6 ECTS credits
152 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4015134DNW for working students in the 2nd semester at a (D) Master - preliminary level.

Semester
2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
To be able to enroll for 'Strategic Marketing' it is necessary to have succesfully passed for 'Introduction to Marketing and Market Research' or at least you need to be enrolled for 'Introduction to Marketing and Market Research' OF moet men ingeschreven zijn in de master Biomedical Research
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Business
Educational team
Kim Willems (course titular)
Annelies Joke F Costers
Activities and contact hours

22 contact hours Lecture
11 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
119 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

We start by clearly defining business strategies and position the role of marketing in strategy.

Subsequently, a thorough introduction in strategic analysis is provided, existing on the one hand of external analysis and on the other hand internal analysis. We offer frameworks and methods for (1) external and customer analysis, (2) competitor analysis, (3) market/submarket analysis, and (4) environmental analysis. Moreover we deal with the analysis of a company’s own strengths and weaknesses, that we confront subsequently with external opportunities and threats.

Once this information is gathered, we are ready to learn more about strategic options and the implementation thereof, on the basis of for example the marketing mix toolkit. Topics such as ‘sustainable competitive advantage’, ‘value propositions’, ‘brand equity’, ‘innovation’, and ‘synergy’ are introduced in order to provide the needed jargon and to offer a structured overview of the instruments available to strategic marketing managers.The theory portion of the course will link the Strategic Marketing theory to real-life business cases, with a global perspective. The practice portion of the course allows you to sharpen your skills both in identifying links between the course theory and the everyday business context as well as to strengthen your functioning in team work.

Course material
Handbook (Required) : Strategic Market Management, Global Perspectives, Aaker, David A. and McLoughlin, Damien, John Wiley & Sons, 9780470689752, 2012
Digital course material (Required) : Course slides and Academic Articles, Canvas
Digital course material (Required) : Strategic Marketing - Business Cases Bundle, Group assignments + practice sessions, Canvas
Additional info

Slides from theoretical, guest, and practical lectures are posted on Canvas to the largest extent (e.g., depending on confidentiality of guest lecturer's speech).

Optionally, we intend to invite inspiring guest lecturers to complement the theoretical knowledge that is acquired in the course with enriching practical marketing testimonials. Attendance to these guest lectures is (as far as the time schedule allows for it) obligatory. In any case we try to plan these lectures on regular course hours to enable a vast majority of students to be present. 

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

After this course, you should be able to:

  • Comprehend the role that marketing can play in the strategy of a business
  • Understand and apply the strategic marketing concepts, models, and jargon introduced in this course.
  • Recognize and identify strategic marketing problems in real-life business cases
  • Set up a plan to conduct the necessary strategic analyses (external and internal) to make informed marketing decisions
  • Formulate strategic marketing advice to businesses, starting from a particular problem statement
  • Present an integrated business case starting from a topical business problem statement, over suggesting the appropriate strategic analyses to critically providing appropriate advice in the ad hoc situation.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 70% of the final mark.
Practical Exam determines 30% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Schriftelijk Examen with a relative weight of 70 which comprises 70% of the final mark.

Within the Practical Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Opdracht with a relative weight of 30 which comprises 30% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

(!) In accordance with the supplementary faculty regulations to article 8§3 of the Teaching and Examination Regulations, the examination in the first examination session for all students only takes place in the additional examination block, organized in the two weeks following the spring break.

30% of the total grade can be earned on the basis of the practical part of the course (i.e., group assignments, with optional peer assessments) and 70% of the total grade can be earned on the basis of the exam, which is individual, closed-book, containing both open- and multiple choice questions. For the multiple choice questions, a guessing correction will be applied, whereby +1 is given for a correct answer, -1/(n-1) for a wrong answer with n being the number of answer options, and 0 for no answer.

Participation in the practical part of the course, as well actively attending the guest lectures (in so far it is compatible with the official student time schedule), is compulsory. No replacement assignments will be provided.

The practice sessions (and related group assignments) cannot be retaken in second session, nor replaced by individual assignments. The partial result for this part of the course evaluation will be transferred to second session.

The partial result for the practice sessions part (group assignments) will be transferred to the next academic year, under the condition that a result on this part is obtained of minimum 10/20. The student that however does want to retake the practice sessions part (group assignments) is to send an email to the course holder ultimately on the date of the first class session of the course in the corresponding academic year.

Bonus points can (on a voluntary basis) be earned by actively participating to the bonus questions and/or by participating to scientific marketing studies conducted by the department BUSI – ‘Marketing & Consumer behavior’.

For individual grading on the group assignments, peer assessments can be used (optional, upon request of the group). Students are to evaluate themselves and their members on a number of criteria. The result thereof is an individual correction factor. This correction factor will be used to adapt the group score (i.e., the intrinsic value of the group work) to the individual level. This takes place by correcting the group score with a maximum of 10% (upward or downward) to the individual level. When a student does not complete the peer assessment by the given deadline, the course holder can decide to apply the maximum downward correction of the group score. The course holder’s decision has priority and the course holder can decide to strengthen the correction factor, weaken it, or even to not take it into consideration, in case the submitted peer assessment scores are not reliable. Such a decision will normally only be taken in very exceptional cases, but will always be based on clear argumentation, analyses and/or extra observations or meetings.

The deadline for students to submit their group composition on Canvas (for the group assignments) is Friday of the 2nd lecture week of the 2nd semester.

For more information on the specific course information: see Canvas.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Management: Standaard traject
Master of Biomedical Research: Standaard traject
Master of Teaching in Economics: standaard traject (90 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Movement and Sports Sciences: Sports Policy and Sports Management Profile Profile Sports Policy and Sports Management (only offered in Dutch)