ΜSc

The module explores strategy as a disputed field and emphasises the need to understand cultural, social and ethical issues as well as economic factors that underpin the development of strategy in organisations. It trains students to develop the ability to engage more fully with the strategic discourse of their own and other organisations. The module will provide critical examination of tools, models and concepts for implementing sustainability strategies and policies in businesses and organisations. It will review current and evolving ideas and concepts in the context of drivers for business change required in order to respond to pressing sustainability and responsibility challenges. The module will investigate practices, innovations and evolving ideas for embedding sustainability and will emphasize in developing score competencies through Knowledge Management and Learning Organisation theories.

The module provides a critical review of the concepts of business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and stakeholder management and enables students to analyse, evaluate, and formulate business decisions in the light of ethical and societal considerations. Particular emphasis is put on current corporate practice and recent regulatory developments in order to provide the students with an up – to- date understanding of the fast –moving field. The module draws on and engages with the ongoing debate concerning the role of business organisations as future generators of ‘sustainable value’ for business and society at large. This is then placed in the context of functional discipline areas through topics such as accounting standards, corporate governance, green marketing, social entrepreneurship, employee wellbeing, sustainable innovation and global supply-chain management. The implications of these principles for student’s own leadership practices are considered, introducing the concept of ‘responsible leadership’ from different organisational, national, cultural and ethical perspectives.

As businesses grow increasingly complex, they need a way to effectively identify and manage key activities in the organization. Also needed is the ability to integrate traditional distinct management activities into a cohesive discipline that increases the effectiveness of people, business processes, technology, facilities and other important business elements.GRC achieves this by breaking down the traditional barriers between business units and requiring them to work in a collaborative fashion to achieve the company's strategic goals. GRC is one of the components of a well-managed organization in the 2020s.

The aim of the module is to familiarise students with sustainability challenges in their organization, and equip them with the ability to response to these challenges, such as Corporate Social Responsibility, shared value and the circular economy. Educate students with relevant knowledge of research on transitions toward sustainable and stable economies societies, and of associated (scholarly) debates around the unsustainability of business-as-usual and of models based on an economic growth imperative.

Human resource management is critical in supporting the organisation to improve effectiveness, to manage corporate governance and ethical issues beyond economic performance, and to support realignment of the organisation's future direction and vision of new ways of operating. HR can support sustainable growth by hiring to values and investing in professional development, promoting from within, and creating a long-term leadership solution.

This module will introduce students to the latest development of theory and practice in sustainable and responsible finance. Students will develop an understanding of the principles underlying sustainable and responsible decision-making in finance. They will be familiarized with the guidelines on how to apply them in business and investment practice.

The module will educate students with models in social entrepreneurship and innovation in order to think critically about or build activities that contribute to systems change. Systems change—the idea that we can design interventions that fundamentally reshape social or environmental systems that preserve or negative results—continues to gain interest across the social sector. Students will need to reimagine and redesign how we live and work together—and how we learn, if we are going to reshape our social, ecological, economic, and cultural systems in response to the challenges and opportunities that face humanity in the 21st century.

The module will familiarize students with the way that businesses measure, value, relate to, and account their interaction with nature and how people must evolve, and quickly. How markets must be built with consideration to natural assets and the services they provide alongside financial assets can provide a new, insightful, and relevant way to address and manage serious environmental challenges, while building long-term sustainability and resiliency in the private sector.

The modules aim is to introduce students to issues of securing knowledge about the human behaviours in work places through the design of research projects, collection and analysis of data, and presentation of results. The module focuses on skills and knowledge necessary for the successful completion of a research project.

The dissertation enables students to specialise in an area of interest by conducting an independent, in-depth research project, guided by research-active tutors. Students will evaluate and synthesise research philosophies, develop research strategies, conduct research using secondary and/or primary sources and analyse their findings in relation to existing theories. The dissertation is of interest to potential future employers, demonstrating critical abilities, research expertise and business knowledge. It can also prompt student interest in conducting further research, whether in a consultancy role or in continued academic research at PhD level.