BSc Management

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.

The Manchester Bursary is available to UK students registered on an undergraduate degree course at Alliance MBS who have had a full financial assessment carried out by Student Finance England. 

In addition, Alliance MBS will award a range of Social Responsibility Scholarships to UK and international/EU students.

These awards are worth £2,000 per year across three years of study. You must achieve AAA at A-level (or equivalent qualification) and be able to demonstrate a significant contribution and commitment to social responsibility.

The School will also award a number of International Stellar Scholarships to international students achieving AAA at A-level (or equivalent qualification). Applicants who exceed AAA and/or have supplementary qualifications (such as EPQ) will receive additional consideration.

Additional eligibility criteria apply - please see our scholarship pages for full details.

This course offers a solid understating of key economic theories useful to running a modern firm and is both analytical and applied. The course studies theories of inflation, business cycles, financial cycles, financial crises, the monetary system, the IS-LM model, the Mundell Fleming model, theories of exchange rates and trade theories and their applications to business. The course also discusses  demand and supply forecasting, models of imperfect competition; non-cooperative game theory; advanced pricing strategies; advanced business strategies; economics of information, risk analysis and decision under uncertainty, asymmetric information and signalling; moral hazard and incentives;  introductory auction design; and investment analysis.

Throughout, the course will rely on rich recent economic and firm data to support analyses. All analyses are empirically based. 

BMAN24431 has pre-requisites of: BMAN10001. Only available to students on: Mgt/Mgt Specialism; IMABS; IM and ITMB.

Pre-requisite course units have to be passed by 40% or above at the first attempt unless a higher percentage is indicated within this course outline.

This course aims to provide a working knowledge of economic techniques relevant for managing a modern firm. The course demonstrates how a solid knowledge of topics such as demand estimation / forecasting, empirical investment analysis, pricing strategies; non-cooperative game theory; strategic behaviour; advance business strategies, oligopoly markets; economics of information, signalling; moral hazard and incentives; inter-temporal decisions under uncertainty;  auctions and market design help improve corporate decisions.
Gaining insights from modern macro: This course provides a coherent understanding of macroeconomic factors and their impact on business activities and firm performance. By bridging theory and practice through a rich mix of academic concepts and real case materials, it equips students with the skills to systematically analyze economic news and use it to optimize corporate decision-making.

Notably, equip students with an ability to use Excel (or R - optional) to analyse data in business decision making, use economic theories to make sense of economic data and news, and use their understanding to improve on business decisions and master data-driven business decision making.

Methods of delivery: Lectures and seminars

• Lecture hours: 33 (3 hours per week- two-hours lecture (Wednesdays) and one hour applied lecture (Mondays))
• Seminar hours: 8 (1 hour every week for 8 weeks, starting from week 2)
• 5 hours optional extra revision sessions for students needing help with economics.
• 20 hours supporting whiteboard videos for students needing help with economics.
• Weekly blog discussing recent topics relating to the course (asynchronous). 
• Private study: 159

Total study hours: 200 hours split between lectures, classes, self-study and preparation for classes, coursework and examinations.

Informal Contact Methods
TBA

• Understand economic theory and apply economic principles to develop optimal business strategies for real-world scenarios
• Understand different theories of the firm, models of imperfect competition pricing strategies, and advanced business strategies
• Understand how to use data to assess business decisions, estimate future demand and supply and analyse investment projects.
• Understand decision making under uncertainty; explain the impact of imperfect information and methods to deal with it; and analyse principal-agent problems in the firm
• Analyse and explain short-run fluctuations in an economy using the AD-AS, IS-LM and Mundell-Fleming models.
• Understand how the monetary system works
• Understand the causes and costs of inflation.
• Understand modern theories of business cycles and use them to inform corporate decisions.
• Understand financial crises and credit cycles, and their impact on the firm.   

• Develop a rich understanding of key economic models, their role in economic and business analysis, and the skills to assess them using data.
• Understand how the economic system works, how major economies interact, and how aggregate economic trends affect firm performance
• Understand the financial sector, its impact on the economy, and its influence on firm performance.
   

• Ability to use software (e.g., Excel, R) and generative AI tools for exploratory data analysis, hypothesis development and decision making.
• Ability to draw on economic and firm data to make managerial decisions.

• Gain a deep understanding of software such as Excel to manipulate firm data and use real time data for making business decisions. (Optional: Students can benefit from the materials on the programming language R). 
• Skills to combine background knowledge, theory and data to improve decision making.

Formative Assessment:

12 short weekly mock MCQ tests

Summative Assessment:

1. Mid-term online multiple choice test (20%)

2: End of term online multiple choice test (20%)

3: Economic Analysis Project (60%)
 

•    Informal advice and discussion during a lecture, seminar, workshop or lab.
•    Online exercises and quizzes delivered through the Blackboard course space.
•    Responses to student emails and questions from a member of staff including feedback provided to a group via an online discussion forum.
•    Specific course related feedback sessions.
•    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.
•    Generic feedback posted on Blackboard regarding overall examination performance.

• Baye, M.R., (2022) Managerial Economics & Business Strategy, 10th Edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, 
• Olivier, B., Amighini, A. and Francesco, G., 2021. Macroeconomics. A European Perspective.
• Mankiw, G: Macroeconomics (10th edition), Palgrave Macmillan
• Weekly case studies (students are required to study the cases before coming to the lecture).

Pre-requisites: BMAN10001 Economics Principles: Microeconomics

Dependent course units: BMAN31181Economic Analysis II: Corporate Development, Growth & Strategy
Programme Restrictions: BSc Management and Management (Specialisms), BSc International Management, Core: BSc ITMB (Strategy & Economics)

BMAN24431 is available to study abroad and exchange students admitted through the University of Manchester’s International Programmes Office

For Academic Year 2025/6

Updated: March 2025

Approved by: March UG Committee