The MSc in Management is an exciting one-year full-time programme, designed for students coming from non-business or management backgrounds who seek to augment their initial degree or pivot towards a thriving career in management. This programme provides comprehensive education on various aspects of management while simultaneously honing vital skills including critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication to become practice-ready for a 21st century workforce.
Centred on enhancing students' employability skills, the programme offers opportunities to manage real-life business challenges, establish professional networks with employers and alumni, engage in a dynamic culturally diverse learning atmosphere, and utilise world-class facilities.
The curriculum covers a wide range of topics, including fundamental management disciplines like Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Operations and Supply Chain, and People Management. Furthermore, it also includes topics addressing contemporary management issues such as data-driven decision-making using AI and analytics, as well as ethical business decision-making.
In order to apply knowledge and skills in a comprehensive manner, a culminating module focussing on leading change is included in the curriculum. This module provides students with the necessary skills to adeptly manage organisational changes within a dynamic environment, addressing contemporary management topics such as sustainability, risk management, ethical considerations, responsible business practices, technological advancements, and more. It is aimed at utilising insights gained from various other modules within the programme to offer a well-rounded understanding of effective leadership in evolving contexts. Additionally, a dedicated module on employability prepares students to utilise the academic skills they have acquired to enhance their employment prospects in the 21st-century job market.
Management highlights
Student Experience
Teaching methods include lectures, workshops, tutorials and case studies. Lectures are also often interspersed with discussion, group exercises and case studies which allow you to engage with theories and concepts and reflect on their application in practice. You will also have opportunities to make presentations and to work on a variety of group tasks, both assessed and non-assessed, improving your communication and leadership skills.
Queen’s Business School (QBS) has recently undergone an innovative expansion that establishes a benchmark of global excellence for one of the top business schools in the UK and Ireland. A stunning new 6,000 square metre building, adjacent to the listed red-brick Riddel Hall has been designed with the latest digital infrastructure for media lecture capture, TED Talk provision and collaborative breakout sessions.
Fostering an enhanced social and educational experience the new state-of-the-art QBS venue boasts a 250-seat tiered educational space; 120-seat Harvard style lecture theatre; 150-seat computer laboratory; breakout study spaces; FinTrU Trading Room; a café, and a Business Engagement and Employability Hub.
Global Opportunities
The course attracts students from a range of academic backgrounds from languages to law, creating a stimulating social and learning environment. International students bring an exciting and diverse perspective to the overall programme.
Career Development
A distinctive module focused on Developing Careers and Employability Skills is committed to improving students’ readiness for the job market. Facilitated by a dedicated careers team, students will gain insights into pertinent employment prospects and refine essential skills crucial for establishing thriving careers.
The programme offers significant chances for students to interact with employers and alumni through integrated initiatives including employer perspectives, networking events, LinkedIn workshops, and career seminars. The programme includes a dedicated module on employability skills. This module aims to help students leverage the academic skills they have gained to enhance their job prospects in the modern workforce.
Student Testimonials
"The depth and breadth of business topics taught over the year is extensive and for students coming from a non-business background, it is great to get an insight into various areas of the business world. The use of both academic staff and industry experienced staff really enhances the learning experience and the support they provide throughout the course is excellent!"
Laura McAneney
"The MSc Management course has played a pivotal role in shaping my future career aspirations in numerous ways. It has significantly enhanced my skill set. I've acquired a wide range of management skills, from leadership and strategic thinking to problem-solving and effective communication.
These skills are not only valuable for managerial roles but also applicable in various career paths. The course provided me with specialised knowledge in areas like finance, marketing, and organisational behaviour, making me a well-rounded professional capable of navigating complex business environments."
This course is for you if you are from a non-business or management background, and you wish to either enhance your first degree or move towards a successful management career. You want to understand how organisations operate in today’s global marketplace and how the different functions of management (such as strategy and operations) link together.
This programme educates students on the many facets of management while also developing important management skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and communication.
Semester 1
Accounting for Decision Making
Finance for Managers
Marketing in the Digital Age
Operations and Supply Chain Management
Semester 2
Analytics with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Developing Career and Employability Skills
Making Ethical Business Decisions
People Management and the Future of Work
Learning opportunities associated with this course are outlined below:
Teaching Methods
Innovative Teaching: You will progress by expanding your knowledge through case studies, lectures, workshops and tutorials.
Assessment
Assessments associated with the course are outlined below:
Can include individual coursework, group work, oral presentations, poster presentations, simulations, case studies, class tests, examinations and dissertation.
The information below is intended as an example only, featuring module details for the current year of study (2024/25). Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to future changes – revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year.
This module discusses and evaluates the ethical responsibilities of managers and organisations. It will explore themes/issues from international, multi-disciplinary and managerial perspectives, and analyse tensions, conflicts, contradictions and dilemmas via case studies and class discussion. Topics that may be developed include the role of ethical theories, the internal ethical environment (why and how do ethical dilemmas arise and how can they be resolved?); ethical issues regarding employees (including whistleblowing, Codes of Ethics, corporate governance), ethics and consumers, ethics and social responsibility, and ethical issues arising from using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Evaluate the ethical responsibilities of organisations
2. Evaluate the role of ethics in business, in local, national and international contexts
3. Analyse different ethical perspectives that are used to guide decision making
4. Evaluate the rights, duties and responsibilities of, and relationships between, organisations and their internal (employee) and external stakeholders (customers, local and wider communities)
5. Discuss and critically review new developments in governance and business ethics
Skills
This module provides opportunities for students to acquire or enhance the following skills:
Knowledge and Understanding
• Develop a global mindset with cross cultural intelligence
Subject-specific
• Evaluate how managers and firms engage with and influence key stakeholders
Cognitive Skills
• Generate creative and innovative solutions to complex managerial challenges in a local and global environment
• Critically assess how managers and firms generally behave and strategise in a complex global business context
This course offers an introduction to the key concepts and tools in finance. Students are first given a background in the primary macroeconomic variables that impact financial decision-making and an overview of the domestic and global environment. A range of project valuation techniques such as time value analysis and capital budgeting are then developed as well as consideration of sources of finance. The course concludes with an examination of risk.
Learning Outcomes
After successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Appreciate the financial and economic environment of business and the interpretation of key variables.
2. Assess the time value of money by applying the techniques of compounding and discounting.
3. Be aware of the sources of finance for businesses and the features of bonds.
4. Apply suitable techniques to evaluate investment projects and make financial decisions.
5. Demonstrate an awareness of the implications of risk and uncertainty.
Skills
This course provides opportunities for students to acquire or enhance the following skills:
Cognitive Skills
• Generate creative and innovative solutions to complex managerial challenges.
• Ability to critically analyse the context-specific nature of some of the topics/themes in financial management as well as the challenges of their implementation.
Transferable Skills
• Effectively communicate complex information to address managerial problems
Analytics is fundamental to the success of leading companies, enabling managers to make better decisions as well as driving innovation through the development of new products and services such as predictive advertising and product recommendation. Analytics also underpins many leading-edge innovations such as generative AI solutions, and self-driving cars. Businesses gain strategic competitive advantage from these data-driven solutions across different levels of maturity, which include descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics. This module focuses on the wider role of analytics in enabling businesses to improve decision-making and drive innovation. It also considers the ways in which data and analytics are inherently interlinked with rapidly evolving artificial intelligence solutions.
The module begins with an introduction to the fundamentals of data and how business analytics can be used to conduct research on complex business problems. This is followed by a focus on how leading companies are using analytics with AI to gain competitive advantage, with a specific focus on the use of business intelligence to improve decision-making, and the use of more advanced analytics solutions to drive new products and services in areas such as online advertising, movie recommendation, and automation. The module then provides students with the opportunity to use cutting-edge analytics software to build analytics solutions that can present complex data in relatively simple visual formats. In doing so, it considers how analytics with AI may serve as a tool for students to enhance their research skills, specifically how they synthesise, analyse and present different data types. The wider ethical and societal implications of the use of data and analytics with AI are considered throughout the module. The module does not require any prior coding or statistical experience and will provide the analytics-based critical thinking and practical skills that are essential for managers to succeed in a data-driven business world.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Critically evaluate the role of business analytics with artificial intelligence in improving decision-making and driving innovation
2. Critically evaluate the ethical use of data and analytics with AI in business
3. Critically evaluate and implement key business analytics techniques such as business intelligence and predictive analytics for solving contemporary management problems at local and global contexts.
Skills
This module aims to develop specific skills in the form of:
Knowledge and Understanding
• Enhance the capability for data-driven business changes and implement effective decisions as needed in a dynamic business environment.
Subject Specific Skills
• To get acquainted in using contemporary business analytics software.
Cognitive Skills
• Provide students with the research tools to conduct systematic analysis and rational deduction in addressing business problems.
Transferable Skills
• Effectively communicate complex information in visual formats
This module engages students in their own employability journey to help develop the skills to compete confidently. The module will explore different career models as well as how the “future of work” influences career choice and career outcomes. It will further evaluate different jobs and sectors to enable students to make fully informed decisions when considering their subsequent career steps. It will also develop students’ understanding of their personal skills, strengths, values and motivations; and will create and enhance the student’s professional identity with better awareness of how to control and influence communications to improve their position when competing for work as well as in employment.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Critically evaluate different employment career models and how and why careers are changing
2. Explore the global labour market and global forces impacting the future of work
3. Identify student personality, core values and interests to enable students to utilise their skills and strengths
4. Investigate the different jobs and sectors in which the student could work to enable students to make fully informed decisions and increase their chances of finding a suitable job
5. Create and enhance the student professional identity enabling students to have better awareness of how to control and influence communications
Skills
This module provides opportunities for students to acquire or enhance the following skills:
Knowledge and Understanding
• Develop a global mindset with cross-cultural intelligence appreciating how employment and careers have changed, and are changing
Cognitive Skills
• Empower students with the skills for systematic analysis and rational deduction in understanding evolving employment opportunities
• Critically evaluate the factors that influence work and employment opportunities and outcomes in different sectors and markets
Transferable Skills
• Effectively communicate complex information to address different employment-related situations
This module aims to provide students with the knowledge and understanding about why and how organisations change, the impact of change on people within the organisation, and how organisations can build capabilities for change. The module explores the influence of trends and developments in the wider business environment and how this affects the strategic direction of an organisation and its performance. It examines contrasting and innovative approaches to change management and analyses the impact of change at both the organisational and individual levels, considering the role of organisational culture, power, and politics. Students will be encouraged to adopt an analytical perspective on the short- and long-term impact of change decisions, considering commercial and business objectives alongside the need to create conditions where workers can thrive and perform.
The module will be taught as a block module at the end of Semester 2. There will be an assessment following the taught block, which is worth 25% of the final mark, and which involves submission of a 20-minute narrated PowerPoint presentation. This provides the basis for students to apply knowledge and skills obtained from modules taken across the degree to a change management case study, which will form students’ Individual Project. The Individual Project (10.000 words written individual report) is worth 75% of the final module mark and will run across the semester 3 period (12 weeks: June-September).
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this module students will be able to:
1. Identify and critically evaluate contrasting and innovative approaches to change management, considering the roles of a range of organisational stakeholders.
2. Appreciate the complexity of organisations and adopt a whole systems approach to critically evaluate the impact of organisational change and implementation decisions.
3. Critically discuss the role of leaders in organisational change in creating inclusive and adaptive or change-ready organisational cultures.
4. Draw on a range of skills and knowledge obtained across the degree programme to holistically address an organisational change management challenge.
Skills
This module aims to develop specific skills in the form of:
Cognitive Skills
• Empower students with the skills for systematic analysis and rational deduction in addressing business changes.
Transferable Skills
• Effectively communicate complex information to address managerial problems
This course introduces students to two key, related areas of Management, namely, operations management and supply chain management. The objective of the course is to demonstrate the link between operations and supply chain management and to educate students about their crucial role in supporting organisational performance as well as the challenges and opportunities that managers working within these areas face. Topics include operations and supply chain strategy, operations and supply chain management approaches, demand and capacity management, sustainable operations and supply chains and supply chain risk management.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Evaluate the importance of operations and supply chain management in supporting organisational performance.
2. Consider different approaches to operations and supply chain management and their applicability in different contexts.
3. Evaluate some of the key challenges and opportunities facing operations and supply chain management (e.g. sustainability, risk management, adoption of new technologies).
Skills
This module aims to develop specific skills in the form of:
Cognitive Skills
• Generate creative and innovative solutions to complex managerial challenges
• Ability to critically analyse the context-specific nature of some of the topics/themes pertinent to operations and supply chains as well as the challenges of their implementation.
Marketing affects everyone, as we are all consumers. For businesses, marketing plays a critical role in understanding the marketplace, identifying opportunities, and ensuring that brands, products, and services meet customer needs. In today’s society and commerce, marketing is essential and must be practised with a focus on sustainability.
Effective marketing begins by understanding consumer needs, wants, and demands. It involves identifying target markets an organisation can best serve and developing a compelling value proposition to attract and nurture customer relationships. Modern marketers are tasked with more than just making sales; they must engage customers and build lasting relationships where their brands add real value to consumers’ lives. With digital channels offering unprecedented opportunities for engagement, marketers can create deeper and more meaningful interactions that drive loyalty and long-term success.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of the module, students will:
1. Critically reflect on the core principles in marketing and their practical application in both local and global settings
2. Evaluate the role and significance of marketing management and digital marketing technologies within a business
3. Synthesise knowledge from the wider academic literature and practical business sources relevant to marketing and the impact of digitalisation on the marketing mix
4. Critically apply real-life examples to the analysis of marketing concepts and digital marketing activities
Skills
This module aims to develop specific skills in the form of:
Subject-specific
• Evaluate strategic decision-making of marketing managers and propose recommendations to improve efforts at both the local and global level
Transferable Skills
• Utilise market research technologies and software to address marketing and consumer challenges.
The aim of the module is to improve the understanding of people management in a fast-changing organisational environment and labour market context by introducing students to new thinking and practices about how to manage the relationship between organisations and employees. Far-reaching social and economic transformations are disrupting established organisational forms and work systems as well as traditional policies and practices for managing people. At the same time, new organisational arrangements and people management policies are being invented, but these innovations are facing difficult issues relating to design and implementation. The module introduces students to the nature of new emerging people management policies and explores how these can be successfully diffused within organisations.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will have:
1. Evaluate how economic and social transformations are impinging on people, work and organisations.
2. Critically analyse the main principles and practices associated with managing people in organisations, and how these can be applied to address people management based opportunities and challenges.
3. Critically evaluate the relationship between people management and organisational performance.
Skills
On completing the module, students will be able to:
Cognitive Skills
• Generate creative and innovative solutions to complex managerial challenges
• Empower students with the skills for systematic analysis and rational deduction in addressing business problems
•
• Equipped with the ability to critically analyse the context-specific nature of some of the issues pertinent to managing people in the workplaces as well as the challenges of their implementation.
Transferable Skills
• Effectively communicate complex information to address managerial problems
This module is designed as an introduction to accounting for students with little or no previous knowledge of accounting. The module examines the theory and practice of accounting at a non-specialist level by explaining the basics of financial accounting, management accounting and finance and examining their relevance to the broader issues of decision-making.
The aim of the module is to provide students with an introduction to financial and management accounting. By the end of the module, students will have the skill and confidence to deal with the accounting information that they will meet in their subsequent careers.
A detailed teaching plan is provided in the accompanying module outline.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module students will be able to:
1. Critically discuss the nature and purpose of accounting,
2. Apply financial accounting techniques in line with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to measure and report financial position and performance,
3. Interpret financial statements using ratio analysis to evaluate enterprise position and performance,
4. Effectively communicate management accounting information to plan, control and make decisions,
5. Critically discuss contemporary issues in accounting relevant to decision-makers.
Skills
This module aims to develop specific skills in the form of:
Knowledge and Understanding
• Develop a global mindset with cross-cultural intelligence
• Enhance the capability for data-driven business changes and implement effective decisions as needed in a dynamic business environment.
Cognitive Skills
• Empower students with the skills for systematic analysis and rational deduction in addressing business problems
• Ability to critically analyse the context-specific nature of some of the topics/themes within management and financial accounting as well as the challenges of their implementation.
Transferable Skills
• Competence to balance independent enquiry while collaborating within a culturally diverse team member
Normally a 2.2 Honours degree or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University in any discipline (except Business or Management).
Applicants are advised to apply as early as possible. In the event that any programme receives a high number of applications, the University reserves the right to close the application portal. Notifications to this effect will appear on the Direct Application Portal against the programme application page.
Please note: international applicants will be required to pay a deposit to secure a place on this course.
International Students
Our country/region pages include information on entry requirements, tuition fees, scholarships, student profiles, upcoming events and contacts for your country/region. Use the dropdown list below for specific information for your country/region.
English Language Requirements
Evidence of an IELTS* score of 6.5, with not less than 5.5 in any component, or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University is required.
*Taken within the last 2 years.
International students wishing to apply to Queen's University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.
If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.
Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level
Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast and who need to improve their English.
This programme provides an opportunity for recent graduates to increase their employment and career prospects, giving themselves a competitive advantage in the graduate labour market. Our graduates are now playing important roles in a wide range of industries including marketing, supply chain management, operations management, consultancy and general management.
Graduates from this programme have secured roles with employers such as PwC, Deloitte, Accenture, HSBC, Bank of China, Cisco, Tesla, Telefónica, Spirit AeroSystems, and many others. Typical roles include management consultant, sales manager, business development manager, marketing executive, supply chain agent, and senior administrative and management roles. https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/careers/
Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
1EU citizens in the EU Settlement Scheme, with settled status, will be charged the NI or GB tuition fee based on where they are ordinarily resident. Students who are ROI nationals resident in GB will be charged the GB fee.
2 EU students who are ROI nationals resident in ROI are eligible for NI tuition fees.
3 EU Other students (excludes Republic of Ireland nationals living in GB, NI or ROI) are charged tuition fees in line with international fees.
All tuition fees quoted relate to a single year of study unless stated otherwise. Tuition fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Students have the option to undertake a consultancy project for their dissertation and are responsible for funding any travel, accommodation and subsistence costs.
Terms and Conditions for Postgraduate applications:
1.1 Due to high demand, there is a deadline for applications.
1.2 International applicants will be required to pay a deposit to secure their place on the course. The current mandatory tuition fee deposit payment is £1000 International (Non- EU & EU except ROI).
1.3 This condition of offer is in addition to any academic or English language requirements.
Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs which are not covered by tuition fees, which students will need to consider when planning their studies.
Students can borrow books and access online learning resources from any Queen's library. If students wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow them from the University Library, prices per text can range from £30 to £100. Students should also budget between £30 to £75 per year for photocopying, memory sticks and printing charges.
Students undertaking a period of work placement or study abroad, as either a compulsory or optional part of their programme, should be aware that they will have to fund additional travel and living costs.
If a programme includes a major project or dissertation, there may be costs associated with transport, accommodation and/or materials. The amount will depend on the project chosen. There may also be additional costs for printing and binding.
Students may wish to consider purchasing an electronic device; costs will vary depending on the specification of the model chosen.
There are also additional charges for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.
How do I fund my study?
The Department for the Economy will provide a tuition fee loan of up to £6,500 per NI / EU student for postgraduate study. Tuition fee loan information.
A postgraduate loans system in the UK offers government-backed student loans of up to £11,836 for taught and research Masters courses in all subject areas (excluding Initial Teacher Education/PGCE, where undergraduate student finance is available). Criteria, eligibility, repayment and application information are available on the UK government website.