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About the course
This flexible Master’s course develops your strategic and analytical skills so you can apply them confidently to solve international business and management issues with a particular focus on using data to create new opportunities across a range of international businesses.
In the modern business world data analysis is a key component in decision making and organisational development. This course builds your skills in data analytics while exploring core areas of business such as strategic and financial management; cross-cultural business competencies; and brand management – all viewed through the lens of developing patterns in world trade and the global marketplace.
You also study the management and development of people in cross-cultural organisations and gain an appreciation of how cultural differences affect both buying behaviour and marketing approaches.
The Data Analytics units cover a wide range of topics including big data; programming; and the importance of analytics in decision making. The knowledge you gain will enable you to synthesise complex information and data to produce meaningful solutions for your organisation.
Every taught unit on this course is delivered in a six-week block with six entry points through the year allowing you to start at a time that suits you.
Why choose this course?
- Acquire the technical expertise and awareness of data security to safeguard organisations and their assets
- Build up a deep understanding of organisations and the international environment they operate in
- Develop your understanding of the financing of international organisations including the sources uses and management of finance and the use of accounting for managerial and financial reporting
- Consider the impact of contextual and cultural forces on international companies including ethical and environmental considerations
- Gain the managerial attributes to contribute to an organisation’s global business strategy and resolve international business problems
- Build transferable interpersonal skills in critical thinking analysis team working problem solving numeracy negotiation and self-management
What will you study?
Accounting And Finance
The main aim of this unit is to enable you to critically evaluate corporate decisions made by management through a thorough understanding and interpretation of financial statements and examination of the concepts of corporate finance and investment appraisal attributable to wealth creation and distribution.
The unit considers the financial information needs of managers in the context of competing stakeholder interests and examines the impact of management decisions on shareholder wealth maximisation.
The central question that the unit intends to address is: How do managers make informed decisions that meet the long-term strategic objectives of an organisation whilst satisfying the short to medium-term needs of all stakeholders?
Strategic Management
This unit covers the field of strategy-making and strategic management. You will consider current issues and challenges facing directors, senior managers and entrepreneurs in guiding the long-term development of organisations. The objectives of organisations and the means of achieving these objectives through the mobilisation and deployment of assets and resources and the integration of the various functions of the organisation will be the focus of the unit.
Performance Achievement Planning
This short course is a professional development course that is designed to support all PG students in the University of Bedfordshire Business School to enhance their employability and develop a professional profile through their journey in the Masters. The specific aims are to:
- Enhance students’ professional, personal development and communication skills.
- To support students to evidence how their experience at masters level has contributed to the development of their professional profile as required after graduation.
- To support students to develop the necessary academic skill required for successful completion of postgraduate research
Brand Communication And Reputation Management
The central aim of this Unit is to provide you with a thorough understanding of the role that Communications plays within the marketing strategy of any organisation and be able to critically analyse and reflect upon the relationship between buyer behaviour and the development of a Marketing Communications Strategy. The unit will enable you to understand the main functions of the marketing communications mix including key areas of integrated marketing communications systems: public relations, advertising, and digital media. In addition, the unit will seek to develop a critical appreciation of the role of Public Relations and Digital Marketing as a key tool for ‘reputation management’ and the mechanisms for developing successful digital campaigns.
Intercultural Business Competencies
Aims:
- To appraise and develop writing and written communication skills appropriate to a manager
- To evaluate team building and interpersonal skills and critically analyse and employ non-verbal and verbal communication and listening skills
- To integrate cultural frameworks with theories from other disciplines in producing a justification for propositions or ventures
- To investigate developments in international business, focusing on issues of polarity, dependence and interdependence in respect of socialization processes and interaction rules that foster a normative basis for interdependency
- To critically evaluate personal models of effectiveness in management contexts
- To identify, reflect upon and evidence key areas for your personal development
Relevance:
International business demands managing strategies in international markets, with considerations of interdependencies of intercultural competence in managing differences in interpersonal interactions, which is key for successful business operations.
In this unit you will evaluate the major dimensions of the international markets and the different strategies. You will explore the application of oral and written communication theories within the context of a technological and international business environment. Additionally, you will demonstrate expertise in formulating and evaluating business strategies for different business environments.
Emphasis is placed on developing your competences as an international manager. You will determine key aspects of the work environment and its implications for interactive work behaviour.
Excellent high performing international marketing managers exhibit self-awareness and engage in decision making with an understanding of their own and others’ capabilities. These abilities enable visionary approaches to problem solving and effective development of others. This unit gives you the opportunity to better understand your personal performance, get insight into working in international markets and across cultures, manage yourself effectively and become a more reflective learner.
This will help prepare you for the ever-changing and increasingly global working environment.
Data Modelling, Management And Governance
Managing data is an area of crucial importance in any field. Its application facilitates the rational decision making process that is the basis for successful operations within any environment. To this extent, the purpose of this unit is to discuss how data should be managed during its lifecycle through a mixture of relevant topics. This includes development tools and basic techniques for data capture, modelling, storing and retrieval to serve as the mechanisms for making effective and efficient use of available data. The approach will be based on exploring basic applied principles and practices to enable students to develop an information system as a solution to a problem for a particular field of application. These are fully informed from practices employed in small to middle and, middle to large sized companies.
The primary aim of the unit is:
- To advance students by applying a range of both theoretical and practical issues involved in data modelling and management techniques in order to develop appropriate relational database systems for managing data within a chosen field of interest.
Therefore, the objectives involved are as follows:
- To review the underlying theory of databases including data modelling and management techniques
- To critically appreciate and exploit available methods and techniques used for data modelling and management purposes
- To develop the student’s awareness of and ability to select and apply appropriate tools and techniques for building relevant database systems
- To effectively demonstrate good practice in database development by using industry standard software
- Develop problem solving skills in being able to select the best possible e-Governance solution for a given "real-world" context
- To critically review the role of XML (Extensible Markup Language) schemas and ontologies in facilitating data governance
- To enable students to gain an up-to-date knowledge by applying data modelling and management tools in their chosen field of application
Personal Professional Development
This unit aims to help you to gain the full benefit of your extended Master’s programme by supporting you in preparing for employment and career progression. You should develop realistic awareness of the challenges and opportunities that exist within the employment market place and how to successfully present yourself and navigate your future career.
Scheduled coaching and reflection will support you in realising your ambitions. Participants have an equal partnership and control. You set and own the goals and shape your development.
It provides you with key tools of research and learning at the overarching / meta level in terms of skills and behaviours including those of self-knowledge, reflective practice, working collaboratively, enhanced problem solving and building a personal brand.
Through Executive Coaching and Action Learning Sets, Your Professional Future allows you to tailor your own development through whatever routes are appropriate and anchors these achievements in reflective practice.
The unit aims and objectives are captured specifically in the reflective professional development plan the students develop by the end of this unit.
Computer Networks And Security
This unit introduces core computer networking and information security concepts to those who need a foundation in the subjects. It is relevant for a wide range of career pathways - from business and risk management, software development, to cyber and data security and sciences.
Learners will be shown the fundamentals of how computer networks operate and the essential principles of cybersecurity.
Developing Independent Research
In this unit you will learn what goes into a research proposal and application, the rudiments of good research design at masters level and beyond.
The unit examines the processes of authentication, verification, dissemination of knowledge through scholarly publishing. You will learn about contemporary debates over access and peer review, impact evaluation (citations, H-index, etc), revenue models and research funding.
Completion of this unit will support your ability to critically evaluate research data and to present your conclusions to a professional standard.
Business Dissertation
Aims:
- To bring theory and practice together to formulate a topic of your interest whether it is a research-oriented topic or a more clinical topic that is relevant to the context of business and conduct research on your choice of topic relevant to your field of study
- To stimulate you to reflect on issues critically and to identify aspects that need further research
- To provide you with the opportunity to explore a topic and appreciate the importance of literature review in the learning process
- To critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of other people’s research to formulate your own study
- To enhance skills in time-management, research management, project organisation and decision-making
- To apply and reflect on the practicalities of research including access to sources and ethical considerations
Relevance
An important aim of a Master’s degree is to master and apply your knowledge and skills independently so that you can successfully carry out research. This dissertation provides you with the opportunity for sustained independent study that builds on your research proposal and represents the culmination of your Master’s level studies.
How will you be assessed?
A number of different assessment methods will contribute to your development and will enhance your employability. We consider it essential that comprehensive feedback is provided in due time so it is integrated in your learning process.
When group work is required the marks given will be individual following the University of Bedfordshire's regulatory scheme. In some cases different kinds of assessment may be used in combination making sure however that there are no hidden tasks.
The intensive character of this Course's delivery as it is outlined in its Teaching and Learning philosophy is consistent with the needs of todays world for graduates who accumulate knowledge fast and are able to express the outcome of this process in a way that is meaningful and comprehensive.
After Induction a week of intensive direct contact time followed by your own contribution through individual learning which will take you to your first assessment point. At the end of your six-week block your final assessment will be due. The end-of-unit examinations focus primarily on critical discussion of theory and current practice and provide the reassurance of guaranteed student authorship and a true measure of your own ability and understanding. This will be a demanding but very rewarding experience.
The overall underpinning assessment strategy on this course tests the intended learning outcomes through exposing students to a range of assessment types. The aim is to develop both knowledge and skills to support students' entry to employment as confident managers.
The units on this course therefore use varied combination of types of assessments for both formative and summative purposes to enrich the learning experience. The range of assessments used for this course includes:
- Written Examination or Class Test: Questions in these exams always promote critical thinking and help you gradually develop your ability to apply analyse synthesize and evaluate.
- Individual Written Report or Essays: Your knowledge and skills are developed when you undertake the task of writing an individual report and the whole process contributes to your improvement when it comes to conducting postgraduate level research and developing your enterprise. The ability to perform literature informed research to review and evaluate the relevant sources and to use an appropriate methodology in order to analyze and evaluate the relevant concepts is being assessed.
- Case Study Examination: You will apply your knowledge in the context of a specific case.
- Oral Presentation: A number of transferable skills will be developed including the ability to present your findings in a professional clear and concise manner.
- Reflective Report: Evaluating your own contribution to a team is essential in the context of this course but in the workplace as well.
- Dissertation / Professional Practice / Live Project: Regardless of which masters capstone experience you opt for you will have to produce an individual independent piece of work. You will be asked to identify the research question or problem under investigation review the relevant literature and develop a sound methodology in order to explore the problem proceed with the analysis discuss your findings and make recommendations. It is the capstone of this course and builds on the knowledge and skills acquired in all Units. It will be one of the most challenging but yet enjoyable and rewarding experiences you will encounter.
The use of a wide range of sources both academic and other is a requirement for a postgraduate degree. The notions of accountability and academic integrity will be an integral part of your course. You will be supported in developing an understanding of academic integrity on this course. You will be informed about what plagiarism is and how to avoid it during the delivery of each Unit. Where an individual project is required you will be asked to show the different stages of your work or to present it in its entity upon completion. Where collaborative tasks are assigned an individual reflective report will be necessary to indicate your contribution to the team. All coursework assignments will require a thorough evaluation of the sources used and referencing will be done according to the Harvard Referencing System.
Careers
The course is designed to develop graduates able to operate as effective and efficient managers with a particular set of sought-after skills in data analytics. For those already in employment it can open up the way to fast-track post-graduate progression or a leadership role. Once you've graduated you are likely to progress into management in a range of areas including marketing communications; data management; and organisational data security. Particular roles might include trading executive; product manager; business development manager; and buyer.
This course also provides an excellent pathway for further studies at MPhil and PhD level.
