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.

Topics include start-ups, firm formation; firm growth, corporate development, firm ageing, and productivity; corporate design; corporate failure, corporate restructuring, and turnaround; mergers and acquisitions and strategic alliances; vertical integration and restraints; technological change, firm dynamics and sources of market power; economics of automation and the future of work.

The course next studies a selection of industries including the auto industry, Airline market, retail, pharmaceutical sector, financial market and market for intangible assets (ideas & patents) to explore market dynamics and show how industry fundamentals shape corporate strategies. The course ends by studying theories of aggregate investment, technological change and modern business/credit cycles to show how the macroeconomic environment shapes business activities/strategies. Recent economic data and ample case studies are used to support the analysis.

The course will draw on rich recent economic and firm data to support analyses. All analyses are empirically based.

BMAN24431 or BMAN24421 is a Pre-Requisite for BMAN 31881. Only available to students on: Mgt/Mgt Specialism; IMABS; IM and ITMB/ITMB Strategy & Economics Specialism.

The requisites will be Economic Analysis I BMAN24431.
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.

The course is both analytical and applied, building on knowledge acquired in Economic Analysis I.

It provides an understanding of economic theories on start-ups, firm formation, growth, corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, firm decline and aging; corporate design, failure, restructuring, and renewal; the vertical structure of the firm and its determinants; and the evolving network nature of supply chains, technological change, market dynamics, firms, politics, and industry evolution.

The course provides a working knowledge of the analytical tools of economics at both the micro and macro levels that bear directly on the practice of modern firms. It helps students understand how characteristics of an industry, macroeconomic variables, and policy shape firm behaviour and business activities.

The course uses a mix of theory and case materials and examines recent data on each topic. Close integration of data throughout enables students to use real-life data to make informed business decisions. 

By the end of the course, students should be able to:
•    Understand various models of firm formation, start-up development and corporate growth and productivity, and learn issues surrounding the financing of start-ups.
•    Understand mergers and acquisitions as a core growth strategy and analyse the processes of firm decline / ageing.
•    Develop an ability to use Excel or R to analyse data in business decision making in firms.
•    Develop an ability to make sense of economic data / news to enhance decision making in the firm.
•    Understand issues of corporate design, corporate failure, corporate reorganisation, restructuring and renewal;
•    Understand how fundamental characteristics of an industry, macroeconomic variables and policy shape a firm’s growth strategies and decisions
•    Understand how industries evolve and necessitate corporate reorganisation / renewal
•    Explain and apply theories of aggregate investment and theories of technological change and analyse the causes of business / credit cycles to draw managerial lessons
•    Understand technological trends and their impacts on various markets.

Methods of delivery: - Lectures and seminars/computer aided learning 

•    Lecture hours: 30 (3 hours per week) plus 3 hours overall course revisions
•    Seminar hours: 8 (1 hour per week)

5 hours optional extra revision sessions for students needing help with economics.

20 hours supporting whiteboard videos for students needing help with economics. (asynchronous)

Weekly blog discussing recent topics relating to the course (asynchronous) 

Understand various models of firm formation, start-up development and corporate growth and productivity, and learn issues surrounding financing of start-ups.

Understand mergers and acquisitions as a core growth strategy and analyse the processes of firm decline / aging.

Understand issues of corporate design, corporate failure, corporate reorganisation, restructuring and renewal.

Understand how fundamental characteristics of an industry, macroeconomic variables and policy shape a firm’s growth strategies and decisions.

Understand how industries evolve over time and necessitate corporate reorganisation / renewal.

Understand theories of technological change, automation, fundamental drivers of economic growth, and the future of economic growth.   

Develop a rich understanding of firm dynamics (birth, growth, ageing, failure), and develop growth strategy for high performing firms.

Develop a rich understanding of the increasingly important role of mega (large) firms, their impact of the economy, economic dynamics, and SEMs.  

Understand technological trend, automation, the future of work, and the future of economic growth.  
 

An ability to develop strategies for young firms and lead start-ups.

An ability to develop strategies for mature firms, slow down corporate ageing, and develop embark on corporate turnaround and reorganisation.

An ability to identify technological trends, potential technological disruptions, and design firms capable of successfully responding to disruption.  
 

Gain a rich language to articulate business scenarios, develop business plans, and communicate with top managers and corporate board members.  

Develop skills to draw on academic research and data to improve business decision making.

Students develop adequate knowledge of Excel or, optionally, the programming language R, and numerical skills.  
 

12 short weekly mock randomised MCQ tests (formative)

Mid-term online randomised multiple-choice test (15%)
End of term online randomised multiple-choice test (15%)
Final Economic Analysis (Individual) Project (70%)
 

•    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.

The course will draw on the following textbooks:

1.    Abel, A. and Bernanke, B., Macroeconomics. (7th edition) Addison-Wesley.
2.    Cabral, L. M. (2016), Industrial Organization, MIT Press, Cambridge and London, 2nd edition,
3.    Mankiw, G: Macroeconomics (8th edition), Palgrave Macmillan

4.    Olivier, B, Amighini, A. and Francesco, G, 2021 Macroeconomics. A European Perspective.

The course comes with extensive, self-sufficient, teaching materials that cover advance topics not found in textbooks.

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.

Pre-requisites: BMAN24431 Economic Analysis I
Co-Requisites: N/A
Dependent courses: N/A
Programme Restrictions: BSc Management and Management (Specialisms), BSc International Management.

For Academic Year 2024/25

Updated: March 2024

Approved by: March UG Committee