About the course

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.

What you’ll learn:

This exciting master’s course aims to equip you with these necessary knowledge, skills and techniques to be able to understand how business is conducted and the various challenges facing managers from a strategic and operational perspective.

Core topics covered on the programme include leadership, international operations and supply chains. A large range of optional modules give you the choice to retain your focus on aspects of business and management, such as accounting, entrepreneurship, people management or strategy, or broaden your scope of study to include computing or sustainability.

Depending on availability, you can also choose to study a modern language as your optional module, from absolute beginners to advanced level in British Sign Language, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Spanish or Russian. Those for whom English is a second language may also choose Advanced Business English.

Course structure

You will study a mixture of core and optional taught modules during semesters 1 and 2. After you have completed the taught modules of the course, you will undertake a large project in semester 3 to further develop your knowledge in a specific area of management.

How the course is taught

Our teaching and learning strategy is wide-ranging and innovative, seeking to give you a rich learning environment that draws actively upon leading edge research, as well as current business practice.

A key strength of our programme is our commitment to developing your critical thinking skills through class debates and team building exercises, which will not only set you apart from other Management graduates, but will benefit you for the rest of your working life. Encouraging you to question, apply and evaluate different theories, creative approaches and techniques, you’ll build confidence, develop sound judgment and become adept at generating ideas and alternative solutions.

You’ll learn from leading researchers and external practitioners, gaining industry insights through guest lectures and field trips. For example, previous students visited the New Vic Theatre as part of the Leadership module to uncover creative ways of leading and team building through working with its award-winning Borderlines programme, a founding partner of CASIC, Keele University’s Community Animation and Social Innovation Centre. It uses theatre to help people find new and positive ways to understand themselves, their communities and their responsibilities.

Teaching schedule

Teaching takes place over the first two semesters. There are no formal group classes during Semester 3, but you consult with supervisors and access the University’s learning and teaching facilities and support services.

• Semester 1 runs from the end of September to the end of January, with an assessment period in January.
• Semester 2 runs from the last week of January to the middle of June, with the assessment period in June.
• Semester 3 runs from June to the end of September.

How you'll be assessed

Assessment is varied and includes the use of essays, skills portfolios, reflective diaries, exams, workbooks, presentations, reports, posters and practical projects. Most modules combine several forms of assessment.

Where possible, assessment is designed to reflect skills and practices in the workplace, including team working, idea generation, meeting deadlines and so on, so you get a feel for the pressures of everyday working life.

Entry Requirements

Academic entry requirements

You will need at least a second class honours degree or overseas equivalent qualification in order to apply to study the programmes. If you have appropriate professional qualifications or relevant work experience you may also be considered.

English Language Entry Requirement for International Students

Anyone applying from a country where English is not the first language is required to take an official test of English language obtaining at least IELTS 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each subtest.

Funding

Some travel costs may be incurred if an external project or placement is undertaken; any such costs will be discussed with the student before the project is confirmed. It may be possible for the student to select an internal project and that would not incur any additional travel costs. There may be additional costs for textbooks and inter-library loans.

Living costs

Keele University is located on a beautiful campus and has all the facilities of a small town. Student accommodation, shops, restaurants and cafes are all within walking distance of the teaching buildings. This is a very cost effective way to live and to reduce your living costs.

Scholarships and Funding

We are committed to rewarding excellence and potential. Please visit our Scholarships and Bursaries webpage for more information.

Our expertise

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a range of leading experts in marketing, branding and strategic management, who will share their own professional experiences, which helps to put marketing in the broader context of the business environment. Their specialist expertise spans topics such as: creative methods of engagement; gender, identity and stereotypes; the design and organisation of operations and supply networks; environmental and sustainable accounting; management practices; gender and diversity in organisations; international employment relations; consumers and brands; and consumer behaviour/marketing.

Teaching team:

• Tracy Clewlow 
• Dr Will Foster
• Dr Akrum Helfaya  
• Dr Deborah Kerfoot 
• Dr Helen Millward
• Dr Colin Rigby
• Dr Griff Round
• Dr Carola Weissmeyer 

Facilities

The course is run from Keele Business School’s new home – the Denise Coates Foundation Building – a state-of-the-art facility complete with 220-seat lecture theatre, a ‘think lab’ study space, data laboratory, cafe and business lounge.

Home to our accounting, business management, economics, finance, HRM, international business, management and marketing programmes, our Business School is the first to be located on a Science Park. As well as new teaching spaces, our building is unique in that it is also home to the Smart Innovation Hub, a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which includes space and support programmes for innovation-led businesses, providing opportunities for students and staff to work collaboratively with entrepreneurs and business owners, gaining invaluable networks and experience.

Our specialist Media Building, which is open 24/7, houses extensive digital media production facilities, including film and photography studios and digital post-production labs, with access to professional media production equipment and software.

If you choose to study business and management modules available, you’ll have access to the Bloomberg Suite with all its economic, financial and business real-time data, world news, analyses and reports from the world’s biggest financial organisations. You can choose to complete the Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) certificate free of charge, an eight-hour e-learning, self-paced course which covers economic Indicators, currencies, fixed income and equities.

Based in the heart of England, Keele University is easily accessible by motorway and public transport. You’ll find everything’s on your doorstep, with the most important facilities gathered together at the centre of campus, which, at 600 acres, is one of the biggest in the UK.

Recognised for the highest quality teaching, the University was awarded Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), while 97% of our research is classed as world-leading or of international importance (REF 2014). In the global top 20 for campus sustainability, environmental and corporate responsibility underpin the running of our own business and these themes are embedded into our teaching of future professionals and leaders.

Careers

This master’s degree will equip you with a broad knowledge of business, finance, economics and marketing, as well as a range of practical skills and work experience, much sought-after by employers across a large variety of sectors, including the public, private and voluntary. You could pursue careers in management consultancy or specialise in specific areas of business, such as product, retail, risk, sales or human resource management.

Graduates from this programme have gone to pursue a range of managerial and professional careers such as HR consultant, marketing director, sales manager and operations manager. Recent employers include companies in various manufacturing and services sectors and also organisations in public sector, ranging from a restaurant in Birmingham, Whitbread and Xiao Noodle Store to a mobile phone company in China, the Greek Navy, UPS and PDSA.

On completion, you’ll be ideally placed to pursue further postgraduate studies at MPhil or PhD level.

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