Business and Management

Welcome to the MA in Business and Management with specialist pathways in Marketing, Enterprise and new for 2013 Accounting (subject to approval). This exciting programme is specifically designed to help you to develop your knowledge and understanding of business and management and be able to implement this effectively across a wide range of complex business - based scenarios.

Why study Business and Management?

You will engage in the advanced study of a diverse range of organisations and the rapidly changing environments in which they operate both nationally and internationally. You will enhance both your academic research skills and the practical management skills that you will need in order to manage human resources, complex organisational systems and the challenging issues affecting business in a rigorous, pragmatic and effective manner.

Course structure

The Master’s degree is offered in a modular format offering participants the greatest choice in tailoring their final degree content to match their academic interest and future career development.

Participants take a mix of taught modules in the first two trimesters (120 credits) and complete a dissertation/research project (15,000-20,000 words) in the third trimester (60 credits). To achieve the MA you will need to complete 180 credits in total.

For those whose previous undergraduate study has been in an unrelated discipline, the programme will provide you with the skills and knowledge that you will need to gain a broad understanding of the complexities associated within modern day organisations and their effective management. It will prepare you to feel confident and assured in your own capacity to analyse complex issues and situations and to be able to manage yourself and the organisation through them in a positive and effective manner.

If you are preparing yourself for the skills and understanding that you will need to enter self-employment or to create and develop your own business idea the specialist pathway in Enterprise will provide a framework around which you can make this a practical reality.

Alternatively, you might be seeking to deepen current knowledge and understanding of business and management from the marketing perspective. The specialist pathway in Marketing will enable you to achieve this.

Modules

Trimester 1
By the end of the first trimester you will have developed a core of knowledge about the contemporary business environment and managing in the 21st century. In addition you will have begun to gain insight into the key themes that will comprise your final degree, taking one further compulsory half-module dependent upon your degree pathway choice, together with one additional optional half-module.

Managing in the New Millennium
This module introduces all Business and Management Master’s students to the holistic and complex nature of organisations today and will provide a springboard to subjects that are then studied in depth throughout the programme.

Managing Marketing
The purpose of this module is to provide an understanding of the importance of the marketing concept within any organisation. The module outlines both the philosophical underpinning supporting contemporary marketing theory and its application in different organisational contexts.

Business Economics
This module is designed to fulfil your need and interest with an in-depth background analysis to both microeconomics and macroeconomics with an emphasis on their applicability to the analysis of contemporary business problems. It introduces you to the key principles of economics that are relevant to a modern day business, and how economists build and use models to help make sense of the sometimes messy and confusing world around us.

Financial Management
This module enables you to understand how and why organisations report on their financial performance and position in the way they do. You also develop an understanding of how financial information is used for decision making purposes and how relevant financial information is effectively evaluated and communicated across the organisation.

Trimester 2
All students take four half-modules. Students within the specialist pathway degrees take two compulsory half-modules in Trimester 2 - each half-module forming a key component of their discipline of choice. Students can then choose two further optional half-modules, designed to enable them to tailor their degree whilst demonstrating the broadening of their knowledge and understanding from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Launching New Ventures
This module helps you to develop a comprehensive business plan. Content will include: Entrepreneurship and the planning process, stakeholder analysis, environmental analysis and audit, assessing organisational readiness, strategic objectives and direction, product/service development, delivery method, implementation plan, self-development plan and personal reflection.

Services and Relationship Marketing
This module is designed to explore the various facets of managing in the service industry. The emphasis of this module is on the consistency in service delivery to benefit the range of stakeholder groups. In addition to explore how businesses can achieve a competitive edge through better understanding of the intangible as well as the tangible part of their engagement with their customers

Managing Innovation, Creativity and Change
This module enables you to develop your capacity in creativity and innovation, and in the manner that you communicate and negotiate with colleagues and key stakeholders. It helps you to become more self-aware, both as a learner and as a manager, in the way you apply these skills to the organisation.

Marketing Communications
This module explores the key issues and challenges in contemporary marketing communications. It covers strategic issues of brand strategy, planning, and channel integration as well as the tactical considerations needed to execute relevant and appropriate marketing communications campaigns that meet the needs of key identified audiences.

Managing Information
The purpose of this module is to provide an understanding of the key approaches for managing information within organisations. Within this context, the module aims to provide students with the tools and capabilities to assess and manage information together with the analysis and evaluation of the different theoretical perspectives in developing and managing information and technology assets

Entrepreneurship
This module explores the contribution of entrepreneurship and of individual entrepreneurs to future organisational growth and sustainability. It defines the different role of the entrepreneur in different organisational contexts – small, medium and international, and identifies the necessary requirements associated with the creation and management of an entrepreneurial culture.

Managing People
Whatever your specialism, managers increasingly need to be managers of people, lead teams and undertake many aspects of human resource management. It is also increasingly being recognised that organisational performance can be enhanced and competitive advantage gained through the strategic management and development of people.

Managing the Organisation
The purpose of this module is to provide an understanding of effective operations and process management to meet identified organisational goals. The importance of quality management processes and procedures and their management application across the organisation are analysed and evaluated as is the manner in which the quality of operations impacts on stakeholder behaviour (staff, customers etc.)

Strategy and Governance
This module focuses on strategy and its importance to any organisation if it is to be able to grow and sustain itself within the contemporary global competitive environment. The module identifies the key concept of organisational purpose linked to both normative and technique based strategic tools and applies these in a variety of different organisational contexts.

Non-Profit Management
This module explores the distinctive challenges associated with the management of non-profit organisations from a marketing perspective. Ownership and strategic imperatives are identified alongside the contrasting demands of resource attraction, administration and application.

Trimester 3

Project/Dissertation
Between June and September Master’s students work (supported by a nominated supervisor) on their dissertation or detailed research project (15,000-20,000 words). The module commences with a series of taught interventions designed to promote scholarly endeavour in the research context – resulting in the formulation of clearly articulated research proposal outlining your research questions and the framing of the detailed work to be undertaken.

Course assessment

A variety of assessment methods are utilised, including:

• Individual report
• Individual presentation
• Group project work
• Group presentation
• Examination

Assignments are designed to integrate theoretical concepts with practical application.

Your tutors offer you access to a wide range of academic and practical expertise in business and management. Many of them maintain deep practical experience gained in business and management engagement across the commercial, public and the non-profit sectors. Our tutors are committed to delivering the highest quality teaching and learning and the application of that learning to deliver effective practice in the workplace.

Teaching methods

By the time you complete the programme, you will be able to:

• Understand the major business functions - understanding markets, developing plans, understanding and improving delivery, managing relationships with people, managing finance, technology and other resources;
• Develop skills and techniques - in gathering, analysing and evaluating information, planning, applying concepts and models to the solution of problems, evaluating risk, making decisions, communicating, working in teams, thinking effectively and in flexibly managing your own work and that of others;
• Evaluate and challenge both the positive and negative effects of a range of business and management practices and be able to make judgements about their value and implications;
• Apply your learning in a variety of business contexts ranging from the experience of large multinational organisations to sole party ownership; through different industry and sector specific experience; and through analysis of enterprise at different stages of development - self-employment, start-up and small business.

Application method

Application forms are available online and should be completed and returned to us either electronically or through the post. If you have any queries please contact the admissions department:

Telephone: (01225) 875624.

admissions@bathspa.ac.uk.

Course enquiries

For all enquiries about the course please contact:

Dr Lu Liu, Course Director.

Telephone: +44 (0)1225 875517

Email: l.liu@bathspa.ac.uk

Entry requirements

Applications from a variety of backgrounds are welcomed. Normally a good honours degree in any academic discipline or a relevant professional qualification. Applicants who do not meet the academic entry standard, but who have relevant work experience, will be considered on their individual merits by the Course Director. Previous experience and learning can be taken into consideration.

Career opportunities

This programme is designed to prepare participants for a wide range of careers in general management across all industry sectors. It will prepare you for entry level into management and ready you for progression to middle management positions. The advanced learning that it provides delivers practical management based skills and techniques that are directly applicable to a wide range of occupations.

Study within the specialist pathways allows for further concentration of skills and techniques in marketing and in business start-up and small and medium size business management. The content of the programme is also directly applicable those participants who wish to work in a self-employed capacity in the creative and performing arts sectors.