Digital marketing and transformation taught in English (Double degree master’s programme with Abertay University, Scotland) and MBA on Global Operations and Analytics (Double MBA Programme with University of Abertay Dundee)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The MSc in Digital Marketing and Transformation (3 semesters) is a joint programme between Abertay University and the University of National and World Economy. It is designed for students who have completed a Bachelor's or Master's degree, without limitation of professional field. The programme is in the professional field of Economics and aims to further develop and upgrade both the students' knowledge in the field of digital marketing and their managerial skills. In terms of content, the training in this programme is a process of building specialised knowledge and skills, and of turning the participant in the programme into an expert capable of managing the activities and processes of creating and implementing digital marketing strategies.

Modern organisations - whether commercial or non-commercial, private or public, state or non-state - depend more than ever on their experts and managers. The entry of marketing as a function into modern organizations is driven by the need to continually attract and retain users of the services they provide. In turn, the penetration of digital technology in all marketing activities and disciplines requires the expression of professionals with specific knowledge and skills. Organisations need managers and experts who understand, and on this basis manage, including researching, analysing, creating, developing and exploiting, digital marketing technologies as a means, and increasingly as a prerequisite, for maintaining and developing relationships with consumers and with other elements of their environment. The listed activities and tasks imply the presence of specialists suitable for different levels - executive, expert, middle manager and senior manager. Organizations need managers and experts in all areas of digital marketing including, but not limited to, search engine marketing, social media advertising, email marketing, use of chatbots, influencer marketing, and mobile technology in marketing.

The main objective of the Master's programme in Digital Marketing and Transformation is to prepare highly qualified specialists for expert, middle managerial and senior managerial level who are able to formulate, research and analyse unstructured problems related to the digital environment of the organisation; are able to develop and apply research tools specifically designed for the digital world; and are able to propose and justify non-standard and creative digital marketing decisions based on the

Additional learning objectives of the Digital Marketing and Transformation programme are:

• to deepen and further develop knowledge in marketing logic and philosophy to a specialist/expert level;
• building and enriching knowledge of the application of digital technologies in all areas of marketing;
• building and further developing knowledge and skills to search, evaluate, process and analyse large amounts of structured and unstructured data in order to formulate and implement digital marketing strategies and non-standard solutions to marketing problems arising in the digital world;
• building and further developing knowledge and skills for middle and senior management in the field of digital marketing, including decision making; for the selection and management of human resources in the field of digital marketing; for leading the processes of developing and implementing digital marketing strategies and programmes; for assessing the performance of individuals, teams and organisations based on a set of digital marketing metrics.

PROFESSIONAL REALIZATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR FURTHER TRAINING

The Master's programme in Digital Marketing and Transformation opens the door for both business and management of digital marketing activities of non-profit organisations. The excellent career opportunities are due to the knowledge, skills and competences to analyse problems and propose workable solutions using the tools and techniques of marketing in a digital environment.

With their knowledge, skills and professional competences, graduates of the Master's degree in Digital Marketing and Transformation are well prepared to take up expert and middle management positions, and in the future - senior management positions, in a wide range of organisations: bodies of state and local government (ministries, committees, agencies, regional administrations); large, medium and small companies, holdings, associations, corporations; public and private organisations in the fields of health, education, social activities; financial institutions (banks, stock exchanges, public They can also work in specialized marketing service agencies: digital advertising agencies, digital PR agencies, media planning agencies, direct marketing agencies, consulting and auditing companies in the field of digital marketing, etc.

Graduates of the Master's programme in Digital Marketing and Transformation can also continue their development as PhD students in universities, institutes and research centres.

MBA on Global Operations and Analytics (Double MBA Programme with University of Abertay Dundee)

PURPOSE OF TRAINING

The dynamic development of business relations in Bulgaria and the peculiarities of the transition to a Global market economy require the improvement of the currently existing curriculum in the UNWE and especially the ones that must satisfy the business’ needs for a mid- to-higher level management staff. These graduates must possess the necessary contemporary knowledge and skills for managing business structures and subsystems.

The curriculum is in line with the requirements of the curricula of Abertay University – a distinguished partner of UNWE and leader in international MBA training. This accreditation makes it possible to obtain two degrees from UNWE and from AU respectively. For this reason, it is required that applicants speak English.

The Department of Management, which will organize the training from the side of UNWE, has very well-prepared, qualified teaching staff who have extensive international experience and recognition.

Main learning objectives:

• Learning all the necessary fundamental and special knowledge and skills for the successful employment of the graduates at mid-to-higher level of management;
• Preparing graduates as universal problem solvers with enhanced leadership qualities;
• Creating an attitude to study and apply the latest scientific achievements;
• Confirmation of UNWE as a leading training and qualification centre in the field of business administration.

CONTENT OF THE TRAINING

In the first semester, students study disciplines from the compulsory block, which covers more contemporary fundamental management concepts.

In the second semester, facultative and optional subjects are studied. The optional are organized in two tracks, which makes it possible for students to specialise based on their own preferences: track 1 is focused on operations and project management; track 2 is focused on business analytics, data and AI.

In the third semester, compulsory and optional special subjects are studied, focused mainly on preparing the graduating thesis and all research and personal development activities related to it.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCES

Graduates of the Master of Business Administration programme will acquire the following knowledge and skills:

• theoretical foundations and principles on which the practice of economic and administrative management is built, including the contemporary state of theory and practice for a globalised market economy;
• the methodological foundations of organizational development and the resulting methods of organizing, designing, preparing, analysing and making decisions and working with people in the organization;
• knowledge and skills for contemporary management technologies and the use of new information and technical means to support the activities of business management;
• specific knowledge and skills in the field of AI, data analytics, global operations management, the implementation of research studies when determining the development goals of business organizations;
• specific knowledge and skills in the field of diagnostics of the globalised business, the disclosure and overcoming of problem situations, and the creation of a favourable social-psychological climate in organizations;
• specific knowledge and skills for solving problems arising in business management as a result of the influence of the environment in which business organizations operate - economic, technological, socio-cultural, ESG, legal, political and others.

Graduates of the Master of Business Administration shall acquire the following competencies:

Independence and responsibility

• Ability to administratively manage complex professional activities, including teams and resources.
• Taking responsibility for making decisions in complex conditions, under the influence of various interacting and difficult to predict factors.
• Creativity and initiative in managerial activity.
• Assessing the need to train others in order to increase team effectiveness.

Learning Competencies

• Consistent assessment of one's own qualifications by assessing the knowledge and skills acquired so far and planning the need to expand and update the professional qualification.
• Communicative and social competences
• Formulation and clear presentation of comprehensible ideas, problems and solutions to specialists and non-specialists.
• Attitude and understanding of issues using methods based on qualitative and quantitative descriptions and evaluations.
• Broad personal World-view and empathic understanding of others.
• Fully communicated in English.

Professional competences

• Collecting, classifying, evaluating and interpreting data from the field of Business Administration is the goal of solving specific tasks.
• Application of acquired knowledge and skills in new or unfamiliar conditions.
• Ability to analyse in a broader or interdisciplinary context.
• Using contemporary strategic approaches.
• Forming and expressing one's own opinion on problems of a social and ethical nature arising in the work process.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES

Graduates of Master of Business Administration shall open the opportunity for successful professional realization as:

• heads of mid-to-higher management levels of organizations;
• functional and line specialists in the management hierarchy of companies;
•  Advisors of the top management in business organizations;
• management specialists and experts in the R & D departments of the organizations;
• consultants and experts in management and organizational development in specialized companies and research organizations.

Graduates of the Master of Business Administration programme have the opportunity to continue their studies in postgraduate levels in all economic, social, and natural sciences.