2024/25 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

LUBS5249M Creative Industries Management

15 creditsClass Size: 90

Module manager: James Roberts
Email: j.p.roberts@lubs.leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

Whilst the creative and cultural industries continue to grow, students undertaking creative ‘industries’ courses in universities often lack the distinctive knowledge of the operation and structure of the businesses in which they hope to be employed. Courses typically emphasise the practicalities of production, or a more academically focused critique of media theory. Hence little attention is paid to issues of business practice and administration. This module, seeks to address this gap and to provide you with the relevant theories, conceptual tools and factual information necessary to gain an understanding of, and be able to engage critically with, the realities of managing, working and progressing within the cultural and creative industries. Specifically, this module aims to give you a theoretical and practical understanding of the specific characteristics of the media sector in terms of how it is organised, the nature of companies within it, their business models and the major challenges they face in the current media environment.Such challenges include the proliferation of digital technologies with the potential to fundamentally shake existing business models of creation, transaction, and distribution (disassembly), yet also to offer reassembly through new tools for creativity, new architectures for mass collaboration and user involvement, and the accelerated generation of new market categories. By analysing the varying roles of digital technology in the creative industries, we aim to give students a better understanding of complex innovation and transformation processes on a number of levels – from organizational practices to industry structures – and in a number of spheres – economic, legal, and social – spanning both national and transnational institutional arrangements. Some of the questions we seek to answer during the course of the module include the following: - How are creative industries structured? What are their main operating principles?- How are creative industry business models evolving; what can we learn from detailed case studies? How are such business models discovered, devised and implemented? - How do existing firms rejuvenate through digital technologies?- Which are the groups that benefit from digitalization and which lose? - What are the effects on the creation and distribution of value?Hence the module is designed to provide you with the academic and practical skills to secure administrative and business orientated roles in creative and cultural organisations, whilst sensitising you to the specific characteristics of work in those sectors and major ongoing developments which impact them. In order to engage with both employability and relevance real life cases will be included throughout to ground learning in the practicalities of media functions, companies and markets.

Objectives

The module is designed to offer students interested in a career in the creative / cultural industries a critical overview of the structure of key sectors and their operating practices. The module will equip students with a practical understanding of the operation of companies, key issues (e.g. Intellectual property and copyright, the impact of digital technologies) combined with a contemporary understanding of academic perspectives on the sector. The module assumes no previous knowledge of the sector, but does assume a genuine interest in working in the field as a practitioner or academic.

Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this module, students will be able to critically evaluate:
- the way in which the sector is studied from an academic perspective and critique different approaches
- the key principles of organisation and commercial practice in companies in relevant industry sectors
- key business models in the sector (subscriptions, pay per view, packaged media sales, digital downloads etc.)
- the impact of issues such as new digital technologies on consumers, intellectual property, revenue models and industry structures
- the major changes currently evident in the media sector and how they might affect the operation of relevant companies in the future
- the specific challenges of managing firms in the creative / cultural sector

Skills outcomes
Upon completion of this module students will be able to:

Subject specific
- use relevant models, tools and techniques to analyse creative industries business problems
- adopt and utilise vocabulary that will allow them to engage with a variety of different business functions (finance, operations, marketing etc) including those specialist to the creative and cultural industries (e.g. Artists & Repertoire, content distribution, network development)
- undertake a commercially focused research project

Transferable
- work effectively in a team

Syllabus

The indicative syllabus includes the following areas:
- Introduction to research perspectives and approaches in creative industries management
- Sector studies – detailed review of the market / industry structure and operating practices within key sectors including TV, music, packaged media and performing arts
- The entertainment product and consumer
- Regulation, intellectual property and policy
- Digital economics - what has been the impact of developments in digital technology on key aspects of the operation of creative industries e.g. supply chain, marketing etc.
- Organisations, labour and management in cultural and creative industries
- Innovation and entrepreneurship in cultural and creative industries
- Undertaking management research and writing business plans / reports

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	11	1.00	11.00
Seminar	11	1.00	11.00
Private study hours			128.00
Total Contact hours			22.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			150.00

Private study

Private study will be encouraged in order to engage students with the wider context and encourage them to read widely around the subject; it will be needed as follows:

1, Reading to prepare for and reinforce understanding of topics introduced in the lectures. Estimated at 3 hours / lecture = 33 hours
2, Preparation of examples and other material for class discussion / seminars. Estimated at 4 hours / lecture = 44 hours.
3, Wider reading to explore knowledge and understanding of applications of and theoretical background to key issues and topics. Estimated at 1 hour / week x 11 weeks = 11 hours
4, Preparation for group assignment = 23 hours
5, Individual Assignment preparation = 17 hours.
6, References to appropriate websites will be given as needed and relevant research papers on the VLE.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Coaching provided for group assignment throughout the module.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	Individual 2,000 word assignment	80.00
Presentation	Group case study presentation	20.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Resit would be 100% by 2,000 word essay and production of an e-poster.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 03/10/2024 14:36:20

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