Business with Business Analytics MSc (Amsterdam)
1 Year Full-Time | September Start

This is a 40-credit core module running in the first semester of the MSc Business with programme and is developed for those of you who have little or no prior business and management subject experience. The aim of the module is to introduce you to the main business functions – Finance, Marketing, HRM, Operations – and show how each can contribute to the competitive advantage of a firm and hence enable the firm to achieve its strategic objectives. The content of the module comprises six key parts which are listed below.

Business Simulation
Introduction to the module; The Business Simulation – introduction, decision-making, group work and allocation of roles, group presentation – annual report to shareholders; Round-up to the Business Simulation and summative assessment guidance.

Strategy
Developing a Business Plan; The Business Environment; The Competitive Environment; Organisational Objectives; Competitive Strategy; Functional Strategy; Strategic Capabilities; Responsible Decision-making; Evaluating Company Performance.

Financial Management
Cost behaviour and product costing; Cost classification and product costing; Pricing decisions and costing; Behavioural Aspects of Budgeting; Cash Budgeting; Integrated Performance Measures; Balanced Scorecard.

Operations Management
Role of Operations Management; Operations Strategy; Resource planning and capacity management; Quality Management; Global supply networks; JIT and Lean Management; Supplier selection and procurement; Benchmarking and Inventory Management.

Human Resources Management
Understanding HR and its contribution to Business Strategy; Human Resource Planning and Measures; Recruitment, Selection and Retention; Compensation and Benefits; Training and Development; Productivity and Performance Management; Employee Relations; Motivation and Employee Engagement.

Marketing Management
The Role of Marketing; Market Segmentation & Positioning; Buyer Behaviour/Consumer Behaviour; Pricing Strategy; Collecting Information and Forecasting Demand;
New Product Development; Channel Management and International Marketing; Integrated Marketing Communications.

In this module you will gain an understanding of the academic skills that are required to produce a Masters Dissertation. By the end of the module you will have written a 15000 word Masters dissertation. The areas included are:

• Justification for the choice of topic
• Appropriate understanding, awareness and critical analysis of existing and up to date literature evidenced by a comprehensive and well-referenced literature review with an extensive reference list
• Selection, justification and application of an appropriately rigorous methodology - including limitations of the approach selected
• Clear statement of the findings of the research
• Critical analysis of the findings
• Explicit links between the analysis and the conclusions supported by critical argument
• Evidence of original work or thought for example in the form or context of the data collected, analytical process or application of findings

This option is offered as an alternative to the NBS Masters’ Dissertation on all 1-year MSc programmes and in the second semester of year 2 on the 2-year programme variants with Study Abroad and with Advanced Practice (if the students select an Internship in semester 1), again as a Dissertation alternative. It is also offered as alternative to the Management Investigation on the MBA.

On this consultancy based module you will enhance your individual effectiveness and employability skills by locating the learning and development in an organisational context. In doing so, you will promote personal and group development, commercial awareness, and a range of inter-personal, intellectual and practical skills and knowledge centred on and demonstrated through a group negotiated real-time work-based project.

The content of the management report will be unique. The nature and scope of the area of your investigation will be defined and agreed in collaboration with the organisation and the University supervisor. The syllabus will include:

• Conducting research in organisations.
• Identifying researchable questions.
• Consultancy and project management skills.
• Research methods and doing a literature review
• Presentation, communication and report writing skills.
• Analysing findings.
• Writing recommendations and action plans.
• Reflecting on work based experiential learning.

In undertaking this project based module, you will critically reflect and evaluate upon organisational practices and their relation with academic theory, and in doing so, provide practical and actionable recommendations through an investigative management report.

The assessment for your module consists of a Group Consultancy Report (7,000 words) and Final Client Presentation, weighted at 60%, alongside an Individual Assignment comprising a Literature Review (4000 words) and a Reflective Learning Statement (2,000 words), weighted at 40%.

In this module, you will explore the important role of the website in an organisation’s digital marketing strategy.

You will learn the principles of website evaluation and will use analytic tools for the analysis of web data to help measure the effectiveness of web marketing and improve the user experience.

The module will aim to give you:

An Introduction to Web Marketing
Website Evaluation – comprising Context of Use & Usability, Layout & Navigation, Home Page & Testing.
Application of web marketing including search engine optimisation, pay per click, conversion rate optimisation
An introduction to Web Analytics, with particular reference to an industrial standard application (most likely Google analytics). This will cover determining how the software application works, data collection, analysis and reporting.
Campaign Metrics and Measurement.
Multichannel Metrics.
Consolidation and/or assessment.
At the end of the module you may be in a position to take the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GAIQ) test as part of your broader Continual Professional Development.

In this module, you will explore the important role of the business intelligence to support an organisation’s effective decision making.

You will be introduced to data management strategies and the use of business analytic tools for the analysis of organisational data.

The aim of this module it to equip you to:

Develop appropriate organisational strategy for data-management, including its storage, accessibility and readiness for decision making.

Identify the applications for, and critically apply, business intelligence across a range of organisational contexts.

Employ various analytics tools to organisational data analysis and decision making.

Develop and critically evaluate data-management processes.

Develop critical decision making and communication skills.

To be in a position to take a SAS certification as part of your broader Continual Professional Development.

This module engages you in personal and professional development in order that you develop and hone your teamworking, management and leadership skills,

capabilities and attributes, and in so doing, enhance your employability. On this module, you will not only prepare for your first job after you graduate but also kickstart

your commitment to life-long personal and professional learning. In the first part of the module you will be supported in a self-analysis by a range of activities, including

the completion of self-administered tool-kits to demonstrate an increased self-awareness and self-understanding. This will also involve applying theoretical frameworks

and researching contemporary literature for a more in-depth understanding of self. A key outcome of this process is how you will be able to exploit this development in

order to lead, and manage, more effectively in your future careers. The second part of the module contains activities which enable you to build on your self-analysis and

explore further your strengths, weaknesses and areas for development in the context of your career development plans. You will receive guidance on how to craft

professional, postgraduate CVs, LinkeIn profiles, and supporting documentation to meet the needs of employer. Furthermore, you will use your understanding of self to

help you to understand the key issues and specific challenges that you face, with your skills profile, in relation to your employability prospects in your target

profession/industry/sector. This will also include the development of knowledge into the global graduate market, (including routes such as self-employment and

developing your career with an existing employer) drawing upon local, national and international examples.

In this module you will learn about a comprehensive range of research methods and business analytics techniques. This will equip you with the knowledge and practical skills necessary for you to conduct research at Masters’ level and prepare you to complete a Master’s Dissertation, Consultancy Project or Management Enquiry. By the end of the module you will know how to apply both quantitative and qualitative data collection and business analysis techniques. In quantitative techniques you will learn about sampling, questionnaire design, statistical inference, and hypothesis testing while qualitative techniques covered will include methods such as interviewing and focus groups. Analysis methods such as content analysis and thematic analysis will also be covered. In addition, you will gain some understanding of research philosophy (positivism and interpretivism) and research ethics and you will be able to write a research proposal to bring these ideas together.
Furthermore, this module will provide clear, critical, and analysis of data, you will also be able to consider the use of analytics implementation skills, where you will be introduced to analytics software such as SPSS. SPSS statistics analysis is one of the powerful solutions that is designed to help businesses and researchers to solve problems by various methods (geospatial analysis, predictive analytics and hypothesis testing).

Studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This

module is designed to support your transition to postgraduate level study in the use and practice of subject specific skills around assessments

and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to further develop your abilities to read and study effectively

for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your

use and application of language and communications skills suitable for a postgraduate level of study.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding postgraduate assignment briefs.

• Developing advanced academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.

• Practising advanced ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’

• Planning and structuring postgraduate level academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).

• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.

• Speaking in postgraduate seminar presentations.

• Presenting your ideas

• Giving discipline-related postgraduate level academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.

• Postgraduate level speed reading techniques.

• Developing self-reflection skills.