Master of Business Administration (MBA) part-time [Horb, Germany]

Programme Specification http://programmes.bolton.ac.uk/BAM054-P-HRB-MX

What you will study Stage 1

You will study the following modules:

Management and Leadership (10 ECTS credits);

Managing Business Performance and IT (10 ECTS credits);

Managing Finance (10 ECTS credits).

Stage 2

You will study the following modules:

Managing Change (10 ECTS credits);

Managing People (10 ECTS credits);

Strategic Management and Marketing (10 ECTS credits).

Stage 3

You will study the following modules:

Research Methods (10 ECTS credits);

Dissertation (20 ECTS credits).

Descriptions of each module follow below.

Management and Leadership

This module is designed to enable you to explore your values, attitudes, style and interpersonal skills and to provide a platform for continuing personal development as a manager and leader. It aims to critically evaluate the theories relating to personal development, management and leadership and develop interpersonal and team working skills to enhance your current and future roles as a manager and leader.

Managing Business Performance and IT

This module is designed to provide you with a strategic and holistic view of the exploitation of information and communication technology, in particular e-business for improving business performance, business efficiency, service improvement, and competitive advantage. Introducing a wide range of analytical tools the module focuses on the formulation of digital age business strategy focusing on a wide range of factors, other than accounting, that are essential for enhancing the performance of organisations in the competitive and global business environment.

Managing Finance

This module is designed to introduce students (usually who have no previous background in finance) to the concepts of financial management, and to explore the corporate aspects, and their differing organisational contexts, that determine sources of corporate funding. The module will also consider legal and other key issues, affecting corporate financial management. It will develop your knowledge and understanding of the theoretical concepts of financial management, and enable you to analyse and evaluate financial statements. You will develop an understanding of capital budgeting and strategic financial issues. It will also raise your awareness of control systems.

Managing Change

This module explores different types of organisational change and the differing contexts in which such changes can occur. The module will consider the influences of organisational culture, learning/knowledge management and structure on change scenarios in preparation for the strategic management and marketing module. This module will develop your knowledge and understanding of the main tenets of organisational change and the models of such change. It will nurture your critical awareness of the potential weaknesses of these theoretical approaches, and enable you to identify, analyse and apply appropriate concepts of organisational change to your place of employment as you seek to improve business performance.

Managing People

This module aims to provide a general introduction to the management of people in organisations. It will show an awareness of the merits and difficulties associated with new and different forms of work patterns and job designs aimed at enhancing performance, motivation and commitment. It will contribute to the wider debate by examining the organisational functions that are attributed to human resource managers.

Strategic Management and Marketing

The module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of the strategic management process, and the contribution of strategic marketing to that process. It will integrate material from other parts of the course within a strategic management framework. Initially lectures will be used to develop knowledge of the concepts underpinning the study of strategic management. As your knowledge increases you will participate more fully in a critical exploration of the concepts. The case studies will enable you to explore the application of strategic management concepts and models, apply them to complex business problems, and evaluate the strategic issues within the case study, while critically assessing the applicability and usefulness of the theoretical models.

Research Methods

This module is an immediate prelude to the dissertation. It will enable you to make informed decisions about which research methods are appropriate under particular circumstances and specifically in relation to your own research. You will develop your knowledge of a range of research tools and analytical techniques. You will also receive guidance on the structuring of your dissertation.

MBA Dissertation

The dissertation is an extended piece of work requiring empirical fieldwork and the gathering of primary data. This will follow the research methods module which will help you refine your objectives (usually focused on a strategic issue at your place of work), and develop your literature review and analytical framework. You will be allocated a supervisor to assist you complete your dissertation which must include recommendations to address the issue under scrutiny and a forward implementation plan.