MSc Management of Information Systems & Digital Innovation

This module will offer a broad perspective of various issues relating to the outsourcing and offshoring of strategic IT and business services in a global context.

The key objectives of this module are to assess the role that outsourcing plays in shaping business and IT strategy in a global context as well as to understand how business and IT strategy affect global outsourcing and offshoring arrangements. The module will examine both sides of the equation: client and supplier.

From a client viewpoint, we will discuss various decisions and strategies relating to outsourcing and offshoring. From a supplier viewpoint, we will examine strategies to leverage knowledge from individual relationships (projects) and develop them into organisational capabilities necessary to innovate and move up the value chain. Furthermore, we will focus on the core capabilities that suppliers need to develop and how clients can be made aware of “good” suppliers. We will review and challenge best practices and methodologies in outsourcing of IT and business services using examples from most recent research. We will discuss changes and future trends in the outsourcing marketplace reflecting on recent events and economic trends in wealthy, emerging and developing nations and threats and benefits for clients and vendors.

At the end of the module you will be able to make strategic decisions related to outsourcing and offshoring and effectively steer third parties.
 

The principle aims of the module are:

• To gain with a practical and theoretical understanding of how the financial services industry has been transformed through the adoption and use of digital innovation and information technologies.
• Familiarise yourself with the key technical, procedural, and business aspects of relevant financial technologies and FinTech innovations.
• Get with the right mix of technical and business skills to manage IT change in a highly complex and distributed but also competitive setting in finance.
• Learn how recent developments in fintech, paytech, regtech, and insuretech (e.g. open banking, blockchain and shared ledger technologies, cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, security, etc.) will affect the future of finance.

The MSc Management of Information Systems & Digital Innovation course is intended to link theory with practice. This module builds on all the modules that have been delivered during Term 1 and 2, and focuses on how some of the theoretical concepts can be applied in the consultancy setting. Even though consulting projects can vary drastically in their orientation, scope, scale and business objectives, there are some generic underlying processes, including sales, research, delivery and exit.

This module is developed based on these processes, and will give you a theoretical and practical understanding of the many issues that arise when engaging in information systems consultancy projects.

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.

The objective of the module is to teach you to develop a broad set of skills and knowledge around conducting data analytics using Python programming language. You will learn how to develop Python script to collect, pre-process, analyse the data and present the results.

• Develop script to scrape data publicly available online
• Demonstrate understanding of principles and processes to clean the data collected online
• Demonstrate familiarity and understanding of the common models used in data analytics and their implementations using Python.
• Develop script to visualise analysis results
• Demonstrate familiarity and understanding of major Python libraries used in data science.

In this module you will study the contexts, components, and processes of entrepreneurial behaviour in different types of organisations and focus on key issues in developing business proposals and plans.

Appreciate the wider institutional location of business activity. Examine how firms are both 'takers' and 'givers' of governance and regulation in a variety of formal and informal ways.

The module aims to develop a critical awareness of the issues, problems, concepts, and skills associated with the development of international business strategy and operations. 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.

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.

Open to students who have opted for the Business in Practice route, this module aims to develop a greater understanding of how to foster an innovative work environment. It also aims to understand how to develop leaders for innovation.

The Business in Practice module is the core capstone module for students who choose this route instead of the dissertation route. It will illustrate business theory in practice by combining academic lecture input with expert practitioner insights, and will also provide intensive personal work-skills development via the WBS CareersPlus team. The module is taught over two intensive weeks incorporating an innovative and exciting business simulation. 

If you select the dissertation route you will work with an allocated academic supervisor and research a topic relating to the Management of Information Systems or Digital Innovation. The module is assessed by an 8,000 word formal dissertation.

If you select the dissertation route, Research Methodology becomes a compulsory module for you and it gives you the academic skills to confidently approach your dissertation topic.

You will learn how to identify theoretical or practical issues in the field by exploring your chosen research area, developing research questions, and designing a solid dissertation project. You will be exposed to a broad range of research design options used in the field, which will enable you to put together your own proposal for your dissertation project.