MSc in Economics and Business Administration - Sales Management
About the programme
This programme has a strong focus on the impact of digitalisation on costumer and commercial development in marketing and sales functions.
Digital strategies and multiple platforms
You will learn how to utilise the new opportunities that come with the implementation of digital strategies and multiple platforms for increased reach and efficiency as well as customer value and interaction. Through an understanding of how these new methods, tools, techniques and technologies drive the digital transformation of marketing and sales functions you will learn how this affects the company on both the strategic level, operational level and the business performance level.
With this Omni channel management approach you will learn to effectively build, manage and strategically position digitally based integrated marketing and sales functions across multiple channels and markets.
Customer value, satisfaction and loyalty
You will understand how theories and concepts of consumer behavior and customer dialogue can be used to increase customer value, satisfaction, and loyalty, and provide valuable insights in the design and alignment of integrated marketing and sales activities.
You will learn how to use multiple platforms to secure a holistic and relevant customer journey in all touchpoints and provide a streamlined and personal communication. This insight will allow you to utilise the new opportunities deriving from increasing digitalisation and customer engagement to create innovative business models which may increase customer value and drive business performance and growth.
Different markets and segments
You will learn how to translate corporate strategies into marketing and sales strategies for different markets and segments, and understand how to adjust sales methods and selling behavior in relation to a specific market and strategy.
You will also learn how to adjust the strategy and organisation of the sales force and apply tools and techniques for measuring and managing profitability and value creation across customers, products, channels, markets etc. to facilitate sales strategy development and implementation.
Data analytics
You will work with data analytics about customers, markets, competitors, transactional sales data, product mix data, and even real time data. This will provide you with the ability to transform data into relevant information on sales performance and efficiency, but also to develop key performance indicators for revenue and business profitability.
By combining this with costs, profitability and value creation tools and techniques you will be able to provide a transparent fact-based financial foundation for strategic sales decisions and make accurate predictions about customer needs and how customers behave in the future.
By simultaneously working with customer interaction and communication, the innovative business model and strategy, and the organisation and management of the salesforce, you will learn to optimise sales efficiency, customer value and business performance.
During the programme, you have various opportunities to create your own academic profile.
Electives
On the 3rd semester, you can choose to study courses of your specific interest. CBS offers a large number of electives within a wide range of topics. You can also choose to take electives at other Danish universities. The electives you choose have to be relevant for your programme.
See the current selection of CBS electives on Single courses and electives - Master.
Minor
On the 3rd semester, you can also choose to study a so-called minor. A minor is a package of electives within a specific academic area. Typically, it consists of 3 courses. By taking a minor, you strengthen your competences within a specific area of interest, and you can use it to qualify for specific jobs or industries.
See the current selection of CBS electives on Minors - Master.
Exchange
Many students choose to go on exchange on their 3rd semester; usually at one of CBS’ more than 300 partner universities. When you go on exchange through CBS, you do not have to pay for the teaching at the foreign university (with a few exceptions), and you can bring your SU (student grant).
Find a list of all CBS partner universities here.
Academic internship
You can choose to replace some of your electives with a so-called academic internship. The academic internship consists of an internship period at a company, which is then completed with a project report. You can do the internship at a company in Denmark or abroad.
When doing an internship you get the opportunity to relate theory to practice and reflect on the academic training you receive at CBS in a practical setting. Therefore, the project report and work assignments during your internship have to be relevant to your study programme.
CEMS - Master in International Management programme
On Sales Management, you can apply for the CEMS - Master in International Management programme. CEMS MIM is a double degree programme, which gives you the opportunity to add a second degree in international management to your CBS degree. This means that you will get both the MSc degree and the CEMS in International Management degree.
CEMS is a 1-year programme, which you study in combination with your CBS degree in your 3rd and 4th semester. Part of it takes place at one of the other CEMS universities abroad.
Learn more about CEMS / Master in International Management.
Master's thesis
Your 2nd year is completed with a master's thesis. You choose the topic you want to write about, which allows you to focus on a specific topic of your interest. Typically, you write your master's thesis with a fellow student.
Studying in English
If you do not have bachelor’s degree taught in English, we recommend that you read more about what to consider before applying for an English taught programme.
Student life at CBS
Studying at CBS is much more than just preparing for and going to classes.
At CBS, there are more than 23,000 students with different backgrounds and nationalities. Teamwork is an essential part of studying at CBS both in classes and in extracurricular activities.
With more than 100 student organisations, you also have plenty of opportunities to engage and connect with students across programmes and classes.
Learn more about the vibrant student life at CBS, the student organisations, and the international environment on Student life.
For internationals
If you are an international student, we have gathered a lot of information about what it is like to be an international student at CBS and how you can prepare for life in Denmark.
Read more on For internationals.
Teaching
Read more about Teaching and working methods on Student life.
Exams
Read more about Exams and exams types on Student life.
Time consumption
You should know that it is demanding to study in a graduate programme, and both the curriculum and workload is significantly higher than at bachelor level.
If you are studying on a full-time graduate programme, you should expect spending approximately 37 hours on average on your studies each week. The workload will vary during the year.
The time leading up to assignment submissions and exams can be hectic, and you can easily work more than 40 hours a week in this period. Preparing for oral exams can be especially time consuming, because you have to be able to explain and discuss the covered concepts and theories and learn things by heart.
Read more about Time consumption on Student Life.
Student job
Most programmes are quite flexible in terms of combining studies with a student job. Most students work a maximum of 15 hours a week in order to have sufficient time for their studies.
Studying in Denmark - for internationals
If this is your first time studying in Denmark, you may find teaching and exam formats, the grading scale and the academic calendar very different from what you are used to.
Read about everything you need to know as an international student studying at CBS on For internationals > Academic information.
What gets you the job?
The career opportunities for well-trained sales management graduates are excellent. Sales is a very large field of employment, both within Denmark and across the globe. Moreover, with rapid developments in digitalisation, big data analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the future of sales is also exciting. Although AI affects multiple business areas, its biggest impact pertains to marketing and sales.
Good sales managers are highly valued in strategic management, because they can utilise in-depth knowledge e.g. about sales management, digitalisation, and analytics, and advanced capabilities e.g. problem-solving, design thinking, change management, and knowledge brokering to address the challenging trends in today’s business environment.
And this is exactly where Sales Management comes in with its strategic focus and excellent access to the latest international top research.
Career opportunities
In times of globalisation and digitisation, sales executives and their teams often create the decisive competitive advantage for companies. Among others, we prepare you for the following tasks:
- Analysis of complex relationships such as business models in a digitalised context
- Solution-oriented strategies for internal and external sales measures
- Knowledge brokering skills between customer, engineers, data scientists, production, and other disciplines
- Leading large sales teams and customers
- Negotiating six- and multi-digit deals.
Graduates of this programme are expected to enter a wide range of careers in both the private and the public sectors in Denmark and internationally, such as:
- sales executive - nationally and internationally
- management and leadership positions in other business areas
- key account management
- entrepreneurial ventures
- consulting
- industries in the shared economy
- in scientific sales research.
Competence profile
In the competence profile you can find more information about the various competences you achieve on the programme:
COURSE OVERVIEW
1. semester | 2. semester | 3. semester | 4. semester |
Creating Innovation and Customer Value (7,5 ECTS) | Business Intelligence and Customer Insight (7,5 ECTS) |
Electives / Exchange / CEMS (30 ECTS)
|
|
Big Data Commercial Strategies (7,5 ECTS) | Performance Management (7,5 ECTS) | ||
Business Models for Digital Platform Ecosystems (7,5 ECTS) | Customer and Firm Profitability (7,5 ECTS) | ||
Professional Selling (7,5 ECTS) | Commercial Business Project (7,5 ECTS) |
You can read more about the programme, academic content and exams in the programme regulations for Sales Management.