Triangle

Course overview

This course will give you a complete set of essential business and management skills. With the potential to work anywhere in the world, it can help you to begin a successful career with excellent earning potential in industry, commerce or the public sector.

Our core modules will give you a grounding in all the key principles in management science, including corporate financial strategy, managing people and managerial economics. You can also choose from a range of optional modules in particular areas that align with your career goals. Topics include venture capital, behavioural economics and human resource management.

You have the option to take industry-recognised digital qualifications by Microsoft and SAP alongside your course, which will develop your digital skills.

This MSc will enhance your CV and help to bring you to the notice of prestigious employers who are looking for the business and management skillset you will have. As an asset to their organisation you can put your knowledge and skills into practice, having a real impact on their business.

Why choose this course?

Top 100

in the world and top 15 in the UK

Triple accredited

Part of an elite group of business schools worldwide to gain ‘triple crown’ accreditation

EQUIS, AMBA and AACSB accredited

Gain digital skills

Business School students have the opportunity to gain digital skills with industry-recognised Microsoft and SAP certifications

More than 27,000

Business School alumni connect you to a powerful global network of business contacts

83% of our research

ranked as world-leading or internationally excellent

Course content

Across the autumn and spring semesters, you will take 120 credits of taught modules. Each module typically consists of 10 two to three hour sessions.

You will complete a 60-credit dissertation over the summer, and will be allocated an appropriate dissertation supervisor who will oversee your progress.

Modules

Core modules

Semester one

Corporate Financial Management

The module covers the traditional content of a Corporate Finance course:

  • Investment, capital structure, and dividend decisions from a shareholder value perspective
  • Capital market behaviour (background)
  • Mergers
  • Real options
  • Corporate governance
Managing People and Organisations

This module covers classic organisational behaviour topics such as understanding organisations, teams and teamwork, leadership, culture, power and control.

Managerial Economics

The module is concerned to use economic reasoning to consider how individuals are motivated and activities and individuals are co-ordinated with organisations. It contrasts markets and firms as alternative forms of managing resource flows. It shows how incomplete and imperfectly distributed information causes difficulties for each form.

There is an emphasis on the application of economic reasoning to real organisations including financial institutions, manufacturing firms, franchised businesses, online retailers etc and to contemporary business issues such as executive compensation, promotion tournaments etc.

Semester two

Research Methods for Management Studies

This modules covers the following:

Part I: Introduction qualitative analysis
This part of the module will be concerned with the collection and analysis of qualitative data.

Part II: Introduction quantitative analysis
Survey design and measurement, introduction to statistics; hypothesis testing, t-tests, ANOVA, regression analysis.

Part III: Introduction to management research
Relating to literature review, asking research questions and objectives, formulating research hypotheses, discussion of findings; quantitative and qualitative research in the dissertation relating to its application.

Summer

Resources Management and Organisation Dissertation 60 credits

The module aims to allow you to synthesise, apply, and extend the knowledge you have gained in the taught component of the programme by engaging in primary data collection. Through investigating a current research topic and gathering original data, you will develop a deeper theoretical and practical understanding of contemporary issues in your area, while also enhancing your research, communication, and data analysis skills.

Business Project

The Business Project requires students, working as groups, to undertake research in a topic which is relevant to business, management, marketing, finance, accounting, or information system. You must choose their research topic that is relevant to your named degree programme. The specific topic is subject to a formal approval process.

The module is intended for you to apply knowledge, concepts, skills, and techniques, acquired during the taught stage of your programme to real-world, business scenarios. You will be presented with real-word business problems for which you are required to review relevant literature, conduct research, analyse data, and formulate viable solutions.

Optional modules

40 credits from:

Behavioural Economics and Decision Making

This module is aimed at giving you an understanding of behaviour in an economic context. You will learn the use of methods to measure economic preferences as: trust, risk, cooperation, social preferences and social identity. These measures are used in economics and finance to explain human behaviour and decision-making processes. In addition to this you will “play” games in the classroom to get a first hand impression of the structure and meaning of the games used in the lectures.

Together we will understand how rational behaviour predictions conflict with human “bounded rational” decision making. You will analyse studies of bounded rational behaviour, labour markets, asset markets, experimental behavioural finance, social dilemmas, preferences, public goods, reciprocity, bargaining and contests.

Business to Business Marketing

The content of this module will serve as an introduction to the main theoretical and managerial concepts and issues in the area of business-to-business marketing and will focus on aspects of strategic marketing relationships between companies and other stakeholders. Possible topics may include:

  • What is a market? A service ecosystem approach to understanding markets
  • Organisational buying behaviour and market structures
  • How do markets work? Creating and shaping new markets and maintaining market dynamics
  • Market relations and sustainable competitive advantage
  • Forming business networks: business network partnership attraction
  • Business-to-Business marketing strategies
  • Innovation in business networks
  • Managing business networks: communication, coordination and learning in business networks
  • Strategic market relations in the digital world 
  • Branding and building loyalty: value co-creation in network partnerships
Corporate Governance

The module covers:

  • The nature and perspectives of corporate governance
  • Corporate control and ownership across the world
  • Taxonomies of CG systems and CG mechanisms
  • Shareholder power: Individuals and institutions
  • External influences on corporate governance: The market for corporate control
  • The role of the board: Executives and non-executives
  • Executive remuneration and governance
  • Government and governance: The regulatory role
  • Corporate governance: A review of the domain
Corporate Strategy 10 credits

The module covers:

  • Strategic analysis
  • Industry analysis
  • Positioning
  • Creating and sustaining competitive advantage
  • Diversification
  • Strategic decision making
  • Strategy practice and implementation
  • Strategy and organisation
  • Strategic leadership
Human Resource Management 20 credits

The intricacies of managing the human resources within the business context are developed in this module. It examines processes, practices, and procedures associated with HRM management and administration that an employer/manager needs to be familiar with, and analyses the current best practice in the HR function.

International Finance

This module examines:

  • exchange rates and FX markets
  • FX market efficiency
  • real exchange rate and purchasing power parity
  • exchange rate determination
  • exchange rate forecasting
  • FX predictability: Statistical significance and economic value
  • FX volatility strategies
  • global equity analysis
  • global performance evaluation
Launching an Entrepreneurial Business

This module aims to give you a theoretical understanding and practical experience of launching a new entrepreneurial venture. In so doing, this capstone module enables you to comprehend the role of, and conflicts and interdependencies between, different business and management disciplines; thus, it provides you with an insight into how decision-making in each area can impact on the overall performance of the firm. The module also aims to foster reflexive practice to facilitate lifelong learning.

Operations and Supply Chain Strategy and Practice

The module content is divided into three major parts:

  1. Strategy – Context of operations and supply chain strategy; the range of strategic decisions within and between operations; the impact of competition on operations and supply chains; supply chain strategies for coordination and integration; topical strategic issues faced by various industries and sector in their operations and supply chains, for example, sustainability, new technologies, etc
  2. Performance measurement – Concept and importance of performance measurement within operations and supply chain management; selection and application of key performance indicators; importance of intra and inter-organisational benchmarking and approaches to target setting
  3. Current practice – Current operations management, supply chain management, and logistics approaches in a range of industries/sectors; pertinent issues and drivers of change in practicing operations and supply chain management, including sustainability
Venture Capital and Private Equity

Venture capital and private equity provide risk capital to firms at various stages of their life-cycle. This involves selecting early-stage and late-stage investment opportunities, due diligence, structuring deals, valuation, managing portfolio firms, and exit.

Strategic Entrepreneurial Growth

The module combines practical and theoretical perspectives on the process of planning and implementing strategic entrepreneurial growth.

The module will help develop your capacity to evaluate multiple strategic options under conditions of uncertainty. Using frameworks and concepts you will construct a strategic growth plan for a small entrepreneurial firm or social enterprise. The module also provides insights into the owner-founder’s experience of strategic growth.

The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer but is not intended to be construed and/or relied upon as a definitive list of the modules that will be available in any given year. Modules (including methods of assessment) may change or be updated, or modules may be cancelled, over the duration of the course due to a number of reasons such as curriculum developments or staffing changes. Please refer to the module catalogue for information on available modules. This content was last updated on Thursday 13 June 2024.

Due to timetabling availability, there may be restrictions on some module combinations.

Learning and assessment

How you will learn

  • Lectures
  • Seminars
  • Tutorials
  • Workshops

Digital professional skills certifications

We offer the opportunity for you to take industry-recognised Microsoft and SAP certifications alongside your degree programme. This will enhance your digital capability, differentiate your CV and help you stand out to future employers. Find out more on our digital professional skills website.

How you will be assessed

  • Dissertation
  • Essay
  • Examinations
  • Group report submission
  • Group presentation

Main assessment methods include closed-book exam, individual essay, group report, group presentation and dissertation.

Contact time and study hours

In total, you will have 1,800 study hours, including approximately 300 formal contact hours such as lectures, tutorials and workshops. The rest of the hours are for independent study, group work, revision and the preparation of assessments.

Entry requirements

All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements below apply to 2025 entry.

Undergraduate degree2:1 (or international equivalent) in business studies, economics or management

Applying

Please note: this is a highly competitive course and there are a limited number of places available. The School reserves the right to close applications when capacity is reached – this may be ahead of the advertised application windows. Early applications are encouraged to avoid disappointment.

If you have not yet completed your undergraduate degree, please provide a list of modules to be studied in your final year.

Our step-by-step guide covers everything you need to know about applying.

How to apply

Fees

Qualification MSc
Home / UK £15,800
International £32,400

Additional information for international students

If you are a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you may be asked to complete a fee status questionnaire and your answers will be assessed using guidance issued by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) .

These fees are for full-time study. If you are studying part-time, you will be charged a proportion of this fee each year (subject to inflation).

Additional costs

All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the equipment advice.

As a student on this course, you should factor some additional costs into your budget, alongside your tuition fees and living expenses.

You should be able to access most of the books you'll need through our libraries, though you may wish to purchase your own copies or more specific titles.

Funding

Business School MSc scholarships

There are many ways to fund your postgraduate course, from scholarships to government loans.

We also offer a range of international masters scholarships for high-achieving international scholars who can put their Nottingham degree to great use in their careers.

Check our guide to find out more about funding your postgraduate degree.

Postgraduate funding

Careers

We offer individual careers support for all postgraduate students.

Expert staff can help you research career options and job vacancies, build your CV or résumé, develop your interview skills and meet employers.

Each year 1,100 employers advertise graduate jobs and internships through our online vacancy service. We host regular careers fairs, including specialist fairs for different sectors.

International students who complete an eligible degree programme in the UK on a student visa can apply to stay and work in the UK after their course under the Graduate immigration route. Eligible courses at the University of Nottingham include bachelors, masters and research degrees, and PGCE courses.

Graduate destinations

Career destinations for our postgraduates include:

  • accountants
  • finance and investment analysts and advisers
  • marketing associate professionals
  • human resources managers
  • management consultants
  • business analysts
  • business development managers
  • financial managers
  • data analysts

Some MSc graduates have gone on to doctoral studies, others have become entrepreneurs. Our Ingenuity Lab has supported a number of our MSc graduates in starting their own company.

Career progression

86.2% of all postgraduates from Nottingham University Business School secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual salary for these graduates was £31,419.*

* HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20 data published in 2022. The Graduate Outcomes % is derived using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on graduates working full-time within the UK.

Two masters graduates proudly holding their certificates

This content was last updated on Thursday 13 June 2024. Every effort has been made to ensure that this information is accurate, but changes are likely to occur given the interval between the date of publishing and course start date. It is therefore very important to check this website for any updates before you apply.