Master of Business Administration MBA
Business School
Institution Code H36
Course Code BSNMBA
Start date
January
September
Year 1 - full details
Core modules
AIP Research Methods - MBA A
The Research Methods training is an integral component of the success in the MBA programme since it provides students with the tools needed to develop their Applied Individual Projects (AIP). Students undertaking the AIP will be introduced to a business scenario, either live or a case study. They will be asked to analyse the strategic challenges involved, provide a comprehensive overview and then address specific issues. In order to prepare them for this element of the programme, they will undertake intensive research methodology sessions. Emphasis will be placed upon pragmatic problemsolving and the ability to adapt ideas and theories to achieve a practicable outcome. The module will take the students through research philosophies and their applications. While they will understand classical techniques, the research tools will be used to make sense of real-world business solutions. On completion of this unit, students should have an operational level knowledge of the main principles, approaches, conventions and practices of business research so that they will be able to apply them to complex real-world problems and situations in a range of contexts. In being able to do so, students will enhance their ability to undertake practical research and their overall employment potential.
Applied Individual Project - MBA (ABC)
The applied individual project offers each participant the chance to work independently on a topic of direct relevance to your own career while developing the analytic skills to locate, critically evaluate, present and analyse relevant theories and data to support your conclusions and recommendations. The emphasis will be on answering live questions in a practicable manner. You will develop the skills needed to integrate and apply your learning from the programme's taught modules to a complex business problem and an understanding of the challenges faced by a specific organisation in the context of an uncertain business environment. You will also develop a creative and balanced approach to problemsolving, using both facts and theoretical insights to identify and evaluate strategic options from a range of stakeholder perspectives. The work on the project will enhance your business experience and will be supervised in a flexible manner as appropriate to the business under consideration.
Innovation Through Strategic Marketing A
Businesses face mounting challenges from world economic factors, globalisation, legislation and increasing customer uncertainty. These challenges are forcing businesses to shorten their product life cycles and more importantly reassess their business costs against overall strategic marketing effectiveness. Marketing and operational professionals are increasingly challenged to take an overall business perspective and, as a consequence, need new skills and competencies. This module has two primary aims: firstly, to understand those drivers which will impact on the business growth and sustainability and, secondly, utilising the creativity, innovation and experiences internal and external to the organisation to develop viable business solutions, providing for sustainable growth and competitive distinction. To achieve the above aims, this module engages on an innovation journey critically exploring the drivers and processes associated with value-led marketing and operations. You will understand, interpret and analysis the inherent problems associated with innovating new products and services. Through this, you will gain new insights into creating new business scenarios and better understand how to manage market orientation measured by multiple stakeholders.
Leadership and Change A
This module is designed as an integrative process, allowing students to examine and reflect upon the complexities of organisational life, through participation in experiential events and activities that seek to reframe their practical experience and present them with the need to think about what is going on at several levels of understanding. This reframing may be achieved through, for example, more traditional case study work, business 'games', drama and story workshops, personal development groups and reflective interpersonal groups. Reflective consideration of work done in these reflective groups will form an important part of the developmental purpose of the module. A wide range of experiential and practical activities may be drawn upon, according to the developmental needs and interests of each cohort. In addition, students are introduced to a range of contemporary leadership theories including the current research undertaken by the UH academics from different perspectives such as 'the role of ethics in leadership', 'talent management', and 'group dynamics' informed by complexity sciences. This module, which runs throughout two semesters, will allow students to make sense of and integrate both their academic learning and their personal development.
Managing Financial Value Drivers A
Students will be introduced to the principal theories and practice of financial management within the firm, focusing on the ways in which the firm is funded and investment decisions are made. In addition, participants will gain an overall understanding of areas such as how performance is monitored and managed for financial value and the ways in which financial value is measured, enhanced and distributed to stakeholders. Theories and concepts will be introduced and applied within a practical context which will facilitate students in the critical evaluation of financial management theory. On successful completion of this module, participants will gain an insight into the role of financial management in the value creation process of an organisation.
People Management A
This module is concerned with the management of the organisation's key resource the people who work for it. It encourages students to analyse and evaluate different perspectives on, and approaches to, the management of people and to develop an understanding of how effective people management contributes to organisational success. The module aims to develop an appreciation of the main contextual influences and their impact; it also examines strategic aspects and the main issues and complexities involved in the management of people. Today's managers must be able to respond appropriately to the challenges involved in managing people in a dynamic and rapidly changing business environment. This means developing an understanding of the key aspects of people management and learning to apply relevant skills and techniques.
Strategic Management Perspectives A
This module draws from a range of contemporary debates and the current research conducted by the strategic management group on areas such as the knowledge perspective on strategy, strategic alliances and corporate social responsibility. Students are also introduced to a number of strategic issues from different perspectives and they learn how to apply concepts and techniques to analyse organisations and their environments, and develop an integrated view of an organisation and possible futures for it. Students will also explore different approaches to managing strategy that can be identified in real world organisations. Throughout the module, students will be encouraged to reflect on their own experiences of strategic management (whether as manager or managed) with the aim of developing their own professional and personal practice and that of others.
Optional modules
Appraising Organisational Performance B
This module aims to enable students to appreciate the utility of economic, accounting and finance approaches in the field of business and management. While the basic issues appear to overlap with some other areas of study, these approaches have their own characters and insights. To appreciate these insights, it is necessary to understand the particular methods and approaches adopted by these different disciplines to the same common issues. However, some techniques are familiar to all these fields, thus enabling crossfertilisation with other approaches to business and management, eg investment appraisal. Different approaches to organisation and the understanding they provide on the structure, size and scope of businesses will be considered. As will the way in which the public sector is being reshaped along more market-oriented lines and the implications this has for business organisation. Thus, the following aspects will be explored: - Performance measurement from different perspectives - How business can thrive in increasingly competitive and global markets - The increasing impact of financialisation in the business environment - The dilemma between internal processes and external performance measurement - Performance measurement and the role of stakeholders in both the public and private sectors
Complexity, Creativity and Change B
This module builds on the ideas of strategy and leadership, by examining alternative interpretations of life in organisations and offering students opportunities to critically evaluate their potential impact on professional practice. The teaching/learning approaches and the content of this module combines three areas of current research within Management and Strategy Research Unit (MASRU) at the Business School: the knowledge perspective on strategy, strategising and leadership from complex responsive processes perspective (the work of Complexity Research Group), and business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Students are given the opportunity to explore and scrutinise continuity and change, knowledge and learning, local interaction and global impact as practices and ideas and what these ideas might mean to them locally as managers and leaders, and in the context of global organisations and strategies. Traditional strategic management ideas rooted in economics and systems thinking are acknowledged and drawn on, as well as currently relevant debates regarding knowledge creation and management and groundbreaking ideas based on the complexity sciences.
Entrepreneurship and Enterprise B
This module will address key issues in entrepreneurship and enterprise and the process of enterprise creation in the 21st century. The module will embrace mainstream entrepreneurship and enterprise theory, and introduce students to key concepts, theories and models useful in the management of entrepreneurial and enterprise development. You will have the opportunity to discuss themes from the process of enterprise dynamics and innovation to the critical challenges of SME business success and failure. Examples will be drawn from several business sectors and communities. The module will address a wide range of themes drawn from: life cycles, entrepreneurial patterns, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, and build on contemporary discussions of entrepreneurial skills and management and the overall identification and analysis of enterprise issues. During your studies, reference will also be made to broader issues, such as entrepreneurship traits and characteristics, that form the 'enterprise' agenda.
Managing and Working Across Cultures B
Context: the globalisation process and the cultural and institutional factors promoting diversity in the international environment - Multinational corporations: structural strategic and ethical concerns - Managing human resources and employment relations: formulating policies for international staffing in the multinational corporation and for operating across national/regional industrial relations systems Indicative module content will include: - The global economy and globalisation processes - The cultural and institutional environment, diversity and globalisation - Regions in transformation, with particular reference to post-socialist Europe - Multinational corporations: strategies, structures, ethics and employment issues - Typologies of management across national borders - Formulating international human resource policies and managing across cultures - Organising across national industrial relations systems
Project Management: A Strategic Approach B
Organisations in different disciplines invest heavily in projectbased activities to achieve strategic business objectives, improve operational effectiveness and enhance their competitive position. Today's business climate is characterised by unprecedented change in technology and globalisation, as well as by complex business relationships driven for competitive success. The importance of successful delivery of projects has become one of the main priorities for organisations. This module will provide students with knowledge of quantitative and qualitative aspects of project management theory and philosophy. In this module, students will have an opportunity to explore the values which have superseded the traditional values of budget, time and quality. Different organisational structures are examined to discover their effectiveness in supporting project delivery and the role of the project manager is examined in relation to these structures. This module examines the position of projects within the organisation as a means of achieving strategic capability. This module is designed to highlight how project managers develop a project strategy, whilst managing project risk and maintaining the required quality and standard. This module will also develop a knowledge and understanding of both classical and current project scheduling and budgeting techniques used in business today. Students will be guided into selecting, formulating, building, solving, and analysing project management scheduling and budgeting problems. Students will use appropriate project management tools and software to solve problems.