Course Details in 2023/24 Session

Module Title	LI Managing in Busines to Business Markets
School	Birmingham Business School
Department	Management
Module Code	07 32139
Module Lead	Module Lead: Chris Lonsdale
Level	Intermediate Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-44 hours Seminar-3 hours Guided independent study-153 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	In an attempt to achieve superior profitability, firms need to consider three critical tasks. First, firms need to position themselves within what are called business networks. This is part of corporate strategy and can involve re-positioning, divestment and outsourcing. Second, firms need to market and sell their products and/or services to customers - in this module, business customers, i.e. other firms. Third, firms need to manage suppliers via the procurement and supplier management process in an attempt to obtain best value for money. This module assesses how firms might undertake these critical tasks in an effective manner (and the obstacles to doing that) and also shows that they are inter-related. In addition to considerations of corporate strategy and positioning, the module will cover topics such as organisational buying behaviour (the B2B version of consumer behaviour), supplier pricing strategies and tactics, negotiation, contract law, customer relationship management and its counterpart supplier relationship management, B2B sales and procurement technologies and conflict management. While including theory and concepts, the module is also highly practical and involves real-life case studies, including those developed by the module’s lecturers from their extensive research and consultancy experience. The module’s lectures combine lecture input with cases, activities, films and exercises. The lectures are supported by a series of seminar sessions and bespoke module lecture films.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to; Recognise the concept of the extended business network; Understand the factors driving firm positioning within extended business networks; Understand and critique the boundary of the firm (outsourcing) decisions made by firms in extended business networks; Understand the key concepts relevant to managing downstream customers; Understand the key concepts relevant to managing upstream suppliers; Have knowledge of the management tasks involved in downstream and upstream management and assess the challenges of implementation; Be able to interpret case examples of firms operating within extended business networks.
Assessment	32139-01 : Individual Assignment 1 : Coursework (50%) 32139-02 : Individual Assignment 2 : Coursework (50%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 2 x2000 word assessed projects (50% each)Re-assessment: 2 x2000 word assessed projects (50% each)
Other
Reading List