Strategic Business Management and Marketing (SBM)

This programme covers 12 months and is made up of two main phases.
In this pdf you can find more information about the module structure.

Phase 1 - Pre-master’s courses

In term one, the programme focuses on the content of strategic management and marketing within the module units. The module units are set up in a holistic and integrated way, structured around business issues. This enables you to identify an adequate business-applied problem, which is the foundation of your future research proposal.
 
Term two of the programme is designed to search for secondary data to support your topic and different sub-problems with facts or evidence. These data can be found in the literature, expert interviews or other documentation in order to analyse and appraise the situational business environment in terms of cause-and-effect relationships to define the business problem more specifically. The term units will also support you with useful inputs on current theories within various disciplines.
 
In term three you mainly focus on Applied Statistics and on your final research proposal (SBM5c) to be submitted at the end of this term. By analysing your selected problem, you will be able to formulate adequate and relevant research questions for the purposes of your research project and to develop a conceptual framework. Not only does this research provide a foundation in learning and further developing your academical skills, such as literature review and qualitative interviewing, but it also deepens your knowledge in the fields of research methodology, applied research philosophies and approaches. Also, the logical research framework matrix (LRFM), investigative research questions, sampling methods, data-collecting design strategies, data requirements and other information needs are formulated here. 

Phase 2 - Final Research Project

Term four sees the culmination of the dissertation fieldwork by data collecting. During this stage of the programme you collect primary data for each of the research questions as defined (LRFM). Your project fieldwork will either complement or contrast your secondary findings for each of the problems defined in the research proposal. Your methodological report will critically reflect on your used methods and findings, and supports conclusions and recommendations to solve the identified business-applied problem. 

To find out what kind of dissertations were written in the past; check our abstract list (pdf).

The academic pre-master Strategic Business Management and Marketing is a one-year, full-time programme. The total study load is 75 ECTS credits. To give you an idea: 1 ECTS credit = approximately 28 hours of study a week. This one-year pre-master's replaces the last year of study at Breda University of Applied Sciences.

We offer you a small-scale study environment as the number of students involved in this pre-master's track are limited. For questions on the content of the programme, lecturers can be easily reached. In addition, the pre-master's coordinator is available to help with day-to-day issues. If you wish to discuss personal problems that may be affecting your life as a student, you can turn to the student counsellor.