1. Major Positioning

1.1 Major Demand

As an applied discipline, marketing offers very broad employment prospects. Business needs professional marketing talents who understand scientific thinking methods and innovative marketing strategies to stay competitive.

Although there are great demands for marketing talents, many companies claim they cannot find suitable marketing professionals. Simultaneously, many universities are complaining that many marketing graduates are jobless. Hence, the job market demand and supply mismatch. The universities seem to not groom the graduates that fit the market requirements. Thus, the SZTU Marketing undergraduate program is designed to address the market gaps by introducing the Digital Marketing and B2B Marketing specializations highly demanded in the job markets. Indeed, digital marketing is one of the hot job areas, according to LinkedIn China's report on the top 10 areas of Chinese talent shortage. Apparently, marketing is going digital, as both e-commerce and traditional companies are actively digitally transforming and looking for e-marketing talent in the job market.

1.2 Major Position

1.2.1 Industry and Education Integration

With the deepening of internationalization, social development has put forward higher requirements for marketing professionals, and high-level talents with practical business experience have become an urgent demand for current economic development. SZTU Business School upholds a high-quality, practical applied sciences education model to adapt to the rapid economic and social development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, China and the world. Adhering to the "practice and application-oriented, act locally, think globally" education theory, drawing lessons from first-class business curriculum modes as well as talents cultivation idea of top-tier Applied Science Universities in Germany, Switzerland and other nations, paying attention to international exchanges and profound cooperation with the integration development of production and education as the theme, SZTU Business School is committed to cultivating international and interdisciplinary talents with comprehensive business knowledge. Therefore, Business School will accurately grasp the characteristics of the internationalization of business major construction in the new era, take the maximum advantages and characteristics of the applied science university, learn from the advanced mode of running universities locally and abroad, and strive to become an explorer and demonstrator of business education in applied sciences universities. That means the school has worked very closely with industry representatives together in both directions: to be acquainted with the industry's needs and to help them solve the problems.

1.2.2 Practice-oriented

Marketing major will deeply adhere to "Industry and Education Integration" teaching and research mode. Relying on the existing school-enterprise cooperation plan of the university, Business School will relatively build up college training rooms. Meanwhile, school will sign long-term cooperation agreements with more relevant well-known enterprises to cooperate together in terms of off-campus teaching training bases to provide customized talents for enterprises.

Based on the European Universities' Applied Technology concepts and models, Business School has a group of global-oriented faculty with a highly practical and international perspective. They have business experience and can impart students' theoretical knowledge and business insights closely related to industrial activities. In undergraduate teaching, students are required to participate in practical projects of the university or the enterprise, and focus on combining academic knowledge with practical business experience, for example, students would be worked together with company guest lecturers on projects or case studies.

1.2.3 Global Vision

The university cooperates with world-class applied science universities in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and other nations and actively promotes in-depth cooperation in various forms, such as academic exchanges, school construction and joint training. So far, the university has signed memorandums of cooperation with more than 50 foreign universities and institutions and carried out more than 10 overseas exchange programs, including famous applied science universities in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and other countries. At the same time, thanks to the International Liaison Offices of Shenzhen Technology University in Regensburg and Würzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany, students can go abroad for research and internship. Through this way of learning, students can be fully awareness of foreign academic knowledge and culture and gain valuable business practice experience.

2. Learning Objectives

2.1 University Positioning

Shenzhen Technology University aims to build itself into a world-class open, innovative and internationalized high-level applied sciences university to meet the development needs of high-tech industries and cultivate talents such as engineers and designers with international vision and craftsman spirit. Since the beginning of the construction, it has adhered to the German applied sciences education, learned from the German education program, implemented the training mode of "academic education + enterprise training", and created a new model of school-enterprise cooperation. The university's orientation is to develop science, management, art and other disciplines step by step. To cultivate high-level application-oriented talents such as engineers and designers as well as businessmen with international vision, craftsman spirit and innovative and entrepreneurial ability at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

2.2 Learning Goals

The marketing program intends to combine general education with marketing specialized areas. Students mainly study the basic theory and basic knowledge of marketing and managerial economics, receive basic training in strategy and methods in the field of marketing practice, get training in management skills, management thinking and research methods, and can analyze and solve marketing problems. Students are exposed to the basic skills of solving a major marketing problem. Through course study and practical training, students should acquire the following knowledge and abilities:

1. Master the basic theory and knowledge of management, economics and marketing;

2. Master the basic methods and techniques in the field of marketing practice;

3. Be familiar with policies and regulations that influence marketing;

4. Have strong basic skills in communication, organization and coordination and leadership;

5. Skilled in using computers, networks and common office, statistics, and enterprise information management software related to marketing;

6. Master foreign languagesand have good listening, speaking, reading and writing skills;

7. Understand the frontiers and development trends of the theory and practice of this discipline;

8. Master the basic literature retrieval and data query methods, and master the qualitative and quantitative research commonly used in marketing analytical methods, with certain scientific research and practical application ability.

3． Studying Modes

3.1 Academic Term and Credit

The standard study duration for Marketing is 4 years, and the minimum credit requirement for graduation is 190 credits.

3.2 Studying Requirements

In order to fulfill the demands of economic globalization, future marketing major students need to face the complex economic environment; thus, it is necessary to train students to have a broad international vision, solid knowledge of marketing theory and be able to skillfully use international laws, regulations and international practices to carry out marketing activities. In addition, they should have relatively high humanistic quality, a good sense of social responsibility and professional ethics, and good psychological and physical quality. Therefore, marketing graduates should equip with the following knowledge and abilities:

1) Master the comprehensive basic knowledge required for theoretical and practical work in the field of marketing (including economics, management, finance, statistics and other disciplines);

2) Strong market research, forecasting and planning ability. Be able to predict the frontier development direction of global economy and trade and adapt the company to the rapid development of B2B and B2C Marketing;

3) Master the operation rules of international marketing. Be familiar with the operation and management of multinational enterprises and have the basic ability to carry out cross-border marketing activities;

4) Have a good command of foreign language application in mainly English and German communication skills, be able to conduct work and academic communication in a foreign language working environment, and can search and read relevant professional literature and conduct academic writing;

5) Have solid basic computer knowledge and good computer operation skills. Master the marketing and practice application software, be capable of engaging in practice, teaching and research in marketing;

6) Establish the concept of lifelong learning philosophy, good professional ethics, and social responsibility;

7) Be familiar with different cultures and geographical characteristics.

4. Curriculum System

4.1 Core Knowledge Area

Our marketing program requires students to master marketing in practice in China and International markets. Based on a good command of statistical analysis methods, students can apply knowledge of the international marketing, digital marketing, human resources, etc., to engage in marketing activities.

4.1.1 Main Courses

The curriculum has been designed with four parts: “public compulsory courses”, “basic disciplinary courses”, “marketing professional knowledge and competency”and “professional practice and graduation thesis”. The curriculum follows the logical relationship of the composition of major knowledge, and students gradually complete the study of compulsory and elective courses. Students in this major are required to take the uniform discipline platform courses offered by the School of Management, which belong to the basic courses of introduction to management, including: Introduction to Marketing, Introduction to Statistics, Fundamentals of Economics, and Management. The public compulsory courses and basic disciplinary courses focus primarily on the first four semesters of student enrollment. From the fourth semester, students of this major begin to study marketing professional knowledge and competency courses, including international marketing, trade marketing, service marketing, international market research, consumer behavior, integrated marketing communications, electronic marketing, quantitative marketing research, and marketing qualitative research.

4.1.2 Specializations

(a) Digital marketing specialization – China's online retail transactions are rapidly growing, surpassing the United States and the 28 EU countries combined, resulting in an urgent shortage of online marketing talents in China. Digital marketing is increasingly important in various industries, which surely becomes a emerging giant market.  Indeed, the Internet has created many magnates, and the world's wealth has been redistributed accordingly. The Internet has made life accessible with a "button" on the keyboard. Hence, the practical skills of digital marketing are increasingly critical for many enterprises, while most small and medium-sized enterprises appear to be inexperienced in digital marketing. While the western e-commerce industry uses social media: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to promote their business, China's local e-commerce also promotes products through WeChat, Weibo, Tiktok and other channels. The widespread use of social media has enabled the rapid development of online shopping platforms such as Taobao, JD.com, Tmall, and Pinduoduo in China's e-commerce industry. Innovative companies prefer digital marketing talents with fast learning ability.

The digital marketing specialization aims to cultivate talents needed by the market. Among the electives courses for digital marketing are: Marketing Business Data Analysis, E-retailing and Retailing, Social Media and Situational Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, and Search Engine Advertising. 

(b) Industrial Marketing (B2B Marketing) Direction - B2B (business to business) marketing refers to the marketing activities between two or more enterprises, and B2C is the marketing activities between business and individual consumers. Compared with B2C, B2B often involves huge transaction funds and many departments and personnel. The transaction time is longer than B2C. Based on this basic difference, the marketing strategies of B2B and B2C are different. B2C is an individual decision and usually a one-time consumption by an individual. In B2B, the decision depends on the organizational decision. Moreover, due to the large order, the risk that the B2B buyer bears is also higher than that of B2C. In B2B, buyers tend to choose the companies they are familiar with or they have collaborated with before, thus B2B is not a one-time transaction. Considering this, marketing should give more attention to promote the profession and company’s overall strength, sometimes by inviting senior executives of company to show the sincerity of cooperation. Enterprise image can not be as amiable as that of a FMCG company, but it must be professional, reliable and credible.

4.2 Curriculum Setting

According to the curriculum construction and curriculum development requirements of Shenzhen Technology University, the Marketing major is divided into 8 modules, which are general education courses, extended general courses, major foundational courses, major core courses, major elective courses, languages elective courses, major practice, and graduation thesis. In the extended general courses, students must take at least 2 art course credits and 2 mental health course credits according to their major's characteristics, while taking 3 extended general courses at the same time. For major elective courses, students are encouraged to choose a specialization that fits their preferences.

5. Faculty

Business School fully embodies the characteristics of internationalization; it aims to build up a group of faculty members with domestic and overseas business experience, all faculty members have Ph.D. degrees, and the vast majority of them have overseas study or working experience. Some worked in Germany, the USA, Australia, Malaysia and other countries. Major courses offered by Business School are delivered in English. Dean of SZTU Business School, Professor Holger Haldenwang, is well experienced in teaching and managing post-secondary education; he is the former Executive Vice President at Regensburg University of Applied Sciences and has over 35 years of teaching experience as well as university-level top managerial experience. The existing faculty of the college will lay a solid foundation for the business major.

5.1 Program Designer and Leader

Dr. Cheah Chee Wei leads the program. He has a PhD of Marketing in Monash University, Australia (Top 50 Universities in the World 2022). He is also the Distinguished Foreign Talent – Type C characterized by the Shenzhen Government. He also has a Master of Business Administration MBA from the University of Malaysia with the first place in the college. Besides, he was a visiting scholar at European Business School, Germany.

Before joining academia in 2017, he was an entrepreneur and had hands-on experience in international marketing. Dr. Cheah Chee Wei was in the furniture export business for 17 years. His furniture products were exported to 47 countries, mainly to North America and the Middle East. He has full practical experience in the international marketing. This diverse background shapes his teaching style that he brings the real business world to the classroom. He is also a believer in action learning and has won several awards.

Dr. Cheah Chee Wei has published in more than a dozen of SSCI Indexed journals, including Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Housing Studies, Habitat International, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, Journal of Product and Brand Management, International Journal of Qualitative Research Methods, European Journal of Innovation Management and British Food Journal, to name a few.

5.2 Faculty Structure

Business School aims to build up a highly qualified international faculty with work experience in various commercial and industrial business areas in Germany, Canada, Japan and other countries. All major courses are based in English-taught. All faculty members have PhD degrees, of which the vast majority have overseas study or working experience and more than 3 years of off-campus working experience.

5.3. Faculty Development Planning

In spite of the existing faculty, the school plans to introduce two or three high-level professional leaders with overseas and domestic academic backgrounds. considering the developing scale of the school, we will continuously recruit experts with a PhD degree and industrial experience. Based on the existing faculty structure, Business School plans to cultivate backbone faculties of five to eight and form a distinctive team of faculties endowed with an innovative spirit.

6. Teaching Condition

6.1 Practical Teaching Condition

The library of Shenzhen Technology University has a total collection of 413,000 volumes, covering various disciplines such as science and technology, humanities, social sciences and other fields, and has well-known databases related to social sciences and economic management at home and abroad. In addition, the university has established international cooperative relations with famous universities such as Regensburg University of Applied Sciences, Nuremberg University of Applied Sciences, International Technological University, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, University of Rennes 1 and so on. It has signed school-enterprise cooperation agreements with Tencent, Huawei, TCL, Han’s Laser, China Telecom, BYD, SIEMENS, Kingdee, ManWah Holdings and many other well-known enterprises, providing students with a broad enterprise internship space. At the same time, the Business School is strongly supported by the Overseas offices of Shenzhen Technology University in Regensburg and Würzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany, and the students will continue to improve their innovation ability through the school's exchange programs with partner institutions, cooperating internship activities, and the implementation of leading business incubator programs.

6.2 Training Base and Research Center Construction

Adhering to the "dual system" training mode of "academic education + enterprise training", Business School encourages students to steadily put what they learn into practice to promote learning and professional practice. In order to meet the teaching needs of marketing courses in the future, the school will actively build cross-disciplinary and cross-regional teaching platforms and relevant teaching training bases, and make full use of school-enterprise cooperation platform resources in the school and give full play to their unique effectiveness in improving training quality. Relying on the existing school-enterprise cooperation plan of the university, Marketing major has three practical training bases, namely, Financial Big Data Training Center, Business Simulation Center, Financial Innovation and Technology Center, which will be used for the major auxiliary teaching practice.

6.3 University and Enterprise Cooperation Training Base Construction

In order to guarantee and improve the quality of practice and effect, Business School has cooperated with Kingdee Software (China) Co., LTD., Shenzhen Love Wisdom Technology Co., LTD., SRNE Solar Co. LTD, Pangoo Group Co., LTD., and other enterprises signed "Off-campus Practice Training Base Cooperation Agreement", to jointly build seven off-campus practice bases. Business School and the enterprise will independently determine the content of the practice and the target of the training project based on the curriculum and the actual situation of the students to cultivate application-oriented technical talents with strong practical ability.