The MSc in Strategic Management and Planning will equip you with the knowledge and skills to manage the strategic direction of a company. You will develop an understanding of the threats and opportunities facing companies in today's complex and fast-changing global environment and the activities involved in the formulation and implementation of strategic initiatives with a focus on strengthening a company's competitive position. The course will hone your teamwork and business communication skills by working on real-life business situations to identify and resolve strategic and operational business problems and offer recommendations.
This course is ideal for students with an undergraduate degree in business, economics or related areas, postgraduate business diplomas, or degrees with a significant proportion of business subjects. Applications from non-business graduates are also considered.
What will I learn?
The course content has been designed to equip students with the skills to devise and successfully implement strategic initiatives based upon detailed assessment of the internal and external environments of a company.
This involves:
A comprehension of management theory and practice in order to strengthen a company's competitive position and boost its profitability.
How will I benefit?
1. Learn to identify the key market and non-market factors impacting the success of a company.
2. Expand your knowledge of the analytical tools and critical skills needed to evaluate, design and implement company-level strategies with a focus on increasing profitability.
3. Hone your understanding of the challenges managers face in designing and implementing strategies and ability to recommend solutions through reports, presentations and discussions.
4. Upon graduation, choose from a range of sectors and positions, from strategic management consulting and financial services through to regulation and government services and graduate positions.
Curriculum
Students on the course must fulfil a range of core and option modules (4 + 2), as well as a dissertation or additional core module (Managing the Negotiation Process) + 2 further option modules in the final summer term.
The course is designed to offer students the theoretically rigorous and practically relevant business skills needed to succeed in today's business environment.
The versatile nature of the curriculum offers access to a wide range of career opportunities both nationally and internationally.
Vision/Values Statement +
Participants on the MSc in Strategic Management and Planning learn to identify the key factors that determine the success of a company taking into account both market and non-market strategies. They also expand their knowledge of the analytical tools and the skills needed both to design and implement firm level strategies (Purpose).
The programme exposes students to the skills and techniques needed to manage the strategic direction of a firm: strategy, management, leadership, critical thinking, negotiations and decision-making techniques (education and subject/discipline/professional values).
The programme promotes a positive environment where: students are encouraged to take ownership for their learning journey; learning is rooted in rigorous management research; and the unique contributions of students from various cultural backgrounds are valued and used as opportunities to challenge existing approaches (the nature of the learning environment for students).
In addition to lectures, students work individually and in small groups on business cases and assignments. Students are also exposed to skills training sessions, and presentations by visiting lecturers and practitioners. Students also receive training in analytical and research methods and have the option to write an individual thesis on a management topic of their choice (key approaches to teaching, learning and assessment).