GROUP MARKETING CONSULTANCY PROJECT - 2022/3

Module Overview

This immersive, experiential group based marketing consultancy project will see you work together with peer students, initially to form a strong group, and then to identify a suitable organisation (private, public or not-for-profit) sponsor. Supported by co-created, workshop based facilitation, you will work together to design and deliver a research investigation that addresses the brief you have negotiated with your client sponsor. This highly practical module will challenge your team working skills and capabilities, and develop your professionalism, with the aim of gaining confidence from the experience of taking on the most challenging or 'wicked' problems. The terminal assessments will require you to present your problem-solution-recommendations pitch as a group and then undertake a critical reflection on your personal learning journey.

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

O'BRIEN Justin (SBS)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): 100

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None. 

Module content

You will participate in active learning workshops that will co-create opportunities for deep, rich and creative learning in the areas of: management consultancy, group working, design thinking, creative problem solving and analysis.
Self-guided learning materials will be provided to explore key areas of the management consultancy process. You will also be able to watch video shorts from industry based management consultants sharing their various experiences, wisdom, and careers tips.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

100% Individual viva voce

Assessment Strategy

Formative feedback will be provided to you by peers and the instructor during workshop series (that will include regular check-in updates and the opportunity to showcase your presentation skills) and terminally by the client's organisation. You and your group may elect to solicit additional support and feedback from the instructor using flexible coaching support.
Summative feedback will be provided to your group within three weeks of the final week presentations and no later than three weeks after the individual reflective account is submitted.
Your group will keep a detailed weekly log of activity and progress. Combined with regular, formally recorded peer-to-peer evaluations, this information will be used to invite any non-participating team members to leave the group.

Module aims

• To put theoretical learning into practice working with an authentic business problem or challenge
• To plan, experience, and deliver a team based marketing consultancy
• To develop reflective self-awareness

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

Active learning will take place in small, self-formed groups of 5 (+/-1) students as part of a weekly workshop series. A variety of problem based, experientially structured, and fluid learning activities will be used to help establish and grow a strong group ethos. A variety of real world, playful, impactful training and development exercises will be deployed to support effective team working, self-reflection, consultancy project management and first class presentation skills. Students and the instructor will work together to co-create some of the required learning inputs. The instructor will provide facilitated guidance to help you and your group to develop your own plans to successfully recruit a client sponsor, negotiate a realistic brief, orchestrate a timely research investigation, analyse data to develop powerful insights, and then present a summary of your work with persuasive recommendations. Additionally, you will be expected to undertake extensive beyond class group collaborations and some individual research.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MAN3205

Other information

Is this module for me ?

This is a challenging and exciting out-of-the-box module that will push you to learn just outside your comfort zone, and a little further if you dare to. You will enjoy ambiguity, working collaboratively with others, and be eager to experiment with your own influence and persuasion tool kit. You will not be afraid of learning from failure, and you will be eager to use the safe learning space of university to push your learning boundaries hard. You will be confident in your own highly developed oral and written communication skills, but keen to develop them further. You will feel eager to engage with your industry based client sponsor. You will relish the opportunity to test your management and leadership skills and have a fierce intellectual curiosity and the ambitious drive to take on never-been-done-before challenges (wicked problems) where you can help others, whilst also learning and growing yourself.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2022/3 academic year.