This session will show how to model a business system using Excel, to better understand supply and demand uncertainty, and make better evidence-based decisions.

This session looks into how we build narratives around technologies and our futures, from utopian narratives where technologies become the solution to all of humanity's problems to dystopian narratives where robots rise to rule over us. This session discusses the latest developments in technologies and futures thinking and the role we - humans - play in shaping a better future for us, our planet, and the other animals that live on it.

We often hear that organisations with strong cultures are happier, healthier places to work, and more successful. But what exactly is an organisation’s ‘culture'? In this session, we’ll look at the case study of Innocent Smoothies. We’ll examine whether the ‘positive’ and ‘soft’ claims about their organisational culture are genuine or if they mask darker and more controlling management practices.

This session invites you to engage in exercises based on real-life practical scenarios that managers face every day, such as interviewing prospective employees, dealing with disputes and negotiating change in their organisations.

What does it take to innovate? Does it take a genius, or does it need more? Using the case of the 'ubiquitous' iPhone, this session reflects on the roles played by businesses and the State in innovation in the economy.

In this session, we analyse Netflix, Disney+ and other tech giants currently at critical junctures. We examine the forces acting on them now and in the future. We identify tools to help analyse, then devise and critically assess strategic options available. As consultants, what would you recommend and why?

In a rapidly changing world, the roles of work and entrepreneurship are metamorphosing, perhaps more than ever before: AI, VR, AR, and the metaverse are transforming the way we work and do business. However, this is just the start. What exciting developments does the future hold for us?

This session aims to help you understand what 'entrepreneurship' means by exploring what value is and how it can be created/adapted. It is a practical session that will test your creativity and pitching skills.

This session will introduce you to the popular field of economic research, Behavioural Economics. We will examine why sometimes people make unwise decisions and how behavioural economics could help us understand such behaviour and nudge people towards better decision-making.

How did advances in technology create an entire grey market that originally began as a fan space? In this session, students discover the hidden parts of markets and examine their close connections to the official market. Using the webcomic market as an example, we will examine how technology has blurred the lines between fan activities and piracy, giving rise to a professional grey market. Students will also examine how our behaviour enables and sustains grey markets and the role that marketing can play in this.

This taster session invites you to discover the often hidden yet vital and profitable world of business-to-business (B2B) markets through the case of Rolls-Royce (RR). From luxury “eighth wonder” cars to propulsion engines, the case of RR is exemplary of the high level of diversification, innovation and market size that characterise B2B markets. We will discover how Rolls-Royce forges strategic partnerships to be at the vanguard of innovation in B2B markets. While creating strong brands is often associated with consumer marketing, RR shows how this is a critical exercise to succeed in B2B marketing. The session prepares for career opportunities in B2B markets and showcases opportunities to join RR through placement and graduate schemes.

Can markets and marketing be responsible and ethical? Can the marketing and management disciplines contribute to strategies for sustainable futures? In this talk, we explore the case of Scottish salmon, the UK's biggest export and one of the most popular fish in UK consumers’ diets, to illustrate the challenges for marketers in balancing business success, creating value for stakeholders, and sustainability.

Discover how luxury brands reverse every rule of ‘textbook’ marketing strategy and why it works. Luxury markets are niche, profitable and turn traditional marketing strategy upside-down: Increasing prices to increase demand? Certainly. Making it difficult for clients to buy? Yes, please. Not pandering to customers’ wishes? Absolutely. Communicating to those the brand is not targeting? Always! What sounds like the crazy reversal of every marketing strategy rule is at the heart of successful luxury marketing management. This session will explore how luxury marketing strategy sits at the intersection of consumer behaviour, brand management, retailing and marketing communications. You will discover the difference between Prada, Chanel and Ralph Lauren, and learn about the “anti-laws” of luxury marketing management.

Half of the Fortune 500 companies listed in the year 2000 are gone. Knowing of their fate, how do we deal with the prediction that 40% of today’s Fortune 500 companies will become extinct in 10 years? Why do companies fail in the presence of “strategy bestsellers” and consultants who claim to have discovered the ‘secret’ to lasting business success? Is failure inevitable? This session invites you to explore these questions by investigating the secret formula of strategy bestseller books and why they rarely hold the answers (marketing) managers need.

How do marketers create demand where none existed? In this session, students discover the art of market creation by peaking behind the scenes of the most successful marketing campaign of the 20th century: De Beer's "Diamonds are Forever". In this session, we explore how De Beers mobilised advertising, PR, insights into consumer culture and psychology to shape rituals around love and engagement that command the global diamond market to this day.

We are often told to 'never judge a book by its cover'. However, in the world of marketing, we know that people often ignore this advice. In fact, book publishers depend on it! In this session, we will explore the concept of the 'total product' and some of the thinking behind the way products are marketed, and how things like packaging and advertising messages are designed to speak directly to us as consumers. It's not just the contents of the book that's important (i.e., the core product), but also all the many other elements associated with it. From the cover design, to the way it's promoted, where it's sold, and the service you receive when you buy it.

What do the things we post online say about us, and what do the social media companies do with that data? In this talk, we will delve into the murky world of social media and a concept known as surveillance capitalism. From the early days of Google and Facebook through to TikTok and Pokémon Go, this talk will explore the origins of surveillance and just how and why our data is so valuable. It's not just that the tech firms are tracking us and selling our data — they are also using this data to shape our behaviour and do the things they want.

AI seems to be everywhere these days. From the latest smartphone camera apps to social media tools, video editing, and more! But is it really all it's cracked up to be? This session will explain the background to 'artificial intelligence', including where the concept originated, what it means, and how it is sometimes used to describe things that aren't intelligent at all. We will then explore some of the big challenges that AI poses for us as a society, including replication errors, the loss of key skills, and the (potential) loss of jobs.