MSc
Business and Management
Fast-track your career to a wide range of business or management roles
Course Overview
Why take this course?
This course will equip you with a sound knowledge of business processes as well as provide you with strong managerial skills and leadership potential.
What will I experience?
On this course you can:
- Use case studies to analyse complex problems, explore the uncertainties involved, evaluate possible solutions and plan their implementation
- Participate in live web-based chat forums to discuss your work with lecturers and other students
- Tap in to our Library’s vast selection of electronic resources, which can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection
What opportunities might it lead to?
Once you graduate, you’ll gain an established and internationally recognised qualification that will equip you for employment in a wide range of business settings, both in the UK and overseas.
Here are some routes our graduates have pursued:
- business development and consultancy
- recruitment
- emarketing
- publicity
- financial and risk analysis
There has been a good mix of lecture and seminar-based teaching with enthusiastic tutors on-hand to provide further help where needed.
Phoebe Allman, MSc Business and Management student
Key Facts
- Duration
- 1 year full time
- Entry
A good honours degree or equivalent professional experience and/or qualifications.
English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.5 with a minimum score of 6.0 in all individual components, or equivalent.- Fees
UK/EU/Channel Islands and Isle of Man full-time students: £6,000, International full-time students: £11,000 - this course is not available part time.
*Please note that all fees are subject to annual increase.- Contact
- pbs.postgradadmissions@port.ac.uk
+44 (0)23 9284 8200 - Department
- Portsmouth Business School
Structure & Teaching
The programme will provide you with the opportunity to acquire deep knowledge and understanding of key business and management subjects that are highly relevant for any management career. If you wish to enhance your skills in a particular subject-related area we offer a number of specialist units from which to choose including human resource management, marketing and sales management.
Here are the units you will study:
Finance and Operations Management: This unit introduces the main principles of operations and investigates the key elements of finance management, including:
- product and service design process and layout
- supply chain management and lean principles
- introduction to the annual reports and interpretation of accounts
Business Context: You will be encouraged to critically and competently employ a range of management skills including negotiation, delegation and coordination of the creative nature of entrepreneurial thought and action. This unit will also look to extend your knowledge of certain areas including:
- strategy and human resource management
- recruitment selection, pay and reward
- international management
Corporate Strategy: This unit examines the role of management in strategic decision-making in organisations. It provides a holistic view of management in the areas:
- strategic decision making in organisations
- change management
- leadership
In addition to these core units, you will study the following two units:
A specialist option unit: this will develop a deeper understanding of management in an area of your choice. Choices are subject to availability but are likely to cover subjects such as human resource management, marketing, innovation, sales management, cultural tourism and quality management.
A research-based specialist option unit: this is a double-sized unit and relates to your chosen specialism. It requires you to undertake a substantial management research project that combines a review of previous research undertaken in your chosen topic with data collection and analysis. Along with further development of your chosen subject area, the unit will also contain:
- research methods skills
- management skills
- employability and recruitment
There are designated units for those who do not wish to specialise but would rather have a generalist postgraduate management experience.
Teaching and Assessment
Our friendly and supportive environment uses formal lectures and seminars to provide the basis for the development of relevant knowledge, further enhanced by activity-based case studies.
How are you assessed?
We ensure a balance in assessment approaches to suit differing learning styles. Here’s how we assess your work:
- individual and group coursework
- examinations
- online activities
- practical exercises
- your choice of independent research
Facilities & Features
Flexible Learning
Benefit from web, email or phone access to many of our facilities and services
Support
Tutors are available to support your studies via online tutorials, email and telephone conferencing
Computing
Great working spaces with high-spec PCs, Macs and printing facilities
University Library
Our library offers a wealth of information including thousands of online ejournals
Flexible Learning
You will benefit from web, email or phone access to many of our facilities and services. Our student website, LookUP, will be your one-stop shop for all news, information and links to other services, and 24/7 online access to the University Library’s vast electronic book, journal and database collections will help you find the right resources for your research.
Support
Due to the distance-learning nature of this course and the potential pressure of juggling your course alongside work life, we aim to provide you with as much support as possible. There are tutors available to support your studies via online tutorials, email and telephone conferencing. You will also be assigned a personal tutor who will offer support and guidance throughout your studies.
Computing
We have invested heavily in open access computer suites across campus. Great working spaces with high-spec PCs (multimedia and CAD), Macs and printing facilities. There is also more specialised software and equipment available such as large format printing, audio-visual equipment and language laboratories (satellite image and geophysical processing). Should you need any assistance, there are specialist technicians on hand to support you in using the facilities.
University Library
Modern, comfortable and a great learning environment, our library offers a wealth of information including 400,000 books, DVDs, maps and thousands of online ejournals and newspapers. Many electronic resources are available anywhere, 24/7 and our friendly staff are always on hand to help.
Careers & Opportunities
Career prospects
This course enables you to pursue a broad range of management careers in the private and public sector and is ideally suited as an early career step into a wide range of business or management roles and responsibilities. You may find careers as management graduate trainees, financial analysts, commercial managers, trainee traders and technical business consultants. You may even want to start your own business or consider further study towards an MBA.
Roles our graduates have taken on include:
- market researcher
- business development officer
- recruitment consultant
- sales and marketing coordinator
- account manager
Career planning
One of the benefits of studying at Portsmouth is the support that we provide to our Master's and Research Degrees students in career planning. Our careers and recruitment service – Purple Door – can assist you in career research and finding employment opportunities. Help is also available if you wish to find a part-time job while studying your degree. We offer our postgraduate students and alumni one-to-one appointments with a careers adviser, or an online service for those not able to travel back to the University. Our alumni can call on our career services for five years after graduation.
In addition, regular employability events offer you the chance to meet employers, find out about different career sectors and improve your applications or CV. The Graduate Summer Programme provides a range of guidance and employability seminars and workshops.