MA Business and Management

The MA in Business and Management has specialist pathways in Marketing, Enterprise, Accounting and International Business. This exciting programme is specifically designed to help you to develop your knowledge and understanding of business and management and be able to implement this effectively across a wide range of complex business-based scenarios as well as in an international context.

You will engage in the advanced study of a diverse range of organisations and the rapidly changing environments in which they operate both nationally and internationally. You will enhance both your academic research skills and the practical management skills that you will need in order to manage human resources, complex organisational systems and the challenging issues affecting business in a rigorous, pragmatic and effective manner.

COURSE STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

The programme is offered in a modular format offering you the greatest choice in tailoring your final degree content to match your academic interest and future career development. You will take a mix of taught modules in the first two trimesters (120 credits) and complete a dissertation/research project (15,000–20,000 words) in the third trimester (60 credits). To achieve the MA you will need to complete 180 credits in total.

In addition to the general MA in Business and Management, there are also specialist pathways available in Marketing, Enterprise, Accounting and International Business. The specialist pathways in Marketing and Enterprise are accredited by The Chartered Institute of Marketing as meeting the qualification criterion for entry into the Professional Diploma in Marketing.

MODULES

Trimester 1
By the end of the first trimester you will have developed a core of knowledge about the contemporary business environment and the management skills, through the core 30 credit module. In addition, you will have begun to gain an insight into the key themes that will comprise your final degree, taking one further compulsory 15 credit module dependent upon your specialist pathway choice, together with one optional 15 credit module.

- Management in Practice
- Business Economics
- Marketing Management
- Financial and Management Accounting
- Managing innovation, Creativity and Change

Trimester 2
All students take four 15 credit modules. If you are following a specialist pathway you will take two compulsory 15 credit modules, each one forming a key component of your discipline of choice. You can then choose two further optional 15 credit modules, designed to enable you to tailor your degree, whilst demonstrating the broadening of your knowledge and understanding from an interdisciplinary perspective.

- Strategy and Governance
- Managing People
- Services and Relationship Marketing
- Entrepreneurship
- Marketing Communications
- Managing the Organisation
- Non-Profit Management
- Financial and Management Accounting
- International Financial Management
- International Business and Management

Trimester 3
In Trimester 3 you will work on your consultancy project or dissertation (60 credits). This is supported by a nominated supervisor. The teaching commences with a series of taught interventions designed to promote scholarly endeavour in the research context - resulting in the formulation of a clearly articulated research proposal outlining your research questions and the framing of the detailed work to be undertaken.

The consultancy project or dissertation gives you the opportunity to explain to yourself what you have learned about business and management and to demonstrate how you will apply this knowledge. Writing the consultancy project or dissertation provides you with a unique opportunity to consolidate the evidence you have assembled during the course and to subject it to rigorous academic analysis and practical application. As a guide the consultancy project or dissertation will be between 15,000 and 20,000 words.

TEACHING METHODS

- Lectures
- Seminar discussions, group- work, presentations
- Case studies and problem based learning
- Role plays
- Management exercises
- Field research
- Internet searches

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the time you complete the programme, you will be able to:
- Understand the major business functions - understanding markets, developing plans, understanding and improving delivery, managing relationships with people, managing finance, technology and other resources;
- Develop skills and techniques - in gathering, analysing and evaluating information, planning, applying concepts and models to the solution of problems, evaluating risk, making decisions, communicating, working in teams, thinking effectively and in flexibly managing your own work and that of others;
- Evaluate and challenge both the positive and negative effects of a range of business and management practices and be able to make judgements about their value and implications;
- Apply your learning in a variety of business contexts ranging from the experience of large multinational organisations to sole party ownership; through different industry and sector specific experience; and through analysis of enterprise at different stages of development - self- employment, start- up and small business.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

This programme is designed to prepare participants for a wide range of careers in general management across all industry sectors and in the international environment. It will prepare you for entry level into management and ready you for progression to middle management positions. The advanced learning that it provides delivers practical management based skills and techniques that are directly applicable to a wide range of occupations. Study within the specialist pathways allows for further concentration of skills and techniques in marketing and in business start- up and small and medium size business management. The specialist pathways in Marketing and Enterprise are accredited by The Chartered Institute of Marketing as meeting the qualification criterion for entry into the Professional Diploma in Marketing. The content of the programme is also directly applicable to those participants who wish to work in a self- employed capacity in the creative and performing arts sectors.