Programme Modules
Business Environment and Strategic Management
Module Description
Since the management of organisations is influenced by many external as well as internal factors, it is necessary to identify and understand the ways in which they influence management policies. It is also essential to understand how they influence strategic aims and how interrelationships affect long term planning and decision-taking.
Module Content
The nature of strategic planning and its relationship to operational policies; organisational objectives and their impact upon resource acquisition and deployment; internal and external factors governing organisational objectives; compatibility of objectives; strategic choices, the direction and pace of change; evaluating strategic risks and methods of minimisation; methods of controlling strategic change; process of planning and managing organisational strategy; time horizons for long term planning, the effect of technological innovation and the emergence of new competition.
Selection, Recruitment and Development
Module Description
This module explores the ways in which the motivation and qualities of persons appointed to undertake particular management responsibilities affect organisational effectiveness. It focuses on criteria for selection and recruitment policies for organisations.
Leadership and the Management of Strategic Change
Module Description
Effective management depends not only on the right policy and techniques. It requires the appropriate management structure and allocation of responsibilities and accountability. It also necessitates reward systems which stimulate energy and provide incentives to achieve management objectives. These features of management will only work in organisations where effective leadership is present to plan, organise and communicate them.
Module Content
Nature, purpose and structures of management organisation; allocation of responsibilities and accountability within organisation; influence of resources and objectives on organisation; changing size and technology on structure and organisation; role of leadership on structure and management organisation; management culture and the influence of leadership; symptoms of poor leadership; role of leadership in strategic change.
Accounting and Finance for Managers
Module Description
For non-specialist accountants this module introduces the basic concepts and techniques of Accounting and Finance and demonstrates the tasks and methods of identifying and resolving management financial issues.
Module Content
The purposes of accounting; the uses of accounting information; the role of the financial accountant and the management accountant; the nature of financial information; company financial statements; the use of financial statements for management decisions; nature and techniques of financial controls; investment appraisal; raising finance; allocation of resources; use of working capital.
Marketing Planning and Promotion
Module Description
As an essential element of the management of organisations, marketing is significant as a theoretical and practical base for all managers. Whatever their specialist roles, all managers should be aware of the nature of the markets served and the relationships with their customers, since these factors have an impact on the ways in which all operations are planned and managed.
Module Content
The strategic nature of marketing; market segment characteristics; bases of consumer behaviour; elements of marketing plans; assessing marketing opportunities by using market information; marketing mix; use of controls in marketing; integration of marketing communications; promotion and communications; integration of marketing policies with other management functions; applying marketing and customer communications to particular company situations and public sector organisations; setting a promotion plan; identifying the promotion mix; measuring the cost effectiveness of promotion; relating sales and promotion policy to market size and structure.
Management Information and Communication Systems
Module Description
Successful organisations depend upon the quality of the information available and the system of communicating both within the organisation and externally with suppliers and markets. Thus the technology employed is a crucial factor in effective management. It is therefore imperative that managers understand and are able to use this technology to enhance the quality of their decision-taking.
Module Content
The dependence of management decision on information and communications systems; the strategic role of MICS; the technological features of MICS; innovation in MICS; the formation and integration of functional management policies; evaluation of MICS; the limitations of systems; the differing needs of organisations according to size, structure, technology employed and markets served; use of systems for control purposes; private and public sector management applications; developing MICS capabilities and knowledge management; e-commerce applications.
Human Resource Management
Module Description
This module introduces the nature of corporate culture and change in organisations and the roles played by managers, individuals, groups and teams. It is also designed to develop an understanding of both the strategy and operational aspects of the management of human resources in organisations, and also the ways in which the quality of HRM affects all the functions of management.
Module Content
The nature of HRM and the principal problem areas; significant functional areas of HRM; human resource planning; organisational change and human resource deployment; causes of conflict and methods of resolution; nature of organisational culture and the factors contributing to it; individual perceptions and motivations; HRM and impact on other management functions; HRM and teams; career development and promotion of personal skills; strategy of HRM.
Research Skills and Project Management
Module Description
This module provides a grounding in project planning, literature review and the principles of research methodology as a preparation for undertaking the major project as a culmination of the programme. The module covers the selection of an appropriate topic for the dissertation; methods of identifying and recording primary and secondary sources of information; strengths and weaknesses of different types of research methodology; methods of referencing information gathered from published work; compiling a bibliography; effective presentation techniques including a logical connection between objectives, methods, evidence and conclusions.
Dissertation
Module Description
Managers should be capable of investigating the nature of optimal solutions to a major business problem (or set of related problems) in one company or a number of companies operating with similar technologies or in similar markets. Such an investigation encompasses knowledge acquired from the subject matter of the taught modules of the programme and also methods of research of both a primary and a secondary nature. The dissertation element of the MBA programme involves the preparation and presentation of a project of approximately 15,000 words in length directed towards the identification of a significant business problem of a company or industry and recommendations for policy making and action based upon a thorough examination of evidence and information relevant to the problem. The dissertation will also contain an examination of the published literature and will select a methodology appropriate to the problem investigated.
GSM London
