This masters degree offers the perfect starting point for a career in strategic marketing, particularly in an international business environment.
You’ll learn to appreciate modern developments in marketing management theory and practice and explore essential areas including international marketing, marketing strategy and marketing research. You’ll also examine key topics such as international services marketing, consumer behaviour across cultures and global supply chains.
The course has a practical focus and you’ll develop professional skills through in-company assignments and case studies examining genuine business scenarios.
Our academics are experts in their field with extensive teaching, research and consultancy experience of international standing. As such, this course is globally recognised and attracts students from all over the world. You’ll gain cross-cultural experience and an understanding of the skills required to work in an international environment.
Academic excellence
The Marketing division at Leeds University Business School is one of the leading centres of research in marketing in Europe. As part of our research, we engage with companies, senior executives and academics across all five continents.
Our research makes an important contribution to your learning on the MSc International Marketing Management; our academics bring their world-leading expertise to you in the classroom. The Global and Strategic Marketing Research Centre is the Business School’s established and esteemed centre of excellence for scholarly research work.
This course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), giving you the opportunity to gain professional qualifications through CIM Graduate Gateway. This means you can work towards CIM qualifications during your studies and will receive exemptions from selected assessments.
CIM is the leading professional body for marketers worldwide and exists to develop the marketing profession, maintain professional standards and improve the skills of marketing practitioners. CIM qualifications are highly sought after by employers, and map alongside our own degrees, which ensures you are equipped with the best opportunities for a successful marketing career.
The course is also accredited by the Institute of Export and International Trade (IOE), the professional membership body representing and supporting the interests of everyone involved in importing, exporting and international trade.
Core modules will develop your understanding of international marketing in theory and practice.
You’ll learn how organisations use marketing research to understand their audience and complement this with an awareness of consumer behaviour in different cultures. Then you’ll examine how this information is turned into practical marketing strategies, with modules focusing on marketing communications and strategy as well as the challenges of international marketing.
From there, you’ll develop your knowledge by focusing on international services marketing and considering practical solutions to the problems of global supply chains. You’ll also choose an optional module in an area that interests you, such as social media marketing or corporate social responsibility. During the company marketing project, you’ll have the chance to work alongside an external organisation to research and develop strategies to address their marketing problems.
You can apply your research skills and knowledge to a dissertation which you submit by the end of the year, or you can take a different route. Our third semester consultancy projects give students the opportunity to work with a live business situation, make links with industry and gain work experience that can be exceptionally rewarding.
Throughout the course you’ll also benefit from a Professional Skills and Employability module, dedicated to developing the key skills employers are looking for when recruiting marketing graduates. Read what our current students say about the opportunities for professional development.
Compulsory modules
You’ll take nine compulsory modules, plus either a research dissertation or consultancy project.
Optional modules
You’ll choose one further optional module.
We use a range of teaching methods so you can benefit from the expertise of our academics, including lectures, workshops, seminars, simulations and tutorials. Company case studies provide an opportunity to put your learning into practice.
Independent study is also vital for this course, allowing you to prepare for taught classes and sharpen your own research and critical skills.
Assessment methods emphasise not just knowledge, but essential skills development too. You’ll be assessed using a range of techniques including exams, group projects, written assignments and essays, in-course assessment, group and individual presentations and reports.
This masters degree will prepare you to pursue a career in marketing management within an international or domestic environment. You’ll develop the professional skills to work within a range of business situations, from large multinational corporations to smaller organisations, or within your own business.
You’ll be able to pursue a career in many areas including international marketing, export marketing, marketing research, marketing consultancy, services marketing, social media marketing, direct, digital and interactive marketing, or supply chain management.
Top graduates who aspire to a research or academic career will also be prepared to pursue a PhD in marketing.
Our dedicated Professional Development Tutor provides tailored academic and careers support to marketing students. They work in partnership with our academics to help you translate theory into practice and develop your interpersonal and professional business skills.
This means you will develop the academic skills to successfully progress through the course, and also the professional skills you will need to secure employment and start a successful career.
You can expect support and guidance on career choices, help in identifying and applying for jobs, as well as one-to-one coaching on interpersonal and communication skills.
Read more about our careers support.
Cultural and national differences pose various problems for organisations who market their products and services around the world.
Our MSc International Marketing Management programme will provide you with a comprehensive framework for understanding the theories, concepts, applications and unique challenges of marketing in a fast changing international and global context.
The programme will develop your appreciation of strategies and tactics for international markets, along with their implications, and build your understanding of marketing management for multinational and global organisations.
The core modules cover topics in international business and marketing, while our optional modules allow you tailor the programme according to your interests.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time students must study at least two taught technical modules per academic year, until a total of eight is reached. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
The programme aims to provide a high quality, vocational education which is intellectually rigorous and up-to- date, as well as relevant to the needs of existing and future managers, executives and other professionals in international marketing management.
In addition to subject-specific knowledge, the programmes aim to develop generic management skills necessary to be effective in todays’ challenging business environment.
The programme has a business management orientation related to international marketing management and draws upon a range of cognate areas of study to explain and analyse this business function.
It takes an integrated approach so as to provide a coherent exploration of the inter-relationships between the various components. The, programme is international in scope and coverage, and lecturers draw upon the most recent research to inform their teaching.
The programmes aim to develop students as independent and reflective learners, able to continue their learning once in their chosen profession.
Knowledge and understanding
Upon completing the programme, students will have:
Intellectual / cognitive skills
Students will have the ability to:
Professional practical skills
Students will ble able to:
Key / transferable skills
Students will gain a range of generic skills relevant to the needs of existing and future managers, executives and professionals, irrespective of their sector of operation. These will include analysis and synthesis, oral and written communication, computing/IT literacy, critical reasoning, data analysis, organisation and planning, problem solving, independent and group working and research.
Our marketing graduates who enrol with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) as an Affiliate can study CIM qualifications without having to complete all of the modules. For most qualifications, students will only need to take two assessments instead of the usual three and therefore, students will add an individual award to supplement their degree. There is a fee to join CIM.
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
Learn more about opportunities that might be available for this particular programme by using our student exchanges search tool.
Surrey Business School is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).
