Business & Marketing BSc(Hons) (Online)

Learn the foundations of marketing and develop key business skills. In stage one of the degree, you’ll consider wellbeing and sustainability and develop a set of skills and attributes relevant to professional practice. You’ll also work on a website project as part of a team. 

Modules

Wellbeing & Professional Development

Wellbeing is connected to organisational management and wider aspects of customer satisfaction as well as being fundamental to our own mental, emotional and physical health. 

Within this module you will explore a range of general and sector specific ‘real world’ skills that relate to your personalised goals and preparation for business. You will also address the importance of wellbeing within an organisation for employees and customers, making the link to HR practices and, crucially, you will explore the importance of wellbeing for your own personal and professional development and carry out a skills audit. 

Introduction to Market Research & Marketing

In this module you will gain working knowledge of robust market research methods and learn to clearly interpret market research examples from the real world. You will be introduced to components and types of market research, including primary and secondary modes, and learn how to segment markets and analyse trends, as well as trying out different analytic methods. 

Upon completing this module, you’ll have a firm grasp of how to use market data to develop marketing strategies and to design internal processes to respond to the market. You will be able to distinguish and discuss a range of marketing techniques including the use of social media influencers, user generated content and second screen advertising. Within the module you will carry out your own market research project and devise a marketing plan for a client. 

Sustainable Practice

Within this module you will be introduced to a range of frameworks to consider environmental, social and economic sustainability including the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  

You will be encouraged to develop a holistic view of sustainable practices, exploring the huge benefits that taking proactive action can bring, as well as the, sometimes, devastating effects of unsustainable practice. You will consider sustainability related issues that you are likely to face within your career and use these to inform a personal sustainability plan. You will also audit examples of best practice to inform and justify proposals within your plan.

Web Design Project

In this module you will be introduced to the principles of web design, looking at user experience, information and content architecture, as well as visual aesthetics. You will work as a team in response to a business brief to recommend a web design concept and project plan to the client. 

You will also gain an understanding of the development and build process, from concept to Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and continual development, as well as looking at the practicalities of deploying a digital platform. 

As part of the website project, you will consider aspects of project management including; developing a management plan, monitoring progress, managing risk, building and maintaining relationships, managing resources, developing and managing the budget and managing communications.    

At stage two, you’ll dig into data analysis, explore audience behaviour and consider brand-building principles. You’ll focus on strategy and B2B marketing, while delivering a collaboration project with students from other Falmouth courses and a separate digital marketing project. 

Modules

Datalab, Decision Making & Consumer Behaviour

In this module you will also build knowledge of cultural contexts for Big Data, examples of how data is a resource and a product, considerations for mitigating risks associated with privacy and data ethics. 

You will explore the relationships among psychology, sociology, culture, environment and experience in shaping consumer behaviour. You will familiarise yourself with aspects of, and factors in, consumer behaviour and decision-making relevant to outward-facing aspects of business including product development, branding and sales. You will engage with customer experience, building insight to understand why customers behave as they do,  based on wide-ranging theory and data from real-world scenarios. 

You will look at data in relation to marketing as well as project parameters, e.g., everyday business analytics used to track progress and make decisions; you will also use limited datasets to project hypotheses, exploring how data can help us effectively ‘futurecast’ in many scenarios, and will also critically assess the limitations of data-based forecasting. You will examine the effects of data on business models, product development, and customer engagement, and think critically about data. 

Intelligent Brand Building

In this module you will develop a foundation in the traditional and emerging principles of brand management, responsive to a rapidly changing marketplace.  

You will use data intelligence to understand your audience and emotional intelligence in how you seek to engage people with your brand.  

You will develop understanding of the key elements of branding and brand identity, learn to distinguish product identity and personal brand in relation to larger company and corporate branding, gain knowledge of the functions of brand assets and measures of brand value, and build practical skills for reinforcing brand through brand communication in a variety of forms.   

B2B & Marketing in Digital Environments

You will build knowledge that will enable you to engage strategically and professionally with businesses-as-clients in a variety of industries and to create, implement and evaluate a digital marketing event for a client as part of a team. 

You will also strategically plan online networking activities that will help you to find and engage B2B (business to business) audiences. You will consider B2B event impacts and gain skills used in sustainable digital event management, while further developing your digital marketing skills, exploring a range of sustainable event management strategies and techniques. 

Collaboration

Working as part of a team, you’ll work on ‘Challenge Briefs’ that reflect the sort of assignments you could expect to be working on in industry. Developing your ‘soft skills’, like communication, problem-solving, critical thinking and leadership, you’ll sharpen your ability to work well as part of a group to produce outstanding work. 
  

You’ll gain knowledge of leadership and develop your entrepreneurial skillset. You’ll research, devise and deliver a final digital marketing project as the culmination of your learning. 

Modules

The Arts of Strategy & Ethical Leadership

You will develop a context-driven understanding of strategy, learn to employ several strategic practices and showcase your ethical leadership attributes.  

In this module you will learn to think strategically about business objectives, engaging with a number of strategic approaches and frameworks, and distilling a set of principles that will serve you in reaching your objectives in a multitude of business contexts.  

You’ll critically consider different perspectives and theories on leadership practice. You’ll apply your learning around strategy to a specific case study, demonstrating a context-rich and carefully reasoned approach to problem-solving in response to a specific challenge. You will consider leadership styles and relate ethical leadership to your own practice in an essay. 

Future Skills

You will acquire the personal entrepreneurial capacities to deal with growing levels of uncertainty and complexity in the labour market. You will develop your skills and entrepreneurial mindset; learning skills and gaining knowledge that is equally applicable to setting up your own business, establishing yourself as a freelancer or for use as an employee in a business or organisation.  

Throughout this module you will further develop your goals, values and attributes and explore options available to you. You will be immersed in practical learning and consolidate this learning through reflection and the ability to translate their skills for an external context. 

Social Action Business Plan

You will work in a team to research and design a business plan for a not-for-profit entity. Through negotiation, you will propose and agree a suitable focus and approach. To address the brief, you will need to justify the correct legal entity and commercial potential and produce a budget for the first stage of activity.  

You will develop your previous learning around theoretical and live project work, defending your decisions and creative approaches. You will also further develop your practice around setting and measuring objectives, negotiation, contract law and other legal considerations, business planning, evaluating quality/impacts and critically reflecting on your role within a live project. 

Final Project

You will work individually to select a business or marketing related topic, potentially linked to your career development goals. You will then professionally address important aspects of the topic, including those relating to sustainability, within an extended research project. 

You will gain enhanced research skills. The approach means that you can add to an existing body of knowledge and potentially identify a commercial opportunity in your chosen field. You may choose to build on your networks to support the development of your work. You will be supported by a research project supervisor who will help guide you through the research process and act as a sounding board for your thoughts, planned approaches, ideas and insights

On this accelerated degree you'll learn through a blend of lectures, webinars, guest talks, tasks and discussion forums, which you'll access via our dedicated virtual learning environment. This is also where you'll find all key documentation, see course announcements and access extensive learning resources.

What support will I have?

You'll be supported academically by Online Tutors, who will also deliver weekly webinars and facilitate the online forums. If you need assistance with anything that isn't directly related to course material, a dedicated Student Advisor team will be on hand to help. You'll also have access to Falmouth University's Employability Service.

What will my study hours be?

Based on the total learning time for the accelerated online courses, an average study week for full-time undergraduate students can be up to 50 hours, and for part-time students, can be up to 33 hours. As our online courses are intended to be flexible the actual time required to study will vary based on the level of study, the module week, and individual learning pace.

What does accelerated study mean?

An accelerated degree condenses your degree modules into two years on the full-time route, or three years on the part-time route. This means you'll be working across three study blocks per year, instead of two, including through the summer. Typically, there is a break of around two weeks between submitting your final assignment for each module and the start of the next study block. You will also get breaks on public holidays, for around two weeks at Easter and for around three weeks in December.

Find out more about learning online

The Business & Marketing BSc online degree employs a variety of assessment strategies over the course of the year. These can include Individual and group industry reports, presentations and pitches, critical evaluations, case studies, marketing strategies, portfolios, responses to briefs, project outcomes and reflective essays.

Your summative (final) assessments occur at the end of each module, usually at the end of the study block. You may also have interim formative assessments part way through a module as well. These assessments help ensure that you remain on track with your work.

You'll receive written and/or verbal feedback on all your assignments throughout the year. At the end of the module, you'll receive detailed feedback in written form.

You'll be able to check in with your online tutor to discuss your progress and ask any questions you have about your course.