module specification

The module is designed to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the marketing environment with a particular focus on interpretation of economic and financial information to inform marketing decisions. It enables students to gain a good understanding of how economic factors and the market structure influence operations of marketing firms.

The module reviews and interprets the marketing mix in a financial context including selected financial accounting information and cost and management accounting information relevant for marketers. It also provides students with the practical experience of using the latest version of Excel to compute, describe and interpret accounting/financial information of relevance to marketing organisations.  The module lays the foundation for level 5/6 modules, as appropriate.

Aims of the module: what key skills and knowledge will it enable students to develop?

The module aims to develop students understanding and application of knowledge of the nature and scope of the marketing environment and the significance of economic and financial information for marketing decision making within the organisational and industry context.

The module also provides opportunities for developing the following range of key skills: analysing data, application of knowledge and presenting data, data interpretation and reporting, problem solving and decision making, self / time management, self-assessment / reflection, digital literacy and IT skills, and numeracy / quantitative skills. Therefore, the module addresses partly two of the QAA subject knowledge and understanding benchmarks for business and management, namely:

1. Markets: the development, access and operation of markets for resources, goods and services.(Addressed in LO1)

2. Finance: the sources, uses and management of finance and the use of accounting and other information systems for planning, control ,decision making and managing financial risk (addressed partly in LO2)

Understanding the nature of demand for products and the influence of market structures (5 weeks)

What’s economics got to do with marketing and communications?
The nature of firms, the business of competitive market and business in a marketing environment.
Demand, the consumer and the firm.
Products, marketing and marketing communications.
The laws of supply and demand for products/ services, price elasticity of demand, the income elasticity of demand, cross elasticity of demand, and elasticity of supply.
Advertising elasticity of demand. How do advertisements and marketing affect elasticity of demand?
How are short run profits and long-run profits related to advertising?
Estabilishing advertising budgets based on marginal revenue(MR) and marginal cost (MC) concepts.
The influence of market structures - perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly- on price and supply.
The structure of the advertising industry. The impact of macroeconomic objectives and policies on organisations, including advertising and PR agencies. LO1

Understanding Financial Information for marketing decisions (8 weeks)

Understanding the marketing mix in a financial context.
Introduction to cost behaviour, costing techniques and their application to marketing
Cost/volume and profit analysis. Pricing and profitability.
Interpreting statements of financial activity -profit and loss statement, balance sheet. Interpreting cash flow statements.
Interpretation of accounts- ratio analysis.
Budgeting and budgetary control.
Investment decisions for marketers and methods of analysing risk. LO2

The module will be taught over a 15-week period and consists of 1-hour lecture and 2-hour seminar sessions each week.  In most weeks the 2-hour seminar will take place in the ICT labs to provide students with the practical experience of using Excel as appropriate to compute, analyse and interpret accounting and consumer data. The lectures adopt an applied problem-based approach to learning and introduces students to the marketing environment with a particular focus on interpretation of economic and financial information to inform marketing decisions. Whilst the lectures are used to deliver core content, students will be expected to actively contribute to the sessions.

The seminars sessions are designed to facilitate learning through group-based practical activities, interpretation and reporting exercises, discussions, role-play and presentations, and student-tutor feedback. The computer-based seminars introduce learners to Excel for financial and economic data analysis, and offer further opportunities for developing interpretation skills.

The module uses a blended learning and teaching approach including lectures, seminars, video case studies, research projects, Weblearn interaction, guest lectures and class discussions. The use of Weblearn facilities is central to the delivery of module handbook, case studies, journal articles, external web links and student feedback. Other more specialised approaches such as ‘flipped teaching’ and ‘role playing’ are also used.

Independent and group learning is supported through the module's virtual learning environment hosted on Weblearn. Here students can access resources such as lecture notes, exercises and activities, study guides, data sets, videos, coursework briefs, guidelines and feedback, as well as links to further resources. Learners are also encouraged to actively engage with the subject, their peers, and the tutors through the module's online discussion threads and blogs, and chat room facility.

On completing the module students should be able to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of the economic influences that customers and competitors may exert on the organisation and how this may be impacted by the market structure in the industry sector. Additionally, an understanding of the impact of government will be gained.

2. demonstrate an understanding and application of knowledge of the marketing mix in a financial context and interpretation of financial statements of a limited company.

The assessment has been designed to test the achievement of the module’s learning outcomes and requires students to complete two individual assessment. Assessment 1 addresses LO1 (40% weighting) and covers economics-based material whereas assessment 2 is linked to LO2 (60% weighting) covering accounting-based material. Each assessment requires the completion of an individual portfolio.

Arrangements for formative and summative feedback

To ensure the portfolio remains on track and to provide opportunities for feedback and intervention, interim deadlines for the completion of certain tasks are specified. Formative and (indicative) summative feedback will normally be given within 10 working days of the deadline. Students will be provided with a detailed feedback both in-class and via Turnitin.  Students are strongly encouraged to show their draft to their tutor for comments. Provisional marks will also be offered which are only indicatory and will only be confirmed at the end of the module after all coursework has been second marked.

Core Texts:
- Sloman, J., Garratt, D., Guest, J. and Jones, E. (2016) ‘Economics for Business’, 7th Edition, FT
  Prentice Hall, Pearson (Available as an E-book).
- Dyson, J. R. & Franklin, E. (2017) ‘Accounting for Non-Accounting Students’, 8th Edition, FT Prentice
  Hall, Pearson (Available as an E-book).

Other Texts:
- Cohen, I. (2016) Economics for Business. Kogan Page.
- Frye, C. (2015) Microsoft Excel 2016 Step by Step, Pearson.
- Griffiths A. And Wall S. (2011) Economics for Business and Management, 3rd Edition. Financial Times,
  Prentice Hall.
- Horner, D. (2017) Accounting for Non Accountants, 11th Edition, Kogan Page.
- Oakshott, L. (2016) Essential Quantitative Methods: For Business, Management and Finance, 6th 
  Edition., Palgrave Macmillan.
- Levine D.,  Stephan, D., and Szabat,K. (2017) Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel, 8th
  Edition, Pearson Publications.

Journals:
Qualitative Research Methods: An International Journal (Emerald)
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Journal of Consumer Research
The International Journal of Market Research

Electronic Databases/ Websites:
Accounting, Banking, Economics & Finance
http://student.londonmet.ac.uk/library/subject-guides-and-research-support/a-z-subject-guides-and-librarians/guildhall-school-of-business-and-law-/accounting-banking-economics--finance/

The economist
https://www.economist.com/
https://www.economist.com/feeds/print-sections/79/finance-and-economics.xml

LSE video of public lectures and events
http://www.lse.ac.uk/website-archive/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/publicEventsVideos/publicEventsVideosPrevious.aspx

Results from UK government surveys
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/

Office for national statistics 
https://www.ons.gov.uk/

The economics network
https://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/links/data_free#Office_for_Budget_Responsibility_OBR

OECD data
https://data.oecd.org/united-kingdom.htm

The Sloman Economics News Site
http://pearsonblog.campaignserver.co.uk/
Statisitcs
http://student.londonmet.ac.uk/library/subject-guides-and-research-support/audiovisual-news-statistics--theses/statistics/

News and current affairs
http://student.londonmet.ac.uk/library/subject-guides-and-research-support/audiovisual-news-statistics--theses/news-and-current-affairs/

Please note that during the semester, other books, articles and other resources would be recommended as need be.