Undergraduate Course: Global Creative Industries: The art of business and the business of art (BUST10140)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Creative industries are an increasingly important area of business both for their cultural and economic value to society. The course examines creative industries as cultural production systems by drawing on a variety of disciplines (economics, sociology, strategic management) and by utilising specific cases to understand their historical, cultural, structural and competitive dynamics. This course is available to both 3rd and 4th year students and focuses on organisational strategies and market systems for dealing with uncertainty and complex cultural products. |
| Course description |
What do Spotify and the British Museum have in common? What processes led to the creation of molecular gastronomy and to the success of Cirque Du Soleil? Who can claim rights over a Banksy's work, given the anonymity of the artist? Exploring answers to these and other questions, the course aims to introduce students to the basic dimensions that constitute a creative industry. The course is organized around key roles and concepts in cultural production systems. Creative industries may be purpose-driven, expressing ideas, identities, aesthetics and culture; they may be profit-driven, seeking commercial success and competitive advantage. Most of the time, they pursue both aims, in various combinations. Creative industries include large global corporations, public entities, entrepreneurial firms and individual creators. They may serve local markets, export their services or products, or link producers and consumers. They involve different actors and possess distinctive properties. We will draw on three sources of knowledge: 1) theoretical frameworks and research findings from sociology, economics, and strategy; 2) cases and media accounts of specific organisations, and 3) guest speakers. We will discuss how value is created, organised, defined and protected; who are the actors involved in different creative industries; how creativity, innovation and change are made possible and sustainable; how knowledge from creative industries can be transferred to other business settings.
The course is client-based: individually and in teams, you will work on a real problem faced by a cultural organisation based in Edinburgh, and develop strategic recommendations to address their issues. The consulting challenge will require intense group work, high-quality output, and frequent engagement with the client and the lecturer.
In the first part of the course, as individuals, you will prepare an analytical overview of the client organisation applying sociological and economic frameworks. Your analysis will be presented as a slide deck, which will weight 35% on the individual final mark.
In the second part of the course, as a team, you will analyse the challenges presented to you by the client organisation and develop solid and well-informed strategies for addressing these challenges. As a team, you will seek sources of information, analyse data, and present your analysis to the client. The lecturer and client organisation will provide feedback on the presentation, to be carefully considered in the writing and refinement of the final report.
Final reports will be submitted to the lecturer for assessment and feedback (65% of the final mark, 30% of which is moderated through WebPA). Reports that meet a mark of 60 or above will be sent to the client by the lecturer. The client will provide a summary feedback on each team¿s report. The goal is to deliver a high-quality report to the client: content, design, and structure are expected to be in line with industry standards.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Honours entry. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students must have at least 4 Business courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2022/23, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 45 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Revision Session Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
35% (Individual): Slide deck
65% (Group) Assessments: 70% Lecturer, 30% Peer Assessment
|
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Acquire knowledge of the key concepts and theoretical frameworks for analysing creative industries and how temporal and locational patterns may influence these concepts and frameworks.
- Apply concepts and frameworks to new situations to generate original insights and reflect on appropriate strategies and practices.
- Demonstrate and improve effective communication skills: engaging audiences, articulating core arguments, presenting the results of elaborate analysis, and persuasively offering strategies and solutions to emerging issues.
- Demonstrate capacity to work effectively with others; contributing as needed, engaging in appropriate roles, coping with issues and coordinating activities.
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Reading List
Essential text:
- Becker, H. (1982). Art Worlds. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
- Caves, R.E. (2000). Creative Industries: Contracts between art and commerce. Cambridge. MA: Harvard University Books.
Recommended texts:
- Jones, C., Lorenzen, M. and Sapsed, J. (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Creative Industries. Oxford: United Kingdom. (Chapters 1, 7, 10)
Recommended texts on Data Visualization:
- McCandless, D. (2009). Information is beautiful. London: Collins.
- Few, S. (2006). Information dashboard design: The effective visual communication of data. Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly.
Case Studies and Reading Lists (articles available online) to be announced.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Knowledge and Understanding:
- Analyses a creative industry as a cultural production system, and applies theory and frameworks to new contexts and situations.
- Understands the key dimensions by which creative industries are organized and differentiated from other industries.
- Understands the key roles and activities in creative industries such as cultural entrepreneurs, brokers, distributors, critics, and audiences, and how they interrelate.
- Demonstrates knowledge of how temporal and locational patterns influence creative products, processes, demand and pricing.
Personal and Intellectual Autonomy:
- Has ability to analyse complex business situations and rapidly structure ideas and arguments.
- Synthesizes and articulates relevant information about cultural production in a clear, sound and explicit way.
- Demonstrates original insights and recommendations for strategic action.
Transferable Skills:
- Applies concepts and frameworks to complex organizations and industries to generate insights into strategic dynamics and processes.
- Demonstrates skills of argument, persuasion and the ability to communicate analyses and conclusions clearly and persuasively.
- Has ability to work in teams, setting common goals and managing collaboration.
- Demonstrates effective communication and presentation skills.
- Has ability to research and filter business information quickly and effectively.
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| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Team Charter: 1-2 pages (0% but required)
Team presentations not independently marked, but formative feedback from lecturer and client organisation to carefully consider in final report.
Final report: 4500-5000 words (+/- 5%)
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| Keywords | Creative industries; strategy; cultural institutions; cultural production |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Giovanni Formilan
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Nikki Kohly
Tel: (0131 6)50 3825
Email: |
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