These are indicative optional modules which may vary year-on-year.
Sustainable Innovation
This module is designed to give you an appreciation and understanding of how to successfully create more sustainable products, services, and business models.
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You will develop an appreciation of environmental and social sustainability in relation to product and service development, as well as an in-depth understanding of innovation methods, such as design thinking, agile, and the lean start-up, in relation to sustainability.
This module will also provide insights into how to develop sustainable business model. You will explore the dilemmas of the sustainability/business interface in the context of product and service innovation and adopt an inter-organizational perspective to investigate sustainable supply chains and ecosystems of innovation.
Global Challenges in Management and Sustainability
This module will provide you with the theoretical foundations, appropriately supported by real-life examples, to help understand how global business works today.
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This module will provide you with the theoretical foundations, appropriately supported by real-life examples, to help understand how global business works today.
Anyone who follows the news will immediately understand the importance of global business and how it has become central to decisions made by governments and their regulators. The trade conflict between the US and China, all the problems for global businesses (as well as the people of the UK and Europe) arising out of Brexit and the potential disruption to global supply chains for companies as diverse as car manufacturers and financial services. Furthermore, environmental crises and disruptions come in various forms: economic recessions, disease outbreaks, as well as terrorist attacks – many of which cannot be easily predicted and impose numerous non-trivial costs on firms, particularly MNEs due to their multimarket exposures. At the same time, MNEs are accused of behaving irresponsibly in their quest for global market growth, which is likely to impose further costs on these firms.
By the end of the module, you will be able to dig deep into these news headlines and gain real insight into the issues in order to discuss how MNEs can build sustainable business models in today’s global business environment.
Digital Finance, Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies*
Learn how digital innovations and information technologies are transforming the provision fo financial services.
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The principle aims of the module are:
- To gain with a practical and theoretical understanding of how the financial services industry has been transformed through the adoption and use of digital innovation and information technologies
- Familiarise yourself with the key technical, procedural, and business aspects of relevant financial technologies and FinTech innovations
- Get with the right mix of technical and business skills to manage IT change in a highly complex and distributed but also competitive setting in finance
- Learn how recent developments in fintech, paytech, regtech, and insuretech (e.g. open banking, blockchain and shared ledger technologies, cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, security, etc.) will affect the future of finance.
Creative People in Sustainable Organisations
Get an introduction to the principles, theories and research underlying the academic disciplines concerning the behaviour, leadership and management of people and organisations.
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The aims of this module are:
1) Introduced you to the principles, theories and research underlying the academic disciplines concerning the behaviour, leadership and management of people and organisations (Organisational Behaviour, OB, and Human Resource Management, HRM) at four levels of analysis: individual, group, organisational and societal.
2) Develop a critical appreciation of the behavioural and social sciences as they relate to the study of behaviour in organisations.
3) Introduce you to a critical understanding of the practice of management, leadership and people management in particular.
4) Provide you with structured opportunities to practice applying OB and HRM principles, theories and research to analyse and solve organisational problems.
Artificial Intelligence in Business*
This module gives participants theoretical and practical knowledge about applying Artificial Intelligence in real-world business and managerial environments.
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This module gives participants theoretical and practical knowledge about applying Artificial Intelligence in real-world business and managerial environments. Participants will explore the different types of Artificial Intelligence, they will discover how they are developed, they will discuss their implication on jobs and tasks and tackle the ethical and environmental challenges associated with it.
Research Methodology
If you select the dissertation route, Research Methodology becomes a compulsory module for you and it gives you the academic skills to confidently approach your dissertation topic.
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If you select the dissertation route, Research Methodology becomes a compulsory module for you and it gives you the academic skills to confidently approach your dissertation topic. The focus is on epistemological foundations, the design of a research project, the preparation for and execution of valid and reliable business research (whether qualitative or quantitative), and on the writing up and presentation of research results.
Leading for Innovation
This module aims to develop a greater understanding of how to foster an innovative work environment.
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This module aims to develop a greater understanding of how to foster an innovative work environment. In this module the role of the leader will be examined as he/she facilitates innovative ventures by identifying and defining problems worth pursuing (where potential payoffs justify risks), creating a context that allows for multiple parties to work together in generating viable ideas (those with a chance of successful implementation) and managing the context of idea development and fielding – to ensure that viable ideas are likely to be adopted in the marketplace. This module also aims to understand how to develop leaders for innovation.
It is further aimed to develop an understanding into issues such as:
- Why is innovation important (especially now)?
- What makes a leader more or less successful at leading for innovation?
- What is the role of the team in the innovation process?
- How might leading for innovation vary by domain (i.e. IT, marketing, etc)?
- How can crowdsourcing be used to foster innovation?
Corporate Finance*
Get an introduction to the principles of Corporate Finance and learn how the basic tools and techniques of modern finance theory can be applied to analyse and improve the investment and financing decisions of the firm.
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Get an introduction to the principles of Corporate Finance and learn how the basic tools and techniques of modern finance theory can be applied to analyse and improve the investment and financing decisions of the firm.
Indicative themes include:
- Financial calculus
- Financial markets
- Valuing bonds
- Valuing stocks
- Portfolio choice and diversification
- The capital asset pricing model
- Capital budgeting
- NPV in action
- Market efficiency
- Financing and capital structure
- Payout policy
- Corporate risk management.
Business, International Finance & Economics
This module will provide real world examples and case studies to illustrate how economic thinking helps businesses make the most of new opportunities, while managing the risks associated with expansion into new markets and regions.
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Exposure to the global economy brings new ideas, technologies, and management practices to a business. Whether looking to build a new plant, sell to a new market or find global business partners, exploiting opportunities in new markets or regions poses fresh challenges.
Many of those challenges arise from the different business environment that's present in countries around the world. What does an understanding of economics tell us about which countries and regions will see markets develop quickly in the medium term? Which governments act in ways that pose macroeconomic risks and which do not? How can resources and intellectual property be managed effectively? Which economic theories offer strategies to foster talent and help staff respond to new opportunities?
The patterns of world trade and the responses of governments have always been in constant flux. Businesses can't rely on traditional markets in the medium- to long-term. The pandemic has disturbed even the recently-established patterns of global economic growth. Strategic business decisions require an appreciation of the economic thinking that underpins these new patterns of growth and the changes in international finance that support them.
This module will provide real world examples and case studies to illustrate how economic thinking helps businesses make the most of new opportunities, while managing the risks associated with expansion into new markets and regions.
The module has been developed for business and management students across the WBS MSc portfolio and draws on ideas and research from macroeconomics, microeconomics, international finance, business strategy and development economics. No previous experience of economic analysis is required.
Case Studies in Data Science & Economics
This module will provide you with training in applying data science methods to contemporary economic problems, giving you the opportunity to conduct a data science project using economic data.
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The module aims to provide training in applying data science methods to contemporary economic problems by looking at case studies. Specifically, the module aims to give you the opportunity to conduct a data science project using economic data. You will discover how to replicate and extend a data science case. The module aims to give the appropriate grounding in economic analysis, while developing your research and communication skills.
Strategic Human Resource Management
This module will provide you with a deep understanding of the strategic role of human capital management and the tools with which to analyse and manage it.
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The aim of this module is to provide you with a deep understanding of this strategic role of human capital management and the tools with which to analyse and manage it.
We will consider what is means to align the HR function with strategic objectives. We will ask whether all human capital is equally valuable. We will debate the extent to which human capital and its associated outcomes are quantifiable in a meaningful way. We will examine whether HRM can support both efficiency and flexibility at the same time. Ultimately, the class will provide a range of models and tools for managing human capital in a strategic way.
Big Data Analytics*
This module will cover a wide range of cutting edge research in Big Data Analytics, with a particular focus on the extensive value of data from the Internet, much of which is freely available if you have the skills to mine it.
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This module will cover a wide range of cutting edge research in Big Data Analytics, with a particular focus on the extensive value of data from the Internet, much of which is freely available if you have the skills to mine it.
This module involves learning to program in R, but no prior programming knowledge is required.
Module aims will include:
- Linking stock market movements to online data
- Measuring sentiment with online data
- Predicting consumer behaviour with online data
- Getting quicker measurements of key economic indicators with online data
- Measuring where people are and where they are going with mobile phone data and online data
- Predicting crime and epidemics
- Understanding social networks.
The module will also teach you the practical skills needed to work with online data.
You will learn:
- How to mine data on Google searches
- How to mine data on Wikipedia page views
- How to mine data on photographs uploaded to Flickr
- How to make data visualisations
- How to design and execute a small data science project of your own.
Customer Analytics*
Challenge your thinking about the appropriate and inappropriate use of customer data for strategic decision-making including ethical issues involved in handling and using data.
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Using real-world cases as context for data analyses, you will learn good and bad practices for how to derive meaningful insights from customer data, in turn improving financial performance. Examples include comparing data for different groups of customers, finding clusters of customers, and how to analyse relationships between different types of customer data.
You will not only improve your theoretical understanding of empirical methods, but will also learn how to apply these methods in the widely-used software R. Once these insights have been generated, you will learn how to use graphical representations for story-telling in business presentations, as well as understanding good practices in the context of presentations with data.
Project Management*
Look at project management methods in a modern context, spanning a range of sectors and applications.
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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:
- Develop an understanding of current project and programme management approaches and to make comparisons with your own organisation
- Develop sensitivity to different project environments and to make comparisons and conclusions about them
- Increase your understanding of commercial and behavioural issues in the management of projects
- Provide experience of handling project management problems in a simulation setting.
Behavioural Economics
You'll be introduced to the ways in which economists and psychologists have used behavioural theories and experimental methods to provide extensions to, or alternatives to, the conventional economic wisdom covered in the Fundamentals of Economic Behaviour module.
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This module introduces you to the ways in which economists and psychologists have used behavioural theories and experimental methods to provide extensions to, or alternatives to, the conventional economic wisdom described in the Fundamentals of Economic Behaviour module. It will examine recent cutting-edge research, and consider the implications of that research for individual decision making, the operation of markets and public sector policy making.
Driving Innovation & Entrepreneurship through Marketing & Strategy
Explore the importance of management of innovation in products, processes, technology and communications.
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Explore the importance of management of innovation in products, processes, technology and communications. Critically evaluate key indicators of innovation activity, examine internal and external factors that lead to new product failures and determine key innovation strategy issues for different situations and sectors. Develop understanding of conceptual, analytical and practical insights into the entrepreneurial process with reference to profit and non-profit enterprise contexts. Develop skills to help effective engagement in a world in which innovation and entrepreneurship are key drivers of change.
Managing Human Resources in Contemporary Organisations*
Through this module you’ll be introduced to a range of debates that are central to the human resource management and employment relations field.
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Through this module you’ll be introduced to a range of debates that are central to the human resource management and employment relations field, including the 'high commitment' models of human resource management. It will also provide you with an in-depth insight into a number of the specific HR practice areas, including: recruitment and selection; training and development; job design and teamworking, pay and rewards; unions and HRM, and equal opportunities and diversity management.
During this module you will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the development of human resource management as a field of study
- Critically appreciate the contribution made by each of the core disciplines (e.g. sociology, psychology, law, economics)
- Analyse specific human resource management problems in their wider social context
- Understand, evaluate, and marshal critical social science research on human resource management
- Extrapolate from existing research and scholarship to identify new or revised approaches to human resource practice
- Demonstrate advanced study skills including written communication, location and retrieval of relevant reading from library stock and electronic resources, using information technology, employing appropriate quantitative methods.
Marketing through Social Media
This module develops an understanding of how brand managers can access and use social media channels as part of their marketing strategy in order to build brand presence and maintain relevance in the life of their customers.
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Technology has led to a proliferation of social media channels. These channels enable peer-to-peer communication as well as providing brands with many more ways to reach their customers, have relevant conversations with them, and listen to what matters to them. This module develops an understanding of how brand managers can access and use social media channels as part of their marketing strategy in order to build brand presence and maintain relevance in the life of their customers.
Through this module you will develop a greater understanding of the fast growing, changing world of social media channels and their relevance to customers, brands and the firm. The module aims to develop an appreciation of how the firm’s integrated marketing communications, brand management, and content management strategies are impacted by social media channels, and to examine the strategic opportunities and challenges these present.
Specific objectives of the module include:
- Understanding the role of social media in achieving the objectives of the firm's integrated marketing communications strategy
- Understanding the significance of a content management strategy, including selecting and combining appropriate social media tools for stages of the customer journey
- Linking social media into the marketing mix, including understanding their relevance in developing product, place, and service decisions
- Understanding how to use social media as a tool for insight into changing customer needs
- Recognising the advantages and pitfalls of earned media including brand communities, viral marketing, and PR crises.
Digital Marketing Technology & Management
This module aims to provide an overview about how today's firms use digital marketing technologies to achieve their business objectives.
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This module aims to provide an overview about how today's firms use digital marketing technologies to achieve their business objectives. Students will require theoretical and practical subject knowledge and understanding, cognitive and methodological skills (e.g. written assignment, critical reflections, discussions in seminars, hands-on excercises) and social/soft skills (e.g. leadership and team work).
International Business
The module aims to develop a critical awareness of the issues, problems, concepts, and skills associated with the development of international business strategy and operations.
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The module aims to develop a critical awareness of the issues, problems, concepts, and skills associated with the development of international business strategy and operations. Topics will include: the drivers and processes of internationalisation, cross-cultural management challenges, the assessment of overseas investment opportunities and the specific challenges of emerging markets.
Digital Business Services
Focus on how digital technologies enable organisations to offer digital services that aim at improving customer experience as well as firm performance. You'll be prepared to engage with technology-related conversations in the modern workplace.
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This module focuses on how digital technologies enable organisations to offer digital services that aim at improving customer experience as well as firm performance. The module assumes no prior knowledge of technology and prepares students to engage with technology-related conversations (e.g., designing a new digital service) at the modern workplace.
The module has three themes. The first theme is gaining competitive advantage using a digital business strategy and covers concepts such as motivations for digital transformation. The second theme provides an overview of what today’s managers need to know about the advantages and disadvantages of cutting-edge technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, social media, and data analytics. The last theme focuses on the lifecycle of digital service provision, covering key concepts such as technology selection and sourcing, agile implementation, and risk management
Forecasting for Decision Makers
This module will train you in the key methods that aid decision making when managers face an uncertain future.
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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.
Business Analytics for Managers
This module introduces you to the theory and practice of conducting business analytics projects.
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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.
Governance, Corporate Responsibility and Ethical Business Practices
This module will enable you to understand the wider institutional location of business activity within the polity and the society.
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This module puts particular emphasis on corporations’ responsibilities in global society and discusses key governance issues related to this agenda. Firms will be seen as both 'takers' and 'givers' of governance and regulation in a variety of formal and informal ways.
The module is not a traditional course in business ethics, but explores the influence of the non-market environment on businesses’ strategies and operational practices and will confront some 'critical issues' topics. You will learn to demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the responsibilities of companies in the local and global context as well as understanding of the significance of the non-market environment for business decisions.
Key
- * Business in Practice route only