MSc Finance and Management

This course will prepare you for a successful career in finance and/or management in any sector, including financial, non-financial and public sector organisations. Over the course of your studies you’ll explore the role of finance and management in business. You’ll discover the many ways in which the study of finance and the study of management enrich each other, whilst discovering and developing your talents in both areas.

In your finance studies you’ll discover how financial markets work, and explore the various financial services offered by the financial industry. You’ll also cultivate specialist expertise in accounting and finance.

In your management studies you’ll develop the necessary skills for general management roles. You’ll learn how to critically assess the relationship between organisations, their external context and their management processes. You’ll explore how organisations work, in theory and practice, and you’ll learn how to make informed, evidence-based decisions about how and when to apply different management theories.

In addition to your Master’s qualification, you will receive support and access to online training for certification in Thomson Reuters at no extra cost, including Eikon and Datastream.

About

This flexible course is ideal if you are interested in finance and management and want to study both while keeping your options open. You’ll be able to tailor your studies towards one discipline or the other, or balance your studies equally. Whichever path you choose, you’ll discover that these two disciplines overlap and enrich each other in many exciting and satisfying ways.

You could go on to work in finance or management. Whichever career path you choose, you’ll find that the multidisciplinary expertise and general business skills gained on this course will give you an edge.

You don’t need to have studied finance, management or business before - you just need to enjoy working with numbers and people, and feel passionate about business. Equally this course is a great choice if you have studied a different business specialism before and want to add finance and management to your skillset.

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Course Reference Number: 1544205

Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

We’ll assess your knowledge, understanding and skills through a variety of different methods. These include exams, coursework, group work and presentations.

You’ll hand in formative and summative work for assessment and receive invaluable feedback to help you identify areas of strength and areas for improvement.

Structure

Your studies will begin with Welcome Week. Here you’ll be introduced to each of the key areas of business, as well as finance and management. You’ll also meet the team of academics and researchers you’ll be working with throughout your degree, and have the chance to get to know your fellow students.

Your first semester is a great chance to explore different areas of your subject, and discover the areas you might like to focus on during the rest of your studies and later career. You’ll gain a firm foundation in both your subjects, and in other key business functions such as operations, HR, marketing and accounting. You’ll do this through the compulsory modules Accounting and Financial Management, Managing People and Organisations, and Strategic Marketing Management. By the end of your first semester you’ll have a solid understanding of basic business concepts, functions, roles and decisions.

In your second semester you will delve deeper into your subject with specialist modules including Corporate Financial Management. You’ll also be able to start to tailor your studies by choosing from a large range of optional modules such as Enterprise and Small Business Management, Innovation Management, International Corporate Governance, International Financial Reporting, Managing Across the Globe, and Quantitative Finance.

In coursework you’ll learn how to critically apply what you’ve learned to corporate practice. This ensures you graduate with a high level of skill in corporate reporting - able to critically assess corporate financial governance.

Unlike other Master’s courses, where your third semester is spent on independent study, you’ll benefit from a third semester of taught modules. You will spend your third semester consolidating your learning and further developing your critical thinking skills with modules such as Advanced Financial and Investment Management and Integrated Business Decisions.

You’ll also take Management Skills and Personal Development, which runs throughout the year. Here you will study the theory and practice of good management. You’ll also focus on developing your own personal brand. This ensures you leave equipped not only to shape businesses, but ready to shape your own career too. We’ll work together to identify your 10 key strengths and you will then explore ways to show evidence of these strengths. You’ll study inspiring career stories, from JK Rowling to James Dyson, discovering the principles of success and applying them to your own life and career plan.

The course has been carefully designed to make sure you graduate with in-depth knowledge and expertise of all the key areas of investment and finance. In all your modules, you’ll look at issues from a domestic and international perspective, helping you graduate ready to excel on the international stage, with skills that are relevant anywhere.

Teaching and Learning

You will benefit from research-led and industry-focused teaching, learning from highly qualified academics and researchers, as well as practitioners with experience working in industry at the highest level.

You’ll learn through a mix of lectures, seminars, workshops, masterclasses and independent study. You’ll learn to analyse articles in the Financial Times and live cases. There is no dissertation module on this Master’s, which means you’ll benefit from a greater number of taught modules.

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Assessment for Year 1

We’ll assess your knowledge, understanding and skills through a variety of different methods. These include exams, coursework, group work and presentations.

You’ll hand in formative and summative work for assessment and receive invaluable feedback to help you identify areas of strength and areas for improvement.

Compulsory Modules

MANAGING PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS

Code NBS-7024A

Credits 20

The purpose of this module is to provide you with an overview of people management – including topics from both Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management - and permit you to explore the question of; if people are your business, why is managing people in an organisational context so difficult? In the module you will learn about the process and development of the so-called ‘soft’ management competencies as well as hard management. You will focus on the development of these skills in order to increase productivity and performance as well as develop and manage people in different business contexts. You will begin with an overview of different organisational behaviours and how these can be managed within the organisation. You will learn key frameworks from organisational behaviour and human resource management and how these concepts that for instance can include leadership, team working, motivation and diversity can be applied to business scenarios. You will realise both soft and hard aspects of management in managing individual people as well as acquiring knowledge about key HRM function and the role of line managers in managing staff. On successfully completing this module you will have gained experience of discussing differing key organisational and HRM concepts and how they can apply in different settings resulting in different outcomes. You will have gained a sensitivity to the diversity of people and organisations. You will be able to analyse organisational contexts and how people are managed to understand how you yourself would like as an individual to be managed and how this knowledge can be applied to others in a variety of different business settings.

STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7025A

Credits 20

The main objective of this module is to equip you with an in-depth understanding of the strategic marketing planning process. You will be able to apply marketing principles in a strategic context and develop both a theoretical and practical knowledge of strategic marketing. A key feature is that you’ll consider approaches to strategic marketing from an international perspective.

MANAGEMENT SKILLS AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Code NBS-7031X

Credits 20

This module is designed to give you a solid set of management skills through which your learning from across all modules develops into a coherent whole. The focus will be on developing management skills recognised as important for securing meaningful employment in the global marketplace appropriate to the Master’s level of qualification. This is an applied vision and skill development module, focusing on the development of the new skill sets for managers of the 21st century. It is designed as a learning environment and a management trainee program that focuses on the development of knowledge and skills for global leaders. A core belief underlying our approach, demonstrated in interactive sessions, stems from the Chinese proverb, “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.” A variety of methods will be used to simulate a real-world business environment such as collaborative learning, lectures, management training videos, presentations, films, discussions, role plays, and workshops. This module is one of the few management courses in the UK that builds on unique features, such as individual customization, creative skill development, project based learning, and positive change. We will have intensive brainstorming sessions, problem based learning plus facilitated and self-directed action learning to help you and your colleagues develop and apply management skills for your career in the 21st century. In today’s global, rapidly changing knowledge-based economy, learning and experimenting with management skills and personal development is one of the smartest investments you can make for your career.

INTEGRATED BUSINESS DECISIONS

Code NBS-7034X

Credits 20

This is a module with a twist - building on core skills such as team-working, marketing, accounting and strategy, you’ll apply your knowledge and work in teams to win different ‘games’ – the military has previously used such games to teach strategy and tactics. Updated to reflect the international business environment, you’ll be using each game as a way to embed your knowledge and see if your team emerges as the winner!

ADVANCED FINANCIAL AND INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7049X

Credits 20

This module aims to develop a critical understanding of how investors and portfolio managers operate within the global economy and financial markets. It will introduce key theories, concepts, methodologies, tools and best practices used in investment decision-making. The CFA knowledge domains covered include: Economics, Equities, Fixed Income, Portfolio Management, Alternative Investments and Portfolio Management/Wealth Planning.

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7026A

Credits 20

Do you want to be fluent in business? Accounting is the language of business and financial management is critical to the survival of businesses. If you want to become knowledgeable in two of the core areas in business such as accounting and financial management, then this module is for you. Throughout the module you will discover why accounting is considered a management information system and why managing the financial aspects of the business will contribute to business success. This is a semester long introductory module and no previous study of accounting or finance is required. The module will be divided in two parts: in the first part you will study accounting and in the second part of the module you will study financial management. In this module, individual study coupled with a series of lectures and seminars will give you a very good overview of the accounting and finance methods and concepts. In accounting you will learn how to read and interpret financial statements, you will acknowledge the importance of understanding and managing costs and the importance of liquidity. In financial management you will learn how investment appraisal and valuation works as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using different forms of equity and debt. All the knowledge gained by taking this module will put you at an advantage in any business meeting, benefiting your future career.

CORPORATE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7045B

Credits 20

In this module you will explore the principles of corporate finance. The most important topics of this module are the following: goals and governance of the corporation, stakeholders and impact on corporate objectives, valuing bonds and common stocks, risk and cost of capital, corporate performance, agency problems and executive compensation packages, payout policy, capital structure, valuation, debt financing, mergers, corporate restructuring and corporate control around the world.

Optional A Modules

(40 credits)

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7029B

Credits 20

This module aspires to provide you with knowledge on the significance of entrepreneurship within the economy, research-led understanding of factors that affect the entrepreneurial process and small business management functions respectively.

INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7033B

Credits 20

The module aims to develop your overall understanding of how a company’s success depends on its innovation strategy and management. Results of both theoretical and empirical research will enable you to understand the central terms and mechanisms in this area and to analyse companies’ innovation strategies in a holistic way. Analysing innovations at the intersection between market needs and technological possibilities, you should be able to develop suggestions for innovation strategies and their implementation. You’ll cover both the economic and managerial aspects of innovation. You will get an in-depth understanding of key aspects of innovation processes and their institutional and strategic implications. Learning that innovation is a cross-functional task involving all corporate functions like R&D, marketing, production and finance is a central objective of the module. Using exemplary innovation case studies students will first acquire knowledge of key terms and definitions of innovation research. The emergence of systematic innovation in the corporate environment will be discussed by studying the history of certain industries. At the organizational level, ways to leverage innovation internally and with external partners will be analysed. You will learn about different sources of innovation as well as roles and functions in the innovation process. Key concepts like open innovation and user innovation will be discussed thoroughly. Your practical applications and implications will be pointed out. Finally, the module will discuss the issue of how to appropriate the returns from innovation, with special focus on patents and markets for technology.

MANAGING ACROSS THE GLOBE

Code NBS-7037B

Credits 20

This module is designed to sensitise you to the context specific nature of the discipline of management and help you uncover the diversity among managerial values and practices across the world. It seeks to equip you with the knowledge and skills that will give them the confidence to be members of organisations anywhere on the globe.

INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING

Code NBS-7043B

Credits 20

We live in an increasingly connected and globalised world. How companies report their financial performance and position in today’s economic environment? If you want to understand international accounting and how businesses communicate their profit or their loss, their assets, liabilities and equity to a wide range of users, then this module is for you. Throughout the module you will discover the techniques of financial reporting and the interesting debates that surrounds them. You will gain a firm grounding in the study of international accounting standards which have begun to dominate financial reporting networks throughout the world. The module includes an examination of current professional reporting requirements for single companies and groups of companies. You will begin with an overview of the regulatory framework for international financial reporting and of the efforts towards international harmonisation. You will then explore the stimulating debate of measurement and valuation in the financial accounting process. You will continue with the equally interesting issue of recognition of assets and liabilities in financial statements and conclude with the fascinating part of analysing financial statements. At the end of this module you will be able to present quantitative financial reporting data, to reflect critically on current financial reporting debates and to analyse quantitative and qualitative financial reporting data. These valuable skills will give you an advantage in your future business career.

QUANTITATIVE FINANCE

Code NBS-7047B

Credits 20

This module aims to introduce the conceptual and practical aspects of designing, implementing and evaluating financial models with a focus on investment, portfolio and valuation analysis. It is designed to enable you to analyse simulated and actual financial data and build realistic models to solve problems and support financial decisions. In line with practice, most of the models will be built using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and data from free online sources or specialized financial databases. The first part of the module will present the main statistical tools used in investment practice, such as descriptive statistics, estimation, regression analysis, time series analysis and simulation analysis. The second part will develop models for the analysis and valuation of equity securities and apply them in a variety of investment scenarios.

INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Code NBS-7048B

Credits 20

This module provides the knowledge required to understand the critical role that corporate governance plays in helping to ensure confidence in financial markets. It will cover the following topics: the main corporate governance issues and the two dominant approaches to corporate governance (i.e. concentrated versus dispersed ownership structures and their related agency problems, shareholders and stakeholders view); roles of institutional investors, individual investors and stakeholders; shareholder activism; board structures including board independence and board diversity; the remuneration of CEOs and other board directors including stock option plans; regulatory aspects of corporate governance; practice and effectiveness of corporate governance both in the UK and in other selected countries; the debate on the convergence or divergence of corporate governance national systems (including the role of supra-national economic institutions as driving forces towards a convergence process). The effect of the global financial crisis in re-shaping the current debate on corporate governance and the perceived failures of corporate governance will also be taken into account.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.

Entry Requirements

Degree classification

2.2 or equivalent

Degree subject

All subjects* (excluding UK degrees in a business-related subject, for which our Academic & Professional Courses are more suitable) *Degrees in dance, drama, music, sport, art, and art and design will be considered on a case by case basis and are reviewed closely for their academic content

Additional entry requirements

Applicants should normally have a good undergraduate degree from a recognised higher education institution in the UK or overseas in disciplines other than business or management. Applicants from overseas may hold a non-UK degree in any discipline.

f you do not meet the academic requirements for this course, you may be able to study one of the International Graduate Diploma programmes offered by our partner INTO UEA. These programmes guarantee progression to selected masters degrees if students achieve the appropriate grade. For more details please click here:

International Graduate Diploma in Business

Students for whom english is a foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 6.5 (minimum 5.5 in all components)
PTE (Pearson): 58 (minimum 42 in all components)

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be offering Pre-sessional courses online from June to September 2020. Further details can be found on our Online Pre-Sessional English webpage.

Intakes

This course is open to UK and International applicants. The annual intake for this course is in September each year. We do have an extra intake in January 2021 - module information for the January 2021 intake.

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Course Reference Number: 1544205

MSc FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT