MSc Governance

Program Overview

The MSc Governance program is a one-year full-time or two-year part-time program that provides students with a comprehensive understanding of governance, sustainability reporting, business ethics, and strategic thinking. The program is designed to prepare students for a wide range of job roles in the corporate, not-for-profit, and public sectors. Graduates are eligible for Graduate CGI UK&I status and have the potential to qualify as Chartered Secretaries upon meeting relevant professional experience requirements.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The MSc Governance program is designed to be relevant and attractive to a wide variety of candidates and job roles across different sectors. It aims to provide students with strong subject knowledge and the latest thinking in the world of governance, sustainability reporting, business ethics, organizational and board effectiveness, finance, law, and strategic thinking. The program focuses on practical application in the business environment and aims to develop a sound understanding of the processes and oversight that drive the highest standards of leadership, accountability, sustainability reporting, and ethical behavior in business.

Objectives:

• To equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand corporate financial performance and the relevance of accounting information.
• To develop the skills needed to understand, apply, and critically appraise the various tools and techniques that may be used to support managers in decision-making.
• To evaluate the impact of financial and management decisions on different stakeholders and ensure that decisions are properly made and implemented to maximize value for key stakeholders of the organization.
• To develop key skills necessary to support the development of good governance, risk management, control, internal audit, and stakeholder dialogue throughout the organization.
• To equip students with the skills to provide professional opinion on matters of corporate governance.
• To examine the promotion and reinforcement of good corporate governance across an organization irrespective of sector by ensuring organizational effectiveness and compliance with statutory obligations and good practice.
• To specify and assess the essential knowledge and skills involved in taking overall responsibility for the corporate governance function.
• To examine the elements, processes, and approaches involved in the formulation and implementation of an organization's core strategies.
• To develop students, as future business leaders, managers, or governance professionals, who understand and appreciate the importance of going beyond numbers and supporting good ethical business practices to help companies to sustain long-term success.

Outline:

Duration:

1 year full-time, 2 years part-time

Start Date:

September 2024

Modules:

• Corporate and Business Law: Examines the structure of the law governing business organizations and corporations with an emphasis on the public and private registered company.
• Financial Analysis, Appraisal and Decision Making: Develops the student's ability to critically analyze the financial statements for single and group companies.
• Governance: Examines corporate governance concepts and principles in both national and international contexts.
• Organizational and Board Effectiveness: Examines the promotion and reinforcement of good corporate governance across an organization irrespective of sector by ensuring organizational effectiveness and compliance with statutory obligations and good practice.
• Strategic Thinking: Examines the elements, processes, and approaches involved in the formulation and implementation of an organization's core strategies.
• Sustainability Reporting and Business Ethics: Provides an in-depth overview of current issues and best practices in sustainability and integrated reporting from both managerial and financial perspectives.
• Teams and Leadership: Provides students with an understanding of how to create high-performing teams.

Assessment:

• Formative assessments: In-class exercises, peer feedback, mock examinations, presentations, and debates.
• Summative assessments: Assignments, case-study reports, examinations, presentations, and reflections.

Teaching:

• Weekly contact hours may vary depending on the module options chosen and the stage of study.
• Postgraduate level study involves a significant proportion of independent study, exploring the material covered in lectures and seminars.
• Emphasis is also placed on the use of the student group as a resource for learning.
• The style of teaching will vary to reflect individual module objectives.
• The modules utilize methods of teaching and learning which are appropriate to Master's level study and effective collaborative learning such as debates, presentations, and report writing.
• There will also be group discussions of practical situations and problems, making extensive use of real-world case studies in national and international contexts, simulation materials, and where relevant, the students' own experiences.

Careers:

• Students successfully completing this Master’s programme can be jointly awarded Graduate CGI UK&I status.
• Graduates must demonstrate three years of relevant professional experience to qualify as a Chartered Secretary.
• The Business Ethics practical application element of this programme was designed with support of the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE).
• Staff teaching on this programme are usually either professionally qualified accountants, lawyers, or governance practitioners with relevant industrial experience, or research specialists with wide research interests.
• Students can benefit from external visiting speakers who are experts from the financial and business world.