MBA with Specialism in Finance (with optional Placement/Project year)

This module integrates advanced leadership theories with ethical management strategies, emphasising the practical skills needed to address complex organisational challenges. It cultivates ethical decision-making, shapes accountable leadership practices, and fosters sustainable and value-driven organisational cultures.

This module provides a critical overview of the core areas of marketing for organisations. It covers key concepts such as customer value, market analysis, and strategic marketing planning.

Students will explore key factors shaping the marketing environment, target marketing and consumer buyer behaviour, the importance and role of positioning and integrated marketing communications with an emphasis on the development and rationale for developing strong brands. Students will also examine the contemporary marketing challenges facing organisations students and how to evaluate marketing strategy.

This module equips students with adequate financial knowledge of corporate finance including investing, financing and dividend decisions in an organisational context. It aims to achieve the following objectives:-

1. To enable students to explore and develop an understanding of the theoretical techniques, concepts and methods employed in finance
2. To develop the ability to apply the theoretical to the practical, through the analysis of data and application of relevant techniques in the context of a variety of organisations
3. To evaluate and develop a critical and reflective awareness of the importance of the application of finance to decision making within organisations

Indicative contents include but are not limited to:

• Financial accounting – financial reporting/statements/corporate financing/financial control techniques/cash flow management
• Management and cost accounting – operational/implementation/strategic financial decision making/performance measurement
• Investment decisions – appraisal/risk/financing/capital rationing/strategy/acquisitions/rationing/strategy/acquisitions and mergers
• Value based management – shareholder value/valuation/ethical issues

This module aims to equip MBA students with strategic knowledge of corporate finance including investing, financing and dividend decisions in an international context, whilst considering relevant aspects of sustainability as part of the decision making process.

The indicative contents of the module are as follows:

• External environmental analysis for the organisational ecosystem. 
• Resources and value creation within the organisational ecosystem.
• Sustainable finance integrates Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions, aiming for long-term financial returns alongside positive societal and environmental outcomes.
• Corporate Investment decisions and International Finance
• Global Contexts for investment decision making and strategy
• International context of Corporate Finance planning
• Capital structure and corporate value
• Shareholder value - Financial market structures and products
• The relationship between economic events, interest rates and foreign currency 
• Workings of the capital and money markets.
• Financial and strategic implications of organic growth vs mergers and acquisitions.

This module develops MBA students' awareness and understanding of risk management frameworks in international contexts. It covers the nature of financial and non-financial risks and the key components of risk management systems as well as the analysis and application of corporate governance principles in relation to risk management.

Indicative contents are as follows:

• Corporate governance theories including internal control systems and internal audit.
• Enterprise risk management frameworks.
• Strategy risk.
• Cyber security threats, processes, tools, techniques and reporting.
• Reputational risk.
• Economic and credit risk.
• Interest rate and currency risk in international contexts.

A course of individual study and research project in accordance with established research principles involving the completion of a Management Research Project, usually in the form of a dissertation. 

The module is designed to enable learners to:

• Be able to identify & justify a Business research "real world" problems, evaluate, and apply appropriate research methods to address the research problem.
• Design and implement a management research project using methodologies and methods appropriate to
  research questions and objectives
• Analyse and report business/management research findings to meet academic and practitioner needs
• Demonstrate critical reflection on the research process, managerial implications and alignment with future study.
• Demonstrate the application of knowledge and skills to plan a substantial management research project.
• Assess and evaluate potential ethical and practical challenges to conducting a management research project.
• Provide students with the skills to develop the work from an existing research proposal into a piece of rigorous management research or an organisation-specific project using secondary or primary data as negotiated with their supervisor
• To provide students with the skills to write up an extended piece of research, demonstrating academic rigour, including consideration of methodological and ethical issues associated with the programme of academic research or the organisation specific project
• To enhance students' project planning, presentation, critical reflection, and analysis skills
• To support students with the opportunity, and the enabling mechanisms to support their development towards
  independent learning.

Indicative content includes, but is not limited to:

• The nature, extent and purposes of management research
• Management research paradigms
• Research strategies
• Research designs, methods and approaches
• Research quality standards: establishing validity, reliability and generalisability
• Sampling and Research instrument design
• Research ethics
• Research Data Management: collection, organisation and analysis
• Managing a dissertation research project