MSc Business Analysis and Strategic Management

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £20,500
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £30,500

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

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).

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Learn more about - student finance options for UK students.

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Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

‘Something is happening out there’. This often quoted remark by Peter Dicken, a leading economic geographer, summarises one of the most influential views of the modern economy: that a new kind of global economy is being created; that the firm, especially the giant firm, is central to that creation; and that as a result, national governments are losing control over this new economy.

This course is about finding out whether there is indeed a new ‘global politics of global business.’  The course adopts no committed view on the matter.  It is up to you to arrive at your own judgement.

BMAN62012 Programme Req: BMAN62012 is only available as an elective to students on MSc Business Analysis & Strategic Managementa, MSc International Business and Management and MA Political Economy

More formally, the course aims to examine exactly what is the connection between global politics and global business. It looks at some of the most important actors, institutions and processes. It is a course, above all, in politics because, for better or worse, the political environment of business, and the nexus joining the firm and the state, are what matter in making sense of the business face of globalisation.

In part the learning outcomes are substantive, and relate to the themes outlined above: at the end of the module those who take the course will have an appreciation of actors, processes, and debates. But the course also has more general pedagogic aims. A Masters course marks a departure from the prescriptive frameworks of undergraduate study. Learning here is therefore student led. Formal instruction involving passive receipt of information is kept to a minimum; there is emphasis on active and small group work and on the student led creation of case material.

The learning philosophy of the module shapes the practical organisation of the course.  

• Each session begins with a short ‘orientation’ presentation by me, which sketches the general themes and questions at issue.

• This is followed by break-out group sessions which take up these themes, before we reconvene together for a final discussion. This is designed to take up the first half of the session.

• The second half is taken up with a series of problem related exercises.  I outline the ‘problems’ below. They are practical versions of some of the big issues in the course, and are designed to give experience of confronting these problems, adopting roles you might expect to occupy in a business enterprise, or as a seconded advisor in government. At the first session we will create teams who will prepare group presentations on these problems.

The reading for the sessions is closely directed and is largely taken from the four books.  It is expected that students will buy these. Our strategy is to keep reading demands limited and therefore manageable, and to minimise effort in getting hold of the work, in order to ensure that everyone in the group always does all the reading. I expect all students to prepare for each session by doing all the assigned reading.  

Students will be assessed by a group presentation (20%) and research paper (80%)

Informal advice and discussion during a lecture, seminar, workshop or lab.

Responses to student e-mails and questions from a member of staff including feedback provided to a group via an online discussion forum.

Written and/or verbal comments on assessed or non-assessed coursework.

Written and/or verbal comments after students have given a group or individual presentation.

Robert O’Brien and Marc Williams, 2013, 4th Edition, Global Political Economy: Evolution and Dynamics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

David Held and Anthony McGrew, eds., Governing Globalization (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2003).

Tony Porter and Karsten Ronit, eds., The Challenges of Global Business Authority (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2010).

John Ravenhill, ed., 2014, 3rd Edition, Global Political Economy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Informal contact methods

Office hours

Peer assisted study sessions

Drop in surgeries (extra help sessions for students on material they may be struggling with)