Each year on the programme makes up 120 of the total 360 credits for a full degree.
Year 1 (credit level 4)
Compulsory modules include:
Module title |
Credits |
Strategic Management
Strategic Management
15 credits
This module will introduce you to key theories, insights and methods within Organisational Studies. In particular, it will critically examine different organisational forms, processes and contexts.
The module places an important emphasis on the meaning and content of organisational strategies. It will help you develop the tools you need to analyse an organisation’s positioning within the marketplace, and think/plan strategically in order to make it more competitive.
You'll gain an understanding of strategic management and appreciate the interrelated dynamics of both strategic and organisational research and practice.
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15 credits |
Foundations of Economics 1: Theories
Foundations of Economics 1: Theories
15 credits
This module will introduce you to the key concepts and topics of microeconomics and macroeconomics.
The first part of the module will focus on microeconomics. Specifically, the module will analyse how markets work and what determines the prices and quantities of goods traded in the market. You'll discuss how consumers and firms behave in the market and concepts such as market structure, firm performance, strategic rivalry, and growth strategies will be introduced.
The second part of the module will introduce you to the core of macroeconomic topics. You'll explore concepts such as national income accounting, unemployment; inflation; international trade.
The explanation of microeconomic and macroeconomic topics will be supported by insights from recent history, key economic thinkers, and real-world examples.
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15 credits |
Foundations of Economics 2: Business Applications
Foundations of Economics 2: Business Applications
15 credits
This module aims to allow you to explain economic issues through the application of microeconomic and macroeconomic theories, and wherever possible will focus on current public debates and controversies.
Specifically, the topics explored in this module aim to raise your understanding of the complexity of the economic environment in which individuals, financial institutions, firms and governments operate
We will analyse some specific case studies in order to connect economic theories to contemporary social and business life. The case studies you examine will relate to a number of important economic and social issues such as business regulation, strategic decision-making by firms and other agents, informational problems and international trade.
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15 credits |
Understanding Entrepreneurship
Understanding Entrepreneurship
15 credits
The objective of this module is to introduce you to key concepts and theories in the field of entrepreneurship, and to different kinds of entrepreneurial processes, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial businesses. It also examines how context and culture shape entrepreneurial activity.
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15 credits |
Introduction to Marketing
Introduction to Marketing
15 credits
This module will give you an introduction to marketing and help you understand the role of marketing within organisations and within society, and it aims at providing principles of marketing management.
The first part of the module focuses on what marketing is and its role within society. You'll be introduced to the definition of marketing, the history of marketing practice and thought, the role of marketing within organizations, the value of marketing within organisations and society, and the role of marketing in constructing the consumer society. These will be enriched by providing different perspectives of marketing from different schools of thought: the traditional school of thought (an economic perspective of marketing) and the critical/interpretivist school of thought ( psychological, sociological and cultural perspectives of marketing).
In the second part of the module, you'll be introduced to foundational topics in marketing management. In the last five weeks, students will be exposed to topics such as the 4Ps of marketing, the global marketing environment, SWOT Analysis, PESTEL analysis, introduction to marketing planning, marketing research and the marketing information system, understanding consumers (C2C) and buyer behaviour. Finally, you'll be introduced to marketing ethics and sustainable marketing.
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15 credits |
Finance and Accounting
Finance and Accounting
15 credits
This module covers the core concepts of both finance and accounting. It will introduce students to the important financial and managerial accounting principles that are necessary when running any type of organisation- whether it is manufacturing, merchandising, service, non-profit, or government. It will give students an understanding of how management accounting information is used by managers in their planning and control activities and, is designed to prepare graduates for a variety of professional managerial roles in both the public and private sectors. It covers topics such as financial accounting and reporting, foundation and tools for management accounting, strategy development and using costs in decision making, costing systems and activity-based costing, managing customers, processes and life cycle costs, and using budgets for planning, coordination and control. In the financial component of the module, students will look at the three traditional accounting statements, balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. The module has two distinct elements: managerial finance with a focus on understanding financial statements, and management accounting with an emphasis on costing, budget and control. The lectures in the module will be supplemented by several assignments designed to develop and enhance practical skills.
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15 credits |
Identity, Agency & Environment 1
Identity, Agency & Environment 1
15 credits
In this module, subtitled ‘Everything is a Text’, you will consider the value of different types of texts and ways of imparting knowledge and ideas. You will reflect upon your identities as learners and future professionals in the world, considering a range of contexts: the academic/educational context, personal settings and the eco-systems that you live and work in. These reflections will be used to inform your practices as academic learners.
You will explore academic literacies, different ways of knowing and consider what counts as ‘legitimate’ knowledge. You will engage with critical thinking, making arguments and establishing criteria to defend intellectual positions and these skills will be acknowledged as social practices that produce and reinforce meaning and frameworks of understanding and knowledge.
Furthermore, you will engage with a wide range of academic and non-academic material, individuals and environments in order to contribute to discussions regarding attitudes and assumptions about ideas and experience, including within labour markets, cultural hegemonies, distributions of power and the relationship between the individual and society. In this way, the social interactions, relationships and contexts that underpin academic literacies in higher education will be made explicit.
You will discuss these ideas with students and tutors from the different subjects at Goldsmiths, and learn to be part of the wider university community. You will also be able to submit an assignment which could be a written, graphically designed, audio, video, or negotiated project. You will get to choose the assessment that best shows what you can do.
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15 credits |
Identity, Agency & Environment 2
Identity, Agency & Environment 2
15 credits
This module, subtitled ‘Researching Our World & Lives’, builds on the conceptual and contextual foundations of Identity, Agency and Environment 1.
You will learn how to conduct academic research and will be offered the opportunity to broaden and deepen your understanding of the relationship between your own interests, skills, values, career and non-career aspirations, the concepts, theories and contexts of your discipline, and the world.
You will reflect upon your identities as researchers, and learn how the research skills you’ve acquired both within your studies and the world more generally can be related to problem-solving in a wide range of contexts. You will consider your agency as researchers, what you can and cannot research, the ethical issues involved, and think reflexively about your position as a researcher in a range of environments and eco-systems.
Formal conventions of academic research and writing will be integrated into your individualised contexts and goals, enabling the expression of ideas and perspectives that may challenge the status quo. The module will encourage creativity, activism, decision-making and the formation of judgements leading to action-planning in relation to research topics and types of evidence, and professional planning.
You will learn to critique your own subject disciplines. Interdisciplinary sharing of knowledge will ensure that assessment and learning practices provide you with the opportunity to develop new lines of thinking and knowing, within formative collaborative learning and research communities.
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15 credits |
Year 2 (credit level 5)
In your second year, you'll complete the following compulsory modules as well as an optional 15-credit module across the Institute of Management Studies.
Module title |
Credits |
Marketing Communications
Marketing Communications
15 credits
This module will provide students with the theories, principles and practice of marketing communications. Students will be exposed to a variety of theories and real life case to learn. They will learn to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the marketing communication campaigns, and how to create their own marketing communications plan. The module covers two areas of study: marketing communications strategy, and the analysis of effective communication.
The first area concerns the marketing communication process and all the different channels and practices used by companies in order to reach the customer. Students will explore integrated marketing communication strategies, learn about the marketing communication mix, study the media planning process, and reflect on how communications relate to the overall marketing strategy of the company. Students will also look into the measures that companies should use in order to evaluate the performance of their communications mix.
The second area will then deepen their knowledge of the different elements of the marketing communications mix, surveying topics such as PR, direct marketing, sales promotion, events management, trade fairs and guerrilla marketing—before focusing on advertising. Students will gain insight on different types of advertising and their impact in consumer behavior, as well as develop tools for the analysis of their effectiveness.
The third section will look into marketing communications planning and evaluation. In this section, you will look specifically into the media planning process and how it relates to the overall marketing strategy of the company.
Then you will look into the measures that companies should use in order to evaluate the performance of their marketing communications strategy. You will also be exposed to an overview of how the marketing communications industry works, and the major players in the marketing communications chain.
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15 credits |
Consumer Behaviour
Consumer Behaviour
15 credits
This lecture course will introduce you to the fundamentals of consumer psychology and behavioural economics.
It will give you an understanding of the fundamental decision making processes and the factors that influence these processes. It covers topics such as prospect theory and classical economics, brain structures and information processing, heuristics and rules of thumb, and framing and influencing techniques.
It also discloses the various strategies used by marketers to differentiate their products, leverage brands, set strategic prices, reduce the effectiveness of consumer search, and it compares the effectiveness of each.
The course covers topics such as the types and effectiveness of pricing strategies, individual differences in uptake of pricing strategies, value perceptions and subconscious influences (priming), and ethical and legal issues around influencing consumer choice.
The lectures in this course will be supplemented by several assignments designed to develop and enhance practical skills, and further develop familiarity with consumer psychological methods and theories.
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15 credits |
Marketing Management
Marketing Management
15 credits
This module aims at providing a good understanding of core marketing management principles applied in consumers, industrial services and organisation both from a theoretical and a practical standpoint. It seeks to explain the value of a marketing focus to both customer and supplier, and analyses what marketing can do and does contribute to both individual and organisational users.
This module will cover all the topics needed for marketing management and planning. The module will start analysing strategic tools for marketing strategy definition such as segmentation, targeting and positioning. It will then analyse the marketing process through a review of the marketing mix principles i.e. the 4Ps (Product, Place, Promotion, and Price). It will then explore in detail each one of these tactics. Specifically, students will learn about the strategic role of the product within marketing strategy looking at product management practices and the product innovation process. Students will then analyse the elements of the augmented product model with a focus on the role of branding within marketing management and they will be exposed on how to build brand equity within the company. Finally, students will look into differences between the definition of product and services, and they will be introduced to service marketing practices.
The module will then move to analyse other tactics of the marketing mix. Specifically, students will look into pricing strategies as tools for maximising the profitability of the company and as a promotional tool for reaching consumers. The module will then focus on the Promotion tactics. Students will analyse the topic of Integrated Marketing Communications in order to understand how the different promotional practices used by the company do not happen in isolation, but they are the result of an integrated strategies in order to reach the objectives of the company. The module will then investigate the elements of Integrated Marketing Communication (or Marketing Communication Mix) with a particular focus on advertising, digital advertising and PR (from a management perspective). Furthermore, the module will look at the relationship between sales promotion and sales management, with a particular focus on how Integrated Marketing Communications influence the sales of the company.
Finally, the module will investigate the Place tactics looking into distribution strategies. This section will explore both on B2B and B2C distribution tactics. However, the focus will be mostly on retailing practices within the company. The theories presented so far will be complemented with real life examples and exercises. Students will also be exposed to case studies analysis to apply the theory into practice.
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15 credits |
Market Research and Consumer Insight
Market Research and Consumer Insight
30 credits
This module will provide you with the tools you need to conduct both qualitative and quantitative market research and to translate this research into consumer insight.
After reviewing well known data collection methods and distributions, the module will be divided into three sections. The focus of the first section is quantitative data analysis. Specifically, the module will look into inferential statistics such as hypothesis testing, correlations, T-Test, ANOVA, regression, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. You will learn how to use SPSS to conduct inferential statistics.
In the second part, you will learn qualitative data analyses. Specifically, you will learn different coding techniques used in the market research industry, and how to use qualitative data to extrapolate broader insights into your markets.
Finally, you will learn how to translate both qualitative and quantitative market research outputs into consumer insights. The overall aim is to enable you to evaluate different types of market research, and be able to understand and use research output for solving marketing problems such as segmentation, targeting, positioning, marketing strategy and consumer behaviour.
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30 credits |
My Career Strategy
My Career Strategy
15 credits
This module will help students to develop a career plan and prepare for their employment search. It will cover practical aspects such as writing a CV, a cover letter and application forms and developing an internet presence through websites such as Linkedin. It will give students the tools to prepare for interviews, including case interviews, assessment centres, and psychometric tests. It will cover the development of soft skills such as leadership and networking skills as well as the development of commercial awareness through business case studies. The students will also be introduced to current theories of career development and employability.
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15 credits |
The Goldsmiths Elective
The Goldsmiths Elective
15 credits
Our academic departments are developing exciting elective ideas to allow you to broaden your education, either to develop vocationally orientated experiences or to learn more about contemporary society, culture and politics. You’ll be able to choose safe in the knowledge that these modules have been designed for non-subject specialists and to bring students from different disciplines together. For example, you may want to take introductions to areas such as Law, Education, the digital industries, the creative industries,think like a designer or understand the history and politics behind our current affairs.
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15 credits |
Year 3 (credit level 6)
In your third year, you'll complete the following compulsory modules. You'll also complete either a 30-credit Research Project or two optional 15-credit modules from the Institute of Management Studies.
Module title |
Credits |
Leadership and Talent Management
Leadership and Talent Management
15 credits
This module is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of leadership and talent in organisations. Moreover, students will learn about methods for assessing leadership potential and talent, along with approaches to enhancing leadership ability and talent. The module will also cover use of technology in leadership development and talent management. By using case material and practical examples, students are introduced to the importance of theory and research-based practice in these fields.
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15 credits |
International Business
International Business
15 credits
- Understand key concepts relating to international business, describe the key players in international business, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of globalization
- Examine the international business environment and the different dimensions (political, legal, technological and cultural) that affect the operations of international businesses
- Understand the international monetary and financial environment
- Examine different strategies for entering in to foreign markets and analyse organizational design, control and structure in international business contexts
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15 credits |
Organisational Behaviour
Organisational Behaviour
15 credits
This module will introduce you to the psychological theories and research on how organisational, team-level and individual characteristics affect productivity and mental health. This module will also consider the limitations of our understanding of these issues and how occupational psychology theory and research is trying to overcome them.
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15 credits |
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Strategy
15 credits
The objective of this module is to equip students with some of the knowledge and tools to analyse the internal and external business environment and devise marketing strategies that help to distinguish businesses from their key competitors whilst adding value to the product/service offering. The module will be divided into two section: one more theoretical and one more practice. The module will start defining the role of marketing strategy within the business strategy and the corporate strategy of the company. It will also help to differentiate the three levels, and it will highlight the relationships between these three levels of strategy. The module will then look into the process of creation of a marketing plan as a core tool for the definition of the strategy. The marketing planning process will start from understanding the market opportunities of the company, through the identification of attractive market segments, to the differentiation and brand positioning. The module will then move on the formulation of marketing strategies such as marketing strategies for new market entries, growth markets strategies, mature and declining markets strategies. Finally, students will learn how to implement and control strategy, and to measure effectively the performance of a specific strategy. In the second section, students will be required to complete a business simulation. In order to show a practical understanding of the concepts of the first part, students will be divided into teams and will be asked to complete in a simulation related to marketing strategy (i.e. Markstrat). This simulation will allow students to draw a parallel between marketing strategy and marketing tactics (4Ps). This will also allow them to apply the knowledge about other elements of marketing management that they have been studying in other modules.
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15 credits |
Brand Management
Brand Management
15 credits
The management of brand is a crucial component of marketing management and it is a strategic decision for the success of a company. Brands are strategic assets, and as such a marketing manager should acquire the implicit and explicit skills that can help him/her in maximise the profitability of a brand. This module aims at providing a holistic approach to brand management both based on theory and practice. The module will be divided into 5 sections according to different brand approaches within marketing literature.
In the first section, students will be introduced to brand management, the strategic role of brand within the company, the role of brand within organisational strategy, marketing strategy and communication strategy. They will also explore how to manage multiple brands adopting a brand portfolio perspective. In this section they will also be introduce to three different brand strategies to be unpacked in the following section: mindshare, emotional and cultural branding.
In the second section, the module will look into mindshare branding more in detail. This section will focus on how to build customer-based brand equity, and it will explore concepts such as brand image, brand identity, brand awareness, brand value etc. This section will then investigate how all these elements together help in building customer based brand equity and how these decisions can be translated into marketing strategies.
In the third section, the module will look to emotional branding as a complementary strategy to brand management. Specifically, it will look how consumer can build relationships with brand, and it will look at constructs such as brand personality, brand relationship and brand communities. These strategies will be linked then to the second section analysing how emotional branding could contribute to the creation of brand equity and brand value.
In the fourth section, students will look at cultural branding strategies. Specifically, they will analyse the role of branding within culture and society, and how brands become icons within the consumer society. In these section, students will also be exposed to contemporary issues to branding such as how to build a global brand, or how branding works within social media.
In the fifth section, students will learn how to evaluate brand strategies. They will be exposed to different techniques of brand evaluation and brand audit that will help them to assess the success of brand strategies and how to feedback these results into their strategy.
All these concepts will be approached both from a theoretical and practical standpoint. Case studies and examples will be used to show how these theories work in practice.
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15 credits |
Digital Marketing and Social Media
Digital Marketing and Social Media
15 credits
Digital Marketing (DM) and Social Media Marketing (SMM) are two areas of marketing that are growing, and where there is big potential of future employment of graduates. While advertising spending on traditional media has recently declined, firms spend increasing amounts for online communication and public relations. This module will provide students with the theories, principles and practice of digital marketing and social media. Conceptually this module is divided into 3 sections: digital marketing and social media theories, digital marketing communications mix, and social media practice.
Since DM and SMM are strongly characterised by practice and by the latest trends, some advanced theories within marketing management and consumer behaviour will be introduced and applied to social marketing and social media in this section. For example, students will be introduced to theories of content marketing, consumer engagement, viral marketing, community marketing and brand public. This section will also touch upon the role of branding within digital environment, and the relationship between branding and culture. These theories will be adjusted according to the latest research to keep the module up-to-date with trends.
The second section will specifically look at the digital marketing communications mix (DigMarcom Mix), and the relationship between the DigMarCom Mix and the whole marketing strategy. Student will be exposed to how to build the DigMarCom strategy, and to how to evaluate the impact of these strategies through several metrics. Student will then focus on some digital marketing tactics such as viral marketing, mobile marketing, email marketing, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC), etc.
In the third section, the module will specifically focus on Social Media showing the latest trends in research and practice in these area. For example, students will look into web-psychology and viral content for sharing website (i.e. Youtube), the role of microblogging (i.e. Twitter) for launching and developing new products, and the role of social networks (i.e. Facebook) for emotional contagion. These topics will be updated according to the latest research in the field as well. This section will also discuss how you can combine different social media (i.e. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Youtube, and Instagram) for reaching strategic objectives both. Finally, this section will explore the topic of social listening, and how this practice is important for the development of key strategic objectives in terms of positioning and branding.
Students will also be challenged to use different social media, and digital marketing tools throughout the module in order to combine theory with practice.
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15 credits |
Teaching style
This programme is taught through a mixture of lectures, seminars and workshops. You’ll also be expected to undertake a significant amount of independent study. This includes carrying out required and additional reading, preparing topics for discussion, and producing essays or project work.
The following information gives an indication of the typical proportions of learning and teaching for each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 15% scheduled learning, 85% independent learning
- Year 2 - 14% scheduled learning, 86% independent learning
- Year 3 - 15% scheduled learning, 85% independent learning
How you’ll be assessed
You’ll be assessed by a variety of methods, depending on your module choices. These include coursework, examinations, group work and projects.
The following information gives an indication of how you can typically expect to be assessed on each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 75% coursework, 25% written exam
- Year 2 - 69% coursework, 31% written exam
- Year 3 - 68% coursework, 33% written exam
*Please note that these are averages are based on enrolments for 2022/23. Each student’s time in teaching, learning and assessment activities will differ based on individual module choices. Find out more about how this information is calculated.
Credits and levels of learning
An undergraduate honours degree is made up of 360 credits – 120 at Level 4, 120 at Level 5 and 120 at Level 6. If you are a full-time student, you will usually take Level 4 modules in the first year, Level 5 in the second, and Level 6 modules in your final year. A standard module is worth 30 credits. Some programmes also contain 15-credit half modules or can be made up of higher-value parts, such as a dissertation or a Major Project.
Download the programme specification.
Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.