With almost 2.5 million untrained ‘accidental managers’ in the UK alone, the need to upskill future business leaders is widely accepted as one of the top organisational priorities. Poor management costs this country around £84bn in lost productivity each year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Grounded in theory and practice, our MSc will equip you with the necessary knowledge, skills and techniques to overcome some of the problems associated with substandard management – low staff morale, loss of talent, inadequate budgeting, reduced productivity and missed commercial opportunities.

Instead, we’ll prepare you to perform executive duties in ways which motivate others and achieve business objectives successfully, with the flexibility to adapt and thrive in rapidly changing and uncertain external environments.

Referring to real-life business examples and hearing direct from businesses, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategic and operational challenges that can arise, in areas such as leadership, ethics or sustainability, for example. The Business School’s Grand Challenges lecture series invites key speakers to provide fresh perspectives on the political, ethical and intellectual problems we face as a world today, while our Lunchtime Lectures centre on leadership in the context of complexity and inclusion.

Your final project will give you the opportunity to directly transfer your learning to the workplace by researching a current management topic, responding to a specific business issue or undertaking a ‘live’ work-based project.

Through our focus on ‘real-world’ situations and teaching which proactively relates to contemporary issues, for example, the many management challenges posed by the current global pandemic, we’ll ensure you leave with a greater appreciation of the social, environmental and global implications of business. All of this will help you develop as a responsible manager, averting crises as much as possible and making appropriate contingency plans so that you can promptly resolve problems when they inevitably occur.

Team building, group work, research, presentations and projects will help you develop vital management skills, such as business planning, decision-making, problem-solving, communication, delegation and time management.

Management skills are needed in all types of jobs and industries – from sport and leisure, the arts and entertainment to social work, engineering and the natural sciences. We therefore welcome applicants from a wide range of undergraduate disciplines; past students have joined us having studied subjects as diverse as music and law, as well as business.

Examples of the roles you might progress to during the course of your career include:

• Business analyst
• Business development manager
• Management consultant
• Project manager
• Risk manager
• Sales executive
• Supply chain manager