This programme is being updated to reflect specific challenges facing today's business leaders. The next programme will start in January 2013, with recruitment beginning in January 2012. If you are interested in finding out more about this MSc, or wish to register your interest, please contact the Course Director, Helen Ballard:
All students take two mandatory units over the first two terms of study. These are designed to provide a thorough grounding in the theoretical concepts of strategy and strategic management. The first unit is also designed as an induction into the study of management at the Master's level, and to the university.
| Units | Contact Days | Credits Awarded | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | The Context of Strategic Management | 4 | 20 |
| Strategy and Strategic Management | 4 | 20 | |
| Two Optional Units | 2 (each) | 10 (each) | |
| Year 2 | Realising Strategy | 4 | 20 |
| Two Optional Units | 2 (each) | 10 (each) | |
| Developing the Strategic Manager | 4 | 20 | |
| Year 3 | Dissertation (plus supervision) | 2 | 60 |
Students progressing normally through the degree will attend 12 weekend contact days over each of the first two years and will undertake the associated self-study and coursework assignments. Successful completion of the taught units and the dissertation will earn the Master's degree in Strategic Management.
In addition to the mandatory units, the options are designed to enable students to tailor the degree to suit their own requirements. Some focus on a particular area of management expertise, such as financial management. Others aim to extend students' understanding of the organisation and its environment, such as business ethics or strategic development in the public sector. Finally, some options such as creativity and innovation, leadership and negotiation, consider the personal and organisational capabilities essential for successful organisations.
*Options available are subject to review and demand. The above list are units likely to be available.
The mandatory units involve four days of contact time, spread over two weekends spaced some four to six weeks apart. The optional units involve two days of contact time over one weekend. Contact with the tutor(s) and with other students includes lectures, case studies, practical exercises, and group work.
Students will be expected to undertake some pre-reading in the weeks before attending taught units, and again in preparation for the coursework assignment. A considerable amount of self-study is required to complete a unit.
Teaching on our part-time degrees is designed to be interactive and to involve a variety of teaching methods. Although there are some lecture sessions, tutors work with students' lived experience, with case studies, and with exercises in order to bring theory and practice together. Emphasis is placed on students' own experiences and the insight that these can bring to the subject matter. The teaching staff are accessible and the atmosphere in the classroom is typically relaxed and friendly.
All units are assessed by written coursework. Where possible, assignments are designed to integrate theoretical concepts and students' practical experiences.
Students are drawn from private, public and the not-for-profit backgrounds, and include managers, consultants and entrepreneurs who run their own businesses.
The average age of our students is a little under 37, and all have considerable work experience. Most, but not all have first degrees; some have professional qualifications alone. It is our experiences that students who do not have degrees - or those whose degree is but a hazy memory - while often needing a bit more coaching at the beginning of the programme, go on to complete it very successfully. We are always seeking to broaden the diversity of our student group as we believe that this enriches the student experience for everyone.
Tutors from the Department of Management tend to be suspicious of prescriptive, one-size-fits-all approaches to the management of organisations. We believe that every organisation is different, and that we need to help develop in students the intellectual and conceptual skills so that they may solve particular problems in particular places at particular times. We aim to develop critical thinkers, able to discriminate between the latest corporate fad and knowledge of a lasting value, and who can apply theoretical learning to practical situations at work.
We deliberately keep group sizes small in order to maximise opportunities for participation.
Students typically find the interaction with others on the programme to be one of the most developmental aspects. Because students come with a variety of experiences of different organisations in different contexts, they make a major contribution in adding practical experience to theoretical ideas and case examples.
