Marketing in a Complex World

Summary

There are no simple solutions but this course will give you the analytical tools you need to make marketing decisions in an increasingly complex and uncertain world. It expands into a broad discussion of complexity theory and its application to marketing strategy. You'll discuss external change drivers, with units on economics and scenario planning, and deal with advanced marketing concepts and techniques, emphasising relationship marketing, and brand strategy and management. By the end, you'll be able to prepare strategic scenarios with an understanding of how relationships influence current marketing theory and the issues involved in marketing communications.

Course content

This course is for managers who have a role in planning or developing marketing activities, or who work alongside colleagues responsible for marketing. It deals with three areas of uncertainty that affect the development of strategic marketing decisions: uncertainty arising from the volatility of the external environment; uncertainty arising from the changing relationship between suppliers and customers; and uncertainty arising from the internationalisation of business and trade. The course does not suggest that there are simple solutions, but puts forward concepts and analytical techniques that will help managers to make marketing decisions against a background of complexity and uncertainty.

By the end of the course you should:

* be aware of the difficulties of planning in conditions of uncertainty;
* be able to prepare strategic scenarios;
* understand the processes involved in marketing research
* see how an understanding of relationships influences current marketing theory;
* be familiar with the strategic process of brand building;
* understand the issues involved in undertaking marketing communications;
* understand the impact of internationalisation on domestic as well as global operations;
* be aware of the impact of emarketing in organisations' marketing activities and the ways in which organisations can construct strategies and tactics to adapt successfully to the internet age
* understand the complexity of the new service development process and the issues involved in delivering high quality services
* have a good grasp of the principles of complexity theory.

The course has nine units grouped into three books.

Book 1 Complexity and the marketing environment asks how external factors affect organisational performance and planning. As well as introducing the course as a whole, this first book looks at the process of marketing research and the techniques for planning in conditions of uncertainty to develop robust strategies. It also introduces complexity theory by looking at the lessons that managers can take from the natural sciences to help them to improve their understanding of managing complex systems in a volatile environment. Techniques and concepts to assist the development of marketing strategies in conditions of uncertainty are introduced.

Book 2 Complexity and marketing The three units in this book cover relationship marketing, brand building and integrated communications. The first unit develops the concepts of relationship marketing in considerable detail. Drawing on the latest research, it discusses how our understanding of consumers' behaviour is changing, and how organisations need to adapt their policies and programmes accordingly. The unit on brand building demonstrates that brands are of great importance in determining the success or failure of organisations in consumer, industrial and non-profit markets. This unit, based on the results of recent research, offers guidance on developing and maintaining brands. Communications are the key to successful marketing. As technology becomes more complex, integration of communications becomes both more difficult and more important. The unit on marketing communications brings together the latest thinking in this field.

Contemporary challenges in marketing are the subjects of Book 3. A double unit examines the impact of globalisation on all organisations, including those that at present operate in a purely domestic context. You will see the difficulties, as well as the opportunities, arising from new technology that is eliminating barriers of time and geography. We also consider the implications of political changes that affect trade. Two subsequent units deal with the challenges facing firms that are involved in services marketing and emarketing respectively. Marketing practice and theory have developed very quickly in both areas and the units deal with some of the key issues facing managers.

Entry

You can take this course on its own, or as part of a number of postgraduate programmes including our MBA programme. To register for the MBA you must, normally, have a degree or equivalent professional qualification, and you must have a minimum of three years' experience in a managerial, professional or technical role. Usually this means that you are at least 25 years old. If you are taking the course as part of an MBA, we expect you to have already completed Stage 1 and the compulsory Stage 2 course Strategy (B820).

If you are taking the course on its own and have not studied for some time, you would find it useful to refresh your knowledge of fundamental marketing theory. You might find it helpful to take one or more of the following courses: The Professional Certificate in Management (B615), Managing performance and change (B700), Fundamentals of senior management (B713). If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.

Qualifications helper

B825 is a specified course in our

* Master of Business Administration
* Master of Public Administration
* MBA (Technology Management)
* Postgraduate Diploma in Information Systems
* MSc in Information Systems

It can also count towards our MA in Online and Distance Education (F10), and towards most of our degrees at bachelors level - it is equally appropriate to a BA or BSc - where it counts at Level 3. For the purposes of honours classification, it may only count at the lowest grade of pass, i.e. Pass 4. We advise you to refer to the relevant award descriptions for information on the circumstances in which the course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements of a qualification may change.

Excluded combinations

If this course is in a similar area to one you have already completed, you can find out if it is an excluded combination.

If you have additional requirements

The course materials are available in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader. Large print versions of the course materials can be provided on request. The website www.open.ac.uk/disability has the latest information about availability. You will need to spend considerable amounts of time using a personal computer and the internet. If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, make sure that you have our booklet Meeting your needs. You can obtain a copy by contacting our Student Registration & Enquiry Service. We provide a range of support services for individual needs but some of these may take several months to arrange. Please contact us for advice if you have concerns about taking this course, or the support that could be provided.

Course materials

What's included

Course books, other printed materials, online forums, course website.

You will need

A computer as described in our Personal Computing for OU Study section.