MF-105 Introduction to marketing thought and practice

The course is connected to the following study programs

• Bachelor's Programme in Marketing and Management

Teaching language

English and/or Norwegian

Course contents

Marketing is a diverse field. While marketing is a scientific discipline with multiple approaches and research traditions, it also encompasses a variety of business practices and activities such as engaging with customers and determining pricing strategies. Additionally, marketing may incorporate normative suggestions and heuristic principles that can originate from textbooks, practical experiences, academic research, and consulting companies. The course offers an overview of Marketing as a normative knowledge, academic research, and managerial practice. The course discusses the history of marketing thought and practice in its broader societal context and develops basis for students’ professional identity in the program and further studies in the field of marketing. The course presents current schools of thought in marketing (such as marketing management tradition, services marketing, strategic school of marketing, business relationship & network approach, digital, social & mobile media marketing, sustainable marketing as well as critical studies on marketing). The course also introduces students to core ethical challenges related to marketing as a profession.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, the students should:

• have knowledge about the historical development of marketing as a professional field within business studies.

• be able to compare marketing to other fields of business studies and economics.

• be able to identify differences between marketing as prescriptive knowledge (normative doctrines), managerial function (practice) and target of scholarly inquiry (thought).

• be able to explain the different research traditions in marketing.

• have knowledge about the key ethical considerations related to marketing as a profession.

Examination requirements

Approved mandatory assignment.

Teaching methods

Lectures and group exercises. The estimated workload is about 200 hours.

Evaluation

The person responsible for the course, in consultation with the student representative, decides the method of evaluation and whether the courses will have a midterm- or end of term evaluation, see also the Quality System, section 4.1. Information about evaluation method for the course will be posted on Canvas.

Admission for external candidates

No

Assessment methods and criteria

Group assignment. Assessment expression: letter grade, A-F.

More information in Canvas.