Advanced Courses

A successful marketing strategy requires a deep understanding of the market and the competitive arena. Business intelligence is used to foresee development opportunities and to create and deliver the best value for customers. This course is concerned with the process of strategic marketing management and the implementation of marketing strategies for companies in different stages of an industry, in different competitive positions, and in different economic environments.

One of the major challenges in marketing and sales management is to develop ideas for new products and to launch them successfully. This course will focus on the role of creativity and new product development as a growth strategy, highlighting the fundamental role played by marketing in finding, developing, and launching successful new products.

In an increasingly global marketplace, companies must be able to move deftly in an international arena. In this course you will learn to formulate effective international marketing strategies and to make crucial trade-offs between standardizing and localizing marketing and sales programmes.

Understanding the financial side of marketing and sales decisions has become a key competence required for marketing and sales people. In this course you learn to interpret a balance sheet and an income statement, to understand your financials and those of your competitors, and to evaluate the economics of marketing and sales strategies.

Companies must communicate effectively with their customers and stakeholders to leverage their strategic progress. This course covers the basic principles underlying consumer information processing, the effective management of the individual elements of the marketing communication mix, and their recombination into an integrated promotional plan.

The world economy is moving towards an economic knowledge and service base in which national economies are becoming increasingly globalized and interdependent. In addition, more business models are grounded and based on advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and digital platforms that may be considered digital enablers. Digital technology is pushing the boundaries of what is possible with new models of collaborative exploration and discovery, offering greater possibilities for business creation and re-invention. As communications media become faster and richer and technology applications grow in sophistication, network-based organizations and user communities will continue to flourish with advances in digital platforms and media. Consequently, entrepreneurs and managers must understand technology's potential to transform and define new ways of creating wealth, and thus be able to adopt the appropriate strategies and business models.

Customers rather than products are the most precious assets of a company. This course on customer relationship management will provide vision, strategy, operations, technology and organisational tools for building a customer-focused organisation based on customer profitability and relationship management.

Customer value delivery is based on effective management of a company’s sales organisation. This course will identify the factors leading to enhanced sales organisation effectiveness and superior salesperson performance, namely developing sound objectives, strategy, leadership, control systems, motivation, incentive and compensation plans. Other issues covered are the effective conduct of personal selling, such as salesmanship and relationship building.

Consumers and customers perceive price as value for money. This course addresses strategic and tactical issues related to the company’s pricing policy and to the customer’s perception of price: how to set prices on a product for the first time, how to modify a product’s price over time and space to meet varying circumstances and opportunities, how to initiate and respond to price changes

This course provides participants with an understanding of the historical background and cultural framework that shape interactions and competition between developed and emerging economies. It stimulates an interdisciplinary approach and equips participants with the analytical tools that companies need to challenge their own cultural stereotypes and approach a fast-changing world shaped by a growing diversity of ethnic and historical backgrounds. The course enhances participants' ability to apply such tools through interactive discussions.