hanlon

This module aims to develop students’ ability to evaluate ‘markets’ and ‘competition’ as two of the main foci for marketing managers. These concepts are essential when developing and implementing marketing strategy.

The syllabus includes:

• Appraisal of the marketing environment (including stakeholders such as suppliers, competitors and partners).
• Assessment of major trends, innovations and risks in the environment that affect marketing strategy (including political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, digital, legal, ethical, environmental and sustainability).
• Evaluation of competitive strategy and organisational mission.

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Scan and appraise the market structure and the organisation’s competitive position.
2. Evaluate how markets and competition affect an organisation’s ability to develop and deliver marketing strategy.
3. Discuss the outcomes from a series of analytical frameworks, tools and techniques to inform decision-makers.
4. Demonstrate appropriate data gathering and research approaches to help obtain appropriate market and competitor data.

• Dr Dennis Esch

Customer analysis and insight have become very important domains in the marketing domain. Understanding these areas allows senior managers to develop innovative marketing strategy based on real customer insights that emerge through strong analysis. Customer insight, however, can only ever be as good as the data on which it is based. A solid understanding of appropriate research methodologies to generate and collect these data is therefore essential.

The syllabus includes:

• Shaping perceptions, attitudes and intentions
• Understanding the customer environment
• Affecting behaviour
• Decision-making and choice architecture
• Utilising heuristics & biases
• Analysing changing customer needs and demands
• Segmenting markets
• Generating customer insight

These areas provide a well-rounded picture of consumer psychology which can be used for good and bad. One must therefore consider the ethical implications of such knowledge and its implementation.

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Critically analyse the behaviour of potential customers in B2B and B2C settings,
2. Assess how marketing stimuli can affect customer affect, cognition and behaviour across settings,
3. Recommend and apply appropriate bases of segmentation to consumer and industrial markets in light of changing customer demands.

• Professor Vasilis Theoharakis

Growth and innovation are essential to marketing strategy development and implementation. This module encourages students to critically evaluate growth and innovation options available to the organisation by taking an entrepreneurial perspective and recommending appropriate courses of action to senior managers.

The syllabus includes:

• Understanding marketing strategy and business models
• Unpacking marketing strategic growth options
• Conducting a marketing capabilities gap analysis
• Applying innovation and growth strategies to marketing problems.

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Formulate and evaluate an organisation’s marketing growth strategy in terms of its contribution to the organisation’s vision, culture and values, including the development and evaluation of its business model, the exploration and exploitation of domestic and international markets, the development of new products while being aware of the implications of disruptive technologies;
2. Conduct gap analyses to understand the differences between current marketing capabilities and required marketing capabilities;
3. Judge the appropriateness of a range of growth and innovation techniques to develop innovative, financially attractive, new products and marketing initiatives for an entrepreneurial and agile organisation.

• Dr Dennis Esch

Value propositions are the core offering the organisation makes to the market for sale. This module aims to develop students’ ability to develop brands and use the marketing mix to plan for marketing initiatives.

The syllabus includes:

• Defining value propositions
• Understanding targeting and positioning
• Developing value adding brands
• Devising and implementing a branding strategy
• Designing the marketing mix.

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Make decisions on which segments are most attractive and suitable to target,
2. Develop a positioning for a product, service or organisation,
3. Formulate a value proposition and implement it through the marketing mix.

• Dr Javier Marcos Cuevas

This module introduces students to customer relationships as an area of essential importance.

The syllabus includes:

• Defining customer relationships and relationship marketing
• Marketing channels
• Customer fulfilment approaches
• Customer portfolio management
• Key Account Management
• Value co-creation.

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Evaluate customer relationship management (CRM), customer portfolio design (including the identification of key accounts) and value co-creation efforts in case organisations and make recommendations as to how and when to apply each concept as part of the organisation’s marketing strategy;
2. Evaluate the appropriateness of marketing channels (physical and digital) and customer fulfilment approaches in terms of developing an engaging customer experience.

• Dr Marwa Tourky

Marketing Communications are an essential component of an organisation’s marketing efforts, and they are often the most visible components of marketing. An ability to apply appropriate marketing communications approaches is crucial to marketing managers’ vocations and an area in which they need to demonstrate leadership.

The syllabus contains:

• An introduction to communications theory and marketing communications decision making process,
• Integrated marketing communication;
• The promotional mix available for organisations to achieve different marketing; communications outcomes;
• Crisis communications;
• Ethics of marketing communications

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Demonstrate a systematic and comprehensive understanding, interpretation and application of the theory and practice of marketing communications in contemporary commercial, non-commercial and consumer markets;
2. Critically evaluate the key communications challenges facing organisations, appraise marketing communications planning options, and propose customer focused solutions;
3. Demonstrate a critical appreciation of the validity of a variety of consumer-based models relating to the development of effective promotional activities and the use of persuasion tools in different scenarios;
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of various communications tools and appraise marketing communications mediums and creative executions;
5. Examine the nature and context of crisis management and critically evaluate the role of public relations in crisis planning.

• TBC

The aim of the Accounting and Finance module is to introduce a number of traditional and contemporary accounting approaches that will increase the visibility of financial information and support management decision making.

• Interpretation of financial statements;
• Exploring the relationship between accounting information, management decision making, financial strategies, and financial performance;
• Applying traditional and contemporary accounting tools and techniques, which can be applied to support business management decisions;
• Exploring the many cost trade-offs between business processes (Make v Buy).

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Judge the effect of decisions, transactions and events on financial performance;
2. Create simple sets of accounts from basic information.
3. Understand the main variables affecting working capital management;
4. Interpret financial statements to support decision making, planning and control;
5. Apply an appropriate costing approaches to solve a range of business issues;
6. Apply a number of financial tools and techniques to appraise alternative capital investment opportunities;
7. Use financial information to make informed management decisions

• Professor Vasilis Theoharakis

Assessing the viability of marketing initiatives from multiple perspectives is crucial to successful marketing leadership. This module equips students with a series of different approaches that account for the financial and ethical outcomes of marketing initiatives as well as considering their diversity, equity and inclusivity implications.

The syllabus includes:

• Defining marketing performance
• Understanding and applying strategic marketing planning and metrics
• Critically evaluating marketing options for delivering high performance strategies including sustainability outcomes
• Understanding of marketing ethics and the implications of marketing initiatives on stakeholders and society.

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Recommend an appropriate and relevant marketing plan which sets strategic direction and includes measurable key performance indicators and demonstrates a holistic understanding of the impact of marketing strategy on stakeholders and sustainability;
2. Judge the appropriateness and relevance of strategic marketing options through the evaluation of marketing performance measures, allocation of resources and use of financial data.

• TBC

This module is concerned with managing the organisation’s key resource – the people who work for it. It aims to help learners understand how effective people management can contribute to develop and sustain organisations. The module aims to develop an insight into the complexities of managing people in a changing environment. The focus of the module is to help learners understand the relationship between people management and organisational performance, including managerial roles and responsibilities, especially the crucial role of line managers.

The module will provide an introduction to the main activities associated with resourcing, developing and day–to-day management of people in organisations. It is not the intention of the module to develop human resource management specialist, but rather to provide a general introduction to the people management issues that concern all managers.

The module will draw on key academic contributions in the broad field of people management, including current research being carried out by faculty in the School of Management. Throughout the module, sessions will be highly interactive in order to develop critical insight and core skills in the people management field.

• Strategic People Management
• The Changing World of Work
• Talent Sourcing
• Talent Development and Succession Planning
• Managing Performance
• Rewards and Remuneration
• Employment Relations
• Employment Law
• Building a People Strategy

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Evaluate the contribution people resources make to developing and sustaining organisations.
2. Have a critical appreciation of the role, responsibility and scope of people management activities.
3. Apply and evaluate a complex range of established models and factors which influence choices made in people management.
4. Undertake critical analyses of a range of people management issues and be able to make considered, informed proposals to address them.
5. Design people management strategies and critically explore their relationship with business strategies.

• Dr Chia-Yu Kou-Barrett

Introduction: success in management, particularly at senior levels in organisations, depends on understanding organisations, the people in them and the relationship between the internal and external environments within which they exist; and in ensuring that they work effectively. 

Organisations are run by and for people, and the success or failure of an organisation depends on the people in that organisation.  It is rarely an absence of planning that causes organisational difficulties; it is often the failure of management in understanding and managing complex personal, interpersonal and organisational systems that can lead to significant problems.

Similarly, an acute and critical understanding of these dynamics can lead to profound and enduring success and benefit for the individual, the team, the organisation and, indeed, wider society.

In this module students will be introduced to various aspects of people and organisations.  This module combines models, theories and ideas from organisational behaviour, psychology, sociology and international human resource management, in order to provide students with an understanding in recognising, understanding and utilising what has been termed the "human factor" in organisations; including ways of conceptualising organisations and how people behave within them.  We shall consider the impact of the external environment; and begin to address notions of organisational change.

Uniquely this module will also focus on application and will allow students to reflect on and apply theories and techniques in their own real-world context, utilising a structured journal approach in order to enhance their own Leadership behaviours.

It may also be that students will wish to undertake an in-company project in this area; several of the faculty involved will be pleased to discuss this with you.

• Individuals in the organisation (covering topics such as learning, personality, perception, motivation, psychological capital and emotional intelligence).
• Groups and teams in the organisation.
• Management processes (including organisational change, leadership, organisational politics, and cross-cultural management).

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Differentiate ways of conceptualising people in organisations, for example using culture, ethics, well-being, diversity, organisational politics, and management frameworks.
2. Assess and evaluate the importance of relationships at work, group dynamics, effective teams and leadership in achieving effectiveness.
3. Critically engage with relevant models, theories and ideas in order to enhance personal capability linked to their personal and professional development agenda.
4. Appraise how they have increased their personal influence and their capability to lead with impact.

A key aspect of a senior marketer’s role is leading and managing change within an organisation. This module will enable you to meet the challenges of change by providing a platform for supporting future responses through harnessing organisational potential and sustainable innovation. In addition, you will develop an understanding of how the organisation’s assets can be managed to build and sustain a clear market position to guide, support and implement market-led change within an organisation.

The syllabus contains:

• Identification of the organisation’s internal and external stakeholders and evaluation of stakeholder value.
• The role of data (e.g. big data, analytics, user generated content) in facilitating change.
• Creating a change culture and strategies for overcoming resistance while demonstrating a risk-based approach for potential reputation damage.
• Implementing change by shaping a market-oriented culture and appraise the internal and external catalysts for organisational change.
• Strategic plan implementation in support of organisational change.

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Build the case for change by developing a critical understanding of how to harness organisational potential to generate and sustain value for all stakeholders and by using insight to develop sustainable innovation.
2. Create a change culture by appraising the role of brand equity and corporate reputation in directing and sustaining change and by demonstrating how a customer-facing organisational structure and culture can support strategies.
3. Implement change by recommending the use of contemporary practice in effectively leading, managing and influencing others to deliver organisational change and by appraising the process and environment required to implement, review and reflect on the effectiveness of organisational change.