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On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1 Both critically understand and evaluate the principles behind commercial operations that include sales, marketing and business development within a business enterprise.
2 Explore and assess the impact of various environmental/market/ competitor factors on SME’s and start-up enterprises. Contrast these with more established & developed companies.
3 Understand, conceptualise, and analyse a business development plan which has been created based on strategic objectives and marketing and organisational research.
4 Critically explore the cause effect relationships of presentations within a commercial environment as a tool to organisational implementation.
The Business Development modules provide a balanced outline which will give the students a broad understanding of business development practices and prepare students for a fulfilling career in business development after graduation. Consultancy is core to Business Development I & II. By working on real-world consultancy projects, students will link their experience and in class learning and enhance it through the application of recommendations for real business clients. Furthermore, by working with real businesses (clients), students can practically learn how businesses grow and develop to face challenges and make use of opportunities on the market.
The students will work closely with clients and the sessions will be employed to support students in the endeavour of value creation and problem solving for their client. This will be achieved by preparing students to consider the reality of different approaches to revenue generation within a commercial enterprise by looking into the nature of the product/ service, the potential and/ or existing customer base. The key difference of this module is the theoretical nature of the material which will give the students a sound base of the key commercial aspects an enterprise has to consider and implement.
This module will follow up from BMM5102 and allow students to better understand and implement the different approaches and more advanced theoretical perspectives to explore new growth opportunities or improve new internal business practices within a commercial enterprise. In Business Development II, the central theme of the workshops will be student-driven learning and the tutor will place emphasis on discussion and problem solving through teamwork.
This will allow students to apply the learnt business development skills, models and the marketing knowledge acquired in other modules into the creation of an operational commercial plan. The key difference of this module remains the applied nature of the material: theoretical models will be applied used and critiqued as practical tools in the development of plans that can be used in both start-ups, small businesses and established corporations.
The Module will give all students the fundamental basis that will allow them to complete a business development plan. It follows the theoretical perspectives outlined in BMM5102. In the process they will learn/ revise/ build on all the fundamentals of business development covered in BMM5102: product: Price, location (Channels), support client management marketing and communication integration into the overall commercial strategy.
The content and assessment strategy will require students to develop appropriate research and assessment using various business development skills to complete a feasibility report with a view to producing a commercial project proposal throughout the course. The importance of teamwork will be highlighted, and students will be encouraged to work in teams but will also allow for individuals to develop their own ideas.
The fundamentals of the theoretical knowledge-base will be delivered by the academic input while any guest speakers will provide the cutting-edge and practical material creating a coherent and rigorous understanding of the sales function within a start-up or existing enterprise.
Students will be expected to draw from and integrate their learning from real life experience gained from working with local SME’s and larger businesses in their commercial proposal and business idea development.
Students are also expected to read independently and undertake research for this class. These sessions will be employed to support student groups in the endeavour of value creation and problem solving for their clients.
In parallel to the client projects, students are encouraged to work on their business consultancy skills, professional development and learning relevant top employability skills from business leaders and experts through the courses provided on LinkedIn.
The detailed module content will therefore vary according to the available expertise and contemporary factors affecting businesses and will include a broad coverage of topics such as (but not limited to):
• Product/ service understanding
• Innovation and benefit analysis
• Concept and product models leading to effective communication
• Incorporation of pricing, costing, discounts, promotions into the mix. Volume and revenue maximization
In addition, practical skill elements of the module will include:
• Targeted Sales models to include B2B or B2C models & development of sales materials.
• Effective negotiation and influencing skills.
• Project management.
Weekly lectures and workshops from the module co-ordinator will support the students in preparing to take full advantage of the theoretical and practical materials used.
Lectures
Hours: 40
Intended Group Size: Cohort
Seminars
Hours: 10
Intended Group Size: Cohort
Guided independent study
Hours: 150
001 Client presentation; 10-15 minutes; mid semester 2 40%
002 Commercial project; 2,000 words; end of semester 2 60%
Module Coordinator - Nikki Eastwood
Level - 6
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - BMM5102
Semester(s) Offered - 6S2