Year one
Innovation Management
Innovation Management is a fast moving area of Business Improvement studies where technology and market development require managers and employees to be at the forefront of knowledge in this area. The module covers contemporary developments in the field in relation to theory and organisational practice. Learning in this area has the potential to lead to improvements such as shorter cycle times and lower costs in knowledge transfer and new product development.
Strategy
Strategy consists of the analysis and decisions an organisation undertakes in order to create and sustain competitive advantage. Understanding these interrelated processes is crucial for creating and developing organisations. This module explores these decisions areas from a range of contemporary perspectives and contexts.
Quality and Process Management
Excellent organisations are managed through structured and strategically aligned processes using fact-based decision making to create balanced and sustained results. To achieve excellence, organisations must focus on how their processes are designed to deliver a strategy, using end-to-end management beyond the "classic" boundaries of the organisation. Excellent organisations design, manage and improve processes to generate increasing value for customers and other stakeholders.
Operational Excellence
Operations and process management is about how organisations produce goods and services. This module aims to enable students to acquire knowledge and a critical understanding of Operations Management, an understanding of the tasks, issues and decisions that are necessary to manage processes effectively and the tools to analyse process performance. This knowledge and understanding is essential for effective and efficient business improvement. Learning will be by teaching, discussion and independent study.
Year two
Financial Decision Making
The module will introduce students to both financial and management accounting information and equip them with a greater understanding of the reasons behind some of the figures they will increasingly encounter as they progress through their organisations.
Leadership and Change Management
The module considers theoretical perspectives in managing organisational change and using them asks participants to analyse situations within their organisations to make recommendations on the management of change their organisation.
People Development and Involvement
Excellent organisations value their people to ensure a mutually beneficial alignment of organisational and personal goals. This module aims to enable students to acquire knowledge and an understanding of the core areas of Human Resource Management (HRM) and the factors which influence behaviour within organisations. This knowledge and understanding is essential for effective and efficient business improvement through effectively managing, empowering and developing people. Learning will be by teaching, discussion and independent study.
Business Transformation Project
The Management Project enables students to apply the theoretical concepts encountered on the MSc Business Improvement to a "live" management issue. In doing so they choose appropriate research methodologies, gather data and make conclusions and recommendations to the host organisation.
