This course is built around a Management Simulation (management game).
Plan, implement and evaluate an international brand marketing strategy within a realistic simulated environment. In this course, participants work as a marketer in a small decision-making unit of a manufacturer within a competitive industry. Your goal is to improve your firm's long-term financial performance. The performance of your team will be evaluated via a multi-factor, balanced scorecard evaluation system that includes financial, operational, and customer-facing performance metrics. Will you be in the winning team at the end of the week?
More and more organisations, both for-profit and not-for-profit, realise that they must offer their customers a unique value if they want to be and remain successful. This requires an organisation to make choices. What value does the organisation want to provide and what value is the organisation able to provide? This also implies the exclusion of activities. Strategic management and marketing deal with the selection process involved.
You will work as a marketer in a small decision-making unit of a manufacturer within a competitive industry in a simulated environment (management game). Participants are faced with planning, implementation and evaluation processes, involving ongoing marketing, competitive and financial analysis, as well as coordination of marketing programmes and operations capabilities (capacity and inventory management, sales forecasting and so on). These efforts lead to the development of marketing strategies which are implemented within short-term and long-term marketing plans.
This course has a very practical approach to strategic (marketing) management, which includes financial analysis and planning. In teams, you will run a challenging marketing management simulation game. Your team manages a firm in the set-top industry and will compete with other teams in the group. Your goal is to improve your firm's long-term financial performance. Your team's performance will be evaluated via a multi-factor, balanced scorecard evaluation system that includes financial, operational, and customer-facing performance metrics. Will you be in the winning team at the end of the week?
What previous participants (summer 2023) say about this course
"It was the first time I could join such an international classroom; very rich through the participants, not only through the teaching."
"We were challenged on more/broader aspects than just sales/marketing planning; I enjoyed it and also working as a team, and those other assignments - besides the game that were included."
Lecturers
Bart Toering, MSc
Target audience
This course is an interesting challenge for students in bachelor programmes on Business Administration, Marketing, and Finance, and is also open to bachelor and master students in other fields, as long as you have some background or interest in business.
A good command of English is necessary.
Aim of the course
This course aims to provide you with the opportunity to put your decision-making competences to the test, in an international, and sometimes hectic environment.
At the end of the course you have gained an insight into your own strengths and weaknesses in the field of vision making, analysis, planning, budgetting, coordinating and cooperating in an international team and in strategic (marketing) management in particular.
Study load
50 hours of lectures/field excursions + assignments (self-study), flanking the management simulation game.
Costs
The Students' Fee ( = reduced price) applies to all students currently enrolled in a bachelor, master or PhD programme and to 'Fresh Alumni' of any of these programmes. If this applies to you and you therefore believe that you are eligible for the reduced student fee, please include this in your motivation.
Additional information
The housing fee includes € 50 for the USS sleeping bag and pillow which you can take home (small and light package) after the course. If you do not want to buy the USS sleeping bag, please notify us and we will give you a discount on the housing fee. If that is your preferred option, do not forget to bring your own bed linen and pillow! In all cases, do bring your own towels, please.