1. e-Business Integration with Short Work Placements Rikke Duus Senior Lecturer in Marketing The Business School (r.1.duus@herts.ac.uk)

2. Business & Academia Coming Together Learning through business engagement Business briefing Mentored by agencies Live client projects Commercial pitch Work placements e-mktgEDGE (event)

3. The Digital Marketing Agency #1 Placement Winner Selecting the Work Placement Teams Student Team 1 Student Team 2 Student Team 3 Student Team 4 Commercial Project Pitch Academic Teaching Team Digital Marketing Agencies

4. Commercial Project Pitch Student attitudes towards the commercial project pitch... 71%...I intend to submit the pitch 73%...it’s important for me to submit the pitch 72%...important for me to include on CV 78%...would be a great victory to win 50%...adds additional pressure 83%...will help me get a job once I graduate 94%...expand my knowledge of e-marketing 56%...the placement can help me get a sandwich placement 83%...I have a good chance of winning

5. Commercial Project Pitch Student expectations towards the work placement... Expectations ExperienceKnowledgeInsightFeedback

6. Student Work Placements Assignment linked with work placement: Creative e-Marketing Project (30%) Purpose of the placement;  To get the opportunity to work on the Creative e-Marketing Project with help from the agency  Unique insight into the everyday operations of a digital agency  Potential placement/internship opportunities  Achievement for the CV

7. What did the winning student teams think of the work placement?

8. Evaluation of Work Placements Were you surprised that you won the work placement? YES – 7 students  Wasn't too sure whether we had done enough to win  Was unexpected (...) other groups’ pitches were more creative  I didn’t feel we were creative enough  Presentation was quite basic and we thought it might not be enough  Other groups were submitting so I thought the chance of winning would be low  I thought that other teams would have done as well as us NO – 3 students  Put a lot of effort into our pitch and believed it was good  Work was of a high standard  We exceeded our limit

9. Evaluation of Work Placements What have you learnt from attending the work placement?  More about putting ideas into action  How things get done in a real business  There should always be an explanation behind a suggestion  To think through an idea – is it achievable and how much will it cost?  Even small details can have a big impact  How agencies use online marketing to attract customers  The different roles within a marketing agency  More about the subject area and general office workings Themes: Application of theory / Justification of ideas Subject knowledge / How an agency works

10. Evaluation of Work Placements If you were given the opportunity to go on a work placement again, would you be interested?  Insight into working life, experience and something to put on your CV  The amount of experience you gain is invaluable  It was good experience and will help me to apply the theory  The more experience the better and it would look better on my CV  Great opportunity to apply theory to a real business environment  Understand the subject from a company’s view and learn from it as you are doing practical work for that company  The placement was interesting, beneficial and motivating by achieving real life goals Themes: Experience / CV / Application of theory 10 out of 10

11. Evaluation of Work Placements Has the work placement helped you with your Creative e-Marketing Project?  More ideas & research and confirmed to us that we were on the right track  More viable and understandable ideas useful to the client  Chance to discuss our ideas with agency and pick the most suitable  Improved content of the work through discussions with the agency  Helped us to understand the work a lot better, get new ideas & make improvements  Learned to work well in a team Themes: New ideas through interaction with agency / Improve content of work 9 out of 10

12. Evaluation of Work Placements 10 out of 10 students: would like it if more modules included a work placements to prepare them for the future 8 out of 10 students: thought they would receive a higher mark for the Creative e-Marketing Project due to having been on the work placement 8 out of 10 students: thought the work placement would enhance their job opportunities upon graduation

13. Unique Achievement Student offered paid 10-month placement with agency due to achievements on the work placement... Student offered paid 10-month placement with agency due to achievements on the work placement...

14. Conclusions  More communication with agencies regarding the activities planned during the work placement  More clear communication to the students on what will happen during the placement to manage their expectations and make them able to prepare better  Purpose of placement & student experience is a match  Subject knowledge was enhanced through ‘real’ business case studies and application of theory to practice during the work placement  The students saw the benefits of the experience gained and how it will add value to their CVs

15. Discussion Questions  Should the project pitch be mandatory or optional?  Is it important that all students get to do the placement?  How can the placement scheme be taken further?  How can we engage students so they fully understand what opportunities are offered to them e.g. work placements?