MSc Accounting & Sustainability

This module introduces you to the theory and practice of conducting business analytics projects. It adopts a business analytics methodology which enables you to (a) analyse a complex business situation, (b) identify high value opportunities for business analytics and (c) deliver an effective business analytics project. The module adopts an experiential learning philosophy by giving you a guided and mentored experience of conducting a realistic consulting project.

The module aims to develop an understanding of entrepreneurs and the firms they create and manage. Entrepreneurship is not only about new ventures or 'small' business or 'early-stage' business, nor even exclusively about for-profit business. Rather, it is a method of creative problem solving in business and a logic for taking action in a variety of settings where business can make a positive difference. The module, therefore, will explore a range of different ways of thinking about what entrepreneurship is and what entrepreneurs do. Our intention in the module is to try and help facilitate you in developing a more entrepreneurial mindset. This module also provides you with an opportunity to develop a Feasibility Study for exploiting an entrepreneurial opportunity - a precursor to a formal Business Plan.

There are two specific features about project management theory which make it a slightly different type of subject to most other academic modules. Firstly, the subject has its origins in large-scale, complex operations. This means that a large proportion of the published theory concerns the planning and control aspects of the management of such processes. Secondly, most of the concepts were developed in the heyday of the 1960s, where a lot of activity was taking place in the aerospace, defence and construction sectors. This means that most of the basic literature is reasonably old and technically focused.

In the modern context, project management methods are now used for a much wider variety of applications including change management, Third World development programmes and IT-based projects. As a consequence, this module aims to span a range of sectors and be as multi-disciplinary as possible. The planning and control aspects of the module occupy only about 20% of the total time available.

You will:

1. Develop an understanding of current project and programme management approaches and to make comparisons with your own organisation
2. Develop sensitivity to different project environments and to make comparisons and conclusions about them
3. Increase your understanding of commercial and behavioural issues in the management of projects
4. Provide experience of handling project management problems in a simulation setting.

The module aims to provide training on methods that aid decision making when managers face an uncertain future. The module covers methods for short-term and long-term forecasting of product demand and macroeconomic variables. The module discusses how forecasting aids decision-making.

This module offers practical and strategic value by deepening your conceptual understanding of what financial reporting does and how it does it. Reviewing fundamental and often taken-for-granted concepts such as measurement, objectivity, transparency, accountability and truth is central to your study.

This is therefore a theoretical module which develops skills of analysis that will contribute to equipping you to evaluating the product of financial reporting standards, and coping with future changes, whether this is changes in your own country’s financial reporting standards over time or moving to countries with other standards.

In developing your awareness of the contingent and powerful nature of accounting, the content is very practical and applied in using selected concepts to investigate how accounting and financial reporting works in practice and in its historical, social and institutional contexts. Special attention is given to the work of the International Accounting Standards Board, the genesis of its conceptual framework and its effect on how corporate accountability has been reshaped over the last few decades.

This module will provide you with the theoretical foundations, appropriately supported by real-life examples, to help understand how global business works today.

You'll develop critical awareness of major issues and problems associated with the development of global business strategies, and understand major trends in globalisation and the factors influencing international investment by global firms. You will critically evaluate ideas about the internationalisation process together with an awareness of the problems of formulating and implementing sustainable global business strategies. Understand and apply concepts and skills relevant to the problems of managing global value chains sustainably and dealing with the challenges associated with adapting to the informal “rules of the game” in different host market

Alternative investments by their very nature are applications of various disciplines. You'll build on your knowledge from relevant modules, and make the practical link between other subjects and topics, and how this could inform your future career or research decisions. You'll learn to recognise how to leverage your knowledge in other disciplines to pursue and develop a career in or around investment.