MA Management and Finance (Full Time)

This wide-ranging suite of programmes will equip you with the core management skills and applied focus required in modern business - whilst enabling you to pursue areas of personal interest.

Course overview

The MA Management and Finance at Southampton Solent University is part of our MA Management programme.

Students with a range of business-related and non-business experience will benefit from this programme, as it develops a strong management focus irrespective of whether you choose MA Management or opt to follow a more specialised path in either Finance or International Business.

All three courses enable you to appreciate the multidisciplinary and often complex nature of business and its management in a range of different contexts and situations, together with a more complete understanding of the role of management.

You will gain critical insights into the increasingly complex requirements of management in a global context, whether you are looking to enter large international organisations or to explore how to sustain a micro-business amidst global competition. 

Moreover, you will develop academic knowledge within the business management arena to Masters level, and evaluate the application of this new knowledge to real-life, work-based scenarios. 

This course suits those interested in developing a critical appreciation of the role that finance plays as an essential tool for effective management. 

Course content  

Core units

Operations Management
This unit considers a range of relevant and reliable operational management theories, processes and practices, enabling you to critically appraise and apply that knowledge to complex operational management decisions.

People in Organisations
This unit introduces the theories that have led to advances in the field of organisational behaviour by considering examples and cases that relate to theories and practices in exploiting and enhancing competitive advantage. It focuses on three areas of analysis - the individual, the group and the organisation - and considers these in terms of the 'micro' and 'macro' perspectives and their roots in behavioural and social sciences.

Financial Decision Making
This unit requires you to reflect upon a range of relevant and reliable financial decision-making theories, processes and practices, in order to critically appraise and apply that knowledge to complex financial management decisions.

Principles of Marketing
This unit develops your understanding of marketing principles in theory and practice, in order to critically evaluate their application in a range of organisational contexts: the nature of customers and markets, marketing mix decisions, and marketing planning and strategy.

Research Methods
This unit develops the skills of inquiry and research required primarily for the dissertation but also, to some extent, for all of these units. It covers the major theories and concepts associated with empirical and library-based research, as well as developing your ability to apply these concepts to practical research situations.

Dissertation

This is your opportunity to demonstrate personal research over an extended period, while developing a topic of personal interest or expertise. It is also an opportunity to ensure that all the learning outcomes you set are reached. While some students prefer to stay close to the University and its resources, others take advantage of our online learning material to study away from campus or to integrate their dissertation with employment.

Option units

Financial Analysis
This unit evaluates the rationale and use of financial analysis, using published corporate financial reports, from a global perspective. You will research and appraise the impact on this analysis of national norms in the sourcing of corporate funds and the application of accounting practices. Nationally based accounting theories and practices will be compared and contrasted.

Financial Strategy
This unit critically reflects upon the relevance and integration of strategic financial management objectives, in terms of how the financing, dividend and investment decisions contribute to shareholders’ wealth creation. 
A range of financial management theoretical approaches will be evaluated in terms of their ‘value enhancing’ or ‘value destroying’ influences, by evaluating the role and relevance of financial theories to complex strategic management objectives.

International Financial Markets
This unit evaluates knowledge and understanding of monetary economics, the global financial system and international financial markets. It provides analytical tools to examine and evaluate current issues, international agreements and the likely trajectory of the global financial order. 

Key career skills
Critical Thinking, Marketing, Operations, Finance, Human Resources, Communication, Teamwork, Research, Economics, Innovation, Ethics, Creativity.

Projects/work experience

Echoing the university’s focus on Employability, units will apply class debate and assessments to `live topics’ and current cases, emphasising the need to apply academic learning. Students are encouraged to contribute issues & ideas from their previous experiences and personal interests.

Solent's special features

• This course has two intakes per year, September and January. Students starting in September will take 12 months to complete; those starting in January will take 16 months, with a four-month break between May and October.
• Flexible learning
  This course embraces the use of blended learning techniques to help you cope with fitting in around the many other demands on your time. Where appropriate, communication between the University and yourself can take place through the online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Here you will find suggested reading, journal articles and relevant business news as well as having the option to use the system to carry out group discussion on any related topic. This will not replace formal contact with tutors, and staff will still be available to support you through your studies.
• Unit teams are well experienced in their sectors, in integrating input from a wide range of student backgrounds and in the current focus of business;  whether that is of Trans-National Organisations, start-up companies or professional bodies – the online Portal enables this full-time programme to offer  considerable flexibility to its students, globally.

Fees

Fees for the 2011-2012 academic year are:

Full Time: UK and EU students - £4,100; Overseas students - £9,400

 

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