Management MSc

• Professor Catarina Figueira

To introduce the concepts and techniques associated with Managerial Economics, i.e. Microeconomics (e.g. market analysis, price theory, rationality) and Macroeconomics (e.g. inflation, exchange rates and interest rates).

• The initial few sessions are spent on discussion of the concept of equilibrium as it applies to the micro and macro structures of a broad range of financial markets.
• In the next four sessions, an understanding of choice theory and rational economic decision making as it applies to the levels and structure of prices of assets in a broad range of financial markets is developed.
• Finally, remaining sessions are devoted to discussion of the concepts and ideas in macroeconomics which have a direct relevance to financial markets. Particularly, discussion is centered around the understanding of monetary economics and the institutional context to which it applies. Discussion of structure of money and capital markets rounds up this module.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. Employ economic reasoning when making choices in the use of resources.
2. Recognise the importance of marginal analysis and diminishing returns in the context of business and consumer decisions.
3. Appreciate the various objectives which different firms may pursue and the consequent impact on managerial decisions, including those relating to price and output levels.
4. Analyse both the external environment and the internal capabilities of a firm and understand the forces shaping the firm’s competitive environment.
5. Recognise the importance of developments in the macroeconomy for management and business performance. 

By the end of this course, you should exhibit:

• An ability to use economic theory.
• An ability to use relevant geometric and quantitative models to explain and analyse monetary and financial phenomena.
• An ability to apply economic theory to real world problems, e.g., via case study analysis.

• Dr Monica Franco-Santos

This is an integrative module allowing you to develop management consulting skills and apply their learning in a practical manner. You will work in their consulting teams and will role-play as a management consulting team, competing against the other teams. All teams will address the same business challenge: a genuine business issue in a particular company. You will have a set of taught sessions on the ‘art and craft’ of management consulting. In parallel, they will work with their consulting teams to address the case company business challenge. They will have three weeks to understand the problem; gather the relevant data; use appropriate tools/frameworks and propose innovative, pragmatic and achievable solutions

This module comprises conceptual knowledge about the foundations of management consulting and practical knowledge developed through a real-life case exercise. The module includes teaching sessions focused on the following

Consulting skills

• Listening
• Communication
• Persuasion
• Problem solving
• Negotiation
• Decision-making



Consulting process

• Diagnostic phase
• Data collection phase
• Design phase
• Implementation phase
• Education phase

This module is intended to enable students to develop critical management consulting skills and apply them in the context of a real-life business problem. By the end of this module students should be able to:

1. Identify and critically examine managerial problems and provide innovative ideas to address them generating change and improvement
2. Apply the theories, frameworks and perspectives learnt in other modules.
3. Explain and critically assess relevant processes, concepts and methods involved in management consulting projects.
4. Recognise how to develop strong trust-based relationships with external and internal clients and their stakeholders.
5. Practice critical thinking and systems thinking to diagnose problems and design potential solutions
6. Present ideas effectively to an audience of business executives

• Dr Rosina Watson

Global sustainability challenges are shaping the way business operates in the 21^st century. Businesses are under increasing pressure from multiple stakeholders (for e.g. shareholders, customers, employees, society) to manage their positive and negative impacts with clear responsibility and strategic intent.  Leading firms are choosing to respond to these challenges by generating sustainable value propositions to ultimately drive competitive advantage. For many this has meant re-engaging at the level of purpose and re-addressing their role in wider society and for human well-being.

This module outlines the major sustainability challenges and explores the capabilities organisations require need to respond positively to them. It will engage students in gaining a better understanding of how corporate action can be best configured to promote responsible and sustainable business strategies. In doing so, it will demand management students (as future business managers and leaders) to reflect on the long-standing debate about whether or not ‘the business of business, is still business?

Watch video: An introduction to the Leading Corporate Sustainability module

The content is organised around the sustainability management ‘compass’ below:



The course content is structured as follows:

Part 1: Setting the context

Context setting

• What is managing corporate sustainability?
• Social and environmental trends

The role of business

• What is the role of business?
• Challenges and opportunities for business

Exploring possible futures

• Playing ‘The Game of Life 2050;’ an interactive future sustainable scenario board game



Part 2: Developing the capabilities

• Creating a vision
• Formulating and implementing strategy
• Innovating
• Working with stakeholders
• Collaborating
• Valuing
• Leading

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Identify global environmental and social trends and relate how these present both challenges and opportunities to business
2. Explain why businesses need to respond to these challenges and opportunities and assess the capabilities they require to do so
3. Classify the potential stakeholder groups businesses can work with to develop and implement their sustainability strategies and compare collaboration approaches
4. Consider the role of personal leadership in an organization’s values, strategic direction and ability to execute its sustainability strategy
5. Critically assess the content and reporting of businesses’ sustainability strategies
6. Design and recommend a sustainability-oriented innovation for a selected business.

• Dr Abdelkader Aoufi

To provide the participant with an understanding of the Operations Management task and its contribution to organisational competitiveness.

An introduction to Managing Operations

The module covers:

• Strategic role of operations
• Process design and layout
• Managing the process experience
• Tools and techniques of process improvement
• Capacity management
• Inventory management, lean and agile operations
• Quality management and improvement
• People in operations

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. Examine the different types of operations employed by organisations and their distinctive characteristics.
2. Analyse the capabilities of different types of operation including the trade-offs involved.
3. Show how to select the priorities for operational performance improvement and how to implement them.

• Dr Deirdre Anderson

Introduction: success in management, particularly at senior levels in organisations, depends on understanding organisations, the people in them and the relationship between the internal and external environments within which they exist; and in ensuring that they work effectively. 

Organisations are run by and for people, and the success or failure of an organisation depends on the people in that organisation. 

It is rarely an absence of planning that causes organisational difficulties; rather it is the failure of management in understanding and managing complex personal and interpersonal systems that can lead to significant problems.

Similarly an acute and critical understanding of these dynamic relationships can lead to profound and enduring success and benefit for the individual, the team, the organisation and wider society.

In this module students will be introduced to various aspects of people and organisations.  This module combines models, theories and ideas from organisational behaviour, psychology, and sociology in order to provide students with a basic understanding in recognising, understanding and utilising what has been termed the "human factor" in organisations; including ways of conceptualising organisations and how people behave within them.  We shall consider the impact of the external environment; and address notions of organisational change.

This module is necessarily an introduction; further suggestions of reading and of consequent activities will be provided. 

It may also be that students will wish to undertake a project in this area; several of the faculty involved will be pleased to discuss this with you.

• Culture
• Development
• Diversity
• Emotional Intelligence
• Individual and Organisational Change
• Individual differences
• Introduction to People and Organisations
• Leadership
• Learning
• Motivation
• Negotiation, influence & persuasion
• Performance Management
• Personality
• Politics
• Self Awareness
• Stress, Resilience, Well-being
• The Individual and the Team
• Values

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Understand and apply a number of different ways of conceptualising people in organisations, including culture, ethics, well-being, diversity, politics, management, performance and change
2. Assess the importance of relationships at work, group dynamics, effective teams and leadership in achieving effectiveness
3. Critically engage with various relevant models, theories and ideas in order to enhance personal capability, including identification of gaps in knowledge, skills, and competence, linking to insights regarding one’s personal and professional development agenda, based on sound data and experience

• Dr Ahmed Shaalan

A crucial competence for general managers is an understanding of marketing strategy: in simple terms, analysing how a marketplace of customers can be divided into segments, which of these segments are key targets for the firm, determining the firm’s optimal value proposition for each segment is, and what financial results can be expected over a planning period of typically 1-3 years. This module teaches Cranfield’s world-leading step-by-step process for developing such a marketing strategy and documenting it in a marketing plan. This process has been developed with hundreds of blue-chip companies worldwide over the last 30 years, informed by several Cranfield PhDs on the topic which have studied what works in practice. This planning process  is documented in the world’s leading textbook on the topic, McDonald & Wilson’s Marketing Plans, which has sold over half a million copies. This book is used as the course text and students are strongly advised to acquire a copy from the library or through purchase to help bridge from the course to planning for real in their subsequent management roles.

• Strategic marketing in context
• 10 steps of the strategic marketing planning process
• Mission statements and organisational objectives
• The marketing audit and analytical tools
• Market maps and market segmentation
• SWOT analysis
• The Directional Policy Matrix
• Marketing objectives and strategies
• Product and pricing strategy.

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Understand the evolution and role of marketing and be able to describe the characteristics of a customer-centric organization.
2. Appreciate a series of marketing strategy tools and techniques and their application in practice.
3. Recognise a successful marketing planning process including the importance of including managers from across functional areas of the business in the marketing planning process.
4. Understand how to structure and prepare a comprehensive written strategic marketing plan for a senior management audience.
5. Evaluate the quality of marketing analyses and strategies prepared by others.

• Dr Valentina Battista

The module is primarily designed to provide students with an understanding of what is required to conduct research in business contexts considering that todays’ managers

• are paid to make decisions
• are expected to make ‘informed’ decisions (i.e. based on evidence)
• are evaluated on the basis of the outcomes from their decisions. 

Therefore, understanding the process of producing evidence will ensure students to have the core skills to inform management decisions.

Introduction to evidence-based management

• The elements of evidence-based management



Conducting research in management

• Defining management problems
• Reviewing the literature



Using qualitative research methods

• Interviews and focus groups in qualitative research
• Qualitative data analysis: using NVivo



Using quantitative research methods

• Designing questionnaires and conducting surveys
• Quantitative data analysis: using IBM SPSS statistics



Presenting research evidence

• Translating data into information to support management decisions

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. Critically evaluate evidence in order to inform management decisions.
2. Assess and select appropriate methods of qualitative and/or quantitative data collection.
3. Choose and apply appropriate methods of qualitative and/or quantitative data analysis.
4. Interpret data to provide evidence for management decision making.
5. Utilise quantitative and qualitative analysis software.

• Dr Richard Schoenberg

Strategic Management is concerned with the direction and scope of the organisation.  This involves determining the purpose of the organisation, establishing objectives and formulating strategies to achieve the objectives. It predominantly explores how an organisation positions itself with regard to its changing environment, and in particular its competitors, in order to gain and sustain competitive advantage. This means that strategic management considers how an organisation’s internal resources and capabilities can be developed to meet the changing demands of customers, in such a way as to achieve the expectations and objectives of its stakeholders. 

An introduction to the Strategic Management module

On successful completion of this module you should be able to: 

1. Describe the key questions and associated challenges to be addressed in formulating an organisation’s competitive and corporate-level strategies.
2. Appreciate that to sustain competitive advantage an organisation must harness its internal resources and capabilities and react appropriately to changes in its external environment.
3. Appraise and differentiate between corporate, competitive (business unit) and functional strategies.
4. Critically apply a range of tools and techniques to illuminate the key questions of competitive strategy and corporate strategy.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Describe the key questions and associated challenges to be addressed in formulating an organisation’s competitive and corporate-level strategies.
• Appreciate that to sustain competitive advantage an organisation must harness its internal resources and capabilities and react appropriately to changes in its external environment.
• Appraise and differentiate between corporate, competitive (business unit) and functional strategies.
• Critically apply a range of tools and techniques to illuminate the key questions of competitive strategy and corporate strategy

• Dr Simon Templar

The aim of the Accounting and Finance module is to introduce a number of traditional and contemporary accounting approaches that will increase the visibility of financial information and support management decision making.

• Interpretation of financial statements;
• Exploring the relationship between accounting information, management decision making, financial strategies, and financial performance;
• Applying traditional and contemporary accounting tools and techniques, which can be applied to support business management decisions;
• Exploring the many cost trade-offs between business processes (Make v Buy).

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. To judge the effect of decisions, transactions and events on financial performance;
2. To create simple sets of accounts from basic information.
3. To understand the main variables affecting working capital management;
4. To interpret financial statements to support decision making, planning and control;
5. To apply an appropriate costing approaches to solve a range of business issues;
6. To apply a number of financial tools and techniques to appraise alternative capital investment opportunities;
7. To use financial information to make informed management decisions

• Professor Michael Dickmann

In essence this module is concerned with managing the organisation’s key resource – the people who work for it. It aims to help participants understand how effective people management and human resource management can contribute to develop and sustain organisations. The focus of the module will be concerned with helping participants understand the relationship between people management and organisational performance, including the crucial role of line managers. The module aims to develop an insight into the complexities of managing people in a changing environment.

The module will provide an introduction to the main activities associated with resourcing, developing and day–to-day management of people in work organisations. It is not the intention of the module to develop human resource management specialist, but rather to provide a general introduction to the people management issues that concern all managers. Throughout, the sessions will be highly interactive in order to develop critical insight and core skills in the people management field.

The module will draw on key academic contributions in the broad field of people management, including current research being carried out by faculty in the School of Management. 

• Strategic People Management and Workforce Design
• The Changing World of Work
• Talent Sourcing
• Talent Development  and Succession Planning
• Rewards and Remuneration
• Managing Performance
• Employment Relations
• Employment Law: Health and safety, grievance, discipline and dismissal
• Building a People Strategy

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. Have a critical appreciation of the role and scope of people management activities
2. Appraise the complex range of established models and factors which influence choices made in the management of people
3. Have undertaken critical analyses of a range of people management issues and have made considered, informed proposals to address them.
4. Evaluate strategic approaches to human resource management and their relationship with business strategies and is able to assess the contribution the people resource makes to developing and sustaining organisations

• Dr Oksana Koryak

The aim of the course is to provide students with knowledge and skills relevant for the management of new ventures across the entrepreneurial life cycle. The course will also act to prepare students who want to undertake an internship for a new venture as part of their thesis on the MSc in Management.

Watch an introduction to the Entrepreneurship module.

• Entrepreneurial Process
• Idea Generation and Opportunity Recognition
• Intellectual Property Protection
• Industry and Market Analysis
• Strategy and Business Model Analysis
• Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurial Team
• Resourcing and Finance: preparing financial projections and funding the venture
• Managing venture’s evolution and growth
• Business Planning
• The Entrepreneurial Profile and Self-Assessment

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Assess the impact of the business environment on entrepreneurial opportunity identification and exploitation.
2. Identify and analyse the determinants of the performance of new ventures.
3. Critically apply the theoretical underpinning of entrepreneurship to the process of managing risk in new ventures and supporting their development.
4. Critically evaluate their own motivation and skills as they relate to entrepreneurship.
5. Compare and contrast how managerial challenges vary across the life cycle of an entrepreneurial venture.
6. Assess the likely financial needs of a new venture and pitch for finance.
7. Perform due diligence on new ventures.
8. Develop and write a credible business plan for a new venture.

• Professor Leon Williams

This module introduces disruptive innovation and sets out why it is a distinctive form of innovation. The core theory underpinning the topic is introduced along with the rationale for adopting a contrasting approach to that used for managing incremental innovation. The module presents a range of practical tools to support organisations in building strategic competences that enable them to recognise, create or react to disruptive innovation. The module reviews how disruptive innovation applies, individually or in combination, to technology, processes, services and business models.

A core element of the module will be a simulation of an innovation project. The project’s aim will be to develop an innovative product that has potential to be disruptive to the existing market. The simulation will involve team-based activities that equip you with practical tools and hands-on experience. The assessment requires a critical reflection on the experience of using various techniques for managing disruptive innovation within the simulation.

During the module the knowledge and skills required for the simulation will be introduced through a combination of lectures, cases studies and other activities. These will introduce both theoretical elements of the module but also practical techniques that can then be applied within the simulation.

• Identifying and analysing recent, relevant literature that informs an understanding of an organisational capability in innovation, for example through the individual capabilities supporting the Pentathlon framework.
• Understand the nature of disruptive Innovation: what is it, and why is it necessary?
• Understanding how coordinated development effort across a combination of goods, technologies, services and business models can result in disruptive innovation.
• Use and reflect on specific approaches and techniques that underpin an innovation capability, for example:
  1. Understanding, classifying and prioritising customer needs using the Kano model.
  2. Planning technology and is development trajectories using techniques such as environmental analysis, technology roadmapping, and other foresight techniques.
  3. Analysis and design of services using techniques such as service blueprints.
  4. Analysis and design of business models using techniques such as the business model canvas.
  5. Prioritisation of projects within the innovation pipeline.
  6. Management of the new product development process.
  7. Evaluation of an innovation in terms of its disruptive potential.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. Examine the key capabilities, and their interrelationships, that underpin an organisational capability in innovation.
2. Critically apply and review the theoretical underpinning of innovation management to the process through which innovative technologies, services and business models are developed.
3. Explain how disruptive innovation might be distinct from other forms of innovation and test whether a specific innovation has disruptive qualities.
4. Analyse how an organisation’s approach to the innovation process influences the types of innovation created.
5. Evaluate the use of a range of techniques that enable disruptive elements of an innovation to be analysed and communicated in terms of the contribution of technological, process and business model innovation.
6. Reflect on the experience of planning an innovation project and critically review the extent to which the new product has disruptive potential.

This module will also develop a potential foundation for a dissertation. A dissertation could draw on the module content to inform the development of an innovation that has been proposed or is currently in development. A dissertation could focus on various aspects of a disruptive innovation, for example, to analyse and understand the relationship between organisational environment and innovation type (disruptive vs. incremental) or to evaluate a set of potential scenarios for development of an innovation. 

• Dr Elmar Kutsch

In many organisations, projects are the units of work by which the organisation operates, and value is delivered. In organisations where functional departments dominate the organisational design, strategic and change projects are run across these functions. Currently, there is a heightened emphasis on delivery within both government and industry with a widespread expectation that the approach of managing through projects will provide assurance in such delivery. It is an interesting challenge that this expectation is often not matched by performance.

This elective focusses on the following module aims:

• Develop a robust baseline of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of project management;
• Introduce key theories, principles, processes, tools and techniques underpinning project management;
• Raise critical awareness of common methods and other guidance for practical application;
• You to demonstrate your learning in planning for a simulated project.  

Watch an introduction to the Mastering Project Management module.

• Project management concepts
• Project organisation structures,
• People in projects: leadership, teams and roles
• Project definition & approval
• Risk management
• Estimating
• Information, coordination & control
• Earned value management
• Project closure and lessons  

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Have familiarity with the relevant project management related techniques.
• Assess appropriate use of a range of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills to a project from its inception to completion.
• Practical planning and execution of a project in ‘real-time’.
• Leading and/or performing as a member of a project team. 
• Collective decision making under the influence of uncertainty.

The main objective of this elective is to demonstrate the basics of planning and execution in an environment characterised by uncertainty. Project managers need general management skills, along with a knack for problem solving. Project managers are there to plan and manage the work. You will slip in the role of a project manager - Be a Leader and a Manager, be a Problem Solver, be a Negotiator and Influencer, be an Excellent Communicator, be a Good Organiser, and be a Competent and Consistent Planner.

• Professor Michael Bourne

The module is designed to give you a thorough understanding of what is meant by organisational performance and the theories of control, performance measurement and management. The module will encourage you to consider the applications of direction setting and management control systems, why organisations measure, how performance measure set direction and how performance is delivered.

The aims of this module are twofold:

• For you to fully understand what is organisational performance in different areas and levels of an organisation.
• For you to fully understand theories of control and performance measurement and to equipped them to critique and apply systems in different organisations.

Watch and introduction to the Organisational Performance: Direction Performance and Measurement module.

The module covers:

Direction and Control

• Control theory and control systems
• Direction setting and levers of control
• Strategic control of an organisation
• Management control within an organisation
• Operational control within an organisation
• Financial control for an organisation

Managing Performance

• What is performance?
• What is performance measurement?
• What is performance management?
• The view of performance by different functional groups
• What is a performance management system?
• Quantification vs holistic views of reality
• Reasons for managing performance
• Managing risk to improve organisational performance
• The effects of creating a performance management system

Measuring Performance

• Reasons for measuring
• Performance measurement frameworks
• Elements of a performance measurement system
• Defining performance measures - the PM record sheet
• Quantitative versus qualitative measures
• Measuring intangibles
• Interpreting financial measures and data
• Reporting procedures – internal and external disclosure

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

Demonstrate a critical awareness of :

• The different categories of performance and what is meant by performance measurement, management, direction setting and control.
• How different functions, such as HR, Finance and Marketing, view organisational performance.
• The effects control systems can have on an organisation.
• The ontology of performance, theories of control and measurement.

Critically assess:

• The difference between quantifying performance and viewing performance as a holistic system.
• The differences between efficiency and effectiveness.
• The different techniques used to direct and control performance at different levels within the organisation.
• How managing risk can improve organisational performance.
• The role of corporate governance in the management of organisational performance.
• Financial measures, qualitative measures and their application to intangible resources.
• The underpinnings of control theory.
• Apply the key principles taught to the design of control systems, goal setting and the measures employed.
• Contribute to planning and budgeting cycles within an organisation.
• Contribute to risk management policies within an organisation.

• Dr Leila Alinaghian

The aim of the module is to provide theoretical and practical knowledge about:

• The principles, elements, and performance dimensions of logistics and supply chain management.
• The strategies used by companies when managing their supply chains by considering the types of products and the specifications of market. 
• The procurement, sourcing, and manufacturing strategies applied by companies.
• The principles and performance dimensions of physical distribution of products, and the strategies used by companies when managing their distribution networks. 
• The role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and sustainability in managing logistics and supply chain operations.





Watch an introduction to the Supply Chain Management module

• Supply chain principles and strategies.
• Sustainability of logistics and supply chain operations.
• Procurement strategies.
• Manufacturing strategies.
• Physical distribution strategies.
• The role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
• Integration and inter-organisational collaboration in supply chain.

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. Identify and critically evaluate the principles and concepts related to logistics and supply chain management.
2. Explain and apply the principles of global sourcing and physical distribution network design and discuss the interaction between the elements of supply networks.
3. Explain and apply the principles of manufacturing and providing high variety and customised products.
4. Identify the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and sustainability in the overall competitive strategy of supply chains.
5. Formulate ways to improve supply chain integration internally and externally across companies to improve supply chain performance in terms of time, cost and service quality.

• Professor Michael Dickmann

Taking place each year in Granada, Spain, this module explores management and leadership issues arising from working with different cultures in a domestic or international context and enables students to more successfully manage a range of cross-cultural challenges. It does so using a blend of practical examples, research-based theories and experiential teaching methods.

Watch video: An introduction to the Effective Cross-Cultural Management module

This module involves:

• General Cultural Frameworks and Theories – Analysing Basic Assumptions and the Impact on Cross-Cultural Management.
• The Key Culture Writers – Evaluating the Differences.
• Improving Cross-Cultural Communication – Avoiding the Pitfalls.
• Effective Cross-Cultural Career and Talent Management – Designing Leadership Development for Global Work.
• Appropriate Behaviours and Positive Emotions – Managing cross-cultural adjustment processes.
• Organisational Structures of MNCs – Analysing Cross-National Strategies, Structures and Decision-Processes.
• Applying the Insights – Improving Cross-Cultural Negotiations.
• Reflection - Key Criticisms to Cultural Frameworks and Personal Takeaways.

Throughout, the interface between individuals and national/organisational culture will be explored. You will be encouraged to reflect personally on the adjustment required in order to develop effective supranational skills, knowledge, behaviours and social networks.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Critically evaluate and apply the key cultural frameworks in order to operate with appropriate sensitivity and responsiveness in cross-cultural situations.
• Develop appropriate negotiation approaches to exercise influence and persuasion in cross-cultural management situations and to assert viewpoints in a culturally sensitive way, avoiding offence and misunderstanding.
• Recognise the limitations of their own cross-cultural knowledge and capabilities and critically assess how to tackle those limitations and to evaluate their own cultural adjustment approaches.
• Devise an effective talent management approach geared to create leaders with cultural intelligence.
• Critically analyse the advantages and limitations of cultural research.