Master of Business Administration

The study of marketing plays an essential component of the knowledge, skills and competence of middle to senior manager, particularly in a fast moving and complex global marketplace. The module will develop high level and advanced marketing knowledge and skills in the learner. At the end of the module, you will be able to:

1. Be able to critically analyse and demonstrate the relative importance of marketing to a specific business or organization;
2. Be able to create a high level brief for a market research organisation to carry out a specific research project based on sound organisational research;
3. Be able to supervise and monitor marketing spend as part of a continuing campaign for a specified organization;
4. Be able to demonstrate the necessary competencies to be able to be responsible for generating customer interaction in an organisation’s market research approaches.

Middle to senior managers are expected to manage budgets, control costs and improve productivity. This module will support the development of high level skills in this discipline area and enable students to have confidence in accountancy and finance matters as they assume more senior roles with added responsibilities. At the end of the module, you will be able to:

1. Be able to produce competent draft accounts for an organisation;
2. Be able to create a competent budget incorporating both annual and capital expenditure evaluating the appropriate balance of these;
3. Be able to effectively demonstrate, based on research, the different means of appraising investment projects as part of a capital investment plan, and authorise the most appropriate for a given organisation;
4. Be able to demonstrate an ability to be able authorise expenditure against budget; and,
5. Be able to monitor regularly-reported management accounts and authorise remedial action where relevant.

This module provides students with a detailed and contemporary understanding of qualitative and quantitative research activities, as applied in a business and management context. The module will not only support students prior to commencing their dissertation but also help students to understand how data interpretation can support their role in effectively managing organisations at a senior level.

• Be able to monitor complex circumstances within and around an organisation to determine when to recommend research projects be developed and approved;
• Be able to authorise the commissioning of appropriately complex organisation-relevant research projects;
• Be able to manage complex projects if so commissioned by the organisation.

Successful and effective strategic planning and management is essential for any successful organisation. Middle to senior managers must be able to formulate robust and realistic strategic plans. This module explores high level strategic planning concepts and practices. At the end of the module, you will be able to:

1. Be able to critically analyse the internal and external environment of the organisation;
2. Be able to create a detailed strategic plan for a chosen organisation;
3. Be able to represent complex views underlying the strategic plan to the most senior decision-making team of an organisation; and,
4. Be able to produce a detailed monitoring report on the progress of the strategic plan based on research of the detailed circumstances.

The study of organisational behaviour and Human Resource Management underpins Strategy, Leadership and Change Management. The module will provide the learner with a detailed understanding of current and emerging global practice in respect of managing and developing an organisation’s human capital. At the end of the module, you will be able to:

1. Have the competency to effectively supervise a staff team;
2. Be able to identify, set, and achieve complex personal and staff goals;
3. Have the competency to be able to manage a department or section of an organisation, including the personnel within it;
4. Have the competency to be able to select an appropriate person(s) to recruit to an identified organisational post; and,
5. Have the competency to be able to select an appropriate person(s) to undertake a successful project.

In the absence of effective leadership organisations will fail. This module explores the attributes of what makes an effective organisational leader, the techniques they employ and how effective leaders are essential to sustainable succession planning. At the end of the module, you will be able to:

1. Be able to effectively apply higher level leadership behaviours in different organisational circumstances;
2. Be able to effectively collaborate with colleagues to ensure the development of complementary and appropriate leadership approaches across the organisation; and,
3. Be able to critically monitor leadership behaviours across an organisation through a formal and continuing research process.

This module introduces students to the functions of Economics, with a particular focus on organisations, theories and their operating environment, society, law and almost everything else in life. It is an understanding of fundamental theories, how people, organisations, and countries control their money, cost vs profits, which are valuable skills to any employer. It is a study of competition, monopolies, the psychology, of why people make the decisions they make, how markets function, and how resources are spread out around the world. Furthermore, students will be given a deeper insight into the activities which affect small businesses and economies. At the end of the module, you will be able to:

1. Be able to draw a detailed supply and demand chart;
2. Be able to use cost curves to critically determine courses of action within an organisation;
3. Be able to recommend market-based solutions appropriate to the organisation;
4. Be able to conduct appropriately detailed economic research appropriate to the organisation;
5. Be able to undertake a detailed analysis of the causes of economic failure in a government organisation or sector;
6. Be able to advise a manager on the mix of their business costs;
7. Be able to critically describe how systems of economic theory approach a given problem;
8. Be able to select an appropriate mix of economic policies for a nominated country; and,
9. Be able to provide appropriately detailed advice on future economic union developments.

The module explores how businesses are increasingly using digital frameworks to pursue business goals. Electronic business (e-business) is the approach a company takes to become a profitable business through the portal of the Internet. The module explores why E-business includes a much wider range of businesses processes, such as supply chain management, electronic order processing and customer relationship management. At the end of the module, you will be able to:

1. Be able to critically analyse the internal e-business capacity of an organisation;
2. Be able to create a detailed e-business plan for a chosen organisation;
3. Be able to present soundly researched proposals underpinning an e-business plan to the most senior decision-making team of the organisation, with staged investment options; and,
4. Be able to produce a detailed monitoring report on the progress of the agreed organisational strategic plan.

This module is designed to allow students the opportunity to engage in a rigorous piece of personal and independent research arising out of their programme of study and allied to their professional field, and to present their findings through a dissertation.

1. Critically monitor and assess the circumstances within and around an organisation to determine when to recommend research projects be developed and approved;
2. Have the knowledge, understanding and authority to authorise the commissioning of appropriate organisation-relevant research projects;
3. Be able to implement research projects if so commissioned.