Master of Business Administration (The Liverpool MBA) MBA

This module explores topics in organisational behaviour at the individual, group, and organisational levels. At the individual level, the module looks at individual differences in key attributes that lead to work effectiveness such as personality and motivation. At the group level, the module builds on earlier content to establish how teams function and explores the role of effective leadership in influencing teams. At the organisational level, the module looks at organisational culture and change and consolidates the content by looking at a range of organisations and sectors. The module will offer students several reflection points on their work behaviours on which they will receive targeted feedback.

The module aims to provide students with an understanding of the nature of financial resources available to an organisation; how resources can be managed to add value; how business activities are summarised and the relationships between different activities summarised and predicted; and how the core skills and competencies of an organisation are identified and managed.

Leaders and managers of organisations today face many types of challenges. The essence of strategy is in successfully achieving the appropriate fit between resources and environment in an increasingly dynamic and turbulent world. The aim of the module is to provide the students with a comprehensive overview of strategic analysis, strategy formulation and implementation, and to enable them to develop and implement strategies in their own organisations. The module pays particular emphasis on helping students to understand the environment in which strategising takes place, including the industry and country environment. Furthermore, the module aims to enable students to understand and appreciate the organisational context in which strategic decisions are made. The module takes a critical approach. It draws on insights from a variety of sources and disciplines, including managerial and industry economics, but also behavioural perspectives and organisation theory in order to provide an integrative perspective on strategy.

This module aims to enable students to practically and critically apply key aspects of strategic management through business simulation exercises. Students work in a team environment to develop and reinforce their knowledge and skills in strategic decision-making, with a number of tasks centred on strategy, finance, marketing, and operations.  During the exercises teams compete against each other in a simulated business environment and the strategic decisions they make have various impacts on their organisations. Decisions are coordinated within the team based on the interpretation of various forms of information. Students reflect and are assessed on their evaluation of both technical performance, complexity, temporal impacts and team/process issues.

Marketing in the Digital Age is a forward-thinking MBA module that puts diversity, inclusion, sustainability, and responsible marketing at the forefront of modern marketing practices. In this transformative journey, we explore the intersection of these critical dimensions with the evolving world of digital marketing. This module empowers students with the knowledge and skills to excel in contemporary marketing. Students will gain insights into the power of inclusive marketing, understand the vital role of sustainability, and embrace responsible marketing practices.

Efficient and effective management of supply chains is observed to be highly critical for organisations across sectors and geographies. Since disruptions, both at the local and global levels, are occurring at a much higher rate in recent times, importance of supply chain as a function has been stressed even more and been significantly invested in to build the necessary capabilities for the future. Given that supply chains are receiving such a high level of attention in practice, it is crucial to train MBA students on the management of supply chains. This module will start by training students on the core concepts of supply chain management that will include different types of supply chains, the role of inventory management, and the relevance of embracing lean and agile strategies. Following this, the module will dive deeper into explaining the interaction between different types of digital technologies and supply chains, covering the nuances of technology integration and management for supply chains. Finally, the module will sensitise students on how supply chains can play a significant role in delivering on the sustainability development goals.

The objective of this module is to integrate the two fields of innovation and entrepreneurship focusing upon management practice and creating change in a range of sectors. It will approach the analysis of innovation and entrepreneurship by drawing attention to relevant theories and research but placing more emphasis on applying these to practice in a broader context including the private, public and third sector and ways of creating new business models, opportunities, value and change. In particular, the module will examine issues and dilemmas in “doing” innovation and entrepreneurship.

The module provides an understanding of the major drivers of the internationalisation of business activities. Based on the understanding gained from lectures, seminars and individual and group research activities throughout the module, students will be able to analyse the strategic implications of internationalisation for organisations and assess how to manage international business activities effectively. The module outlines the main theories and latest research evidence on major issues of international business management and explores key factors that make international business management different from domestic strategies and operations. The application of theoretical models and concepts to practical issues in the management of organisations is central to the module’s objectives. The module provides students with a sound knowledge of not only the theory and evidence on key topics in the internationalisation processes of organisations, but also applies this to how to manage effectively in the context of a complex and evolving international business environment. Examination of the major drivers of evolution of the international business environment (for example, the rise of emerging economies, and economic, technological, political and cultural changes affecting international trade and investment) provides the basis  for assessing how organisations may best adjust to the changing patterns of internationalisation. By the end of the module, students will understand how business strategies and operations fit into the fast changing global arena and will have a good appreciation of the strategic challenges and opportunities facing organisations that operate internationally, as well as of implications for their personal careers in an international context.

Management consulting projects offer great opportunities for learning and exchange, but they need to be carefully managed in order to achieve the expected outcomes. In this module, students gain first-hand practical experience in management consulting by working on a live project with a client organisation. Students are expected to offer a solution for the client’s issue in presentation format to be delivered to senior client managers.

The module provides the participants with both conceptual foundations and practical experience in the management of consulting projects, which can be delivered either by external consultants or by internal employees. The module builds on and integrates content from other MBA modules, such as Managing Financial Resources, Strategic Management Simulation and Strategy and Organisation. Students will develop skills related to management consulting, in particular project management, teamwork, data analysis, and oral and visual communication. Further learnings will depend on the exact project specified by the client, i.e students will gain insights into the client’s industry and the functional topic of the project, e.g. strategy, business development, marketing, etc. Typical projects could relate to market analysis, change management or product innovation and tasks could include industry analysis, external and internal benchmarking and firm-internal data analysis.

Corporate governance is concerned with the ownership, control and direction of companies. It is embedded in the institutional and legal framework of nations and is fundamental to understanding the character, conduct and significance of business locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Through lectures, seminars, individual and group research the module will consider the essential meaning of corporate governance and how it operates at, national, firm, board and managerial levels of analysis. Sustainability affords the module a context constituted by an array of substantive matters by which to consider challenges and opportunities facing governance actors and institutions including company boards of directors that relate to the role of business in society. In this regard the module will focus on the “G”(governance) but cross into the “E”(nvironmental), “S” (ocial) rubric that is now such a part of business discourse, investment practice, and societal consideration. Module coverage will go beyond a conception of the function and purpose of corporate governance as it relates to shareholder primacy to consider other constituents as well as challenges that sustainability presents for understanding what constitutes effective corporate governance. The module will relate corporate governance to ideas about: corporate strategy and profitability, value creation, responsibility and accountability; corporate ownership, investor behaviour and stewardship; company purpose and the role of business in society. By the end of the module students will have developed a critical awareness of: types of corporate control and ownership; internal and external mechanisms of corporate governance; the role and effectiveness of boards of directors; governance codes, and varieties of corporate governance and they relate to varieties of capitalism and business systems; failures of corporate governance; changing corporate governance to meet the sustainability challenges.

Advanced Corporate Finance and Financial Management aims to endow students with a comprehensive coverage of key finance areas, including equity/bond valuation, investment appraisal methods, portfolio theory, asset pricing, debt financing, initial public offerings, dividend policy, capital structure, mergers and acquisitions. Delivered through block teaching over five weeks via a mix of lectures, seminars and in-class exercises, the module provides students with a thorough understanding of key aspects of financial decision making, allowing them to better appreciate the enhanced – and ongoing – complexity of contemporary capital markets in terms of their functions, the variety of financial instruments available, the globalisation process and how it affects them and the concomitant changes in their reigning institutional design.

This module aims to enhance students’ knowledge and skills in Human Resource Management (HRM). The module covers several important topics in managing human resources, such as functional HRM, strategic HRM and the implications of HRM to organisational performance. This knowledge will increase students’ capabilities of implementing HR practices and develop their skills in human resource management.

​The module covers the significant aspects of strategic branding, which involves critically evaluating the importance of brands for consumers and other stakeholders, decomposing the brand architecture, harnessing the power of social media, and using research-driven knowledge to measure brand equity and its impact on financial performance. This module is delivered via interactive lectures, seminars, presentations, case studies, and independent reading. The managerial insights will be a priority throughout the materials. The ultimate goal is to equip students with successful strategic brand management tools.

The module will introduce students to the use of data analytics to aid decision making. Through the use of case studies from a variety of industries (e.g. aviation, health, sport), students will learn how different industries and organisations use analytics to gain insight from data in order to improve their operations. It also establishes the importance of data science for business intelligence, and describes opportunities and limitations in the use of analytics.

Upon completion of the module students will be able to interpret analytical results found in organisational reports, industry press, relevant literature and journal articles, and be able to make objective judgements on the quality, validity and usefulness of analytics performed by others.

Students will engage in data management and analysis, and familiarise themselves with existing platforms and software tools to develop core skills and expertise needed to process and visualise big data. The software package R will be used throughout the module and students will be able to perform analysis, including using machine learning, themselves.

The module will be delivered in an interactive style. Student participation and class exercises will allow students to gain a practical understanding of why data analytics has become an important tool in the business environment.

The dissertation is a major academic component of the MBA. This module aims to equip students with the skills and resources required to effectively prepare for and produce a dissertation. It provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate the ability to diagnose and investigate a contemporary business issue (i.e. selecting a topic); to locate the work within the body of academic knowledge (i.e. conducting a literature review); to collect and analyse data (i.e. choosing a research design for data collection/analysis); to derive supportable conclusions and, organise and discuss the findings; to present results in a logical and clear manner; and to make practical and actionable recommendations for change, improvement or enhancement of current practice.

The module also aims to support the students in developing a research proposal as a part of the dissertation process. On completion of the module students will understand the purpose and structure of dissertations and have the skills necessary to conduct an independent piece of research. It will enable them to develop and embed their conceptual skills, data analytical skills, ethical awareness, critical evaluations skills, as well as their ability to effectively communicate their research findings to both an academic and practitioner audience.

There are three parts to the assessment: topic choice form; dissertation proposal; and the dissertation itself. During the dissertation phase of the module students will be individually supervised. The design and delivery of the Dissertation module is such that students engage with the research methods workshops in order to prepare a research proposal and be able to execute and deliver that proposal as a full MBA dissertation.

This module provides an alternative to the traditional academic dissertation, and is aimed at those students who have secured a client organisation to work with on a consultancy basis.

This module prepares MBA students to undertake their consultancy based project which is the final integrative activity of the MBA Programme.

The aim of this module is to provide a process which will enable students to use and extend knowledge and skills that they have acquired during their programme of study. Using appropriate management research methodologies and/or data collection methods, students will have the opportunity to explore an area of interest within management in significantly greater depth than during the taught modules themselves. Students will work on a specific project for an organisation. The organisation selected will function as the ‘client’. The aim of this path is to enable students to undertake a self-managed process of systematic practitioner inquiry within the domain of management.

The main output will be two documents, one for the client, in the format appropriate to that organisation, and one for academic purposes which incorporates those elements that are important to an academic research project of this nature, but are not required by the client. This will also include a reflective piece on the student’s personal development. In alignment with the sister module ULMS706, there will be a requirement to produce a proposal that summaries the project parameters.

Efficient and effective management of supply chains is observed to be highly critical for organisations across sectors and geographies. Since disruptions, both at the local and global levels, are occurring at a much higher rate in recent times, importance of supply chain as a function has been stressed even more and been significantly invested in to build the necessary capabilities for the future. Given that supply chains are receiving such a high level of attention in practice, it is crucial to train MBA students on the management of supply chains. This module will start by training students on the core concepts of supply chain management that will include different types of supply chains, the role of inventory management, and the relevance of embracing lean and agile strategies. Following this, the module will dive deeper into explaining the interaction between different types of digital technologies and supply chains, covering the nuances of technology integration and management for supply chains. Finally, the module will sensitise students on how supply chains can play a significant role in delivering on the sustainability development goals.

This module explores topics in organisational behaviour at the individual, group, and organisational levels. At the individual level, the module looks at individual differences in key attributes that lead to work effectiveness such as personality and motivation. At the group level, the module builds on earlier content to establish how teams function and explores the role of effective leadership in influencing teams. At the organisational level, the module looks at organisational culture and change and consolidates the content by looking at a range of organisations and sectors. The module will offer students several reflection points on their work behaviours on which they will receive targeted feedback.

Marketing in the Digital Age is a forward-thinking MBA module that puts diversity, inclusion, sustainability, and responsible marketing at the forefront of modern marketing practices. In this transformative journey, we explore the intersection of these critical dimensions with the evolving world of digital marketing. This module empowers students with the knowledge and skills to excel in contemporary marketing. Students will gain insights into the power of inclusive marketing, understand the vital role of sustainability, and embrace responsible marketing practices.

This module aims to enable students to practically and critically apply key aspects of strategic management through business simulation exercises. Students work in a team environment to develop and reinforce their knowledge and skills in strategic decision-making, with a number of tasks centred on strategy, finance, marketing, and operations.  During the exercises teams compete against each other in a simulated business environment and the strategic decisions they make have various impacts on their organisations. Decisions are coordinated within the team based on the interpretation of various forms of information. Students reflect and are assessed on their evaluation of both technical performance, complexity, temporal impacts and team/process issues.

Corporate governance is concerned with the ownership, control and direction of companies. It is embedded in the institutional and legal framework of nations and is fundamental to understanding the character, conduct and significance of business locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Through lectures, seminars, individual and group research the module will consider the essential meaning of corporate governance and how it operates at, national, firm, board and managerial levels of analysis. Sustainability affords the module a context constituted by an array of substantive matters by which to consider challenges and opportunities facing governance actors and institutions including company boards of directors that relate to the role of business in society. In this regard the module will focus on the “G”(governance) but cross into the “E”(nvironmental), “S” (ocial) rubric that is now such a part of business discourse, investment practice, and societal consideration. Module coverage will go beyond a conception of the function and purpose of corporate governance as it relates to shareholder primacy to consider other constituents as well as challenges that sustainability presents for understanding what constitutes effective corporate governance. The module will relate corporate governance to ideas about: corporate strategy and profitability, value creation, responsibility and accountability; corporate ownership, investor behaviour and stewardship; company purpose and the role of business in society. By the end of the module students will have developed a critical awareness of: types of corporate control and ownership; internal and external mechanisms of corporate governance; the role and effectiveness of boards of directors; governance codes, and varieties of corporate governance and they relate to varieties of capitalism and business systems; failures of corporate governance; changing corporate governance to meet the sustainability challenges.

The objective of this module is to integrate the two fields of innovation and entrepreneurship focusing upon management practice and creating change in a range of sectors. It will approach the analysis of innovation and entrepreneurship by drawing attention to relevant theories and research but placing more emphasis on applying these to practice in a broader context including the private, public and third sector and ways of creating new business models, opportunities, value and change. In particular, the module will examine issues and dilemmas in “doing” innovation and entrepreneurship.

The module provides an understanding of the major drivers of the internationalisation of business activities. Based on the understanding gained from lectures, seminars and individual and group research activities throughout the module, students will be able to analyse the strategic implications of internationalisation for organisations and assess how to manage international business activities effectively. The module outlines the main theories and latest research evidence on major issues of international business management and explores key factors that make international business management different from domestic strategies and operations. The application of theoretical models and concepts to practical issues in the management of organisations is central to the module’s objectives. The module provides students with a sound knowledge of not only the theory and evidence on key topics in the internationalisation processes of organisations, but also applies this to how to manage effectively in the context of a complex and evolving international business environment. Examination of the major drivers of evolution of the international business environment (for example, the rise of emerging economies, and economic, technological, political and cultural changes affecting international trade and investment) provides the basis  for assessing how organisations may best adjust to the changing patterns of internationalisation. By the end of the module, students will understand how business strategies and operations fit into the fast changing global arena and will have a good appreciation of the strategic challenges and opportunities facing organisations that operate internationally, as well as of implications for their personal careers in an international context.

The module aims to provide students with an understanding of the nature of financial resources available to an organisation; how resources can be managed to add value; how business activities are summarised and the relationships between different activities summarised and predicted; and how the core skills and competencies of an organisation are identified and managed.

Leaders and managers of organisations today face many types of challenges. The essence of strategy is in successfully achieving the appropriate fit between resources and environment in an increasingly dynamic and turbulent world. The aim of the module is to provide the students with a comprehensive overview of strategic analysis, strategy formulation and implementation, and to enable them to develop and implement strategies in their own organisations. The module pays particular emphasis on helping students to understand the environment in which strategising takes place, including the industry and country environment. Furthermore, the module aims to enable students to understand and appreciate the organisational context in which strategic decisions are made. The module takes a critical approach. It draws on insights from a variety of sources and disciplines, including managerial and industry economics, but also behavioural perspectives and organisation theory in order to provide an integrative perspective on strategy.

Management consulting projects offer great opportunities for learning and exchange, but they need to be carefully managed in order to achieve the expected outcomes. In this module, students gain first-hand practical experience in management consulting by working on a live project with a client organisation. Students are expected to offer a solution for the client’s issue in presentation format to be delivered to senior client managers.

The module provides the participants with both conceptual foundations and practical experience in the management of consulting projects, which can be delivered either by external consultants or by internal employees. The module builds on and integrates content from other MBA modules, such as Managing Financial Resources, Strategic Management Simulation and Strategy and Organisation. Students will develop skills related to management consulting, in particular project management, teamwork, data analysis, and oral and visual communication. Further learnings will depend on the exact project specified by the client, i.e students will gain insights into the client’s industry and the functional topic of the project, e.g. strategy, business development, marketing, etc. Typical projects could relate to market analysis, change management or product innovation and tasks could include industry analysis, external and internal benchmarking and firm-internal data analysis.

​The module covers the significant aspects of strategic branding, which involves critically evaluating the importance of brands for consumers and other stakeholders, decomposing the brand architecture, harnessing the power of social media, and using research-driven knowledge to measure brand equity and its impact on financial performance. This module is delivered via interactive lectures, seminars, presentations, case studies, and independent reading. The managerial insights will be a priority throughout the materials. The ultimate goal is to equip students with successful strategic brand management tools.

The module will introduce students to the use of data analytics to aid decision making. Through the use of case studies from a variety of industries (e.g. aviation, health, sport), students will learn how different industries and organisations use analytics to gain insight from data in order to improve their operations. It also establishes the importance of data science for business intelligence, and describes opportunities and limitations in the use of analytics.

Upon completion of the module students will be able to interpret analytical results found in organisational reports, industry press, relevant literature and journal articles, and be able to make objective judgements on the quality, validity and usefulness of analytics performed by others.

Students will engage in data management and analysis, and familiarise themselves with existing platforms and software tools to develop core skills and expertise needed to process and visualise big data. The software package R will be used throughout the module and students will be able to perform analysis, including using machine learning, themselves.

The module will be delivered in an interactive style. Student participation and class exercises will allow students to gain a practical understanding of why data analytics has become an important tool in the business environment.

This module aims to enhance students’ knowledge and skills in Human Resource Management (HRM). The module covers several important topics in managing human resources, such as functional HRM, strategic HRM and the implications of HRM to organisational performance. This knowledge will increase students’ capabilities of implementing HR practices and develop their skills in human resource management.

This module provides an alternative to the traditional academic dissertation, and is aimed at those students who have secured a client organisation to work with on a consultancy basis.

This module prepares MBA students to undertake their consultancy based project which is the final integrative activity of the MBA Programme.

The aim of this module is to provide a process which will enable students to use and extend knowledge and skills that they have acquired during their programme of study. Using appropriate management research methodologies and/or data collection methods, students will have the opportunity to explore an area of interest within management in significantly greater depth than during the taught modules themselves. Students will work on a specific project for an organisation. The organisation selected will function as the ‘client’. The aim of this path is to enable students to undertake a self-managed process of systematic practitioner inquiry within the domain of management.

The main output will be two documents, one for the client, in the format appropriate to that organisation, and one for academic purposes which incorporates those elements that are important to an academic research project of this nature, but are not required by the client. This will also include a reflective piece on the student’s personal development. In alignment with the sister module ULMS706, there will be a requirement to produce a proposal that summaries the project parameters.

The dissertation is a major academic component of the MBA. This module aims to equip students with the skills and resources required to effectively prepare for and produce a dissertation. It provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate the ability to diagnose and investigate a contemporary business issue (i.e. selecting a topic); to locate the work within the body of academic knowledge (i.e. conducting a literature review); to collect and analyse data (i.e. choosing a research design for data collection/analysis); to derive supportable conclusions and, organise and discuss the findings; to present results in a logical and clear manner; and to make practical and actionable recommendations for change, improvement or enhancement of current practice.

The module also aims to support the students in developing a research proposal as a part of the dissertation process. On completion of the module students will understand the purpose and structure of dissertations and have the skills necessary to conduct an independent piece of research. It will enable them to develop and embed their conceptual skills, data analytical skills, ethical awareness, critical evaluations skills, as well as their ability to effectively communicate their research findings to both an academic and practitioner audience.

There are three parts to the assessment: topic choice form; dissertation proposal; and the dissertation itself. During the dissertation phase of the module students will be individually supervised. The design and delivery of the Dissertation module is such that students engage with the research methods workshops in order to prepare a research proposal and be able to execute and deliver that proposal as a full MBA dissertation.