The aim of this unit is to develop learners’ understanding of strategic management in a globalised world and how leadership informs and influences  strategic change. It will also develop ability to evaluate strategic position, choices and actions.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Be able to analyse key external influences on an organisation’s strategy.

• 1.1 Critically evaluate the external business environment of an organisation.
• 1.2 Identify key drivers and industry critical success factors.

2. Be able to evaluate the dynamic capabilities and core competencies of an organisation.

• 2.1 Critically analyse the resources and capabilities of an organisation.
• 2.2 Distinguish between their threshold and distinctive resources and capabilities.
• 2.3 Evaluate their value chain and identify their core competence as a source of sustainable competitive advantage.

3. Be able to appraise strategic options and to evaluate approaches to strategy implementation.

• 3.1 Critically explore the relationship between, corporate, business and operational strategies.
• 3.2 Apply strategic models and tools to develop strategic options for an organisation.
• 3.3 Evaluate strategic options for an organisation.

4. Be able to evaluate international strategy and how it relates to corporate social responsibility (CSR).

• 4.1 Critically evaluate internationalisation drivers and strategies.
• 4.2 Critically analyse corporate social responsibility strategies emphasizing the stakeholder theory.
• 4.3 Demonstrate the nexus between strategy and corporate social responsibility/sustainability and evaluate the concept of shared value.

5. Be able to analyse how leadership impacts upon strategic decision making.

• 5.1 Identify and assess different leadership styles as related to strategy change.
• 5.2 Evaluate how organisational context affects strategic change.
• 5.3 Evaluate how leadership influences strategic change.

The aim of this unit is to develop learners’ understanding of theories and models of change management and how they apply to contemporary organisations in the globalised world. Learners will understand the personal characteristics of change agents as well as the evaluation and development of leadership skills to meet current and future strategic change management roles.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Be able to evaluate how organisational change occurs and how context influences change.

• 1.1 Critically evaluate change theories and analyse the relationship between leadership and change agents.
• 1.2 Critically evaluate how organisational structure and leadership influences the characteristics and attributes of change agents.
• 1.3 Critically evaluate the challenge of change and the effectiveness of change agents.

2. Be able to develop and implement a strategic organisational change.

• 2.1 Assess and select relevant theories and tools and techniques to implement and manage change.
• 2.2 Develop a plan to implement a change in an organisation.
• 2.3 Develop measures to monitor and evaluate progress of the change plan.

3. Be able to analyse stakeholder responses to organisational change.

• 3.1 Assess possible risks associated with an organisation’s change process.
• 3.2 Apply a stakeholder analysis to understand possible resistance to change.
• 3.3 Critically appraise relevant strategies to manage resistance to change in organisations.

4. Be able to evaluate the role of organisational culture in change management.

• 4.1 Critically review the different organisational cultures and how that influences communications and power relations.
• 4.2 Evaluate cultures influence on Strategy and change management.
• 4.3 Critically appraise relevant strategies to manage resistance to change.

5. Be able to develop a toolbox to manage oneself when involved in complex change projects, whether in a leading, participating, or consulting role.

• 5.1 Evaluate the role of the individual in the change management process.
• 5.2 Apply change management in an organisational setting.
• 5.3 Evaluate how to monitor the effect of the change management processes.

This module will introduce some fundamentals of research projects especially from a DBA perspective. It highlights various challenges and  bottlenecks faced by researchers in a typical DBA programme and aims to educate participants about the best practices related to the management of  DBA research.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Understand the fundamentals of project, methodologies and processes related to a project.

• 1.1 Explain the growing importance of projects in organisational context.
• 1.2 Appraise the complexities involved in managing projects.
• 1.3 Explain the processes and methodologies related to projects.

2. Be able to compare and contrast the similarities between research projects, organisational projects and DBA projects.

• 2.1 Understand the various types of research projects.
• 2.2 Explain the differences between organisational projects and research projects.
• 2.3 Understand research funding landscape.
• 2.4 Explain the stages of a DBA project.
• 2.5 Discuss how to manage risk in a DBA project.

3. Be able to demonstrate the capacity to research and write up a highly effective research

• 3.1 Divide the research project into work packages, activities, milestones, estimate duration and establish relationship between activities.
• 3.2 Estimate resource, cost requirements for a given activity.
• 3.3 Identify critical paths and optimize resource usage.

4. Be able to evaluate the challenges related to managing research projects.

• 4.1 Apply the project life cycle approach to examine the project management challenges.
• 4.2 Identify best practices related to project management.
• 4.3 Provide recommendations for the successful delivery of projects.

Gathering and Analysing data is an integral part of the DBA programme. This module is designed to advance the existing knowledge of research methods and aims to introduce complex research design and advanced methods for analysing and interpreting literature, higher-level methods for analysing complex qualitative and quantitative data. There will be special focus on the tools that are available for data analysis, and learners will be introduced to a wide range of data analysis tools applicable to business research.

Leaning Outcomes:

1. Be able to analyse various research approaches and propose an appropriate methodology for solving the problem

• 1.1 Critically evaluate various research approaches that are available for solving a problem
• 1.2 Demonstrate understanding of research philosophies and its influence in data collection process.
• 1.3 Justify the choice of research design, strategy and choice of research method

2. Be able to evaluate various data collection methodologies and justify the choice of methodology for a given scenario

• 2.1 Identify appropriate methods for gathering data that aligns with the research design
• 2.2 Analyse various methods in terms of its advantages and weakness.
• 2.3 Evaluate data collection methods in terms of reliability and validity of research.
• 2.4 Justify a data collection method for a given scenario

3. Be able to demonstrate capability to analyse wide range of quantitative data and make meaningful interpretations.

• 3.1 Extract, Transform and Load quantitative data into specialised software packages such as SPSS.
• 3.2 Identify dependant, independent, intervening, moderator, control, and extraneous variables.
• 3.3 Develop hypothesis for a given research context.
• 3.4 Evaluate various statistical tests for a given scenario and justify the chosen test.
• 3.5 Test the hypothesis with the most appropriate and draw meaningful conclusions.

4. Be able gain advanced understanding and capabilities to analyse qualitative data

• 4.1 Evaluate the range of qualitative approaches that are available for undertaking qualitative research
• 4.2 Appreciate the challenges associated in undertaking qualitative research and the implications in research design
• 4.3 Demonstrate high level understanding of various qualitative
  analysis techniques and tools.

5. Be able to demonstrate advanced understanding about the ethical issues related to research

• 5.1 Appreciate the importance of research ethics and its contribution to generation of new knowledge
• 5.2 Identify ethical issues that can arise for a given research scenario and provide relevant recommendations
• 5.3 Develop an argument and counter arguments on the ethical issues related to data collection, storage, analysis and reporting

6. Be able to develop a detailed report by undertaking a systematic analysis of a given dataset

• 6.1 Undertake qualitative and quantitative data analysis for a given dataset
• 6.2 Develop a report presenting the findings after making appropriate interpretations
• 6.3 Identify the potential limitations from the analysis
• 6.4 Highlight the ethical issues that might have occurred during the data collection stage

The aim of this unit aim is to introduce learners to the basics of business processes and strategies related to enterprise and entrepreneurship, developing knowledge of enterprise and entrepreneurship in global contexts.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Be able to critically analyse the concepts and process of entrepreneurship.

• 1.1 Assess the problems faced by businesses
• 1.2 Identify a problem that can be solved within a stipulated time
• 1.3 Develop problem statement and justify the need for further investigation

2. Be able to critically evaluate existing body of knowledge and establish the need for further research

• 2.1 Search and evaluate relevant literature, draw conclusions and justify the need for further research
• 2.2 Evaluate various theories and choose a specific theory for explaining the observed phenomenon
• 2.3 Develop a theoretical solution for the identified problem and justify the need for further research.

3. Be able to examine the nature of knowledge from philosophical, ontological, and epistemological perspectives.

• 3.1 Explain epistemological and ontological assumptions and their impact on the nature of our understanding.
• 3.2 Understand the relationship between ontology, epistemology, methodology, methods, and sources
• 3.3 Demonstrate understanding of research. Philosophies and its influence in data collection process.

4. Be able to critically evaluate various types of published research and draw conclusions.

• 4.1 Define an area of research by providing a clear rationale, scope and express it in terms of
  contribution to wider body of knowledge.
• 4.2 Evaluate existing studies by examining its methodological gaps, discrepancies in theoretical stance, findings, and analysis.
• 4.3 Evaluate literature from the ontological and epistemological views of the author.
• 4.4 Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of a chosen subject area and present them as a
  logically structured succinct report to relevant audience.
• 4.5 Provide a theoretical debate by critically evaluating relevant theories for a given discipline.

The aim of this unit aim is to introduce learners to the basics of business processes and strategies related to enterprise and entrepreneurship, developing knowledge of enterprise and entrepreneurship in global contexts.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Be able to critically analyse the concepts and process of entrepreneurship.

• 1.1 Critically analyse the nature, characteristics and challenges of establishing different kinds of enterprise.
• 1.2 Critically assess own entrepreneurial skills and attributes.
• 1.3 Evaluate what makes a successful commercial or social entrepreneur.

2. Be able to evaluate innovative and entrepreneurial management processes for a project or organisation.

• 2.1 Evaluate methods for encouraging creativity and innovation in organisations.
• 2.2 Evaluate potential creative and innovative management ideas.
• 2.3 Critically explore how to lead others to positively embrace innovation and change.

3. Be able to critically assess proposals developed from new ideas.

• 3.1 Analyse business ideas.
• 3.2 Evaluate production, and marketing feasibility of new business ideas.
• 3.3 Produce business planning forecasts using financial techniques.

4. Be able to develop a business plan.

• 4.1 Develop a business plan for a new business.
• 4.2 Develop a control and monitoring mechanism for the business plan.

The aim of this  is to develop learners’ ability to enable learners to apply financial principles relevant to management in an organisational context, including analytical techniques  and theories/models of management accounting, evaluation of budgetary processes, recommending funding sources and appraising investment options.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Be able to apply the tools and techniques of cost accounting.

• 1.1 Critically analyse the concepts, features and importance of cost accounting in an organisation.
• 1.2 Apply tools of costing design and costing systems to an organisation.
• 1.3 Recommend improvements to the costing and pricing systems of an organisation.

2. Be able to critically analyse the financial performance of businesses.

• 2.1 Analyse financial statements to assess the financial position of an organisation.
• 2.2 Recommend organisational decisions based on evaluation of financial statements using financial ratios.
• 2.3 Propose managerial recommendations on the strategic portfolio of an organisation based on financial analysis.

3. Be able to evaluate the budgetary processes of organisations

• 3.1 Evaluate budgetary targets for an organisation.
• 3.2 Develop a master budget for an organisation.
• 3.3 Critically evaluate budget and budgetary processes in an organisation.

4. Be able to recommend effective long term and short-term sources of funding.

• 4.1 Assess the need for short term working capital and long- term funds for an organisation.
• 4.2 Appraise appropriate sources of short term and funds for an organisation.
• 4.3 Justify choices of sources of funds using a range of criteria related to cost and risk.

5. Be able to critically appraise investment options.

• 5.1 Apply financial appraisal methods to analyse competing investment projects in different kinds of organisations.
• 5.2 Justify strategic investment decision for an organisation using relevant financial information.
• 5.3 Critically analyse strategic investment decisions using information.

The aim of this  is to develop learners’ understanding of how the effective strategic management of human resources supports the achievement of  organisational objectives in different contexts. Learners will evaluate the contribution of strategic human resource management, and the application of  leadership and management theory for organisational benefit.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Understand the role of management of human resources

• 1.1 Critically justify the importance of human resource management in organisations.
• 1.2 Assess the role and purpose of the strategic human resource management function and activities in an organisation.
• 1.3 Evaluate how human resource management is related to other functional areas.

2. Be able to create a human resource plan for an organisation.

• 2.1 Assess the business factors to consider before human resource planning.
• 2.2 Determine human resource requirements in different organisational contexts.
• 2.3 Develop a human resource plan for an organisation.

3. Understand the role of legal and ethical issues in developing human resources policy.

• 3.1 Explain the purpose of human resource policy.
• 3.2 Assess the impact of regulatory and legal requirements on human resource policies in an organisation.
• 3.3 Assess the impact of business ethics, CSR, and sustainability requirements on human resource policies for an organisation.

4. Be able to plan develop human resource strategies.

• 4.1 Critically analyse the impact of an organisational strategy, structure and culture on the management of human resources.
• 4.2 Develop a structured, relevant and comprehensive HR strategy.
• 4.3 Critically monitor the effectiveness of human resources management.

5. Understand HRM approaches within organisations and their relationships with organisational performance.

• 5.1 Critically evaluate the relationships between business strategy and human resource management.
• 5.2 Explain the implementation and measurement of HR approaches using relevant metrics.
• 5.3 Monitor and evaluate a human resource strategy that supports organisational mission, vision, values and objectives.