ObjectivesThe aim of the course is to develop your knowledge of the business environment, especially in regard to the use of information systems and IT related to decision support methods and models. The focus of the course is on the emerging area of "business intelligence" in which sophisticated methods of knowledge acquisition and management, employing IT skills, are used to extract information and meaning from a wide range of data sources held both within and outside a business organisation.
Entry requirementsTo enter the course you need to have one of the following: * a good Honours degree or an equivalent qualification * a relevant professional qualification of equivalent standard, eg BCS Professional Graduate Diploma, CEng, CIM Diploma * an unclassified degree plus at least two years further study or professional experience
Academic titleMSc/PgDip Business Decision Management
Course descriptionThis course is open to graduates of any subject and is designed to equip you for a career in modern business.
In particular, the course develops your ability to think analytically about the nature and scope of business strategy and operations, and the challenge faced by business managers today and in the future. The programme of study develops skills and knowledge appropriate to business in the 21st century. You will experience an exciting and innovative mix of theory and practice-based lectures, seminars, and hands-on workshops. Teaching will be augmented by high-profile guest speakers from a wide range of private, public, and voluntary sector organisations.
The course draws on the knowledge and skills of very experienced staff from business, computing, IT, and operational research, providing a powerful blend of subject expertise. The mix of research and consultancy activities undertaken by staff helps to provide an extensive and interesting range of case material. Students taking this programme will be faced with "real world" problem situations and not just textbook scenarios.
Computing facilities at Coventry University
The School offers a full range of computing services to support the courses. We have well-equipped, up-to-date computer laboratories offering Linux, Windows 2000, CISCO networking, wireless LAN, multimedia authoring packages, web-site development tools, and specialist workstation environments. All students have full internet access and e-mail facilities.
Our students are provided with lecture notes, exercises, case studies and information about helpful websites through our School intranet and our electronic learning support environment, WebCT. Forums are available for students on each course module to interact with one another and work together as virtual groups.
A new Learning Resources Centre provides access to on-line databases, an audio-visual collection, a multimedia CD-ROM collection and is located close to the School.
We offer a stimulating and exciting environment in which you will be able to develop new knowledge and skills.
The School is located in its own modern building adjacent to the Computing Services Centre. The building includes over thirty teaching/research laboratories equipped with modern computers and workstations for the development and use of multimedia, networks, databases, expert systems, CASE, programming language, and web-development. tools. The Coventry Business School and the £16million Lanchester Library are located in adjacent buildings. Our courses make extensive use of the University's on-line learning environment, WebCT, to support conventional lecture, laboratory and seminar work.
Course content
The course requires full-time study over 12 months. It is divided into three semesters and you may start the course in either late September or early February. You will study ten single modules (or their equivalent) during the first two semesters. All the assessments for the modules, whether coursework assignments or written examinations, occur within the semesters. At the end of these first two semesters, if you have satisfactorily completed the taught part of the course, you become eligible for a Postgraduate Diploma and may progress to the Masters project which is undertaken over the third semester.
Please note that modules may not be offered in the same order and that we reserve the right to amend the programme at short notice in the interests of improving the quality of education.
The modules studied are:
* E-Commerce Applications (double module)
* Strategic Management
* Decision Support Systems
* Financial Statements Analysis
* Soft Systems Methodolgy
* Methods and Models
* Business Simulation
* Data Mining
* Research Methods
For the award of MSc you must also complete the Masters Project.