Bachelor of Science in Marketing
In today’s global marketplace, effectively generating interest in a company’s brands, products, and services requires an industry-current mix of strategy, research, data analytics, and a multi-platform execution of key marketing tactics. Equipped with up-to-date knowledge and skills in the latest communication technologies and marketing fundamentals, focused professionals can pursue a broad range of careers, from brand managers and advertising executives to public relations specialists, content marketers, and market research analysts.
National University’s online Bachelor of Science in Marketing degree challenges you to develop a deep understanding of traditional and emerging marketing concepts within the ever-changing framework of current global business conditions. Coursework is designed to help you develop a keen understanding of how to design, manage, and evaluate marketing campaigns for organizations in every industry. You’ll also be challenged to think strategically and sharpen your communication skills.
Preparation for the Major
MKT 302A Marketing Fundamentals – 4.50
This course is the introduction to contemporary marketing theory and practice in both the local and global marketplace. Basic concepts of marketing are examined with an emphasis on marketing positioning, segmentation and targeting as well as product development and distribution.
MNS 205 Intro to Quantitative Methods* – 4.50
Key mathematical and statistical concepts useful for understanding business problems and making informed decisions with the right tools are introduced. Concepts relate to numbers, formulas, linear equation models and descriptive statistics. Applications focus on personal decisions and decisions within businesses in the areas of finance, discounts, pricing, interest rates, loans, insurance, investment, payroll and taxes. Microsoft Excel is the software used in this class. MNS 205 and MTH 210 are the primary quantitative courses required for MNS 407. Students who have taken college algebra or calculus (MTH 215 or MTH 220) are exempt from this course.
MTH 210 Probability and Statistics* – 4.50
Prerequisite: MTH 12A and MTH 12B, or Accuplacer test placement evaluation
An introduction to statistics and probability theory. Covers simple probability distributions, conditional probability (Bayes Rule), independence, expected value, binomial distributions, the Central Limit Theorem, hypothesis testing. Assignments may utilize the MiniTab software, or text-accompanying course-ware. Calculator with statistical functions is required.
ECO 203 Principles of Microeconomics* – 4.50
In this course, students will study the price system, market structures, and consumer theory. Topics covered include supply and demand, price controls, public policy, the theory of the firm, cost and revenue concepts, forms of competition, elasticity, and efficient resource allocation, among others.
ECO 204 Principles of Macroeconomics* – 4.50
This course provides an examination of aggregate economic activity. It includes a study of aggregate supply and demand, the monetary and banking systems, aggregate economic accounting, inflation, unemployment, the business cycle, macroeconomic policy, and economic progress and stability, among other things.
ACC 201 Financial Accounting Funds. – 4.50
A survey of basic accounting theory and the application of accounting principles, this course includes the recording and summarization of business transactions in the form of financial statements under the rules of generally accepted accounting principles. (GAAP). It is designed for students who have little or no prior knowledge of financial accounting, this course corresponds to Principles of Accounting I at other colleges.
ACC 202 Managerial Accounting Funds. – 4.50
Prerequisite: ACC 201
This course is an overview of the use of financial accounting and cost accounting data for the design and preparation of reports to aid management in organizing, directing, controlling, and decision-making functions. The topics include the fundamentals of cost accounting, budgeting and responsibility accounting for cost and profit centers.
LAW 204 Legal Aspects of Business I – 4.50
A survey of contracts, sales, agencies, personal property, commercial paper and associated topics. Emphasizes prevention of litigation and liability arising from business operations.
Marketing Requirements
MKT 410 Strategic Marketing Leadership – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
An introduction to the fundamental knowledge required to manage and lead a marketing team. This course is important because new marketing graduates in the 21st century require a unique set of marketable, proactive marketing management and change leadership skills, to thrive in the ever-changing global marketplace. This course sits atop the entire strategic marketing degree and covers the management and leadership skills needed to succeed in global markets, including such topics as cultural dynamics, management styles, and political and legal environments. Students learn how to assess their own personal style and understand how to access global marketing opportunities in conjunction with developing and implementing marketing strategies to capitalize on those opportunities.
MKT 430 Intro to Global Marketing – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
An introduction to the cultural environment of global markets, including such topics as cultural dynamics, management styles, and political and legal environments. Students learn how to assess global marketing opportunities as well as develop and implement strategies to capitalize on those opportunities.
MKT 434 Marketing Research & Analytics – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
A course that gives the student an overview and practical application of contemporary methods for gathering, analyzing, and preparing market research for use in marketing decision making. It focuses on defining organizational information needs and designing appropriate research methods to obtain it. Specific topic areas include qualitative and quantitative research
MKT 450 Business Model Innovation – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
This course gives the student an overview and practical application of emerging business models in contrast to the traditional business models within the strategic marketing plan. It focuses on defining customer lifetime value in the emerging platform business world. Specific topic areas include sharing economy, subscription services, fractional ownership, value exchange, data monetization, business to individual, and inventory-free retail.
MKT 452 Marketing Law and Ethics – 4.50
Recommended Preparation: MKT 302A
The course introduces the marketing legal framework with a focus on companies related to ethics and consumer rights. Contemporary marketers need to understand the various laws in the domestic and international context for business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and the emerging business-to-individual context. The advent of the digital platform revolution, new communication channels, and new marketplaces, increase the mandatory need for knowledge of legal consequences connected to strategic decisions. The course focuses on marketing ethics, contract law, sales of goods, the marketing control act, and intellectual property rights (design, trademark, copyright, and patents). The students will also gain an understanding of ethical principles and sustainable considerations of importance in the business society.
MKT 454 Marketing Economics – 4.50
Recommended Preparation: MNS 205; ECO 203; Prerequisite: MKT 302A
The course introduces students to the integration of marketing and economics. The key component of the course is to understand the fact that marketing is a branch of economic science, and how this is exacerbated in the digital age of attention to economics. The course focuses on the nature of demand and supply as it impacts the marketing leaders and associated plans, then reviews the impact of mergers and acquisitions, globalization, and the economics of advertising. The student will also gain an understanding of the role economic principles have in sustainable considerations of importance in business society.
MKT 456 Sales Management – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
This course is a comprehensive review and application of aspects of sales management. These include building a positive motivating culture and learning the tools needed for people management. Sales management requires a unique supervisory approach mixing motivational growth in conjunction with a constant psychological assessment perspective. The student will learn the importance of sales force resources planning, forecasting, territory management, and compensation execution. In line with scenario-based learning, the student will review typical sales management problems and potential solutions.
MKT 458 New Product Management – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
This course gives the student an overview and foundational understanding of the product management role and its importance in marketing decision-making. It focuses on the underlying strategy for the introduction of new products and services. Specific topic areas include product strategy, product development, and product lifecycle management.
MKT 460 Consumer Behavior – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
This course is designed to provide a contemporary view of consumer behavior. The course will delve into the psychology of marketing and the impact cognitive biases have on consumer decision-making. A focus on consumer motivations, brand loyalty, influence marketing, and adoption models in emerging markets. Specific areas covered are self, personality, lifestyle, and the consumer decision-making process.
MKT 462 Brand Management – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
This course gives the student an overview and practical application of brand management. It focuses on exploring the developing, sustaining, and leveraging brands in the marketplace. The course introduces brand research, brand development, and brand management and the importance for the modern marketer. Specific topic areas include brand management history, brand awareness, brand equity, and contemporary brand-sustaining strategies in the digital age.
MKT 464 Advertising Management – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
This course gives the student an overview and practical application of traditional and online methods for advertising management. It focuses on defining traditional advertising management in contrast to digital omnichannel marketing management strategy. Specific topic areas include variances in advertising management in B2B, B2C, C2C, and emerging business to individual B2I models in the marketing digital transformation.
MKT 466 Mktg Sci & Comp Intelligence – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
In this course, the student will review the emerging role of data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence in the modern marketing manager. The emerging fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is expanding greatly because of platform technologies. As such, the marketing manager needs to become more scientific from a data science perspective, when evaluating and implementing strategic planning and tactical execution imperatives, in the ever-changing global marketplace. This course will include a good overview of the interaction between technical, business, and human aspects of the trend toward personalized marketing. We will explore biometric-focused artificial intelligence. In addition, the cultural, diversity, ethical, and legal responsibilities of emerging marketing managers will be examined.
MKT 468 Pricing Strategy – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
This course provides a foundational understanding of one of the most important aspects of marketing and business in general, pricing. The student will learn the importance of understanding various foundational pricing methods and the associated impact on how these decisions impact the need for profit maximization. The student will learn key economic and behavioral concepts associated with costs and consumer behavior. Pricing strategies such as cost plus, price skimming, and niche pricing will be covered, in conjunction with emergent models such as reverse auction and value-based pricing.
MKT 470 Services Marketing – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
This course is designed to assist students pursuing a marketing career in the service industry, but is also a pivotal course for all marketers to understand, given the rise in the service sector. The course provides a comprehensive overview of the various methods deployed in the service sector for use in marketing decision-making. It focuses on defining the seven Ps of service marketing and the gap model of service quality and the role of technology in services marketing. Specific topic areas include the customer experience of service quality and service as a competitive advantage.
MKT 472 Innov Value-Based Bus Models – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
A course that gives the student an overview and practical application of contemporary methods for gathering, analyzing, and preparing market research for use in marketing decision-making. It focuses on defining organizational information needs and designing appropriate research methods to obtain it. Specific topic areas include qualitative and quantitative research methods, secondary research, internal market intelligence systems, and data analysis.
MKT 494 Digital Marketing Capstone – 4.50
Prerequisite: MKT 302A
This capstone course provides the student with a clear understanding of the digital marketing arena. As global Business is constantly confronted with the need to participate and manage in a real-time digital environment, there is a need to take advantage of digital technologies as a tool that could be argued as a necessity for competitive survival and advantage. Students will learn about the importance of online marketing in multiple settings such as the web, and mobile as the underpinnings of the social media-driven digital delivery ecosystem. The student will investigate the impact of the platform culture and how this global landscape creates new and exciting target markets in this rapidly evolving digital economy.
Degree and Course Requirements
To receive a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, students must complete at least 180 quarter units as articulated below, 45 of which must be completed in residence at the Berkshire, 76.5 of which must be completed at the upper-division level, and a minimum of 69 units of the University General Education requirements. In the absence of transfer credit, additional general electives may be necessary to satisfy the total units for the degree. The following courses are specific degree requirements. Refer to the section on undergraduate admission procedures for specific information regarding admission and evaluation. All students receiving an undergraduate degree in Nevada are required by State Law to complete a course in Nevada Constitution.
Program Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of Berkshire’s BS in Marketing, you’ll be able to:
Apply a strategic-change leadership mindset to decision-making in an ever-changing global marketplace.
Demonstrate a deep understanding of traditional and emerging marketing concepts within the ever-changing framework of current global business conditions.
Employ decision making techniques (data analytics, information flows, and statistical methods) to make informed and smart marketing decisions.
Exercise strong technical skills to drive marketing benefits across the organization.
Explore global marketing plan principles to optimize key marketing and financial metrics that maintain social, ethical, and environmental responsibilities.
Admissions
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