FutureLearn

In order to thrive in an increasing competitive and global environment an organization must pay attention to its continual effectiveness and development. An underlying feature of the successful organization is its ability to adapt to change. Change can be driven by a number of different forces, including customers, markets and technology. Yet research shows that most change initiatives fail to accomplish their intended outcomes and may even limit the potential of an organization and its people. The consequences of not managing change effectively can be devastating and long lasting, so it's important that managers ensure they have the skills, knowledge and credibility within their organization to be champions of change. Managers have a clear role and responsibility to ensure that issues like employee voice, individual and cultural differences as well as skills development are appropriately and effectively addressed as part of change management.

This module provides students with a key set of strategy and business improvement tools. The module is aimed at providing you with a thorough understanding of the practical application of these tools. Many of the classic business tools such as PESTLE and Boston Box are included. Additionally, key tools related to business improvement such as benchmarking and the Balanced Scorecard are evaluated. Throughout the course, we shall critically evaluate the different tools to ensure that students are aware of their relative strengths and weaknesses. These include Value Chain, VRIO, CAGE, Yip's drivers for internationalisation, TOWS, SAFe and many more. We also examine the changing environment for businesses and consider the role of Ecosystems, and also Alliances as a form of growth strategy.

The module is aimed at providing you with a thorough understanding of the practical application of the most important strategy and business improvement tools. Many of the classic business tools such as PESTLE and Boston Box are included. Additionally, key tools related to business improvement such as Benchmarking and the Balanced Scorecard are evaluated. Throughout the course, we shall critically evaluate the different tools to ensure that students are aware of their relative strengths and weaknesses. These include Value Chain, VRIO, CAGE, Yip's drivers for internationalisation, TOWS, SAFe and many more. We also examine the changing environment for businesses and consider the role of Ecosystems, and also Alliances as a form of growth strategy.

This module will equip you with the knowledge and critical techniques in order to conduct research in business and management. We will address the different kinds of research, especially scholarly, academic output and applied consultancy output, whilst the module's practical emphasis is upon facilitating research methods for empirical research in the programme's capstone project.
You will learn about the different approaches that can be taken to undertake research and how research methods are underpinned by different philosophical perspectives. Through the taught classes you will critically evaluate the different factors that impact upon research design, the quality of empirical fieldwork and the final research's dissemination, and explore different approaches to using academic literature. You will explore the implications of your research design on constructing your research tools and planning your data analysis or consultancy intervention. We will also outline the importance of research ethics for any human interaction involved in your research. This module is essential in supporting you to begin your capstone project (dissertation or consultancy project) and the content should be revisited once you begin your capstone project.

The digital age is moving forward at a fast pace that digital technologies are fundamentally transforming the way businesses operate. This module provides you with an introduction to the role of emerging digital technologies (such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and blockchain) and analytics tools, techniques, and processes in global logistics and supply chain management. You will gain an in-depth understanding of topics such as supply chain analytics, data analytics and transport planning, e-procurement, and lean and agile supply chains in the era of Industry 4.0. You will be equipped with in-depth practical knowledge of analytical tools and techniques that you will use in the career in logistics and supply chain management. You will also be able to provide innovative practical solutions for modern logistics and supply chain challenges with a global perspective.

Leadership is a core management skill and within healthcare systems and social care there are specific challenges: problems of complexity, rapidly changing delivery patterns as well as severe resource constraints. Despite the enormity of the challenges, there are considerable opportunities for management: the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution has created a myriad of high growth and high impact solutions for managers that require strong leadership if the benefits are to be maximised. Opportunities arising out of the use of artificial intelligence, big data as well as new forms of patient management through personalised healthcare and remote management of patients have already brought tremendous gains where they have been successfully implemented. However for management, the difficulties cannot be under-estimated.

The purpose of this module is to introduce the student to key ideas of leadership as well to relate them specifically to healthcare systems. Students are introduced to key ideas of modern leadership theory as well as practical tools that are capable of being used in a wide variety of contexts.

Leadership is about achieving organisational success through collaboration and management of organisational resources. Leadership is also about personal development in terms of being the best type of leader: we shall also explore different types of leaders.

Healthcare managers have a clear role and responsibility to ensure that issues like employee voice, individual and cultural differences as well as skills development are appropriately and effectively managed. This module provides a strong basis for healthcare managers to embrace the opportunities and challenges of healthcare management.

This module will enable students to gain knowledge and understanding of methodologies in problem solving and researching that will support the student in their current studies and in their future careers as managers. The module is designed to provide a strong framework that will enable the student to develop problem solving capabilities and to also develop a research proposal for the Applied Research or Consultancy Project. The orientation of the module is towards building confidence in the students to face the uncertainties of modern business life by providing a means of managing problems: analysing and critiquing problems, using critical thinking, researching and presenting recommendations to an executive audience.

The student will gain a familiarity with the breadth and depth of available research methodologies. They will achieve an understanding of the challenges of research in practice: accumulating high quality information that can be fed into decision-making for managers. Methods for developing a research design will be considered, techniques for critiquing the quality and suitability of research will be examined. Ethical considerations connected with researching will also be included in the module.

The aim of this module is to develop highly employable postgraduates capable of professional practice roles either as external or internal consultants. This is achieved by applying marketing expertise as a 'change agent '. This requires highly developed client facing and intra team interpersonal skills and the self-awareness to become a self-managing professional practitioner. A key element of professional development is a client consultancy project.
The module introduces students to models of consultancy practice and key stages in the consultancy cycle. This is also underpinned by sessions on client engagement, communication and presentation skills; data gathering and analysis; project management and team management, The module is underpinned by key theoretical principles of: Action Learning, Group Dynamics, Authentic Human Consulting and Personal Reflection.

Consumer psychology is an important aspect of marketing, as markets are becoming increasingly niche and complex. This course will introduce you to perspectives of psychology as related to consumer behaviour in digital environments. You will build upon theoretical insights gained to critically evaluate current aspects of consumer culture and behaviour in the digital environment. You can then use these concepts to further develop your effectiveness in digital marketing management. You will develop insight into customer behaviour online and better understand customer attitudes and motivations alongside decision-making processes. This will allow you to design more effective digital marketing strategies and campaigns alongside enriched customer experiences.

This module provides you with a critical and clear understanding of Corporate Strategy and Corporate Social Responsibility in international business context. You will learn how to apply the essential concepts and tools of strategy that are used by managers in multinational firms and global organisations. In a global, fast pace world that is rapidly changing, systematic strategic contexts analysis, data-driven decision-making and systematic business development are crucial for companies and professionals to succeed. The module will demonstrate how sustainability practices and concepts influence international business policy, stakeholder relationships and strategy design & process. It will provide you with a number of essential frameworks all suited to guide you as a future manager when analysing the main factors relevant to the strategy-making process, and with reference to real world case studies and leading corporations' insight. You will also learn about the importance of non-market aspects in strategic management that impinge on organisational success.

In order to thrive in an increasing competitive and global environment an organization must pay attention to its continual effectiveness and development. An underlying feature of the successful organization is its ability to adapt to change. Change can be driven by a number of different forces, including customers, markets and technology. Yet research shows that most change initiatives fail to accomplish their intended outcomes and may even limit the potential of an organization and its people. The consequences of not managing change effectively can be devastating and long lasting, so it's important that managers ensure they have the skills, knowledge and credibility within their organization to be champions of change. Managers have a clear role and responsibility to ensure that issues like employee voice, individual and cultural differences as well as skills development are appropriately and effectively addressed as part of change management.

In this module of the MSc, students will be introduced to a number of HRM specialist roles and responsibilities which may assist in planning their future career pathways. The student will consider the role of the HR professional, and the expertise and skills needed to be effective in their roles in their specific specialisation. Students will also consider the implications of recent research findings in the field of specialist human resource management for their own practice, for example in increasing levels of engagement and improving performance, in acting ethically and in managing change. The module will compare this with the practice of HR specialist professionals in other contexts, drawing on case studies and the experience of fellow students working in different geographical areas and sectors.

Students will develop and practise the skills they will need to be effective as a HR specialist professional, including as a leader and a senior manager. These include self-management, leading and working in teams, making decisions, managing, and communicating information, including financial information, consultancy skills and helping others to learn. Students will also develop postgraduate study skills and digital literacy skills.

Perhaps most importantly this module will develop their skills as reflective practitioners, committed to continuously learning from reflection on their practice and on the critical application of new theories and ideas to inform this practice. Students can use this to develop their personal career pathways.

This module provides students with an opportunity to work on an identified business problem, to critique the problem and to provide a theory-driven solution. The purpose of this module is to provide a means for applying knowledge and theory to real-world problems. The focus of the project could be directed at a specific organisation that will be carried out on a consultancy basis. In other cases, the student will be carried out as applied research focused on addressing specific business problems facing businesses.

This module will equip you with the knowledge and critical techniques in order to conduct research in business and management. We will address the different kinds of research, especially scholarly, academic output and applied consultancy output, whilst the module's practical emphasis is upon facilitating research methods for empirical research in the programme's capstone project.
You will learn about the different approaches that can be taken to undertake research and how research methods are underpinned by different philosophical perspectives. Through the taught classes you will critically evaluate the different factors that impact upon research design, the quality of empirical fieldwork and the final research's dissemination, and explore different approaches to using academic literature. You will explore the implications of your research design on constructing your research tools and planning your data analysis or consultancy intervention. We will also outline the importance of research ethics for any human interaction involved in your research. This module is essential in supporting you to begin your capstone project (dissertation or consultancy project) and the content should be revisited once you begin your capstone project.

Mastering project management is crucial to organisations in the 21st century. Recognising the importance of both tools and techniques as well as human and organisational factors in achieving project success, the module enables students to learn the 'hard' science essential for project managers today, but with the crucial emphasis on the soft skills involved in people- and change-management to help achieve delivery of successful projects.
Through extensive case study analysis, and with insight from current research, you will evaluate the role of the project manager in today's workplace and critically review the rise of the project-centric organisation in a global context. Relating theory to practical reality in the light of the current research, you will understand new best practice in project management and how it impacts organisations seeking to run effective projects, both locally and across international borders.