You will explore how strategic sourcing and procurement drive performance, sustainability and innovation in modern supply chains. This module introduces key principles, theories and tools of procurement and supply management, helping you understand its growing role as a core business function. You will examine:

• how sourcing decisions affect cost, quality, risk and collaboration
• how firms manage supplier relationships to create value.

Topics in this module include:

• sourcing strategies
• supply market analysis
• sourcing performance measurement
• service contracting
• sustainable sourcing
• buyer-supplier negotiations.

Through lectures, seminars and workshops, you will apply theory to real-world case studies and scenarios. You will also develop practical skills like negotiation and supplier evaluation that are essential for working across global supply networks. By the end of the module, you will understand how sourcing connects with areas like new product development, logistics and supply chain strategy.

You will gain a strategic and analytical understanding of logistics management and transportation modelling. This module explores:

• how logistics supports organisational and supply chain performance
• how modelling techniques can address complex transport and distribution challenges.

You will study core topics, including:

• inventory control
• production systems
• supply network design
• warehousing
• vehicle routing and scheduling
• facility location planning.

You will use real-world case studies to explore how logistics decisions are made across industries and global contexts with attention to sustainability, such as reducing environmental impact and improving resource efficiency. You will translate practical problems into quantitative models using algebraic and spreadsheet-based approaches to generate insights and clear recommendations.

The module blends conceptual insight with analytical tools to help you manage logistics operations effectively. Through lectures, seminars, workshops and group activities, you will develop the knowledge and confidence to tackle real logistics challenges and support strategic decision-making in dynamic environments.

You will explore how organisations achieve excellence in both their internal operations and across their supply chains. This module introduces tools, techniques and strategic approaches that help drive performance, innovation and long-term value. You will learn about:

• lean principles
• Six Sigma
• the theory of constraints
• statistical process control.

You will explore supplier development and sustainability performance in supply chains and consider how these apply across industries and sectors. Through case studies, group work and analysis, you will examine how firms can continuously improve and work more effectively with their supply chain partners. You will consider how external standards, stakeholder expectations and sustainability goals shape operational excellence in today’s organisations. This module equips you with practical methods and a critical mindset to identify improvement opportunities, evaluate supply chain capabilities and support responsible, high-performing operations.

You will develop a strategic understanding of supply chain management, building on core principles of operations management. You will explore how organisations connect across supply chains, focusing on inter-organisational relationships, coordination and integration. Key topics include:

• supply chain strategy
• outsourcing
• resilience
• performance.

You will examine how supply and demand are managed and how inventory, capacity and planning decisions affect overall effectiveness. You will also explore:

• the bullwhip effect
• value chains
• the impact of risks and disruptions.

We bring your learning to life through seminars, case studies, real-world examples and a field trip. You will be encouraged to connect what you learn to current events and business news, helping you apply ideas to real challenges. This module lays the foundation for the rest of your MSc programme, helping you understand how different elements of logistics and supply chain management work together to develop a competitive advantage.

You will conduct an in-depth research project on a topic linked to your MSc programme, applying your knowledge to a real business problem. This project is your opportunity to:

• explore an area that interests you
• develop a structured research approach
• contribute original insights to a business.

You will employ your knowledge of research methods, problem-scoping techniques, and academic literature to define and investigate your chosen topic. Whether you focus on solving a practical issue or advancing understanding in a specific field, you will apply what you have learned to deliver a professional research project.

Throughout the process, you will work closely with a supervisor, developing your ability to:

• engage professionally in academic discourse
• manage feedback
• communicate findings.

You will consolidate your learning by developing academic research, writing and communication skills and demonstrate your ability to work independently to deliver value in a real organisation.

You will independently investigate a scholarly question that you design linked to real business problems. Typically, the process begins with a thorough literature review to identify a clear research gap. You then craft a relevant research question and select an appropriate methodology—qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods—to generate new evidence.

Many students conduct primary fieldwork, gathering data through interviews, surveys, experiments or archival analysis. Other students integrate secondary datasets with advanced analytical techniques. We expect you to demonstrate critical engagement with theory, methodological soundness and ethical research practice.

You will develop your knowledge and understanding of professional academic engagement in your interactions with your supervisor and your reporting of your outputs and research discussion. The resulting dissertation defends your findings, situates them in existing scholarship and articulates their practical and theoretical implications. By producing this research, you showcase your capacity for original, discipline-relevant inquiry.

This module builds your capacity to harness enterprise systems and analytics for sustainable, data-driven management. You will work hands-on with a modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) software such as SAP. With this software, you will configure core applications and design real-time dashboards that track performance and surface trends and inform strategic choices.

The course highlights sustainability’s growing role in business, demonstrating how data can reveal environmental and social impacts and financial outcomes. You will learn techniques to:

• evaluate process efficiency
• diagnose bottlenecks
• recommend improvements that align operations with organisational goals and sustainability targets.

Finally, the module explores how integrated enterprise solutions drive innovation, secure competitive advantage, and underpin an organisation's broader strategy. By the end of this module, you will understand how enterprise systems and analytics connect with sustainability initiatives, equipping you to manage resources responsibly while maintaining profitability.

This module introduces the topic of forecasting in business organisations. You will engage with issues concerned with forecasting model building in regression and its extensions, building on material covered earlier in your degree programme. You will then consider extrapolative forecasting methods, particularly Exponential Smoothing, and Machine Learning or Artificial Intelligence methods, particularly Neural Networks.

You will engage with a case study about forecasting in organisations, which embeds all the methods covered in this module. The module ends by analysing how forecasting is applied to operations and how forecasting can be improved in an organisational context.

This module prepares you to inspire and manage high-performing teams in complex project environments. You will gain theoretical and practical insights into leadership in projects, supply chains and temporary multi-organisations.

You will enhance your communication and leadership skills while strengthening your ability to critically reflect on your actions and behaviours in teams and organisations. Centred on effective change leadership, this module explores elements including:

• team dynamics
• motivation
• conflict resolution.

You will learn the importance of fostering collaboration, building trust and adapting your leadership style to diverse personalities and cultures. You will learn to use tools such as emotional intelligence and situational leadership. You will develop your self-awareness and understanding of leadership and followership and how these influence team dynamics across and within organisations.

This module delves into the core of project management. The module focuses on:

• developing detailed project plans, schedules and budgets
• monitoring and controlling strategies to deliver value on time and within budget and scope.

You will explore methodologies, learning to:

• develop project networks and budgets
• allocate and smooth resources
• identify and manage risks
• monitor and control a project's progress using tools such as Critical Path Analysis, PERT, Gantt charts, Sensitivity Analysis, and Earned Value Analysis.

Through practical simulations and case studies, you will tackle real-world challenges, honing your skills in problem-solving, adaptability, and team coordination. The module emphasises effective communication and stakeholder engagement to ensure alignment throughout the project lifecycle.

At the heart of many management problems lies data that needs to be described, analysed and interpreted. This module will equip you with essential skills to analyse and interpret data effectively, which are core capabilities for any business analyst. You will explore key topics including:

• probability
• sampling
• hypothesis testing
• regression analysis
• model building
• model selection.

You will learn to make effective use of computer software, R. Each topic is motivated by real-world business problems, with a strong emphasis on practical application. The skills learned on this module form the foundation for more advanced modules across the Business Analytics MSc programme.