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Leading and managing in today’s business environment is complex. This module addresses the needs of executives in today’s dynamic environment and focuses on strategic leadership in the context of complexity and change. It explores the origins and history of leadership thinking and provides a fundamental understanding of contemporary leadership theory. The pivotal role of the senior leader in the process of understanding and shaping of organisational culture is examined and you will develop key leadership knowledge and skills including: the identification of different types of leadership problems and approaches to solving them; understanding and making sense of change; and will develop an understanding of the leader’s role in power, politics, ethics and diversity.

The Digital Revolution has seen information systems move from supporting business, to ‘being’ the business. This transformation has seen development not only in technology, but business models, ways of working and culture. It is now essential that all managers are equipped to effectively exploit these developments to help gain competitive advantage and shape the organisation in a digital society. This module explores a range of different topics relating to the digitalisation of organisations, including: digital and data management strategies; use of data collection and analysis to support effective decision-making; and disruptive technologies and business models.

Business strategy is often considered to be at the very pinnacle of management because well-founded strategies give purpose, focus and structure to all other business activities. Yet in today’s rapidly evolving world of opportunities, strategic management needs to evolve from a rigid planning process into a more flexible process. This module explores theoretical perspectives and theories – as paradoxes and conflicting viewpoints – and examines the strategic thinking and decision-making processes that need to take place for an organisation to develop suitable strategies to compete in what are often dynamic and hyper-competitive environments.

Operations management are the foundations of every organisation, whether manufacturing, service organisations or not-for-profit organisations. This module explores how organisations can build operations and supply chains in a sustainable way that helps to deliver the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.

This module looks in detail at the role of management in organisations. It explores how organisations are structured and function, with a focus on how people work together in the organisational context. The module covers a range of topics that impact on the role of the manager including: business ethics; risk management; organisational sustainability; creating products and services with a sustainable mindset and awareness of environmental impact; Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); organisational continuity; and robustness in an increasingly global context.

Strategic marketing is central to enabling an organisation to respond to a dynamic global marketplace. It is the activity which determines and prioritises the different marketing deliverables within the marketing mix and as such is arguably the core marketing activity. This module provides an overview of strategic marketing, the decisions, processes and frameworks involved and considers the implementation of these tools and activities in various organisational contexts. It also considers the challenges of developing and executing marketing strategies at a global level. The module examines ways in which organisations might best respond as they seek to develop a strong and sustainable position through careful identification of target markets and creation of competitive advantage.

The purpose of this module is to stimulate creative thinking and develop reflective analytical skills, to enable innovative new ways of working within your organisation and beyond, with customers, clients, and partners. Core theories and contemporary practice in operations, innovation, process design and quality improvement are explored, providing joined up thinking on value creation, optimisation and maintenance in the delivery of services and products. The module enables you to think about customer, client and service user requirements and identify process and efficiency-based improvements whilst not compromising quality and perceived customer value. It develops approaches to creative problem solving implicit in product, service and process improvement.

This module provides you with insights into how the modern-day business leader can use financial and non-financial information to support decision-making. Geared towards non-accounting practitioners, the module presents financial management in its strategic and statutory context, enabling a wider appreciation of financial tools and techniques that can be deployed within your organisation.

This module is appropriate for practitioners who wish to understand and be able to influence decisions regarding the management of human resources in organisations. It considers the different practices of HRM and their contribution to organisational strategic aims. You will have the opportunity to identify, review and assess HRM issues at a strategic level within your own professional context. The module also provides critical awareness of the latest challenges facing HR professionals and how these impact on the organisation.

The research methods module will develop your analytical and research skills to develop competencies for future work-based research and consultancy work. The module provides the essential guidance in conducting the research and problem-solving activities that you will undertake as part of your summative dissertation. The module includes how to scope a research or problem-solving project, exploring underlying assumptions, designing an appropriate methodological approach, and examining the ethical concerns of any research or problem-solving project. The module will enable you to examine and apply appropriate paradigms for your sector and context, develop knowledge of the various research styles available to researchers, and explore epistemological rationales and ethical implications. You will develop an understanding of the potential strengths and weaknesses of each research style to enable the critical selection and use of the most appropriate research style, in the light of your chosen dissertation.

The MBA dissertation is a self-directed piece of work that enables you to consolidate and deepen your MBA learning experience whilst pursuing avenues of personal or professional relevance. The dissertation is unique to the subject, company or organisation that you choose to study, with topic and content being agreed with your personal subject specialist supervisor.