Management

Management

1. 2016 Entry
2. 2017 Entry

• Overview
• Course content
• Teaching staff
• Accreditations
• Entry requirements
• Tuition fees and term dates
• Career opportunities

Overview

Ranked in the UK's top four by the Financial Times Ranking 2015 (#24 globally)

• 4th in the UK, 21st in Europe (Financial Times Masters in Management Ranking 2015)
• 2nd best salary in the UK after graduation (Financial Times Masters in Management Ranking 2015)
• Best gender balance in the UK (Students and advisory board, Financial Times Masters in Management Ranking 2015)
• Most student aims achieved in the UK (Financial Times Masters in Management Ranking 2013)
• Strong international course experience, top 3 in the UK for 5 years running (Financial Times Masters in Management Ranking 2011-2015)
• Strong international mobility, top 3 in the UK for 4 years running (Financial Times Masters in Management Ranking 2012-2015)

Facts and figures

Intake: September only
Duration: 12 months full-time
Fees: £23,000
Financial support: Please see our Scholarships page
Application deadline: Closed for 2016/7 entry
Applications: CLOSED

The course is based on an MBA style curriculum and is academically rigorous without neglecting the applied, practical aspects of management education. Students come from a variety of backgrounds to experience the unique Cass environment of learning, teamwork and collaboration.

The course equips you with both the foundations of business management and the most advanced tools and theories. These often come directly from the research carried out by Cass's world renowned faculty.

In 2013/14 the course features students from over 32 different countries from four continents. Course content reflects this international mobility, equipping students with the skills necessary to perform in the global business community.

Practical focus

We regularly review the MSc in Management to ensure it meets the needs of industry and is up-to-date on issues of both theory and practice. An Advisory Board, made up of prominent members of the local business community, meets regulalry to provide expert guidance on course developments.

• Angela Antetomaso - Media Specialist, CNBC
• Michael Brotherston - Marketing Manager, Johnson & Johnson
• Rene Carayol - MD, Carayol Ltd
• Terry Durkin - PC Category Director, Hewlett Packard UK & Ireland
• Graham Hales - MD, Interbrand
• Ian Jones - Operations Transformation Director, RoyalMail
• Alan Leaman - CEO, Management Consultancy Association
• Per Larsen - Partner, Huddlebuy
• Philippe Marmara - VP Chief Marketing Officer, Global Praxis
• Asher Rickayzen - Director, Relume Ltd
• Alessandro Martinez - Finance Director, Stanley Black and Decker
• Niall Ryan - HR Director, Harrods
• Ozana Giusca - Managing Director, Bridge Europe Consulting
• Frehiwot Fisseha - Head of SAP Unit at the International Maritime Organization, UN
• Joss Tantram Partner - Corporate Sustainability, Terrafiniti LLP
• Alan Braithwaite - Partner Consultant , LCP
• John Lockton - Partner Consultant, LCP
• Richard Soloman - Deputy Group Head Accountant, RBS
• Stephen Warrington - Partner, PWC - Diamond Advisory Services
• Debbie Maitland - Director of Talent Development at Lubrizol
• Simon Feeney - Category Manager – Aircraft Cabins Procurement, Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd

Individual Appointments

If you would like to arrange an individual appointment to discuss this programme please email: Jessica Sprake

Apply now >

Course content

We regularly review all our courses to keep them up-to-date on issues of both theory and practice. Consequently, there may be some change to the detailed content of the modules and occasionally to module titles.

The course commences in September with a Foundations of Management workshop which prepares students with some of the concepts necessary to complete the programme, and includes careers and professional skills development workshops. The course consists of complusory core modules, as well as a choice of electives, including some international elective options in term three.

MSc Students on the Start Ups: International Field Trip elective in 2015*

Term 1

Four core modules

Accounting & Finance

The aim of the module is to equip you with an understanding of the most common financial and accounting techniques and practices. Seeking a career in professional services, and more generally in the management and business arena, you need to have a thorough understanding of the fundamental principles in finance. The accounting and finance module is designed to teach you key areas of accounting and finance that every modern and successful manager should be aware of.

Principles of Marketing & Strategy

A sound understanding of marketing and strategy principles and practices is an essential component of the range of skills an effective manager needs in modern organisations. Such understanding will enhance your role within any organisation. Although there are synergies resulting from the combination of two disciplines, the two subjects are taught separately as varying skills and knowledge are required for each subject. The aim of the module is to assist you in developing a strong foundation in strategy and marketing relevant to your future career in management.

Organisational Behaviour & HRM

Organisational Behaviour (OB) and Human Resource Management (HRM) principles and practices encompass the so-called ‘soft skills’ that employers require from university graduates. These skills are transferable, meaning they can be used in many different contexts and types of role, and are essential for the effective and modern manager-to-be. The transferable, soft-skills that you will develop on this module include personal qualities and attitudes that help you to work well with others and make a positive contribution to organisations you work for.

Quantitative Methods for Business

This module introduces some principal quantitative methods for analysing data related to various aspects of running a business. In many instances, the application of quantitative methods may improve the quality of business decisions, by grounding those decisions in analyses of available data rather than the gut feelings or preferences of decision makers.

Term 2

Two core modules

Business & Managerial Economics

This module provides you with an understanding and practical knowledge of economics. The course assumes no background in economics, covers basic microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, and concentrates on the application of that theory and on the making and analysis of economic policy.

Managerial economics is a branch of economics that applies microeconomic analysis to decision methods of businesses or other management units. As such, it bridges economic theory and economics in practice. It draws heavily from quantitative techniques such as regression analysis, correlation and calculus. The module integrates many concepts from financial economics, game theory, business forecasting and industrial economics.

Research Methods for Business

This module provides a set of analytical and methodological tools that will be fundamental for carrying out research projects based on empirical data. Managers, consultants, analysts, bankers, entrepreneurs, all face the issue of how to draw reliable conclusions from empirical data e.g. data on customers, competitors, geographical areas, etc. Any business needs research and, to be successful, any business needs methodologically sound and rigorous research.

This module has both short-term and long-term educational aims. The short-term objective is preparing you to craft your final projects in the pursuit of an MSc degree, by providing the essential methodological tools necessary for conducting their empirically-based projects at best. The long-term objective is offering a set of analytical and methodological tools that will be fundamental to your future career, whatever research project based on empirical data you will be called to do in your future job.

Plus two from:

Supply Chain Management

This module is a combined version of operations management (OM) and supply chain management (SCM) modules with more emphasis on analytical skills. In any industry, managing process, operations and supply chain is one of the most important tasks of a modern enterprise. Therefore, having a thorough understanding of these two areas is critical to your success in your MSc in Management.

The aim of this module is to provide you with a postgraduate level understanding of the key topics of OM and SCM

Leadership & Change

The purpose of this module is to facilitate your understanding of organisational change through the lens of leadership. This will be achieved by introducing you to different theoretical approaches to leadership and organisational change, critically evaluating supporting evidence from research and practice, and encouraging you to reflect on your own role as a future organisational leader. A key aspect of the module will be to reflect on different leadership styles and how these may need to vary across different international work settings.

Advanced Strategy Analysis

This course asks why some firms are more successful than others and explores what corporate executives can do to enable superior results. This course revolves around two advanced topics in strategic management: a) knowledge and innovation and b) corporate strategy.

International Finance

Business executives cannot ignore the international dimension in finance. A proper understanding of the fundamental issues behind international trade, international capital flows, the rise to prominence of the multinational corporation, and international debt (including balance of payments debt) has important bearings on business decisions.

This module aims to allow you to get a solid grasp of the following topics: international trade and the multinational corporation, the global FX and derivatives markets, FX risk and currency exposure, use of derivatives and cash market hedges to mitigate FX exposure, international loans and bond issues, swap-driven financing, natural and real hedges and other strategies to mitigate long-term operating risks.

Entrepreneurship

The main aim of this module is to provide an understanding of the basic and essential issues in entrepreneurship and to provide some of the skills you will need to become an entrepreneur or to act entrepreneurially within existing organisational settings. This is an integrative module addressing both the theoretical and practical issues of entrepreneurship.

The module will start with a general view over the latest theoretical approach to entrepreneurship. It will then move on to the more practical issues in entrepreneurship: identifying the opportunity, gathering the resources and the team. In this respect, we will be developing a business idea using the business model canvas and we will practice on how to pitch to investors.

Term 3

All students study three elective modules and must write a Business Research Project.

One elective must be chosen from the following:

Business and Society

This module explores the role of the firm in the 21st Century. It goes beyond corporate social responsibility and the economic concept of the firm and explores the concept of the licence to operate. It attempts to answer the question What is the contract between businesses and society in the early 21st century?

A business cannot operate in a vacuum without understanding and managing its impact on the communities (or society) where it operates. Simple concepts of economic wellbeing by creating jobs and paying tax are no longer sufficient to justify why a society should allow a company to exist. Equally the labour concept and motivation of a fair days work for a fair wage seems dated in a post Fordist society. The brightest and the best are motivated to work and to perform for organisations that go beyond the wage packet and perform in an ethical context. Understanding these concepts is vital for MSc in Management students, who often are attracted to work in leading international businesses.

Consulting Project

In this module you will utilise use skills and knowledge gained during the first two terms in order to carry out a consulting project for a company selected by Cass. At the start of the term groups of 5/6 students are assigned to a particular company, with a sponsoring company executive delivering a presentation about the challenge that you should be addressing.

Each group is also followed by a faculty coach. You will research the assigned business challenge and negotiate terms of engagement with the company executive. You will then be asked to present your findings in a final workshop with senior executives from the company and your peers. The sponsor is invited to give a short talk in response to the presentation.

Download a copy of the Consulting Project brochure for prospective client organisations [pdf]

Practice of management

This module builds heavily on the preceding core modules and explicitly complements them. It is organised around seminar presentations by eminent practitioners. The themes chosen will vary from year to year given the nature of the course, but the aim is to select areas that are both topical and problematic, with some preference for emerging themes rather than ones that are the recent "hot topics". The themes will run across separate academic areas, rather than relate to particular silos. Such topics might include globalisation, diversity, governance, performance measurement, the non-hierarchical organisation, storytelling and virtual work.

Global strategy

The purpose of this course is to expand your global mindset and provide you with theories, knowledge and practical tools that you can use to achieve success in the global business environment. To this end the course touches upon important topics such as global strategy execution, cross-cultural communication and learning, the challenges of managing projects across the varied customs and practices of the world, and the development of internationally sophisticated employees, teams and managers. Special focus is placed on how employees with a global mindset can effectively execute the international strategies of the firm, guided by an awareness of cross- cultural differences. The last part of the course focuses particularly on the challenge of managing culturally diverse teams, introducing you to the nuances of various cultures but also presenting you with tools to explore and leverage culture.

Electives

You may choose from a wide variety for the reaming two electives. Electives that were offered in 2015 were:

• Energy Project Investment & Finance
• An Introduction to Islamic Banking, Finance and Insurance
• Ethics, Society and the Finance Sector
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Energy Markets
• Air Transport
• Retail Supply Chain Management
• Six Sigma for Managers
• Operational Risk Management
• Risk Strategy & Decision Making
• Family Business
• High Growth Entrepreneurship
• Innovation in Organisations
• Strategic Risk & Control
• International Sponsorship & Public Relations

New for 2016

• Lean to Green Supply Chain
• Political Risk Management
• Managing the Non - Market Environment

International Electives

• Start - ups: International field trip (Taught in Buenos Aires)
• Project Finance & Infrastructure (Taught in a block format in Madrid)
• Procurement (Taught in a block format in Mannheim)
• Global Real Estate Markets (Taught in a block format in Dubai)

*This clip was produced by La Chispa Films one of the start-ups Cass students worked with in 2015.

MSc Research Project

All students on the Cass MSc in Management complete a Business Research Project. In some cases this may be completed in partnership with a sponsoring organisation.

The project will be of approximately 8,000 words. This offers an opportunity to specialise in a contemporary management topic related to students' future careers. The project should be based on independent research either in the context of a single organisation or using third-party sources.

Students are encouraged from the start of the course to think about a topic for their project. A member of academic staff supervises the project, and the student may choose with whom they would like to work. The project must be submitted by the end of August. Company sponsored projects are encouraged and a number of such projects may be available.

Many students use this opportunity to do a project with a company they might want to work for. This gets their foot in the door and can lead to permanent employment post programme, whilst earning course credit. Student research projects are processed and managed jointly by the MSc Course Office team and the student's Course Director.

Some recent projects:

• How could SONY catch up or overtake the first mover advantage of the Apple's iPod in the digital file player segment?
• An examination of the relationship between human values and brand values
• Money Laundering in Greece: A critical evaluation of the current situation
• How does a distributor add value? A Case of the Norwegian exclusive Caterpillar dealership PON Equipment AS
• The Roles of Causal Ambiguity and Management Perception on Firm Performance - A Case Study on Moet Hennessy
• The search for capital and its effect on the success or failure of new bioinformatics ventures in the UK Taiwanese luxury consumption: A study of possible factors and motivations affecting consumer's luxury-brand choice
• Foreign direct investment in Emerging markets: A catalyst for growth the case of India and China
• The Standardisation of Advertising and Marketing methods by multinationals'
• The Metrosexual Consumer - who is he? And how do you appeal to him?
• Restructuring of a travel company in Montenegro in order to become competitive, globally and regionally. Case Study: "HTP Onogost"
• Effective Leadership Development in Japanese Companies - A Case of Canon
• Synergies...