Postgraduate Business Studies 2019-2020

This course provides an opportunity to explore and develop an understanding of your own leadership behaviour. Through workshops, group activities and discussions we investigate how personality, past experience, current situations and culture shape the way each of us behave in a leadership role. Using this information as a starting point we then explore how different leadership theories and approaches can be used as frameworks for developing a deeper understanding of leadership behaviour. You will also have an opportunity to try out a range of practical tools and techniques to assist you in the development of your own approach to leadership.

The industry weeks provide a unique opportunity to experience what is like to be part of a 'startup' organisation. Working in a small team you will collaborate with your peers to develop and shape innovative solutions, products or services for 'real world' challenges. As part of the course you will gain new skills, insights and experiences that will enable you to tackle future professional challenges and strengthen your own entrepreneurial perspective.

This theoretically informed and practical course aims to explore the key concepts and theories of consumer behaviour. At the end of the course students will have an understanding of:    

- The activities individuals undertake when obtaining, consuming and disposing of products and services

- The consumer as an individual: Understanding motivations, psychographics, demographics and cognitive processes.

- Social and group aspects of consumer behaviour: The role of friends, family and reference groups.

- This will be achieved through a combination of lectures, seminars and directed private study.

This course develops a mathematical and statistical ‘toolbox’ for PGT students in the Business School.  These tools will useful in understanding and implementing research in business- and economics-related fields both during a student’s academic career as well as after graduation.  The first part of the course covers basic mathematical models common across these fields.  The second part of the course develops standard data analysis methods, including multivariate regression.  The final part of the course examines shortcomings in the standard model and describes ways of overcoming those shortcomings.

The course will apply theoretical and practical content to explore the key concepts of marketing management to provide students with an understanding of planning, coordinating and controlling marketing activities. It aims to take students understanding beyond what has been labelled as a transaction-based approach to a relationship-based approach. As such the aim is to provide students with an understanding of the role of marketing in establishing, developing and maintaining relationships for mutual gain. This will be achieved through a combination of lectures, seminars, simulations and directed private study.

The fact that money (and understanding money) really matters in business and all managers need to understand issues like cashflow and profit might depress you, but it is true. Financial viability of customers? Deciding on the likely financial viability of a project? Reporting to shareholders about performance? Does the word “sustainable” appear in a finance dictionary? All questions we will try and address.

The fact that money (and understanding money) really matters in business and all managers need to understand issues like cashflow and profit might depress you, but it is true. Financial viability of customers? Deciding on the likely financial viability of a project? Reporting to shareholders about performance? Does the word “sustainable” appear in a finance dictionary? All questions we will try and address.

The Value and Markets course is designed to allow participants to investigate key theories that underpin views about marketing. On the course delegates will be introduced to different approaches, theories and techniques utilised in marketing planning and marketing management. For example, delegates will be introduced to topics including; the characteristics of buyers and buyer behaviour (decision processes and roles), the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion), services marketing, implementation and control, relationship marketing and international marketing.   

The course aims to provide students with an understanding of Issues in International Management as viewed from a number of diverse perspectives eg Coaching; Oil & Gas; Entrepreneurship; Technology; Accountancy & Finance

The focus of this course is not people but processes, not outside the organisation but within. Operations transform materials, information and customers to create goods and services using staff and facilities. We study process types and focus particularly on projects. We see how capacity and inventory reconcile demand and output and explore location, supply chains, quality, risk and resilience. About 40% of the course is on projects and project-management techniques. Prepare for both critical discussion of theory and application (operationalisation), including calculation.

​The industry weeks provide a unique opportunity to experience what is like to be part of a 'startup' organisation. Working in a small team you will collaborate with your peers to develop and shape innovative solutions, products or services for 'real world' challenges. As part of the course you will gain new skills, insights and experiences that will enable you to tackle future professional challenges and strengthen your own entrepreneurial perspective.

Business cannot be conducted without some form of communication between the participants involved. This course examines a wide variety of different types of interpersonal communication in different types of business contexts and, by so doing, provides students with a detailed and practical overview of this vitally important subject area.

The Practical Intervention Project provides you with an opportunity to apply theories, concepts and reflective, practice-based learning to a well-defined work-based project. Underpinned by research methods training and set within an action research frame, you’ll be supervised through the process of producing a high impact project aimed at improving performance in your business. The output is designed to be the culmination of your two years part-time study, and an unequivocal expression of the progress you have made.

Senior managers and executives are required to interface with accounting and finance staff and services on a frequent basis to understand and manage the strategic, monetary and performance dimensions of the organization. Operational performance, monetarisation challenges in global business, financial risk, fiscal regimes in international business, strategic partnerships and alliances, investment decisions and portfolio analysis are key areas that require understanding and decision-making in inter-professional and multi-cultural teams and contexts.

This course critically considers the processes and outcomes of business and corporate strategy formulation and implementation. This includes the centrally important techniques and processes of developing vision, futures and strategy; making strategic choices; analysing the competitive and contextual environment; implementing strategy; business planning/business case development. The course is applied to all industrial, public and third sector settings.

The course will apply theoretical and practical content to explore the key concepts of marketing management to provide students with an understanding of planning, coordinating and controlling marketing activities. It aims to take students understanding beyond what has been labelled as a transaction-based approach to a relationship-based approach. As such the aim is to provide students with an understanding of the role of marketing in establishing, developing and maintaining relationships for mutual gain. This will be achieved through a combination of lectures, seminars, simulations and directed private study.

The industry weeks provide a unique opportunity to experience what is like to be part of a 'startup' organisation. Working in a small team you will collaborate with your peers to develop and shape innovative solutions, products or services for 'real world' challenges. As part of the course you will gain new skills, insights and experiences that will enable you to tackle future professional challenges and strengthen your own entrepreneurial perspective.

Innovation is at the forefront of much of the current economic and political debate to improve the competitiveness of economies and firms. This course will focus on the role of new product development in enabling firms to generate competitive advantage, and the types of problems faced by firms in their innovation management. In particular this course blends the perspectives of marketing, design and manufacturing into a single approach to product development. It provides students with an appreciation for the realities of industrial practice and introduces sets of product development methods that can be put into immediate practice on development projects.

The course aims to provide participants with a critical understanding of the nature and articulation of the marketing function within modern organisations, and an appreciation of the relative contribution of specific marketing tools to the development of a market orientation.

On completion of the course students will be able to:

1. Critique the key principles and concepts of marketing.

2. Evaluate the role of marketing to modern organisations in private and public sectors.

3. Understand the integration of the marketing function with other organisational functions.

4. Assess the role of identified marketing techniques

Whether you are intending to manage other people or be responsible for HR functions in a company, this course is intended for you.

You will learn the theories that are the basis for good practice, the skills that are required to put them across and the employment law which governs what we are expected to achieve with our people

This course is run by tutors who have been experienced managers themselves and it will prepare you to pursue a career in management confident and competent to carry out what is expected of you

The goal of this course is to deepen and broaden students' understanding and develop their analytical skills regarding investment decisions under uncertainty and the value of flexibility and information. The course will introduce relevant concepts from economics and finance such as decision trees, the Black-Scholes equation and the binomial option pricing model and discuss how these concepts may be applied to assess investments with applications related to the energy industry such as the development of an oil lease.

This credit bearing course IS offered TO part-TIME students ON the MBA AND MBA (Energy Management) programmes an opportunity TO conduct an IN-depth investigation AND TO improve practice through a capstone ACTION-learning project.

Through a combination of lectures, tutorials, workshops, debates and in-course assessment, this course encourages students to critically reflect upon: Social theory and its relevance to marketing communications; Concepts and contemporary thought within the practice of marketing communication; expressive practice.

This course is about business development and the application of new business models. Increasingly companies have to radically rethink the way they do business if they are to remain competitive. To do this organisations need to be prepared to analyse and challenge their current business models. Through a practical business development project and the analysis of case companies you will be encouraged to explore the tools, techniques and theories used by successful business developers. The course will be especially useful for those interested in strengthening their skills for identifying and evaluating business opportunities.

Managing human resources is important for survival and prosperity of organizations and economies, and has implications for individual attitudes and well-being.  Managers are expected to contribute to the delivery of the human resource strategy, supported by expert advice and guidance. This module explores the key concepts underpinning the management of human resources and their practical application in organisations today.  Focus on four important themes:

·        Recruitment and selection

·        Equality and diversity

·        Flexible employment and work-life balance

·        Talent management

You will be encouraged to share your views and experiences through class discussion and debate. 

International Business is a wide-ranging subject that includes economic, political, cultural and technological facets. The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to the complexities of international business management by examining how the global environment and our understanding of these affect management within an international context.

Writing insightful reports that both engage and persuade the reader is a key skill. In a finance setting this is not just about the words but also careful use of well communicated numbers. The aim of this course is for you to produce a 5,000 word report using appropriate communication devise (graphs, tables) to evaluate critically a corporate finance situation of your choosing. The result should demonstrate your research, thinking, presentation and organisational skills.

HRM underpins all that we seek to achieve when working with other people. It includes employment law, personal skills, and the knowledge to assess what is the right approach to the many challenges that face managers every day. This course is run by tutors who have that knowledge, skill and experience. It includes fine tuning your skills in role play which extend through presentations, interviews, and negotiation to achieve success. At the end of the course you will feel confident to face the challenges of management, and convince a prospective employer of your competence and ability.

This course introduces students to what is involved in undertaking business research in practice. Within lectures, tutorials and workshops students will develop an understanding of: Information retrieval and critical analysis; Philosophical issues in the construction of knowledge; Accessing and gathering quantitative and qualitative data; Data analysis; Student/Supervisor expectations.

This course provides an opportunity to explore and develop an understanding of your own leadership behaviour. Through workshops, group activities and discussions we investigate how personality, past experience, current situations and culture shape the way each of us behave in a leadership role. Using this information as a starting point we then explore how different leadership theories and approaches can be used as frameworks for developing a deeper understanding of leadership behaviour. You will also have an opportunity to try out a range of practical tools and techniques to assist you in the development of your own approach to leadership.

This is the capstone course that utilises a challenging, complex and exhilarating computer simulation. It is designed to provide students with a critical understanding of the process of internationalisation and the ability to effectively analyse and interpret many of the decision-making processes relevant to international organisations and global strategy. It brings together all of your previously acquired knowledge and understanding to the task of developing a broader appreciation of the operational and strategic challenges facing international organisations operating in today’s rapidly changing and complex environment.

The simulation combines global logistics, marketing, human resource management and finance to create a competitive group scenario.

The Practical Intervention Project provides you with an opportunity to apply theories, concepts and reflective, practice-based learning to a well-defined work-based project. Underpinned by research methods training and set within an action research frame, you’ll be supervised through the process of producing a high impact project aimed at improving performance in your business. The output is designed to be the culmination of your two years part-time study, and an unequivocal expression of the progress you have made.

Senior managers and executives are required to interface with accounting and finance staff and services on a frequent basis to understand and manage the strategic, monetary and performance dimensions of the organization. Operational performance, monetarisation challenges in global business, financial risk, fiscal regimes in international business, strategic partnerships and alliances, investment decisions and portfolio analysis are key areas that require understanding and decision-making in inter-professional and multi-cultural teams and contexts.

The social and environmental challenge for contemporary business organisations and institutions drives change in a powerful way. The competing logics across internal and external stakeholder groups give rise to a need for new organizational forms that embrace competing views and depend on co-creation and social partnerships. The political and economic backdrop to these dynamic settings is a direct influence on business ventures. The balance between environmental sustainability, social impact, value creation and traditional performance measures brings about a new dynamic for leaders who in turn, are redefining the meaning of success.

This course considers marketing as the nexus point of value creation and reputation management. This is integrated with the more traditional view of this function as being responsible for customer and market analysis, product development, branding and communication, and incentivising sales and distribution. The multi-dimensional, dynamic nature of brand and reputation are critically evaluated against the need for organisational control and monitoring. The balance between value creation, co-creation, sustainability and ethics are juxtaposed with the more traditional remit to provide a contemporary understanding of marketing as a core business function.

This course provides a significant focus on personal development and focuses on high level skills in managing complex communication, analysis and leadership challenges. Introductions to key software packages in data analysis, project management and digital presentation are introduced and practice-based sessions offer students the opportunity to self-evaluate and create personal development plans. Good practice is evaluated and critiqued to help set targets and standards for executive performance, particularly in relation to impact and effectiveness in challenging work scenarios.

The ability of human resource management functions depends on a strong strategic perspective of the direction of an organization in the short and long terms, alongside a synthesized approach to managing and developing human assets. The integration of the human resource management function in a business organisation is therefore the critical point at which strategy is interpreted into values, skills and competences as well as capacity requirements in order to succeed against a performance framework. Issues such as talent management, workforce analysis, reputation and risk, high performance work systems and the international dimensions of business are fundamental to this area of study. Engagement and internal stakeholder processes underpin the strategic management culture in organisations. In turn, these processes feed in to strategic management, strategy formation, visioning and implementation issues.

The Practical Intervention Project provides you with an opportunity to apply theories, concepts and reflective, practice-based learning to a well-defined work-based project. Underpinned by research methods training and set within an action research frame, you’ll be supervised through the process of producing a high impact project aimed at improving performance in your business. The output is designed to be the culmination of your two years part-time study, and an unequivocal expression of the progress you have made.

You cannot lead if you do not understand yourself or the impact you have on others.  This course will enable you to gain a greater understanding of your own leadership behaviours and capabilities in the context of geographical culture and professional context.  You will carry out an insight analysis of your personality and leadership type before working to complete a leadership simulation that requires you to plan and execute strategy with limited resources to overcome challenges.  You will then explore a range of leadership cases to see how and why different decisions depend on situation, context and past experience.

This course will cover the main issues in project management: scope, quality, risk, time and cost. You will learn about project management methodologies and how to use standard project management techniques such as PERT/CPM and Gantt charts. You will learn how to schedule, manage and allocate resources and activities with the help of project-management software. You will also learn how to  manage risk, how to recover from project failure and how to manage time, quality and cost and appreciate the tradeoffs among them.

This course is designed to provide students with a capstone opportunity to apply theories, concepts and reflective, practice-based learning to a training and consultancy project. Underpinned by reference to established research methods and set within an action research frame, students are supervised through the process to produce an impactful project aimed at analyzing a problem and making recommendations for improving performance.

Key elements of professional competence are strategic awareness, a business orientation and a concern with adding value through human resource (HR) practice. Qualified professionals should be able to research relevant topics and write reports that can persuade key stakeholders in the organisation to change or adopt a particular policy and practice. This module provides the opportunity for learners to demonstrate the ability to diagnose and investigate a live, complex business issue from an HR perspective, to locate the work within the body of contemporary knowledge, to collect and analyse data, to derive supportable conclusions and to make practical and actionable recommendations for change,
improvement or enhancement of current practice. The applied nature of the report requires a critical evaluative approach, empirical investigation and analysis and a combination of academic research and business report writing skills. It requires reflection on the implications for professional practice from an ethical, professional and continuous professional development standpoint. 

The aim of this course is to equip students with an understanding of key aspects of new venture creation, including business planning, pitching new ideas to investors and managing growth. This is a capstone course, by bringing together a range of different concepts.

This course will help to highlight, in a variety of business and non-business contexts: i) the various real-life ways in which managers’ subtle, highly sophisticated and socially organized communicative actions have a significant impact on the perceptions and performance of the employee groups/teams they supervise and work with; and ii) what communicative methods managers can employ to more effectively relay information to, obtain feedback from, motivate, persuade and, more generally, enhance the performance of their staff teams.

The aim of this Module is to provide you with a critical understanding of the complex nature of the global energy sector and to encourage students to engage in a process of multi-future thinking. You will be involved in a process of scenario development, involving mapping sector-critical challenges. The process of environmental scanning will be supported by a number of industry speakers talking about their various perspectives on the challenges facing the energy industry.

The Supply Chain Management course aims to provide delegates with a broad understanding of supply chain management and how it relates to the energy industry. Completing the course participants will: Understand how supply chains can be effectively designed and controlled in a range of circumstances; be able to evaluate approaches to the management and development of the supply chain; and discuss the characteristics of contemporary supply chains and assess their contribution to organisational effectiveness.

This credit bearing course IS offered TO part-TIME students ON the MBA AND MBA (Energy Management) programmes an opportunity TO conduct an IN-depth investigation AND TO improve practice through a capstone ACTION-learning project.

This course aims to deliver a `best practices’ primer on human resource (H.R.) activities associated with successful organizations in the private and public sector. Students will gain an understanding of the linkages between various HR policies and procedures, and key organizational outcomes. Furthermore, they will gain the ability to critically appraise and analyse various methods of organizing and employing human resources in the organizational context. Learning will be encouraged by student and instructor interaction, reading, class discussions, and group work. The course integrates academic research findings on HR topics with practical issues faced by individuals in the workplace.

Writing insightful reports that both engage and persuade the reader is a key skill. In a finance setting this is not just about the words but also careful use of well communicated numbers. The aim of this course is for you to produce a 5,000 word report using appropriate communication devise (graphs, tables) to evaluate critically a corporate finance situation of your choosing. The result should demonstrate your research, thinking, presentation and organisational skills.

The course provides both a strategic orientation and tactical orientation:

Strategic:

§  How to align digital strategy with a wider business strategy

§  The value that (internal and external) research and analytics can bring to digital marketing decisions

Tactical:

§  Assess the quality of any website based on a range of important measures

§  Benchmark a website’s performance against online competitors

§  Investigate the potential of a business idea for a given market sector

§  Present digital marketing research and advice to a generalist audience

§  Understand the potential commercial value of social media

§  Interpret onsite analytics in support of business objectives