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International Business and Supply Chain Management

MSc

Key facts

Start dates

September 2023

Location

Headington

Course length

Full time: 1 year or 2 years in sandwich mode which includes one year's full-time paid supervised work experience (a work placement). Sandwich mode is only available for September entry.

Part time: MSc: 24 months for UK and EU students

Accreditation(s)

Association of MBAs; Chartered Management Institute

  • Association of MBAs
  • Chartered Management Institute

Overview

Our MSc International Business and Supply Chain Management course is accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). The course will prepare you for a successful international career with either a commercial or not-for-profit organisation.

You will learn to:

  • identify, analyse and evaluate a range of business related issues
  • develop suitable responses to these problems
  • select the most appropriate course of action

This specialism will enable you to focus on the area of supply chain management. You will:

  • develop an understanding of the core theoretical principles of supply chain management
  • examine how businesses manage their supply chains and how these align with their corporate strategy
  • understand how business decisions are made from a supply chain perspective
  • explore how different supply chains operate
  • focus on how the supply chain management has transformed as a result of globalisation.

After graduation, you will be ready jobs such as supply chain analyst, procurement manager and management consultant.

Group of students studying together with laptops

How to apply

Entry requirements

Specific entry requirements

A minimum of a second class honours degree (2:2) in any academic discipline, or equivalent overseas degree from a recognised institution or equivalent professional or other qualification.

Applicants who possess a diploma rather than a degree may be eligible for entry provided they have compensatory work experience and can demonstrate career development.

This course attracts students from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities. Applications are welcome from those in work and seeking continuing professional development.

Entry will also be subject to two satisfactory references (one of these must be an academic reference).

If you’re considering submitting an application for this course, but you have more than three years of relevant work experience, why not consider applying for our Oxford Brookes Global MBA (Master of Business Administration) course? Find out more about our MBA here.

 

Please also see the University's general entry requirements.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language you will need to satisfy the university's English language requirements:

  • IELTS minimum level 6.0, (with a minimum of 6.0 in reading and writing, and 5.5 in listening and speaking).
  • If you have completed your undergraduate degree in the UK (at least one full year of study) you will automatically meet our English language requirements

Please also see the University's standard English language requirements.

International qualifications and equivalences

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English requirements for visas

If you need a student visa to enter the UK you will need to meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum language requirements as well as the University's requirements. Find out more about English language requirements.

Pathways courses for international and EU students

We offer a range of courses to help you meet the entry requirements for your postgraduate course and also familiarise you with university life in the UK.

Take a Pre-Master's course to develop your subject knowledge, study skills and academic language level in preparation for your master's course.

If you need to improve your English language, we offer pre-sessional English language courses to help you meet the English language requirements of your chosen master’s course.

Terms and Conditions of Enrolment

When you accept our offer, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.

Application process

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
Home (UK) full time
£11,000

Home (UK) part time
£5,500

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£2,000

International full time
£16,200

International sandwich (placement)
£2,000

Home (UK) full time
£11,400

Home (UK) part time
£5,700

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£2,000

International full time
£16,800

International sandwich (placement)
£2,000

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

Tuition fees

2022 / 23
Home (UK) full time
£11,000

Home (UK) part time
£5,500

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£2,000

International full time
£16,200

International sandwich (placement)
£2,000

2023 / 24
Home (UK) full time
£11,400

Home (UK) part time
£5,700

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£2,000

International full time
£16,800

International sandwich (placement)
£2,000

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 483088

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

The full-time fees quoted are for the taught Year 1. Fees will be charged for the placement year in Year 2 and are available on request from finance-fees@brookes.ac.uk

Additional costs

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.

Funding your studies

Financial support and scholarships

Featured funding opportunities available for this course.

 

 

All financial support and scholarships

View all funding opportunities for this course

Learning and assessment

We have designed a highly flexible course for a wide range of interests in a variety of different subject areas/roles/sectors. This course is suitable for individuals:

  • from a variety of educational backgrounds
  • who may have no previous work experience
  • who want to further their knowledge and understanding of business and management to support their career aspirations.

You will study a combination of compulsory and elective modules, and choose to complete either a dissertation, a client based research project, or a synoptic research project.

Our teaching staff come from a variety of academic and non-academic backgrounds. This gives you a comprehensive and diverse learning experience.

Our student cohorts are international. So you will benefit from working with staff and peers with varied experiences and perspectives.

Our assessment strategy offers a variety of assessment formats including individual assignments, completing a dissertation, a synoptic research or work-based project.

 

Lecturer presenting to class

Study modules

Taught modules

Compulsory modules

Global Strategic Management

Strategic management is the process by which managers formulate and implement strategies to generate high performance. In this module you will develop your understanding of the managerial strategic challenge; how to deliver sustainable competitive advantage. You will engage in critical evaluation of the key strategic issues. You will consider the wider economic environment and explore why strategy is important, how organisations make strategic decisions through the processes of analysis, choice and responsible and ethical management and leadership.

Innovation, Change and Organisations

The aim of this module is to provide insight into a series of topics that represent key issues around innovation and change and the organisational context in modern general management.  The module is forward looking from the contemporary organisation towards future developments.  A key perspective is the development to date of entrepreneurship, innovation, change and organisational practices making students aware of long-term patterns and cycles, and the way and extent to which the past can shape the present.

Introduction to the Principles of Responsible Marketing

In this module you will be introduced to the key principles of marketing. You will explore the roles of buyers, the marketing environment, and the ways marketers plan, manage, and monitor marketing programmes in an international environment.

Developing Skills for Business Leadership

Successful leaders have different approaches to their work, sharing a range of diverse personality traits. A key purpose of this module is to encourage you to develop a strong sense of self-awareness of your own strengths and weaknesses as a manager and colleague. In addition, you will develop a range of transferable skills which are pivotal to successful management practice. These include decision-making skills, team-working and interpersonal skills and others associated with developing personal effectiveness.

Operations Management

In this module you will develop your understanding of an organisation's ability to deliver goods and services of the quality, quantity and cost that will satisfy customers' needs, while making efficient use of resources. The key principles introduced in this module can be applied to any business sector and function. Issues covered include ethics, environmental sustainability, global business, complexity and uncertainty, and continuing professional development.

Finance and Accounting for Business

In this module you will develop your critical assessment of corporate financial information from the users' perspective. You will study both financial and management accounting covering three areas: basics (terminology, purposes, users), rules and regulations, and business entities.

  • Financial accounting - key financial statements, published accounts and analysis and interpretation through ratios.
  • Management accounting - costing, budgeting and forecasting, budget management and pricing.

Research Methods

This module prepares you for completing high quality, systematic business and management research, and equips you to be successful in your final dissertation or other capstone module.  You will learn how to undertake effective research drawing upon a range of secondary and primary data sources, and will be introduced to a range of tools required for research including methodological issues, data collection techniques and study skills.

Procurement & Supply Chain Management

In an increasingly globalised business environment, the ability of organisations to identify, and then to manage, supply networks and individual chains of supply has grown in its significance. It is of vital importance that both the upstream and downstream relationships with suppliers and customers are managed effectively to ensure value is added whilst controlling costs and ultimately satisfying the customer. In this module you will learn about the key elements and activities within procurement and supply chain management, how this function supports the wider organisation and its objectives, and how these activities can be managed to ensure the optimal outcome.

Strategic & Sustainable Logistics

Physical logistics is concerned with managing and controlling the activities and processes along a chain of supply, from procuring materials to moving, distributing and delivering finished goods that satisfy customer orders. Customers have become ever more demanding, wanting more for less and greater added value. This often involves customised products and services, quick response deliveries, and state-of-the-art information systems. This new era of customer ‘pull’ as well as the globalised business environment, alongside with the emphasis on sustainability, has led to the concept of ‘Strategic and Sustainable Logistics’. Students will evaluate how effective logistics and distribution systems can become key business enablers, and the importance of managing of international logistics systems.

Consultancy Project OR Virtual Global Study Trip

You can choose between:

Consultancy Project: you will gain practical international project experience by working in a team on a real problem for a client organisation. You will develop problem-solving and communication skills as well as the ability to work in cross-cultural teams.

Strategic Planning in Practice: you will apply and extend your knowledge gained within the first semester of the programme to a complex, integrative, international case study company using Strategic Planning software. You will demonstrate a systematic understanding of current business and management issues and the ability to synthesise understandings drawn from a number of key knowledge areas.

Virtual Global Study Trip: this module gives you a hands-on, intensive experience of current business ideas and practices through visiting multinational enterprises and international organisations. This includes presentations from local and international executives, managers and academics. 

Final project - choose one of:

Compulsory modules

Dissertation

This is an opportunity for you to carry out an in depth investigation into a topic of Business Management which is of particular interest to you. It should have an appropriately clear focus and be an investigation based on primary and/or secondary data, justified and supported by detailed reference to relevant theories and concepts from literature.

Client Project

The work-based project is an opportunity for you to link theory with practice. You will analyse a real organisational issue from the inside and provide a workable approach. The issue may be a problem that the organisation currently encounters or concerns their future strategy. You are responsible for managing a significant proportion of your own learning, including tracking and recording your own progress.

Integrated Business Research Project

In this module you will integrate, apply and extend your knowledge and skills gained within the core modules through an international case study and oral examination. You will learn more about the complexity of the Business and Management by synthesising and applying the learning gained in other modules.

Work placement

Optional modules

Work placement

This supervised work experience module is part of the two-year sandwich mode for students who join the Programme in September. The module supports and assesses students who are engaging in paid supervised work experience (a placement) in a role relevant to their programme.  It provides students with the opportunity to understand first-hand how businesses work and to apply the learning gained from the taught element of their programme within a real working environment.

We will provide support to help you find a placement - our team has a database of opportunities and runs events where you can meet potential employers. A placement will provide you with valuable experience, although securing one takes a lot of effort and success is not guaranteed.  You would need to cover your own living and travel costs throughout the duration of your placement.

Fees will be charged for the placement year in Year 2 and are available on request from finance-fees@brookes.ac.uk in May of the year of study. 

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from that shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.

Download course structure chart

Learning and teaching

This programme focuses on experiential learning. We offer a placement module, a client project as a capstone, study trips to various locations, a group consultancy project and invited guest speakers. In addition our teaching and learning strategy focuses on bringing theory closer to practice, to that end we use a number of international case studies, a business simulation game, in a diverse and inclusive environment.

The outstanding quality of our learning and teaching has been recognised by the accreditations we have received from the Association of MBAs and the Chartered Management Institute. These are hallmarks of high quality, robustness and good employability potential for our graduates.

Our teaching staff are academic researchers and/or from an industry background. They have an in-depth practical experience of business and management issues. Our teaching methods include interactive workshops, simulations and lectures from staff and visiting speakers.

Field trips

The International Business in Practice Study Trip module allows you to experience ideas and practices of global business. During the trip you will have direct interaction with management executives and practices. You will: attend presentations from local management executives and experts go on site visits to major corporations and agencies. This study trip is voluntary and you will need to fund all costs associated with the trip. We have also run study trips to Chengdu, Kuala Lumpur and Budapest.

Assessment

Assessment methods used on this course

The programme’s assessment strategy has been designed to expose our students to various forms of assessment, in order to develop transferable skills and create a positive student experience. As such students will be assessed by individual essays and business reports, group presentations, oral exams, written exams and online discussion forums. We have embedded inclusivity and diversity into assessments throughout the programme, allowing students to select the focus of their assignment where appropriate.

The majority of assessments are based on individual contribution, but there is some assessed group work

Research

Business School academics explore core issues facing contemporary societies, ranging from refugee entrepreneurship and internationalisation to sustainable tourism, security and the changing world of work and organisations including the impact of artificial intelligence. We address questions such as:

  • What characterises the interconnections of trade, transportation and technologies?
  • How do we organise for security?
  • How can social media address well-being and social isolation?
  • How can individuals be happier and navigate the increasingly complex world of work?

We also have an expertise in Coaching and Mentoring as well as in Diversity (such as examining pay gaps and gender and spin-outs) and we are always keen to include students into our projects where possible.

Please visit our research pages to learn more about the three research centres @ /business/research/. Being a masters student at OBBS offers plenty of opportunities to be a part of our research culture.

Researcher explaining to a group

After you graduate

Career prospects

The MSc Business and Supply Chain Management will prepare you for a broad range of roles that centre on managing people and organisations. Typical roles might revolve around: Supply Chain Analyst, Procurement Manager, Operations Manager, Supply Chain Coordinator and general manager.  This may be in commercial, non-profit or public organisations.

Many of our graduates find managerial positions at a wide range of organisations, including:

  • companies producing fast moving commercial goods
  • consultancy firms
  • financial institutions
  • retail giants
  • charities
  • SMEs

Examples of these employers include:

  • Amazon
  • IBM
  • Deutsche Telekom
  • Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, EY
  • Oxfam
  • BASF Group
  • Kautex Unipart
  • Raiffeisen Bank
  • Revolution Insurance
  • American Business Conferences
  • Consilio Global
  • Or return to their family business

Our Staff

Dr Chengbo Wang

Chengbo is a senior lecturer who has undergone research into innovative strategic practices in business operations management, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

Read more about Chengbo

Dr Gabor Lukacs

Gabor works as liaison manager with some of our esteemed international partners and professional and accrediting bodies, and teaches on several business and management modules.

Read more about Gabor

Programme Changes:

On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website.

For more information, please visit our Changes to programmes page.