Mwenya Chikoti is studying the BA (Hons) Business Management with Marketing course at Leeds Business School. Mwenya shares her experience and highlights from the course including the work delivered on her marketing project, which sparked an interest in coding.

Course: BA (Hons) Business Management with Marketing

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and why you chose to study the course?

I was born and raised in Zambia and moved to Leeds at the beginning of this year to continue the first year of my degree, which I initially started online. Although I originally wanted to study sports management as I have always had a strong passion for sports, I chose this degree because I felt that it would give me the strong foundation I need to seamlessly insert myself into the ever-changing world of business.

Tell us about your experience of working on your marketing project - what was it about and what work did it involve?

We were given the opportunity to collaborate with a retail business to produce a poster for a marketing pitch, highlighting an innovative solution to reduce excessive online fashion returns. Although this was a group project, I completed it on my own as I was working overseas.

Overall, the experience was quite enlightening as we had to complete a vast amount of research to understand the fast fashion industry and why return rates are rapidly increasing. We explored various solutions that have already been established to inspire some of our own solutions, which also brought insight on advancements in technology and artificial intelligence.

What were the highlights of your time working on the project and how has it helped you?

While doing my research for the project, I came across various coding strategies that had been used by other businesses to enhance their predictive and proprietary algorithms. This was my highlight because it enabled me to explore and combine different coding strategies to establish the best approach I could take for my solution, to fulfil the purpose of the pitch. 

The research I carried out unexpectedly sparked an interest in coding for me. Ever since, I have been learning how to code with Python as I feel that it will help me gain some transferable skills, as well as give me the skills I need to carry out some of my future endeavours. 

What have you enjoyed most about the course and what are your plans for when you graduate? 

During my first year, I have enjoyed exploring various essential skills such as: critical thinking, problem solving, analytical and communicational skills. I have managed to develop these through the various projects and assignments that have been carried out throughout the year, for example: the business simulation project. I am keen to continue developing these skills as well as many more as I believe they are crucial to my personal development.

As my undergraduate course will provide me with a firm foundation; after I graduate, I would like to specialize a bit more and go on to complete a master’s degree in either sports marketing or consumer psychology. 

In the future, my dream would be to work for a brand with phenomenal psychologically driven marketing strategies. I believe that I would be able to not only learn from but also contribute positively to such companies, and aid in an expansion towards more African markets, as I believe they are undervalued and consist of a lot of untapped potential.

What would you say to someone who is thinking about studying the course? 

Without a doubt, go for it! I believe one of the most important things you need to remember about the business world is how dynamic it is. As the world is becoming a lot more unpredictable, establishing a firm foundation of key business knowledge and developing transferable skills is what I feel is important, to ensure you are able to adapt to any situation accordingly. 

One thing I appreciate about the course is its various assessment styles. It gives students an opportunity to shine in certain assessments that may be their forte, whilst also giving them the chance to learn from others in areas they may not be as strong in. 

One thing I will say is: make sure you read through the course specification to get some sort of insight into what the course is like. Personally, I have enjoyed the course so far and I would highly recommend it.