Management and Finance - MSc

This module aims to develop your understanding of the main financial objective of the firm i.e. wealth maximisation and how it is achieved through alignment of financial decisions under constraints from within and outside the organisation. The module covers topics such as financial statements analysis, budgeting, cost-benefit analysis, time value money, investment appraisal, working capital management, sources of capital and choice of capital structure.

The aim of this module is to provide you with the key knowledge and understanding of the integrated nature of business functions focusing specifically on marketing and operations. It will give you both a foundation in what business is and how it operates using these two key functional perspectives whilst also highlighting leadership and financial implications of managerial decision making in these areas to provide an integrated and holistic view of business in a variety of contexts.

This module will provide you with an opportunity to engage and consider contemporary issues in leadership from both UK and international perspectives and how leaders address these within organisations. The module will enable you to develop a critical insight and outlook in order to explore relevant solutions for organisational effectiveness and success.

International Strategic Management is a core module for all MSc business pathways. Strategy is a field that breaks you out of a functional perspective and integrates the functional Stage 1 themes of finance, marketing, leadership and operations to offer a holistic view of an organisation, be that a small or medium sized business or a large corporation in an international context. The focus of this course is on the business unit level or competitive strategy, not corporate level strategy.

The purpose of the Research Project module is to provide a framework for you to undertake a substantial piece of disciplinary-relevant research. It is founded upon Birmingham City Business School’s teaching and learning philosophy which integrates theory and practice.   

The module interprets Business and Management research broadly (based on the guidance of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, https://www.ref.ac.uk/). Fields include, but are not limited to: accounting; banking; business analytics; business and industrial economics; business ethics; business history; consumer behaviour; corporate governance; corporate social responsibility; critical management studies; employment relations; entrepreneurship; finance; human resource management; information systems management; innovation management; international business; leadership; management education; management science; marketing; operations management; organisational psychology; organisational studies; project management; public policy; public sector management; risk management; service management; small firms; strategic management; supply chain management; sustainability; technology management; third sector management; and any other field or sub-field aligned to business and management. 

This module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of the core issues relating financial principles and practice of an enterprise. The module contextualises the complexities of the firm objectives, agency theory and derivation of the separation theorem; it links theory to practice and explores the financial decisions of the firm from a strategic perspective.

The aim of the module is to provide you with a critical understanding of the principles and practice of personal and institutional portfolio management. The characteristics of the main types of investment asset are critically analysed in the context of wider investment portfolios.