Management and Corporate Sustainability - MSc

Corporate Social Responsibility, or Corporate Sustainability as leading companies are increasingly re-naming it, has never been more relevant to our organisations. By maximising positive social and environmental business impacts as well as economic ones, this strategic approach creates business opportunities, enables the business to flourish in the long term, and ensures that organisations have a positive impact in the world. The Cranfield Management and Corporate Sustainability MSc will teach you the practicalities of how businesses successfully embed sustainability into their core business purpose and strategy.

The programme equally provides a world-class practical education in the management disciplines required for all senior leadership positions. It therefore shares a number of modules and other programme activities with our Management MSc programme, which is ranked 1st in the UK and 7th in the world in The Economist Which MBA? Masters in Management (MiM) 2017 ranking.

Who is it for?

• Graduates with a keen interest in the social, environmental and economic impact that organisations have on the world, and who aspire to embed sustainability into their future management career across a varied range of private, public and not-for-profit organisations, sectors and roles.
• Early career professionals who wish to transition into a sustainability-focused role.

Why this course?

More than just an academic institution, Cranfield School of Management’s world-class research, consulting and teaching result in practical management solutions that are transforming the world of business today. For 50 years, we have been working with leading companies across the globe, pursuing our mission to improve the practice of management.

Teaching at Cranfield is exclusively focused on postgraduate and executive levels and is designed to nurture your practical business skills and confidence, and places huge emphasis on real-world challenges. You will learn to act on evidence in order to make better management decisions. This leadership development journey explores your personality to help you understand your strengths and weaknesses.

The Cranfield Management and Corporate Sustainability MSc is a highly practical course featuring a distinctive blend of theory and application. You will gain the knowledge and skills required for a career focused on business sustainability, and working with some of our partner organisations you will put this learning into action by working on sustainability projects, finding real business solutions to complex sustainability issues.

You will gain valuable insight into sustainability in practice through a series of master classes and presentations from specialists in the field. Previous masterclass topics have included sustainability marketing, system change, environmental management systems, sustainable innovation, sustainable finance, the board-investor relationship and many more. Some are delivered by companies such as Marks & Spencer, L&G and Diageo at their head offices. Recent guest speakers have included:

You will also have the opportunity to attend corporate social responsibility/sustainability events and conferences with our faculty, including ‘Doing Good Doing Well’ in Barcelona, a two-day conference which includes prominent speakers.

Throughout the programme you will also benefit from the extensive expertise and networks available within our internationally recognised Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility. The Centre works to empower managers with the knowledge and skills to lead successful, sustainable organisations, and includes prominent members including its director Professor David Grayson who teaches on this programme. He has worked with many leading global businesses including BP, Shell, Microsoft and Diageo, as well as OECD, the European Union and the World Bank.

Cranfield is one of the early signatories to the UN Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRIME), and focuses on teaching sustainable business practice that addresses society’s social, environmental and economic goals.

Accreditation

The Cranfield Management and Corporate Sustainability MSc is a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) dual accreditation degree. This provides the opportunity to stand out from other management graduates by achieving the CMI’s professional management qualification alongside your Cranfield degree. 

The CMI is the only chartered professional body in the UK dedicated to promoting the highest standards in management and leadership excellence. It is the only organisation awarding Chartered Manager status, and has a 100,000+ membership.

Course details

The course comprises thirteen modules, eight covering general management skills and five specialising in corporate sustainability. The ‘Sustainability in Practice’ module provides the opportunity to undertake a practical sustainable business consultancy project. The thesis is also a practical exercise, albeit informed by up-to-date theory. Previous thesis projects have involved working with company sponsors such as Heineken and easyJet. The ‘Managing Corporate Sustainability’ and ‘Creating Sustainable Organisations’ modules provide practical leadership skills in driving sustainable business, from strategic issues such as the circular economy to topics such as sustainable innovation, reporting and employee engagement. The ‘Applied Science and Technology for Environmental Sustainability’ module is taught by environmental experts from Cranfield’s School of Water, Energy and Environment, and provides the specialist skills needed to assess and manage environmental impacts from operations to the supply chain.

Individual project

The thesis will require you to undertake a major research project based on a real sustainability business issue. You will apply your management knowledge, skills and analytical abilities to real-life situations and demonstrate your ability to research issues, critically evaluate data and information, apply tools and techniques to solve management problems, and write a report concisely, informatively and persuasively.

Assessment

Taught modules (65%) are assessed by a combination of group work, written assignments, and examination. The individual thesis (35%) is written individually and submitted at the end of the course.

Your career

At Cranfield you will receive support to help you plan an effective career strategy, whether you are looking to secure your first role in corporate sustainability, or wanting to take your career to the next level. The Cranfield Career Development Service will help you to plan your personal and professional development and provide you with lifelong career management skills.

Last year's Management and Corporate Sustainability MSc graduates secured jobs with a diverse range of companies including Coca-Cola Enterprises, Heineken, USB Asset Management and SIRE Life Sciences.

Visit the Management and Corporate Sustainability - MSc page on the Cranfield University website for more details!