MSc Business Analysis and Strategic Management

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2027, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £21,500
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £32,000

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).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

Learn more about - student finance options for UK students.

Learn more about - fees and finance for international students.

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.

A core component of the Business Analysis and Strategic Management programme is the client-facing project. That project represents a consultancy based around a program of work intended to progress a business interest. This course seeks to prepare students for such project work with companies. The objective is to provide students with a working framework useful for understanding the business situation and how to structure an intervention to progress that situation. The content revolves around two basic “models of action”. The first is encapsulated by the notion of the “business model”.  This notion has become increasingly popular in recent years and represents a core construct in this programme.  The concept embodies a framework for how one understands the constitution and conduct of a business organisation in terms of non-arbitrary relationships between operational activities, strategic choices on market positioning, and financial operation. As such the framework sits at the intersection between the traditional business school disciplines of management and organisation, entrepreneurship, strategy, and accounting and finance, helping to provide an integrated understanding of how business organisations are designed to perform.



 

BMAN72801 Programme Req: BMAN72801 is only available as a core unit to students on MSc BASM

The module strives to capture a systematic methodology through which individuals working inside organisations, or as external consultants for an organisation, are to go about a course of action intended to aid in the attainment of organisational ambitions.  The business model framework does this by structuring the set of questions that any business must have an answer to, a rationale for what those questions mean and common possibilities and challenges associated with each.  The practical concern is whether the answers given to those questions are complete and, more importantly, how effective those answers are in providing a guide to the behaviours of individuals working within an organisation.

•    developing students’ ability to analyse and reflect upon the ways in which businesses add value,
•    enabling students to understand, diagnose, and put forward their own recommendations to current and emergent challenges that companies face
•    enhancing participants’ ability to engage with a variety of theoretical constructs by
•    assessing case examples to analyse a wide range of issues, problems and conflicts that arise when firms try to implement various business models.  
•    The course focuses on commercial organisations. It challenges students to examine in detail the ways in which firms (attempt to) make a profit. This involves an assessment of a wide array of strategic and operational issues that will enhance the students’ understanding of business.
•    At the end of this course, participants will have gained a deeper understanding of a number of strategic and operational issues that confront contemporary firms. It is expected that course participants will be able to:
•    understand the different ways in which work, departments and divisions, and authority relationships can be organized and controlled in order to support different business models
•    apply analytical frameworks to evaluate organizational situations and draw out the implications of the links between a firm’s business model, its structure and its business environment,
•    diagnose complex situations, both inside and outside an organization, that affect the performance if its business model,
•    evaluate, by drawing on a range of relevant factors, the appropriateness of an organization’s design relative to its business model
•    to construct convincing business models from evidence and theory, and
•    to offer cogent explanations of how various business models do or do not work
•    All these should also provide the students with professional skills:
•    creating relationship with clients
•    understanding clients’ requirements
•    building rapport with the clients
•    modelling the business problem that the client presents
•    presenting the proposal to the client in a coherent, convincing manner
•    demonstrating how such a proposal could be carried out and how business research methods could be carried out in a rigorous manner.
 

The unit aims to:

The aim of this course is to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of various business model frameworks, and their application in real-world scenarios. The course will enable students to develop their ability to critically analyse existing business models, identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and understanding their impact on business performance and sustainability.  

Students will also develop skills in designing innovative business models that address market needs, leverage emerging technologies, and respond to dynamic (international) business environments.  

Finally, the course aims to inspire entrepreneurial thinking and problem-solving skills by exploring diverse business model examples and understanding their role in firm success and growth.

 

 

Syllabus (indicative curriculum content):

 

Business models; an introduction  

How business models create value in new ways

What really makes a business model work?  

What does the success of business models depend upon?

Business models in global competition  

Business model innovation (BMI)  

How BMI creates competitive advantage

Global value chains - governance (I)                  

Global value chains – upgrading (II)

 

The course is structured as a blend of in-person lectures and seminars, delivered synchronously over ten weeks during Semester One.

 

Lectures:

The course comprises ten two-hour lectures that include interactive activities such as discussions on real-world business cases and online quizzes via a digital platform. These activities help students solidify their understanding of core concepts and theories while providing formative feedback for improvement.

 

Seminars:

Students participate in eight one-hour seminars, which center on presenting organizational case studies focused on business models. These presentations are followed by peer-led discussions, enabling students to receive feedback from both peers and seminar leaders. This approach supports students in refining their group reports.

 

Group Report and Exam:

The group report tasks students with applying theoretical frameworks and concepts to analyze the business models of selected case companies.

The exam evaluates students’ grasp of key theories, their ability to critically engage with relevant literature, and their skill in articulating and defending their perspectives at a conceptual level.

Feedback:

In addition to receiving formative feedback during lectures and seminars, students are provided with summative feedback on their group reports and exams. 

Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of analytical frameworks for evaluating business models across diverse global markets.

Analyse and interpret the influence of internal and external factors on the innovation and sustainability of business models.

Critically assess the applicability of conceptual and methodological tools in evaluating the practical effectiveness of different business models. 

Develop the ability to critically evaluate the success and limitations of various business models in different organizational and industry contexts.

Synthesize and integrate diverse theoretical perspectives to formulate innovative solutions for global business challenges.

Employ analytical reasoning to assess and propose improvements to existing business models, accounting for global trends and disruptions. 

Apply analytical tools and concepts to real-world business cases, evaluating strategic alternatives for competitive advantage.

Design and justify the implementation of effective business model strategies for organizations operating in dynamic international markets.

Conduct in-depth evaluations of case studies, translating theoretical insights into actionable recommendations.

 

Enhance problem-solving and decision-making abilities through collaborative teamwork and independent research.

Communicate complex business concepts effectively, both orally and in writing, to diverse audiences.

Develop adaptability and resilience by working on complex, ambiguous, and real-world business scenarios in global contexts. 
 

Formative assessment
Group presentation
 

Summative assessment
Examination 75%
Group report 25%

 

Students will be provided an extensive formative feedback at the seminar after their presentation, and there will also be a written feedback at the end of the term (both marks and formative feedback). The feedback will also cover the ways in which students may improve their presentation in the future. The marks and the written feedback will be released by the.

During the development of their group reports, the groups will be provided formative feedback twice. There will be an extensive formative feedback on their submitted report alongside their mark. These will be released by the  the latest.

While there will be a short commentary on each question by the markers in the exam scripts, these are primarily for the marking process (second marker, external examiner). However, students will have the opportunity, if they wish, to read these.

In addition, the examiners will provide a class-wide feedback on each question – the typical problems, the strength and weaknesses of the answers.

Informal contact methods

Online Learning Activities (blogs, discussions, self-assessment questions)

Peer assisted study sessions

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