The MSc in Marketing is offered jointly by the Faculties of Communication Sciences and of Economics of the Università della Svizzera italiana, USI, situated in Lugano – Switzerland. This full-time study programme comprises 120 ECTS spread over 4 semesters (usual duration 2 years) and is entirely offered in English.

Businesses and other organizations exist to serve clients. An organization depends on its customers and suppliers for the resources it needs in order to carry out its business. Managing relationships with customers and suppliers is thus the critical task in any company and requires specific skills and knowledge in particular in management, communication and economics. The aim of this Master is to explore the various aspects of managing market relationships and thus the task of marketing in different types of organizations. The distinctive feature of the programme is the attention to specific issues, not only in marketing consumer goods, but also in the service sectors, in business-to-business and international contexts.

Obiettivi
Organisations and businesses that seek success endeavor to serve their clients and customers effectively.
Since firms depend on customers and suppliers for the resources needed to carry out their business it is critical that management builds and sustains relationships with customers and suppliers The management of these relationships is critical for the development of any business. It is one of the key tasks of marketing and requires an effective understanding of how relationships work and will involve most management positions within the company.
Graduates from this programme will acquire competencies to meet the requirements of a professional career in companies of different size. The programme seeks to prepare participants to assume general management positions or to take up specialised positions such as product and marketing managers. Graduates may also take up professional positions in marketing research and communications.
The programme is designed to develop participants’ analytical and decision-making skills grounded in a solid knowledge of best management practices and a rigorous methodological approach. In particular it develops the capability to analyse and interpret markets as well as the ability to conceive and put into practice effective solutions that a company can adopt in dealing with various marketing situations. For this purpose traditional teaching is integrated with more active teaching methods, consisting of discussion of case histories, role-playing, business games, and work on individual and group projects.
The programme stretches over two years (120 ECTS credits) and is structured to allow students to personalise their study curricula following their individual interests. In the first semester students attend general management classes in order to acquire a broad knowledge of management. The second and third semesters are dedicated to core courses and electives. Students are required to take core courses in key marketing topics and methodologies, and to complete the curriculum with electives. They can also acquire minors in four areas such as: Digital Marketing-Digital Communication, Content Design, Public Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility. During the last semester students work in teams on a field project and write up their master’s thesis.

Destinatari
The formal requirement for admission to the Master in Marketing is a Bachelor’s degree granted by a recognised university in Social Sciences.
Candidates are expected to have acquired basic concepts of management, economics, marketing and statistics. Tutorials in these areas are offered before the beginning of the programme (accounting, marketing) or during the programme (statistics).
Candidates with a Bachelor’s degree from a University of Applied sciences may be admitted with a study debt of 30-60 extra ECTS to be earned:

• with Bachelor’s courses at USI which can be attended during the Master studies (please note that bachelor’s course at USI are taught in Italian)
• with Bachelor’s courses at another recognised University prior to start the Master studies. The university and list of courses to attend has to be agreed with the Director of the Master.

The Master in Marketing is entirely taught in English. . Applicants whose first degree was not taught in English, are required to at least have earned a B2 certificate according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages or an equivalent level of another proficiency certificate – e.g. TOEFL, IELTS.
Whilst it is an important requisite to be fluent in English, candidates do not need to know or learn Italian in order to successfully participate in the programmes.
As Lugano is located in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, students might be interested in acquiring the basics in Italian, in order to be able to get around in everyday life.
The University of Lugano offers an Italian language study programme organized in various modules. All its non Italian-speaking students, researchers and professors are invited to participate free of charge.

Sbocchi occupazionali
Graduates from this programme will acquire competencies to meet the requirements of a professional career in companies of different size. The programme seeks to prepare participants to assume general management positions or to take up specialised positions such as product and marketing managers. Graduates may also take up professional positions in marketing research and communications.

Contenuti
The two-year programme consists of general management courses, core courses, elective courses and the Capstone Work.
The General Management courses (30 ECTS) cover the main areas of management and are offered in common with the Master in Corporate Communication and the Master in Management. These are compulsory and to be taken during the first term.
The Core courses (36 ECTS) are specialization courses distributed on the second and third term. They include two methodology courses (Data Analysis and Marketing Research). Core course are compulsory.
The Elective courses (24 ECTS) are to be chosen from relevant courses on marketing related topics. The list of electives offered during each term can change. The choice of an elective is to be agreed upon with the program coordinator. Electives can be taken during the second and third term of the program (if needed also during the fourth term). The selection of specific elective courses allow students to obtain ‘minors’.
The Capstone Work (30 ECTS) consists in the Field project (12 ECTS) and the Master’s Thesis (18 ECTS), both to be carried out in the fourth term.

Sem. I General Management (30 ECTS)

• Managerial Economics 1
• Strategic Marketing
• Organizational Behavior
• Corporate Strategy
• Accounting
• Essentials of Finance

Sem. II Core Courses (36 ECTS)

• Consumer Behaviour
• Students are required to choose courses for 24 ECTS among a wide range of elective courses or among core courses offered in other USI’s Master programmes.
• The selection of specific elective courses allow students to obtain ‘minors’.
• Integrated Marketing Communication
• Business-to-Business
• Service Marketing
• Purchasing and Supply Chain Management

Sem. III

• Marketing Research
• Distribution Management
• Marketing Strategy and Planning
• Law
• Data Analysis

Sem. IV Capstone Work (30 ECTS)

• Field Project
• Thesis.

Note

Durata The academic year runs from September until June. Courses are held from September until December and from February until the end of May. The academic year also includes 3 exam sessions (January, June and September). Costo Tuition fees for the Master's degrees amount to CHF 4,000 per semester. Applicants whose official residence was in Switzerland (including Liechtenstein and Campione d'Italia) at the time of the final high school exam (Maturità) pay a reduced semester fee of CHF 2,000. Tuition fees are payable at the beginning of each term, by the deadline indicated on the invoice; fee payment is an essential condition for matriculating or renewing one's enrolment. Borse di studio e finanziamenti The Foundation for the Lugano Faculties of USI will award a total of 60 one-off study grants of the amount of 4'000 CHF each. The merit based grants are given to first year students admitted to a USI Master program starting in September. Other study grants are available. For more details, please, visit the following link: http://www.usi.ch/en/formazione-borse_studio.htm