MSc in Management and
Entrepreneurship
Course structure and content 2016-2017
The Cranfield MSc in Management and Entrepreneurship is a one-year programme starting in September each
year.
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Term 1: 26 September 2016 to 16 December 2016
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Term 2: 9 January 2017 to 24 March 2017
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Term 3: 10 April 2017 to 23 June 2017
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Term 4: 26 June 2017 to 8 September 2017
Term one
Marketing Strategy and Planning
This module will familiarise you with the principles of strategic marketing and how to apply them to the
marketing planning process. At the end of this practical module you will understand the marketing planning
process, be able to structure and prepare a comprehensive strategic marketing plan and evaluate marketing
plans prepared by others.
Managing People and Organisations
During this module you will be introduced to the various aspects of people and organisations. By combining key
ideas from organisational behaviour, psychology, sociology, and human resource management, it will help you
understand the “human factor” in organisations.
Managing Profitability, Liquidity and Asset Utilisation
This module will introduce you to the role of finance within an organisation and familiarise you with a number
of traditional and contemporary costing approaches. Upon completion of this module you will be able to
identify how management decisions impact the financial performance of an organisation, understand cost
accounting, interpret company accounts and appraise project, product and customer profitability.
Managing Operations
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In this module you will learn about the strategic role of operations and how to design and manage the
operations process. It will cover the tools and techniques of process improvement, capacity and inventory
management, quality management, and performance management.
Entrepreneurship
This module will provide you with the knowledge and skills required for the management of new ventures. You
will gain a broad understanding of the business environment, economics, strategy and finance across the
entrepreneurial life cycle and the growth, development and evolution of new ventures.
Family Business Management
Managing a family business provides many complexities and this module will equip you to succeed in this
unique setting. You will critically analyse family business life cycles, learn professional management concepts
for strengthening performance and evaluation tools. By the end of this module you will be able to demonstrate
strategic planning skills for balancing conflicting emands, growth, governance and the regeneration of the
family business.
Term two
Strategic Management
This module will examine the key challenges that companies face and the range of approaches they employ as
they seek to navigate complex environments. You will develop your ability to make strategic decisions, improve
your ability to think strategically and apply various strategic management tools and techniques in practice.
Disruptive Innovation
You will gain practical experience of developing a disruptive innovation through a group design exercise that
will be presented to practitioners. You will learn to identify and apply recent, relevant theory to the study of
disruptive innovation, identify a target for disruptive innovation, and understand the importance of a coherent
value proposition.
Managing Business Growth
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Drawing on Cranfield’s long association with high-performing businesses, this module will familiarise you with
the life-cycle of the entrepreneurial business from start-up through to exit, via sale or succession. You will
analyse the personal journey that a successful entrepreneur will undergo in the development of his/her
business and learn to deploy a set of techniques for describing and overcoming challenges.
Entrepreneurial Finance
This is a very practical module, enabling you to assess business plans and develop a funding strategy for an
entrepreneurial venture. You will become familiar with the different sources of funding available across the
entrepreneurial life cycle and learn how to identify the most appropriate source for each stage, including debt
and equity funding and emerging alternatives such as crowd funding. You will learn a variety of company
valuation techniques and how to structure a term sheet for seeking early-stage equity investment, as well as
preparing an investment pitch to raise funding.
Corporate Entrepreneurship
You will learn how a large organisation needs to be structured, organised and managed to keep its
entrepreneurial spirit alive. By the end of the module you will be able to understand in detail how corporate
entrepreneurship can be achieved and how to deal with important issues like vision and values, leadership
style and team building.
Social Enterprise Management
This module will familiarise you with the concepts of social enterprise. You will be introduced to the history and
evolution of non-mainstream modes of social entrepreneurship, develop an understanding of how different
types of entrepreneurs operate in different environments and learn how they are regarded by policy-makers
and other stakeholders. You will be taught to present a clear case for which models of activity are effective and
sustainable and become familiar with the measures of impact used to define the effectiveness of these
enterprises.
Terms three and four
Research Methods and Statistics
This module will equip you to design, conduct and report on your research project. You will learn to articulate
and define management problems and design research that will help you to make informed management
decisions.
Thesis
You will have the choice to write a detailed business plan, or undertake a major research project based on a
real entrepreneurial business issue, for an organisation of your choice. You will apply your management
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knowledge, skills and analytical abilities to real-life situations and demonstrate your ability to research,
critically evaluate data and information and apply tools and techniques to solve management problems.
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