Management and marketing of food businesses

The objective of this course is to familiarize the students with the management of the food industries from a holistic perspective and to provide them an overview of the importance of marketing in the current markets.
For achieving this objective, it will be necessary to know the different functional areas of the company and its subsystems, paying more attention to those aspects that are particularly relevant to the organizations that integrate the food industry. In addition, it should be highlighted the importance that the knowledge of the behaviour of consumers would have in the design of business strategies adapted to their needs.

Namely, after the study of this subject, students should:
- Know the business typologies
- Know the basic concepts of the company
- Know the environment of the food industry
- Know the functional areas of the company
- Know the culture of market orientation in the food sector
- Know the basic concepts of business management
- Know the environment regarding the marketing of food products
- Know the buying behaviour of consumers
- Understanding the segmentation and positioning of food markets
- Know the variables of marketing of food products

Unit 1. Company and employer
Unit 2. Environment and food sector
Unit 3. The subsystem business
Unit 4. The management business
Unit 5. The commercial subsystem of the food business
Unit 6. Consumer behaviour
Unit 7. Segmentation and positioning of food companies
Unit 8. Marketing-mix: product and price
Unit 9. Marketing-mix: distribution and communication

Basic and complementary bibliography
Armstrong, G.; Kotler, P.; Merino, M.J; Pintado, T.; Juan, J.M. (2011): Introducción al marketing. Ed. Pearson.
Baena, V.; Moreno, M.F. (2010): Instrumentos de marketing. Decisiones sobre producto, precio, distribución, comunicación y marketing directo. Ed. UOC.
Grant, R.M., (2014): Dirección Estratégica: Conceptos, técnicas y aplicaciones. Ed. Thomson Civitas.
Guerras Martín, L.A.; Navas López, J.E. (2014): Casos de dirección estratégica de la empresa. Ed. Thomson-Reuters Civitas.
Johnson, G.; Scholes, K.; Whittington, R. (2010): Fundamentos de estrategia. Ed. Prentice Hall.
Navas López, J.E.; Guerras Martín, L.A. (2012): Fundamentos de Dirección Estratégica de la Empresa. Ed. Thomson-Reuters Civitas.
Sainz de Vicuña, J.M. (2014): El plan de marketing en la práctica. Ed. ESIC.
Santesmases, M.; Merino, M.J.; Sánchez, J.; Pintado, T. (2009). Fundamentos de marketing. Ed. Pirámide.

The professors of the subject might provide specific bibliography for each unit.

Basic and general
CB6 - To possess and understand knowledge that provide a basis or opportunity to be original in the development and/or application of ideas, often in a research context
CB7 - Students should be able to apply acquired knowledge and problem-solving skills in new or poorly understood environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of study

Transversal
CT1 - Ability to analyze and synthesize
CT2 - Ability to organize and plan
CT3 - Ability to teamwork
CT6 - Ability to search, analyze and manage information from diverse sources
CT11 - Ability for autonomous learning
CT13 - Demonstrate initiative and entrepreneurial spirit
CT14 - Ability to apply knowledge to practice

Specific
COP10 - To know the principles of marketing and management of the company that can enable them to act as advisors in the development and commercialization of food
COP11 - To know the environment of the food industry, the business typologies, the basic concepts and the functional areas of the company
COP12 - To know the culture of market orientation in the food sector: the basic concepts of the commercial direction, the environment and the variables of marketing of the products and the segmentation and positioning of the food markets

Classroom sessions dedicated to expository classes or master classes will be used to introduce the theoretical contents that make up the program, emphasizing the especially relevant aspects and the relationships between them. In the seminars it will be sought that the students apply in a practical way the theoretical concepts learned in the expository sessions. For this, practical cases, videos and readings of texts and / or articles will be analyzed and commented, and questions raised by the teachers will be discussed. Likewise, students must carry out and present group work. All of this is intended to stimulate cooperative work, as well as to develop argumentation and communication skills, thus developing the aforementioned transversal competences.

The personal work activities of the students include, in addition to the time dedicated to study, reading the material provided by the teaching staff, searching for information in the library, newspaper archive or databases. In the individual tutorials, the teachers will guide the students on the tasks to be carried out (study, work, readings); and it will solve the doubts that the students can present during the learning process. Likewise, the tutorials may be used as a feedback channel on the results of the same, as well as the different practical activities that are carried out.

The Virtual Campus will be used as a resource to support teaching.

The assessment system will consider all the activities carried out by students during the course: final exam; active participation in the analysis and discussion of study cases and readings; written and oral presentations of academic works...

Attendance to both expositive and interactive classes is compulsory, unless the student is granted the dispensation of attendance, following the Instruction No. 1/2017 of the Secretaría Xeral sobre la dispensa de asistencia a clase en determinadas circunstancias. The students who have the granted exemption must do a different exam from the students who participate in the continuous evaluation, but this exam will represent 100% of their qualification.

The students will have two opportunities to pass the course. Thus, students who do not pass the subject at the first opportunity will be entitle to a second extraordinary opportunity, which will be shown on their academic transcript if it exceeds the previous achieved rating.

The assessment system for these two opportunities is detailed below.

First ordinary opportunity:
A) Continuous assessment: participation in class, resolution and active participation in the analysis of study cases, teamwork, discussion of readings and videos, and other activities related to the seminars (30% continuous assessment and 20% works).
In the resolution of the study cases and the teamwork it will be evaluated the proper application of the concepts and the search of relevant information. In addition, the collaborative work will be evaluated. In the participation of the students in class, it will be assessed their contribution, as well as the quality and clarity of their oral presentation. Continuous assessment allows the evaluation of the following competences: COP10, COP11, COP12, CB6, CB7, CT1, CT2, CT3, CT6, CT11, CT13, CT14.
B) Final exam, which will be held on the official date and will cover the entire program, including theoretical and practical content. The final exam will have a weight of 50% in the final grade of the subject.
The final exam allows to evaluate the following competences: COP10, COP11, COP12, CB6, CT1, CT11.
A minimum score of 2 points out of 5 in the final exam will be necessary to take into account the score achieved in the continuous assessment. In that case, students will pass the course if the aggregate grade of both parties is equal to or greater than 5 points out of 10. overall mark is equal to or greater than 5 points out of 10.
When the student does not reach the minimum theoretical score necessary to pass, he will be graded with the grade obtained only for participation in the interactive sessions.
In cases of fraudulent performance of exercises or tests, the provisions of the “Regulations for evaluating student academic performance and reviewing grades will apply.

Second extraordinary opportunity:
The same assessment system that at the first opportunity will be used; i.e., there will be a final exam, with the weighting established for the first opportunity, to which the score achieved in the continuous evaluation will be added.
It should be noted that, in accordance with the University's Permanency Regulations for Undergraduate and Master's studies (article 5.2), the mere attendance and/or participation in any of the activities subject to assessment will lead the student's final grade to be different from "No presented".

This optional subject consists of 6 ECTS, where each credit is equivalent to 25 hours, resulting in 150 hours of work.
These total hours of work are distributed as follows:
- Presence time (including expositive classes -18-, seminars -24-, tutoring time -4- and exams -4-): 50 hours
- Students individual work: 100 hours

No prior knowledge is required to take this course.
To maximize learning, students should:
- Participate actively, constructively and respectfully in class.
- Prepare and complement the contents on the subject with the recommended bibliography.
- Develop the ability to search information in an autonomous way.
- Take advantage of the resources available in the university library.
- Use the individual tutoring time properly, in order to know in detail the recommendations of the teaching staff and to clarify any doubts that arise in the learning process.
- Regularly consult the virtual classroom of the course and make use of it.

It is taught in Spanish.