Module BUSI4W060: Strategic Consulting Project (FT)

Department: Management and Marketing

BUSI4W060: Strategic Consulting Project (FT)

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To analyse a strategic problem, issue, or challenge, using appropriate structure, methodology, tools, and techniques.
• To equip students (where appropriate) with the relevant quantitative and qualitative research methods knowledge and skills to enable them to undertake a research project at Masters level.
• To incorporate CSR and ethical considerations in strategic responses to create sustainable, responsible outcomes.

Content

• The nature of the Strategic Consulting Project.
• Defining the key issue and scoping.
• Formulating relevant research question(s).
• Introduction to research methods in the management context.
• Types of research.
• Collecting and synchronising relevant structured and unstructured data for the consulting project from multiple sources (primary and secondary; qualitative and quantitative).
• Analysing economic, industry and institutional context.
• Ethical issues in business and management analysis.
• Selecting and using appropriate analytical tools.
• Results analysis and discuss your results.
• Manage a consulting project.
• Case study writing and publishing process
• What makes a good strategic consulting project.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students should:
• have a critical appreciation of how consulting project is conducted in a business and management context;
• have a critical ability of developing their knowledge of research methodologies
• have a critical appreciation of ethical issues in business and management research.
• be able to critically analyse a specific issue or area of business or management in depth and to explore its significance in practice.

• By the end of the module students should:
• utilise relevant inter-disciplinary knowledge and experience to develop a situational description and analysis of a real-world business problem, challenge or opportunity
• conduct a Masters-level consulting project from beginning to end, (this involves the following: identifying an interesting and practical research question at an appropriate advanced level; conducting advanced literature searches, choosing a method for answering the question; conducting the research, including managing all aspects of the research project; interpreting the results; being able to identify and manage any ethical issues that might arise).
• critically apply knowledge and different forms of reasoning to form a discriminating analysis of issues currently being experienced in specific organisational and business contexts on a specific issue.

• Adaptability & Learning Agility
• Critical Thinking & Intellectual Rigor
• Impact Orientation & Execution Capability

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Learning outcomes will be met in part through workshops comprising a mix of lectures, groupwork, case studies and discussion, supported by guided reading.
• Students can choose to pursue a Strategic Consulting Project in one of three ways, either by working with a host organisation; as a scenario in the form of a case study; or, a new venture business plan.
• Students are supported by supervisor consultations (which may be conducted in person, or remotely via Zoom, Teams, email or telephone). These meetings enable the supervisor to monitor the student progress towards the achievement of the learning outcomes.
• The sourcing and allocation of appropriate projects:
• Consulting projects can be self-sourced by students, using their own network, to build on their experience in certain areas of expertise or to develop their understanding of certain sectors they are interested in exploring for future career opportunities. However, students can also explore the possibility of conducting research with an organisation sourced from the Online SCP Social Impact Hub, a collection of charities, social enterprises and non-governmental organisations, using their project to have a direct social impact.
• The topic (which is formally approved by the Module Leader on behalf of the Chair of the Board of Examiners) should be one that is suitable for in-depth investigation.
• Consulting projects may take the form of a case analysis which has an indirect engagement with an organisation of the student’s choice (i.e no active ‘consulting client’).

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Students will receive formative feedback on a draft of one chapter of the strategic consulting project.

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.