Master of Business Administration

Course details The MBA is made up of eight units and a consultancy or research project. Seven units form the core programme will be taken by all MBA professionals, as follows: Core units Personal & Professional Development: A non-credit bearing unit to help you develop the self-awareness, skills, behaviours and competences you'll need to be an effective, independent and credible professional for the global business environment. A variety of distinct subject matters are covered, including personal and professional development. Emerging management topics are explored in master-classes from internal and external academics and practitioners. This unit runs throughout the duration of the course. Accounting & Financial Management: Gain the skills and understanding you'll need for Analysing accounting and other financial data for performance evaluation, decision-making and risk analysis. These skills provide a robust foundation for managerial action and are essential for consultancy, research and organisational analysis. Contemporary Issues in the Global Business Environment: Explore a range of contemporary issues affecting businesses internally and through developments in the macroeconomic environment. The roles government policy and international trade play in shaping the global business environment will be examined. The issues impacting sustainable business will also be explored, and you'll develop strategic management and leadership skills to a high level in a global business context. Strategic Applied Marketing: The concepts and principles underpinning the marketing process, covering the macro environment in which marketers operate. This unit develops and improves the range of skills marketers need to work effectively in the marketing environment, with an international perspective. Performance Management & Analytics: Develop your numeracy and quantitative skills to support decision-making and to evaluate and outline opportunities for improving organisational performance and management. Leadership & Organisational Behaviour: Evaluate group and team building, development, dynamics, emergent leadership and performance. Strategic Management: You'll study this unit from a general manager's perspective, considering the realities and practices of managing to maximise an organisation's performance. The unit analyses what drives an organisation’s performance and identifies external and internal changes that affect this. Other important issues such as leadership, globalisation, innovation, entrepreneurship and strategy practice are explored. The ultimate aim of this unit is to offer a balance between strategy theories and their application to real-life situations so analysis leads to forming a strategy, which is then executed by the organisation's management. Elective units (choose one) Entrepreneurial Management: Here, you'll examine the nature of strategy and strategic management in entrepreneurial ventures. There's a particular focus on growth strategies and managing the consequences of growth, and on strategic management style and managerial activities for coping with the challenges facing entrepreneurial ventures, especially alternative competitive advantage-seeking behaviour. Another focus of the unit is on management actions for controlling growth in the venture, and you'll have the opportunity to gain a practical appreciation of controlling mechanisms and growth obstacles. Advanced Marketing: Evaluate emerging themes impacting the marketing industry and assess their significance for a specific sector or industry. You'll be expected to develop understanding at a strategic marketing level, and to relate your knowledge to the themes identified whilst understanding the ever-evolving nature of these themes. Your responses should reflect contemporary marketing practice and new developments, showing innovation and creative thinking. You'll improve skills you'll need to work effectively in the marketing environment, and develop understanding from a global perspective. Global Economic Challenges: An introduction to economic theory as it applies to specific areas of applied economics. This will show how economic theories and techniques can be used to address many important issues facing humanity. Financial Services: Gain managerial skills and knowledge for working in the financial services sector. There's a focus on regulation and marketing in this sector. You'll work constructively and responsibly as a manager in financial services regulatory parameters, and develop and evaluate marketing strategies. Business in New Media Environments: To a point, every sector of the economy is touched by the influence of computer communication technologies. This unit aims to help you understand and chart the future of this influence. You'll be given an overview of academic research and theory on new media environments, and be expected to gain a deeper understanding of the socio-economic transformations and new kinds of behaviour anticipated by electronic media. Another aim of this unit is to apply these understandings to developing managerial competencies, including researching and evaluating market trends. Please note that elective units require minimum numbers in order to run and may change in view of latest industry developments. Option units (choose one) Consultancy: Develop an understanding of the principles and practice of consultancy. This will equip you with techniques and skills to work in a team in completing a consultancy project. Research Project: An opportunity to complete a substantial piece of self-managed research in an area of business that interests you. You'll negotiate your subject and project presentation with a supervisor allocated to you by the MBA Director. There will be short internship opportunities as part of the course, subject to availability. This will allow you to add practical context to your learning experience. MBA part-time students will attend only two full weeks on-campus during the academic year and spend the rest of the the time studying online. Programme specification Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used. Download the programme specification for Masters of Business Administration. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry. If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.