Business and Management MSc

The module covers the traditional content of a Corporate Finance course:

• Investment, capital structure, and dividend decisions from a shareholder value perspective
• Capital market behaviour (background)
• Mergers
• Real options
• Corporate governance

This module covers classic organisational behaviour topics such as understanding organisations, teams and teamwork, leadership, culture, power and control.

The module is concerned to use economic reasoning to consider how individuals are motivated and activities and individuals are co-ordinated with organisations. It contrasts markets and firms as alternative forms of managing resource flows. It shows how incomplete and imperfectly distributed information causes difficulties for each form.

There is an emphasis on the application of economic reasoning to real organisations including financial institutions, manufacturing firms, franchised businesses, online retailers etc and to contemporary business issues such as executive compensation, promotion tournaments etc.

This modules covers the following:

Part I: Introduction qualitative analysis
This part of the module will be concerned with the collection and analysis of qualitative data.

Part II: Introduction quantitative analysis
Survey design and measurement, introduction to statistics; hypothesis testing, t-tests, ANOVA, regression analysis.

Part III: Introduction to management research
Relating to literature review, asking research questions and objectives, formulating research hypotheses, discussion of findings; quantitative and qualitative research in the dissertation relating to its application.

The module aims to allow you to synthesise, apply and extend the knowledge you have gained in the taught component of the programme. The investigation of a current research topic will help to develop your theoretical and practical understanding of current problems in your area, as well as your research and communication skills.

The Business Project requires students, working as groups, to undertake research in a topic which is relevant to business, management, marketing, finance, accounting, or information system. You must choose their research topic that is relevant to your named degree programme. The specific topic is subject to a formal approval process.

The module is intended for you to apply knowledge, concepts, skills, and techniques, acquired during the taught stage of your programme to real-world, business scenarios. You will be presented with real-word business problems for which you are required to review relevant literature, conduct research, analyse data, and formulate viable solutions.

This module is aimed at giving you an understanding of behaviour in an economic context. You will learn the use of methods to measure economic preferences as: trust, risk, cooperation, social preferences and social identity. These measures are used in economics and finance to explain human behaviour and decision-making processes. In addition to this you will “play” games in the classroom to get a first hand impression of the structure and meaning of the games used in the lectures.

Together we will understand how rational behaviour predictions conflict with human “bounded rational” decision making. You will analyse studies of bounded rational behaviour, labour markets, asset markets, experimental behavioural finance, social dilemmas, preferences, public goods, reciprocity, bargaining and contests.

The content of this module will serve as an introduction to the main theoretical and managerial concepts and issues in the area of business-to-business marketing and will focus on aspects of strategic marketing relationships between companies and other stakeholders. Possible topics may include:

• What is a market? A service ecosystem approach to understanding markets
• Organisational buying behaviour and market structures
• How do markets work? Creating and shaping new markets and maintaining market dynamics
• Market relations and sustainable competitive advantage
• Forming business networks: business network partnership attraction
• Business-to-Business marketing strategies
• Innovation in business networks
• Managing business networks: communication, coordination and learning in business networks
• Strategic market relations in the digital world 
• Branding and building loyalty: value co-creation in network partnerships

The module covers:

• The nature and perspectives of corporate governance
• Corporate control and ownership across the world
• Taxonomies of CG systems and CG mechanisms
• Shareholder power: Individuals and institutions
• External influences on corporate governance: The market for corporate control
• The role of the board: Executives and non-executives
• Executive remuneration and governance
• Government and governance: The regulatory role
• Corporate governance: A review of the domain

The module covers:

• Strategic analysis
• Industry analysis
• Positioning
• Creating and sustaining competitive advantage
• Diversification
• Strategic decision making
• Strategy practice and implementation
• Strategy and organisation
• Strategic leadership

The intricacies of managing the human resources within the business context are developed in this module. It examines processes, practices, and procedures associated with HRM management and administration that an employer/manager needs to be familiar with, and analyses the current best practice in the HR function.

This module examines:

• exchange rates and FX markets
• FX market efficiency
• real exchange rate and purchasing power parity
• exchange rate determination
• exchange rate forecasting
• FX predictability: Statistical significance and economic value
• FX volatility strategies
• global equity analysis
• global performance evaluation

This module aims to give you a theoretical understanding and practical experience of launching a new entrepreneurial venture. In so doing, this capstone module enables you to comprehend the role of, and conflicts and interdependencies between, different business and management disciplines; thus, it provides you with an insight into how decision-making in each area can impact on the overall performance of the firm. The module also aims to foster reflexive practice to facilitate lifelong learning.

The module content is divided into three major parts:

1. Strategy – Context of operations and supply chain strategy; the range of strategic decisions within and between operations; the impact of competition on operations and supply chains; supply chain strategies for coordination and integration; topical strategic issues faced by various industries and sector in their operations and supply chains, for example, sustainability, new technologies, etc
2. Performance measurement – Concept and importance of performance measurement within operations and supply chain management; selection and application of key performance indicators; importance of intra and inter-organisational benchmarking and approaches to target setting
3. Current practice – Current operations management, supply chain management, and logistics approaches in a range of industries/sectors; pertinent issues and drivers of change in practicing operations and supply chain management, including sustainability

Venture capital and private equity provide risk capital to firms at various stages of their life-cycle. This involves selecting early-stage and late-stage investment opportunities, due diligence, structuring deals, valuation, managing portfolio firms, and exit.

The module combines practical and theoretical perspectives on the process of planning and implementing strategic entrepreneurial growth.

The module will help develop your capacity to evaluate multiple strategic options under conditions of uncertainty. Using frameworks and concepts you will construct a strategic growth plan for a small entrepreneurial firm or social enterprise. The module also provides insights into the owner-founder’s experience of strategic growth.