Bsc Business Management v Marketing

[Shimy]

Very early days but DS has asked me to pop this question. In terms of job opportunities which course do people think is more regarded by employers. He is really keen on Marketing but worried it might too narrow a course to study at university and perhaps Business Management would give more bandwidth.

Doing a quick online job search I’m seeing lots of Marketing jobs but not quite sure what happens to graduates of Business Management.

Management is better. Courses at universities like Bath have a marketing element anyway. Management covers many more areas so you have greater choice of careers afterwards. These could be HR, Marketing, PR, Finance or any business admin role. There would be a need to train further on grad schemes but Management from a good university keeps doors open for specialism when applying for jobs. Work experience at university helps greatly and that can also influence career choice. Also look at courses with a year in industry. Again these are helpful for future careers. Management tends to be offered by higher ranking universities including Oxford.

DS has found that there seems to be a limited number of top Unis offering just Marketing but a lot that seems to offer Business Management. I wondered wether there was a reason for this.

Yes. The grades required for marketing will probably be lower. Probably at less prestigious universities. Choice would depend on his likely grades I would suggest. If you look at universities like Bath, Leeds, Warwick, Exeter, Loughborough and Lancaster etc to get a feel of what they teach you can then judge whether DS can aspire to them. The Complete University Guide will help filter the courses. Look for Management as well as Business or Business Administration so you get a full picture.

Bath actually only offer the BA in Management and Marketing
Warwick only at postgrad
Nottingham only at postgrad
Exeter offer both business & Marketing Management.

Shame about the first two. Of course their other very good ones Birmingham, York, Leeds etc. Enough to give DS options.

‘There’

I work in marketing. I'd say go for the Business Management and then I'd still interested in the marketing area he could do a professional qualification with CIM, which most employers seem to want anyhow.

In my experience it's the CIM qualification that seems to be more important than the degree.

My DD is going to start a Marketing Management degree in September which has elements of both. Before she decided to go to university, I asked a few friends in very good marketing jobs what they look for in their staff. Apparently a degree is not necessary as experience also works along with the CIM qualification mentioned above. I was told a good grasp of English and the ability to write copy etc is much more useful. I guess having a degree though puts a foot in the door for graduate roles.

On a side note, we visited a few universities and sat in on the marketing subject talks. The most prestigious of them all was the worst and most boring, so much so people were falling asleep! My husband has been in and around marketing for 40 years and he was astounded that the lecturer had such a low grasp on current thinking and was so totally 'dead'.

I also work in marketing, I'd go for business management and then CIM.

Thank you all for your comments. It’s really helped to focus DS, and glad we’re doing this thinking early. He’s feels more comfortable to follow the Bus Mgt and then CIM route when the time comes.

@FozzieMK mind sharing who the boring one was? Also did your DD do any work experience within Marketing before she applied to uni ?

If you read my post about Degrees, I hadn’t attached marketing. I was suggesting that you look at Management degrees. Warwick do a BSc in Management. Bath offers the same. Then specialise in marketing. That’s the smarter way to do it. You can take marketing modules before committing. He might actually prefer something else when he studies it. Marketing is pretty dry for 4 years and doesn’t always lead to great jobs. A grad from Bath might well be better placed to get a grad management job because they have a variety of skills.

I completely agree with Bubbles. Management degrees will often have a higher mathematical content than a business degree and may well include more modules in topics such as data analytics which could only boost your marketing prospects. It's easy to include a marketing specific dissertation in your final year, if he still wants to head that way. What is your DS taking at A level?

When Bubbles said “Management”, I thought she meant as in “Business Management” but now see it meant Management as a degree in itself. This was not a course on our radar at all.
Last night DS and I read through the course content for Management at Bath uni and it’s career prospects (was a real eye opener!). It seems to sum up what DS wants with a strong leaning towards entrepreneurship.
I’m still unclear what the difference is between that and bus.mgt so will read through more uni websites today. There does seem to be more mathematical content at the Bath one but want to make sure it’s not just Maths for Maths sake?

My other question leading on from this is also, how do you see an MBA fitting in with this? DS’s initial thought process was a degree in marketing then an MBA, (he would ultimately like to start his own business), if he does Mgt. Instead would an MBA on top not be overkill?
Degree apprenticeship are an option as well but DS really does prefer a traditional university path with a placement yr.

In case anyone is wondering (BA cause I know some might be reading and thinking pushy much?), DS is not being pushed to do anything, however I believe in discussing careers early on so dc can have an idea or what path they might follow or just simply what’s out there, and making sure they choose the correct A’level subjects. This could well all change. DS is going to yr year 11 so I believe this is the time such discussions should be had.

Warwick, Bath, LSE etc all have strong degree courses in management or sometimes management science. I don't know about those further north. The maths element is great - statistics, operational research, economics, accountancy all have a practical slant with enough mathematical theory to get stuck into.

I would not waste time with an MBA straight after uni. The best candidates tend to have several years of experience which they wish to back up with the MBA. Professional qualifications after a first degree are far more useful.

Everyone I know with an MBA has done it whilst working and it has been linked to their work.

I think the stronger Management courses are BSc and after that there should be a wide option of grad schemes where DS can apply. Running your own business (in what?) usually takes skills but if he has ideas already then that should be explored. My DH had a business at 27. Often you need contacts to get going as well! People who will buy what you are offering.

I’m glad the courses in Management are of interest. Aim high!

I did not mean doing an MBA straight after graduation 😂 but I can see how that was misconstrued from my wording. I meant it as in part of the career path to becoming well qualified. DS has also asked about the Masters in Marketing so we were exploring all these options. The natural next step I’d assume would be professional qualifications depending on choice of specialism (and exam exemptions from the degree).
I know all this is still yrs away but enjoying discussing this with DS after DS1 who is the complete opposite!

My DF is a Marketing professor and writer. So I know a bit about this. There are certain unis which are not necessarily the biggest RG names that re frontrunners in marketing and then others at postgrad for marketing and management. The two that have always been prominent are Lancaster and (probably not what you are looking at) Strathclyde. Also iirc Surrey but haven't checked with him.

Off to bed now shimy but I will see what I can find out re marketing.

Thanks Piggy. We’ll look at Lancaster as well.

shimy my DF confirms that Surrey is a leading uni . Its degree is BSc Business Management (Marketing) with ABB offer. Not sure what the actual uni is like.

This may or may not influence your DS , but my DF did point out that marketing and management courses attract very large numbers of overseas students.

They also do a Business Management (entrepreneurship) degree and Bristol does its 4 year degrees 'with enterprise' which sound fascinating. Was it you that mentioned them on the other thread?

with innovation, rather!

Surrey is ranked 33rd for Business Management. Bath is 2nd. There is a huge difference and neither of these are RG so RG isn’t necessarily best in this field. I know where I would choose if I could get the A levels.

Bath is recognised as top Management and Business University. Surrey doesn’t have the same kudos. However Bath also offers Management and Marketing and both courses want AAA. They also want a personal statement that actively says what interest the student has in doing the course and they appear to read it. They also want science and humanity A levels. It would pay to read their requirements carefully if DS is AAA student. If not, there are many alternatives to consider.

I did Business with a marketing pathway (2 yrs of marketing), the choice was marketing, hr or finance. It was also a sandwich course with a year in industry - this gave me and my peers work experience advantage over other graduates, or offers of employment post graduation (presumably DS will need to fund his business). The degree gave me a rounded understanding of how international businesses work, reading financials and P&L sheets and the economy.

I did a CIM postgrad a few years later, which opened many doors and made me a better marketer.

Some unis offer a top-up to make your CIM postgrad a masters but I don’t think it’s necessary, there’s loads of useful vocational qualifications around marketing disciplines to keep up with trends and developments.

I would love to do an MBA, but for DS I think this would be unnecessary until he’s got some work experience and is looking to take his business to the next level eg venture funding, gaining large overseas market share etc.

Also, look at where his tutors work, have worked, if they still do a lot in industry.

Lastly, have a look at Cranfield Uni. Highly respected in business world and home to Malcolm Macdonald (pretty sure every marketer has studied at least one of his books)

Another vote for Lancaster - the management school is excellent. I may be slighy biased though as I have a BA Economics and Marketing and an MSC in Management from Lancaster. They are pretty flexible about taking minor subjects at in the first year (or they certainly used to be anyway), so there could be an option to combine both management at marketing? Worth checking maybe - I went to do economics but also took marketing in the first year as an option and was able to switch to a combined honors.

One thing I would say about management is that he would probably cover a lot of the same ground / topics as an MBA so that might reduce the value of taking an MBA as well? I know an MBA is more practical/professional and has a strong networking element but the MBA students at Lancaster did some classes with the MSc Management so I always wondered about the value of doing an additional MBA, especially given how expensive they are.

I did CIM post uni and that was pretty straightforward - my degree gave me exemptions so I could go in at postgrad diploma level, but I think that was because I had a business degree rather than the marketing bit IYSWIM.

Lancaster do a combined Management and Entrepreneurship course, which might be of interest to your DS?