Marketing operations provide the most visible links between the firm or institution and its many publics. It is a dynamic field with many dimensions, including product selection and planning, product distribution, pricing and promotion. Marketing poses many challenges and yields generous rewards for those meeting these challenges. Marketing operations are carried out domestically and internationally in virtually all business organizations offering a product or service. Many marketing concepts are also applicable to the operations of non-profit organizations such as governmental, educational, and health care institutions as well as charitable and political campaigns.
The marketing program at USF prepares students for initial entry and management positions in many areas of marketing with a curriculum that is concerned with:
- Understanding consumer behavior and the broader environment within which the firm or institution operates;
- Collecting, analyzing, and using information about customers, competitors, and the environment for managerial decisions;
- Distributing products effectively and efficiently from producer to user;
- Advertising and promoting the offerings of the firm or institution effectively;
- Creatively and effectively managing a sales force selling industrial or consumer goods and services, and
- Managing retail and wholesale operations including the conceptualization, implementation and evaluation of the buying, merchandising, and control functions.
Each student is strongly encouraged to set up an individualized plan of study with the assistance of a Marketing department faculty adviser. Such counseling can lead to a better definition of career objectives and will result in a plan of study that is consistent with each student's career objectives.
Undergraduate students in the College of Business not majoring in Marketing are encouraged to take selected offerings from the Marketing curriculum to broaden their backgrounds and to prepare for marketing-related positions in business or non-profit organizations.
