These are indicative optional modules which may vary year-on-year.
Managing Human Resources in Contemporary Organisations
Through this module you’ll be introduced to a range of debates that are central to the human resource management and employment relations field.
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Through this module you’ll be introduced to a range of debates that are central to the human resource management and employment relations field, including the 'high commitment' models of human resource management. It will also provide you with an in-depth insight into a number of the specific HR practice areas, including: recruitment and selection; training and development; job design and teamworking, pay and rewards; unions and HRM, and equal opportunities and diversity management.
During this module you will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the development of human resource management as a field of study.
- Critically appreciate the contribution made by each of the core disciplines (e.g. sociology, psychology, law, economics).
- Analyse specific human resource management problems in their wider social context.
- Understand, evaluate, and marshal critical social science research on human resource management.
- Extrapolate from existing research and scholarship to identify new or revised approaches to human resource practice
- Demonstrate advanced study skills including written communication, location and retrieval of relevant reading from library stock and electronic resources, using information technology, employing appropriate quantitative methods.
Governance and Corporate Responsibility
Understand the wider institutional location of business activity within the polity and the society.
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Understand the wider institutional location of business activity within the polity and the society. The module puts particular emphasis on corporations’ responsibilities in global society and discusses key governance issues related to this agenda. Firms will be seen as both 'takers' and 'givers' of governance and regulation in a variety of formal and informal ways. The module is not a traditional course in business ethics but explores the influence of the non-market environment on businesses’ strategies and operational practices and will confront some 'critical issues' topics.
Digital Working & Organisational Transformation
You'll gain a broad understanding of the tools and organisational arrangements driving the shift towards digital working, and learn the techniques and frameworks to operate effectively in this more dynamic and fluid work environment.
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To be effective in modern organisations requires an understanding of the dynamics of digital work. This module equips students with a broad understanding of the tools and organisational arrangements driving this shift towards digital working, and provides them with techniques and frameworks to operate effectively in this more dynamic and fluid work environment.
The module reviews major trends and changes in the workplace arising from the increased adoption of digital tools to support work practices in modern organisations. It reviews major drivers of adoption of these tools and the emergence of new dynamics of interactions and patterns of work.
Leading for Innovation
This module aims to develop a greater understanding of how to foster an innovative work environment.
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This module aims to develop a greater understanding of how to foster an innovative work environment. In this module the role of the leader will be examined as he/she facilitates innovative ventures by identifying and defining problems worth pursuing (where potential payoffs justify risks), creating a context that allows for multiple parties to work together in generating viable ideas (those with a chance of successful implementation) and managing the context of idea development and fielding – to ensure that viable ideas are likely to be adopted in the marketplace. This module also aims to understand how to develop leaders for innovation.
It is further aimed to develop an understanding into issues such as:
- Why is innovation important (especially now)?
- What makes a leader more or less successful at leading for innovation?
- What is the role of the team in the innovation process?
- How might leading for innovation vary by domain (i.e. IT, marketing, etc)?
- How can crowdsourcing be used to foster innovation?
Behavioural Economics
You'll be introduced to the ways in which economists and psychologists have used behavioural theories and experimental methods to provide extensions to, or alternatives to, the conventional economic wisdom covered in the Fundamentals of Economic Behaviour module.
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This module introduces you to the ways in which economists and psychologists have used behavioural theories and experimental methods to provide extensions to, or alternatives to, the conventional economic wisdom described in the Fundamentals of Economic Behaviour module. It will examine recent cutting-edge research, and consider the implications of that research for individual decision making, the operation of markets and public sector policy making.
Design in Business
Gain an appreciation of the roles of design within a business context.
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The objectives of this module are to:
- Provide students with an appreciation of the roles of design within a business context
- Develop in students a good understanding of the contribution design can make to innovation and organisational success
- Critically examine various innovation and design approaches and processes, and the scope and content of design in both product and service contexts
- Provide insights into the functions and contributions of professional designers
- Discuss the emergence of 'design thinking' and its importance to business
- Explore the issues related to the management of cross-functional teams
- Examine the impact that design and designers can make on organisational performance.
Digital Marketing Technology & Management
Gain an overview of how today's firms use digital marketing practices to achieve their business objectives, giving theoretical and practical subject knowledge and understanding.
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This module will provide you with an overview of how today's firms use digital marketing practices to achieve their business objectives, giving theoretical and practical subject knowledge and understanding, cognitive and methodological skills, and social/soft skills.
You can expect to cover similar topics to those in the indicative syllabus: Introduction to Digital Marketing, Website Design, Social Media, Digital Platforms and Tech Giants, Digital Advertising and SEO, Emerging Trends, Analytics and Integrated Marketing, Big Data, Data Science, and Digital Marketing.
Business Analytics for Managers
This module introduces you to the theory and practice of conducting business analytics projects.
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This module introduces you to the theory and practice of conducting business analytics projects. It adopts a business analytics methodology which enables you to (a) analyse a complex business situation, (b) identify high value opportunities for business analytics and (c) deliver an effective business analytics project. The module adopts an experiential learning philosophy by giving you a guided and mentored experience of conducting a realistic consulting project.
Forecasting for Decision Makers
This module will train you in the key methods that aid decision making when managers face an uncertain future.
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The module aims to provide training on methods that aid decision making when managers face an uncertain future. The module covers methods for short-term and long-term forecasting of product demand and macroeconomic variables. The module discusses how forecasting aids decision-making.
Big Data Analytics
This module will cover a wide range of cutting edge research in Big Data Analytics, with a particular focus on the extensive value of data from the Internet, much of which is freely available if you have the skills to mine it.
Full details
This module will cover a wide range of cutting edge research in Big Data Analytics, with a particular focus on the extensive value of data from the Internet, much of which is freely available if you have the skills to mine it.
This module involves learning to program in R, but no prior programming knowledge is required.
Module aims will include:
- Linking stock market movements to online data
- Measuring sentiment with online data
- Predicting consumer behaviour with online data
- Getting quicker measurements of key economic indicators with online data
- Measuring where people are and where they are going with mobile phone data and online data
- Predicting crime and epidemics
- Understanding social networks.
The module will also teach you the practical skills needed to work with online data.
You will learn:
- How to mine data on Google searches
- How to mine data on Wikipedia page views
- How to mine data on photographs uploaded to Flickr
- How to make data visualisations
- How to design and execute a small data science project of your own
As part of this, the module will teach you how to use R, an industry standard programming language for data analytics.
Business, International Finance & Economics
This module will provide real world examples and case studies to illustrate how economic thinking helps businesses make the most of new opportunities, while managing the risks associated with expansion into new markets and regions.
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Exposure to the global economy brings new ideas, technologies, and management practices to a business. Whether looking to build a new plant, sell to a new market or find global business partners, exploiting opportunities in new markets or regions poses fresh challenges.
Many of those challenges arise from the different business environment that's present in countries around the world. What does an understanding of economics tell us about which countries and regions will see markets develop quickly in the medium term? Which governments act in ways that pose macroeconomic risks and which do not? How can resources and intellectual property be managed effectively? Which economic theories offer strategies to foster talent and help staff respond to new opportunities?
The patterns of world trade and the responses of governments have always been in constant flux. Businesses can't rely on traditional markets in the medium- to long-term. The pandemic has disturbed even the recently-established patterns of global economic growth. Strategic business decisions require an appreciation of the economic thinking that underpins these new patterns of growth and the changes in international finance that support them.
This module will provide real world examples and case studies to illustrate how economic thinking helps businesses make the most of new opportunities, while managing the risks associated with expansion into new markets and regions.
The module has been developed for business and management students across the WBS MSc portfolio and draws on ideas and research from macroeconomics, microeconomics, international finance, business strategy and development economics. No previous experience of economic analysis is required.
Digital Business Services
Focus on how digital technologies enable organisations to offer digital services that aim at improving customer experience as well as firm performance. You'll be prepared to engage with technology-related conversations in the modern workplace.
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This module focuses on how digital technologies enable organisations to offer digital services that aim at improving customer experience as well as firm performance. The module assumes no prior knowledge of technology and prepares students to engage with technology-related conversations (e.g., designing a new digital service) at the modern workplace.
The module has three themes. The first theme is gaining competitive advantage using a digital business strategy and covers concepts such as motivations for digital transformation. The second theme provides an overview of what today’s managers need to know about the advantages and disadvantages of cutting-edge technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, social media, and data analytics. The last theme focuses on the lifecycle of digital service provision, covering key concepts such as technology selection and sourcing, agile implementation, and risk management
People & Organisations
Get an introduction into the principles, theories and research underlying the academic disciplines concerning the behaviour, leadership and management of people and organisations.
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The aims of the module are to:
1) Introduce students to the principles, theories and research underlying the academic disciplines concerning the behaviour, leadership and management of people and organisations (Organisational Behaviour, OB and Human Resource Management, HRM) at four levels of analysis: individual, group, organisational and societal.
2) Develop a critical appreciation of the behavioural and social sciences as they relate to the study of behaviour in organisations.
3) Introduce students to a critical understanding of the practice of management, leadership and people management in particular.
4) Provide students with structured opportunities to practice applying OB and HRM principles, theories and research to analyse and solve organisational problems.
Entrepreneurship & Business Venturing
This module aims to develop an understanding of entrepreneurs and the firms they create and manage.
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The module aims to develop an understanding of entrepreneurs and the firms they create and manage. Entrepreneurship is not only about new ventures or 'small' business or 'early-stage' business, nor even exclusively about for-profit business. Rather, it is a method of creative problem solving in business and a logic for taking action in a variety of settings where business can make a positive difference. The module, therefore, will explore a range of different ways of thinking about what entrepreneurship is and what entrepreneurs do. Our intention in the module is to try and help facilitate you in developing a more entrepreneurial mindset. This module also provides you with an opportunity to develop a Feasibility Study for exploiting an entrepreneurial opportunity - a precursor to a formal Business Plan.
International Business
Build on your knowledge of the global economic and business environment and link this to strategies for managing in changing global contexts.
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The main module aim is to build on your knowledge of the global economic and business environment and link this to strategies for managing in changing global contexts. Key questions are: How do changes in this environment affect the ways in which companies do business and managers manage across borders: How should firms and individual managers respond (in theory)? How can they respond (in practice)?
Topics will include: the drivers and processes of internationalisation, cross-cultural management challenges, the assessment of overseas investment opportunities and the specific challenges of emerging markets.
Strategic HRM
This module will provide you with a deep understanding of the strategic role of human capital management and the tools with which to analyse and manage it.
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The aim of this module is to provide you with a deep understanding of this strategic role of human capital management and the tools with which to analyse and manage it.
We will consider what is means to align the HR function with strategic objectives. We will ask whether all human capital is equally valuable. We will debate the extent to which human capital and its associated outcomes are quantifiable in a meaningful way. We will examine whether HRM can support both efficiency and flexibility at the same time. Ultimately, the class will provide a range of models and tools for managing human capital in a strategic way.
Case Studies in Data Science & Economics
This module will provide you with training in applying data science methods to contemporary economic problems, giving you the opportunity to conduct a data science project using economic data.
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The module aims to provide training in applying data science methods to contemporary economic problems by looking at case studies. Specifically, the module aims to give you the opportunity to conduct a data science project using economic data. You will discover how to replicate and extend a data science case. The module aims to give the appropriate grounding in economic analysis, while developing your research and communication skills.
Corporate Finance
Get an introduction to the principles of Corporate Finance and learn how the basic tools and techniques of modern finance theory can be applied to analyse and improve the investment and financing decisions of the firm.
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Get an introduction to the principles of Corporate Finance and learn how the basic tools and techniques of modern finance theory can be applied to analyse and improve the investment and financing decisions of the firm.
Indicative themes include:
- Financial calculus
- Financial markets
- Valuing bonds
- Valuing stocks
- Portfolio choice and diversification
- The capital asset pricing model
- Capital budgeting
- NPV in action
- Market efficiency
- Financing and capital structure
- Payout policy
- Corporate risk management