2013/2014 KAN-SMC_SM23 Strategic Leadership and Brand Management
English Title | |
Strategic Leadership and Brand Management |
Course information |
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Language | English |
Exam ECTS | 15 ECTS |
Type | Mandatory |
Level | Full Degree Master |
Duration | One Semester |
Time Table | Please see course schedule at e-Campus |
Study board |
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business
Administration
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Course coordinator | |
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Main academic disciplines | |
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Last updated on 13-08-2013 |
Learning objectives | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
At the end of the course the
excellent student is expected to be able to:
1. Describe, classify and discuss distinguishing features of different and dominant brand management perspectives, or schools, in the literature, as to their qualities, prerequisites and consequences on branding as strategy and process. 2. Describe and explain the development of the strategy and the leadership construct in the literature. 3. Structure and discuss antecedents, consequences and thus arguments of enacting a certain understanding of strategy and leadership (e.g. a definition and a framework) at a business and at the functional level of marketing. 4. Compare and integrate the construct and process of brand management with that of corporate strategy and of leadership and thereby explain and conclude on interfaces and their consequences from a management perspective. 5. Analyse, illustrate and explain the understanding in practice (e.g. through a case analysis) of the constructs of strategy, leadership and brand management, and the potential occurrence and implication of a difference between practice and the literature as regards to definitions, frameworks and conducts. |
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Examination | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The exam in the subject consists of two parts:
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Course content and structure | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The course will run throughout the
spring semester as a sequence of seminars, case-works and projects.
During the first part of the course, we make a critical
analysis of existing strategic concepts and frameworks in the
contemporary marketing and brand management literature. The aim is
to create propositions regarding minor or major modifications of
these frameworks, in the light of what characterizes the decision
context of marketing managers and the overall business environment.
Thus, the core questions dealt with is the following: Why have some
of the frameworks in the marketing literature regarding the meaning
of a brand, a competitive advantage, a product life cycle, a market
opportunity, a market asset etc. become more or less obsolescent?
And, accordingly, what developments needs to be made of existing
frameworks or what new frameworks needs to be developed in order to
match the realities of the present era? During the second
part of the course it is the business world and the management
context of corporate level marketing managers that stands in focus.
The objective is to produce the basis for answering the following
question: What is the meaning of strategic market management in
different contexts and situations when the vision is ‘market
creation’?
Progression The course constitutes together with ‘Marketing, Creativity and Innovation’ the foundation of the concentration. This means that the course is based on issues, terms and concepts that have been introduced in previous courses. The course is also closely related to the course ‘Consumers’ experiences and design’ and to ‘Managing Knowledge, Projects and Teams’. The course starts with a critical reflection on the strategy and the marketing management literature. We elaborate on questions such as: Do any of the well-known approaches and practices for conceptualising and communicating a firm’s overall marketing strategy, brand strategy, product strategy etc. require a modification? The inspiration and theoretical foundation for this course originates from recent publications in the field of strategy and strategic management. In this literature, constructs and issues such as the learning organization, knowledge creation, chaos theory, story telling, organisational identity etc. have long been discussed in relation to the strategy and leadership construct. The same constructs have lately begun to appear in some marketing publications due to the need of marketing researchers to ‘delve into the organization’s black box’ and to take on a strategic leadership perpective. The latter for the sake of developing an understanding the role of marketing for firm’s innovation, and implicitly marketing’s impact on business performance. The inspiration and basis for the course comes from references such as these, but above all from writers who would not call themselves marketing researchers (see: indicative literature), but who have recognized that: - We find ourselves in ‘an innovation-driven
knowledge-networked’ era that requires new (extended) strategic
management approaches.
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Teaching methods | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The course consists of lectures, case-works, semester project and a 4 hour written exam. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Expected literature | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A selection of academic articles in the field strategic leadership and brand management:
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