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MSc Management and Information Systems: Change and Development (Distance Learning)
Year of entry: 2024
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Overview
- Degree awarded
- Master of Science (MSc)
- Duration
- 2 years
- Entry requirements
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We require a UK Honours degree with a First or Upper Second (2.1) classification or the overseas equivalent in any discipline.
- How to apply
- Apply online
Course options
Full-time | Part-time | Full-time distance learning | Part-time distance learning | |
---|---|---|---|---|
MSc | N | N | N | Y |
Course overview
- Join a university ranked second in the UK and 7th in the world for development studies (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022).
- Gain new skills in the effective planning, development implementation and management of information systems.
- Understand the role of management of information, of information technology, and of information systems in organisations.
Open days
The University holds regular open days, where you will have the opportunity to tour the campus and find out more about our facilities and courses.
On this day, you will find out more about the School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED), and meet academic and admissions staff who will be able to answer any questions you have.
For more information, see Open days .
Fees
For entry in the academic year beginning September 2023, the tuition fees are as follows:
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MSc (part-time distance learning)
UK students (per annum): £921 per 15 credits £3,632 dissertation
International, including EU, students (per annum): £1,382 per 15 credits, £5,444 dissertation
Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
There are many internal and external funding opportunities for postgraduate study.
UK/EU students joining the August entry route, which has a fixed two-year structure, may be eligible for the Postgraduate Master's loan.
We offer several postgraduate taught scholarships and merit awards to outstanding applicants and international students.
In addition, the Manchester Alumni Scholarship Scheme offers a £3,000 reduction in tuition fees to University of Manchester alumni who achieved a first-class bachelor's degree and are progressing to a postgraduate taught master's course.
Many of our students have gained British Chevening, British Council or Commonwealth scholarships, as well as country-specific awards.
For more information, see our fees and funding webpages or search the University's postgraduate funding database .
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- School of Environment, Education and Development
- Contact name
- School of Environment, Education and Development +44 (0) 161 543 4028
- Telephone
- +44 (0) 161 543 4028
- SEED.DL@manchester.ac.uk
- Website
- http://www.seed.manchester.ac.uk/
- School/Faculty
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See: The School .
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
Entry requirements
Academic entry qualification overview
We require a UK Honours degree with a First or Upper Second (2.1) classification or the overseas equivalent in any discipline.
English language
English language test validity
Other international entry requirements
Professional entry qualification
Application and selection
How to apply
Advice to applicants
Please submit the following documents with your completed application form:
- copies of official degree certificates and transcripts of your previous study, showing the subjects taken and grades obtained. If these documents are in languages other than English, please provide official translations;
- your CV;
- copies of English Language Certification, eg IELTS, TOEFL or Pearson test score report.
Ensure that you enclose all the necessary documents to avoid any delays.
How your application is considered
Once your application has been received, our admissions team will contact you. We may ask you to submit additional information, if necessary.
Re-applications
If you applied in the previous year and your application was not successful you may apply again. Your application will be considered against the standard course entry criteria for that year of entry.
In your new application, you should demonstrate how your application has improved. We may draw upon all information from your previous applications or any previous registrations at the University as a student when assessing your suitability for your chosen course.
Course details
Course description
MSc Management and Information Systems: Change and Development aims to train 'hybrid managers' capable of understanding both the job of management in its organisational setting, and the role, management and jargon of information, information systems and information technology.
It intends to help close the gap of knowledge, skills, culture and language that exists between functional managers and information systems professionals - a gap that results in many information systems, including e-government, e-commerce, and e-development systems, under-performing or becoming failures.
You'll therefore graduate in a strong position to lead the successful development and implementation of new information systems in a wide range of organisations. By the course's end, you will have been provided with:
- conceptual frameworks to understand the role of management of information, of information technology and of information systems in organisations;
- new knowledge and skills to help in the effective planning, development implementation and management of information systems;
- new knowledge and skills to help in the effective management and change of organisations.
Special features
- We're Europe's largest dedicated development research and teaching institute and have been at the forefront of development studies for over 60 years .
- We're ranked second in the UK and seventh in the world for development studies (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022).
- We bring cutting-edge insights from our research into all our postgraduate teaching.
- You will join our 10,000 strong alumni network. We'll keep you up to date with all the new insights and implications from our research.
Distance learning
The Global Development Institute has more than 20 years' experience of delivering high-quality postgraduate programmes via distance learning, and this master's degree offers you:
- Competitive costs - participants remain at home and in work while they study, typically reducing the total net cost of study by two-thirds.
- Career-relevant learning - we use cases and models from the real world, enabling you to apply learning direct to your workplace and to build career-enhancing skills profiles.
- Flexible learning - the pace of learning can be varied according to other commitments, and can also be combined with periods of on-campus learning in Manchester.
Teaching and learning
The distance learning course starts annually with two entry points: August and January.
Participants study on the distance learning degree without leaving home or interrupting their careers.
August entry involves a fixed two-year study period, completing five compulsory course units in the first year, and three compulsory course units plus a dissertation in year two.
Applicants following this route may be eligible for the UK Postgraduate Master's loan .
January entry allows greater flexibility.
A typical study route would involve completion of four compulsory course units in the first year of study, and completion of the remaining four course units in the second year.
A dissertation is undertaken in the first half of the third year.
Using this route, participants complete the full master's course in two-and-a-half years.
However, the January entry course is flexible and can accommodate faster or slower study and completion speeds in order to take account of work, family or other personal commitments.
For example, after completing teaching period one, students can accelerate their study by spending a twelve-week semester in Manchester, studying alongside students on our face-to-face master's courses.
Students can also slow down, perhaps taking only one course unit rather than two in a particular teaching period or taking a complete break of a teaching period during which no course units are studied.
Different study plans are possible as long as students complete the course within four and a half years.
Study for both entry points is undertaken via the University's e-learning system, which provides study materials, online resources, and interactive online tutorial discussions with the module tutor and other course participants.
You benefit from access to the University's library, with more than 25,000 electronic journals and 400,000 electronic books.
Coursework and assessment
Each course unit generally requires one assignment of 3,500 words.
Assignments for all course units typically relate to organisational application of management and information systems ideas.
You must also complete a 12,000-15,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice approved by the Programme Directors.
You are encouraged to base your dissertation on topics of direct professional concern.
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating |
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Fundamentals of Information and Information Systems | MGDI70001 | 15 |
Introducing Information Systems in Organisations | MGDI70002 | 15 |
Issues in the Management of Information Systems | MGDI70003 | 15 |
Research Methods | MGDI70005 | 15 |
Organisational Behaviour | MGDI70040 | 15 |
Organisation Development and Change | MGDI70050 | 15 |
International Management | MGDI71030 | 15 |
e-Business - Organisation and Strategy | MGDI70004 | 15 |
Human Resource Practice | MGDI70060 | 15 |
What our students say
Disability support
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service.
For more information, email dass@manchester.ac.uk
Careers
Career opportunities
This course is designed to develop two groups of participants: functional managers who wish to take greater control over, and make a more direct contribution to, change in their organisations via the development and implementation of information systems; and information systems professionals who wish to improve the success rate of the information systems they develop or use, and who may also wish to upgrade their management skills and knowledge.
It will be relevant to those with career trajectories in the private, public, and NGO sectors, and it is particularly appropriate for those working in or with newly developed, transitional and developing countries.
Our graduates have an impressive career record in the UK and internationally.
Careers support
The University has its own dedicated Careers Service that you would have full access to as a student and for two years after you graduate.
At Manchester you will have access to a number of opportunities to help boost your employability .
Career trajectories
The MSc in Management and Information Systems can help you select and target jobs in any part of the hybrid triangle.
See more examples and a diagram of typical jobs taken by our graduates.
Further studies
Each year, some students are bitten by the postgraduate bug and decide to continue their studies by undertaking a PhD.
Those who take a PhD typically see themselves with a career trajectory into academia or into a research-intensive job role such as consultancy or policy advisory positions.
Those from the MSc M&IS programme may study with the University's Centre for Digital Development .
Career examples
Masuda Ahmad joined the MSc programme when working as a Business Analyst for software house Uraan Software in Lahore, Pakistan. Her MSc studies facilitated her promotion within Uraan to take on a programme management role. Subsequently she took a significant step up with a new job as General Manager for Business Development and Media - exactly the type of hybrid role the MSc seeks to develop, combining management and ICT expertise - for Qadir Enterprises; an engineering and construction company based in Peshawar working on civil and electrical engineering projects. Masuda also started volunteering at a local school - Qadir Nagar High School - developing an education management information system, based on work undertaken for her MSc dissertation.
Eisah Mayanja joined the MSc programme when working as a Senior Applications Analyst for Grameen App Lab in Kampala, Uganda. His MSc studies facilitated his promotion within Grameen to the role of Senior Technology Analyst, using some of the management content of the programme to help move from mainly technical development to a more project management role. Following three years overseeing software quality assurance for MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission, he is now Technical Director of New Wave Technologies, coordinating deployment of Internet-based applications for UN agencies and NGOs in Africa.
At the beginning of her studies, Emma Jackson was a website editor for the Department of Telecommunications, Science and Technology within the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Her MSc studies facilitated her promotion to Deputy Director of the Public Sector Reform Unit, with a hybrid job profile of the type the MSc programme aims to develop. Her role supports the government's public sector reform programme and requires systems analysis, change management and process re-engineering capabilities that various MSc modules helped Emma develop.