School of Strategy, Marketing and Innovation

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The School of Strategy, Marketing and Innovation brings together research and teaching expertise in the disciplines of strategy, marketing, innovation, entrepreneurship, and risk management. We are home to one of the largest academic marketing groups in Europe.

Through high quality teaching, impactful research and delivery of innovation projects in the UK and internationally, the School offers its expert knowledge to students, employers, and the community. Our practical approach to teaching and learning means our students develop core employability skills to complement their subject knowledge. They graduate as civic minded individuals, ready to have a positive impact on their chosen sector.

We support the local community through our entrepreneurship initiatives such as the Female Entrepreneurs Network, which offers support and networking opportunities to women in the local area who run their own business.

The School is home to two research centres - BRIDGE (Business Resilience Inclusive Development Growth and Enterprise) and the Agile Centre for Equitable Sustainability - and through funded research projects, uses its research expertise to support local, national and international organisations to drive innovation, growth and development.

Teaching

We offer a range of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications. At postgraduate level, we offer a variety of delivery and study options to meet the range of needs of our students, including on-campus, distance learning, condensed timetable and block teaching opportunities.

Our teaching staff have extensive industry and academic experience and are actively researching in a range of fields, including social marketing, digital marketing, analytics, innovation, entrepreneurship, hospitality, and sustainability – so our students are taught by people with lived experience and contacts in the industry.

With previous careers at organisations like Procter & Gamble, Hampshire Fire Service and Rescue and Crown Packaging Ltd., our staff maintain excellent relationships with local and global companies. This gives students access to industry professionals in guest lectures and networking events where students can gain up to date industry perspectives and insight for their discipline. Our connections with industry also allow us to offer students opportunities to gain practical experience by working on live client projects.

In such a fast changing environment, we know that keeping our teaching up to date is important. Our research informs our teaching, so our students gain the most current and relevant knowledge. Our lecturers work with industry professionals who serve on our Marketing Industry Advisory Board, to keep our content and curriculum informed and relevant to the industry.

Accreditation

Our courses are accredited by professional industry bodies including:

Institute of Risk Management - irm

Chartered Management Institute CMI HE partner

Our teaching areas

Visit our subject area page to find out more about the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees we offer.

Business, management and marketing courses

Study disciplines like marketing, project management or international business and graduate ready to make an impact on organisations across the world.

Whether you want to build your business career or develop your own company, we have courses to help you reach your goals.

Explore courses

Our programmes

We offer business support to the community and entrepreneurs including:

Entrepreneurs in Residence

Meet our entrepreneurs and find out what support and business start-up advice they offer our students, alumni and staff to launch or grow their businesses.

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Accelerating Women's Enterprise (AWE)

Help us close the gender gap in entrepreneurship and get access to specialist training in our female-focused research, training and mentor programme.

Research

Among other areas, our marketing expertise can help businesses to better understand their customers and tailor their products and services to target their markets.

Our research and innovation work has been funded by organisations and institutions including the EU, the Federation of Small Businesses, and ANZAM-BAM. Our research is regularly published in leading national and international journals, and we have hosted a number of international conferences such as The Colloquium on European Research in Retailing (CERR), and Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Management (AHTMM).

We've worked with many companies on successful Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPS), collaborating with business and industry partners to apply our expertise to address the real issues they face.

Our research topics

Marketing — exploring the impact of marketing initiatives on consumer behaviour and society, and analysing existing and emerging business models and consumer segments
Innovation management — exploring how organisations can optimise product and process development, while meeting the needs of a changing market
Small business and enterprise — investigating the social and economic factors affecting entrepreneurship and the economy, and how small business practices affect entrepreneurship
Sustainability and business — focusing on how businesses can embed sustainability practices to contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Risk and security management — exploring methods to overcome risk and security challenges for individuals, organisations and societies

Business and management studies results in REF 2021

65.8% of our research outputs were judged to be internationally excellent or world-leading.
100% of our impact was rated as having very considerable or outstanding reach and significance.
100% of our research environment was judged as having the vitality and sustainability to produce internationally excellent or world-leading research.
We are ranked second among modern universities by research power for Business and Management, according to Times Higher Education.

This unit of assessment comprises our accounting, economics, finance, organisational studies and HRM, business and management, marketing, and operational research and logistics research.

Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021

Our areas of expertise

Explore the work we're doing across our areas of expertise.

Advertising and Branding

Discover the research we're doing in advertising and branding – across topics such as ethics and sustainability, gender stereotypes, and brand attachment.

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Innovation Management

We're looking into how organisations in low technology and process industries can optimise the management of their product and process development.

Marketing and society

We're looking at macro trends influencing consumer decision-making – from sustainability to health – and the relationship between marketing and society.

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Risk and security management

We're helping organisations and individuals think of alternative ways of identifying, understanding and overcoming risk and security challenges.

Services marketing and tourism

Explore our work in cultural tourism, online reputation, revenue management, frontline service relationships, pricing and tourist behaviour.

Small Business and Entrepreneurship

We're exploring how entrepreneurial behaviours, capabilities, strategies and public policies impact the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Photo of Eric Downer in the pub Lord John Russel

Sustainability and Business

We're identifying how businesses can embed sustainability practices to contribute to achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Our staff

The School is home to many academics and researchers who make a significant impact on their research areas, and use their industry experience to inform their teaching.