Bristol MBA (Master in Business Administration, UWE)

  Institution: Taylor’s University

The Bristol MBA is recognised across the world as the business qualification for those aspiring to senior executive roles. High quality programmes, like the Bristol MBA are exceptionally demanding, intellectually and emotionally, but the rewards are tremendous and the experience life-enhancing.

You come to see the bigger picture and cope with the complexities of modern management. Above all you learn how to take control of your career, building skills and networks that will create value for yourself and your organisation – both now and in the future.

• One of an elite number of programmes in the UK to be accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA).
• With a choice of specialist routes focused on areas crucial in leadership and management today, you can tailor an MBA to fit your career, your organisation and the future.
• The integrated approach taken by the Bristol MBA better prepares you for the leadership and management challenges you will face in the real world.
• You’ll benefit from a comprehensive professional development programme focused on developing you academically, as a manager, a leader and a member of the business community.
• We provide an exciting range of opportunities for MBA students to hear from influential guest speakers such as leaders of industry and pre-eminent researchers.

Course Synopsis

Core Subjects

Management in a Complex World
Working through this module will help students to develop an understanding of the issues that underpin the whole MBA:

• Explore current and emerging challenges formanagers, looking at them from a range of perspectives
• Examine the complexity of management tasks
• Develop an understanding of issues such as globalisation, the international economy, corporate governance and policy frameworks, the impact of new technology, and the social and demographic influences on the world of work and business.

Managing Decisions
As a decision maker, you need to know how to use information t gain insight, think more deeply and make the right judgements:

• Learn to apply financial and non-financial decision-making tools and techniques.
• Explore ways of using the management accounting information.
• Develop the skills to work with statistical information and to ensure effective decision-making.

Managing Business Resources
Students will learn how to manage business resources effectively from a strategic and operational point of view:

• Develop the skills needed to maximise the impact of key resources on the success of your organisation.
• Learn how to get the best from your people.
• Use information and financial resources effectively

Delivering Customer Value
Organisations need to be able to deliver against their promises:

• Explore the strategic approach to marketing.
• Learn how to integrate marketing and operations perspectives.
• Deepen your understanding of how organisations add value for their customers.
• Study supply chain and service delivery management.

Leadership and Change
As a manager, it’s your role to provide direction for your staff and the organisation and to create the right conditions for change:

• Develop a deeper understanding of behaviour at individual, team and organisational levels.
• Study the impact of culture on change in organisations.

Strategy
To be an effective manager you need to deal with complex organisational issues in an integrated and holistic manner:

• Learn to lead strategic management processes, including strategic analysis, generating strategic options and selecting and implementing strategies.
• Learn to look at strategy from different perspectives and in a variety of contexts.
• Discuss and explore emerging and contemporary issues in strategic thinking.

Electives

Management Consultancy
Focuses on ways to advise companies on the best ways to manage and operate their businesses. The module looks into concepts like business strategy, operational techniques and time management.

Financial Statement Analysis
Understanding financial information and skills in financial analysis are key to effective strategic management.

• Analyse companies more precisely from a financial viewpoint.
• Gain key financial tools and techniques for anaylysing individual companies within the context of their industry and their macroeconomic environment.
• Develop knowledge in company valuation and your skills in investment advice when considering a company’s shares.

Global Financial Strategy
Understanding of the global financial environment is critical for strategic managerial decision making.

• Develop an understanding of financial strategy from the perspective of a firm with global financial strategy.
• Examine a range of problems withing the area of global financial strategy.
• Gain a range of strategic tools and approaches to problems and opportunities in the global finance and global financial management arenas.

Project Management
Understanding the fundamental principles of project management and the complexity of project environments is essential to effective project management.

• Gain a theoretical and practical perspective on critical factors for successful management of projects.
• Explore the realities of project management processes in a variety of organisational settings.
• Analyse, apply and explore methods and techniques in four major project management contexts.

Risk and Sustainability in Global Operations
To operate in global business environmets managers need to be conversant with a range of economic and business concepts and the theory and practice of risk and sustainability.

• Develop understanding of the challenges in managing global operations at a strategic level in complex business environments.
• Develop leadership and decision-making skills in relation to risk and sustainability in the context of global operations

Entrepreneurship Decision Making
This module provides an introduction to entrepreneurship with a focus on the identification, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities. It examines the processes and behaviours involved with an emphasis on entrepreneurship as means of adding value and achieving competitive advantage in a variety of settings, from new venture creation to the development of an entrepreneurial mind-set in established firms.

Innovation and Creativity
An understanding of the theory and practical applicaiton sof innovation and creativity in a variety of contexts:

• Examine a range of perspectives on managing innovation and creativity.
• Assess your ability to manage innovation and creativity.
• Explore creativity and innovation in team, organisational and societal contexts.

Doing Business in Asia
Focusing on China, India and Japan, this module aims to develop:

• Awareness and understanding of the challenges of managing at a strategic level.
• Leadership and decision-making skills in relation to initiating business in and with managers from these countries.
• An understanding of management tools for transnational enterprises and market entry strategies.

Governance in Asia
Focusing on China, India and Japan, this module will:

• Equip you with an awareness and understanding of the challenges in managing operational environment at a strategic level in contemporary business and environments.
• Develop an understanding of the institutional framework within which companies operate.
• Examine the interrelation between companies and external corporate governance mechanisms.

Strategic Customer Management
Choosing and implementing a system is a major undertaking. For enterprises of any appreciable size, a complete and detailed plan is required to obtain the funding, resources, and company-wide support that can make the initiative successful. Benefits must be defined, risks assessed, and cost quantified in three general areas:

• Processes
• People
• Technology

International Finance
Studies the dynamics of exchange rates, foreign investment, and how these affect international trade. It also studies international projects, international investments and capital flows, and trade deficits. It includes the study of futures, options and currency swaps.

Managing Diversity, Complexity and Change
One constant thing that life brings to every person and particularly to every organization is change. It would seem that by now, people and organizations alike would have the upper hand on change, but in actuality, they do not. Organizations no matter the size still struggle to accept and adapt to change. Why is change so difficult for employees to accept? Why do organizations struggle with adapting to change?
Four key factors that will assist leaders in managing change effectively: Good leadership, Knowledge and utilization of existing drivers of change, Processes and committing to them, and Accepting change.

Dissertation

Executive Research and Research Methods Strategy
The aim of the module is to help MBA students to acquire significant research skills, partly through undertaking a course in research methods, but mainly through carrying a research project (Research proposal and Dissertation). The research proposal and dissertation write-up are embedded within the published academic theory and research relating to a chosen topic and encourage students to conduct conceptual and empirical research that advances the understanding about the role, dynamics, and impact of organisations in the creation of sustainable social, environmental and economic value.

The module is a combination of sound academic underpinning and practical application. The academic underpinning takes two forms: the delivery of a research methods programme, and the independent study by the student with the support of a dissertation tutor. The research methods programme consists of formal specialist input, directed reading, workshops involving group and individual exercises.

A tangible outcome from this part of the module is the identification of a research topic that leads to the allocation of a dissertation tutor and the production of a dissertation proposal.

During the independent research phase of the module, primary support is given to the student via their dissertation tutor. This support takes the form of guidance and mentoring with the onus on the student to explore options and bring issues and potential solutions to the tutor for discussion. It is anticipated that, on average, students would have four formal meetings with their tutor over the period of the dissertation although individual arrangements may be made.

Source: Taylor’s University