Sustainable Management MSc

Select your course options:

Summary:

Where Are You Applying From?

How Would You Like To Study?

When Do You Want To Start Your Studies?

Which Campus Would You Like To Study At?

Which Options Would You Like With Your Course?

Why choose the Graduate School of Business

Find out more

The course is approved by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (revalidation pending), providing you with professionally recognised accreditation upon graduation.

Our business and management courses rank 4th overall in their subject field in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2024, with top 3 rankings for teaching, student engagement, sense of community and organisation.

Flexible courses designed to accommodate your work and life commitments with block delivery and different entry points through the year.

About the course

Sustainability plays a pivotal role in modern corporate policy and strategy, making advanced knowledge in the field central to business success. This up-to-the-minute course equips you with an advanced understanding of sustainable business management and allows you to explore the complex interplay between sustainability, government legislation and economic ambition. Thanks to our practice-led approach, industry involvement and employability-based skill development, you can apply your learning to real-world challenges and immersive projects.

For further course information, contact Dr Andrew Grantham at andrew.grantham@beds.ac.uk

Course accreditation

IEMA Transforming the world to sustainability

Our course is approved by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA)*, which entitles you to free IEMA student membership throughout your studies, with access to toolkits, webinars and international events. IEMA membership also enables you to network internationally in building a career and achieving further qualifications.

*Revalidation pending

Facilities and specialist equipment

State-of-the-art business suite complete with £500K of industry-standard hardware and software
Access to immersive simulations from Harvard Business Publishing
Reuters trading room offering live ‘stock-market’ data for a realistic investment experience
Business pods, boardroom areas and IT suites designed to simulate a professional office environment

Industry links

There are opportunities for regional and cross-cultural industry collaboration through networks such as regional Green Business Networks (GBNs) and their wider partners; Luton 2040; Principles for Responsible Management (PRME); and Chambers of Commerce. These collaborations provide access to networking, knowledge-transfer partnerships, and other specialist skills acquisition and development.

Your student experience

We are committed to responsible business management: our courses are aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); we are signatories of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME); and are recognised by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) for our global impact in the sector. Our University has a first-class ranking for sustainability (People & Planet 2024).

Study with research-active academics who have a wealth of industry experience.

Benefit from a course that keeps you at the cutting-edge developments in the field.

With its practice-led approach, the course allows you apply your knowledge to authentic simulations, case studies and projects, preparing you for real-world business challenges.

Develop transferable workplace skills including critical thinking; research, interpretation and evaluation; self-management; initiative-taking; and effective communication.

Enhance your knowledge and experience through subject-relevant field trips and our Global Guest Speaker series, which features representatives and business leaders from prominent organisations such as the Association of Project Management (APM) and TUI.

Explore your specialist interests with a choice of Master’s capstone dissertation, live project and professional practice.

Solve real-life problems working with the University’s Research and Innovation Service (RIS) where you can assist local businesses and SMEs to up-skill and innovate.

Course Leader - Dr Andrew Grantham

I am senior lecturer in strategy and sustainability at the Graduate School of Business (University of Bedfordshire Business School). I am the author of a book entitled Sustainable Business Strategy: Analysis, Choice and Implementation (De Gruyter, 2022).

My expertise is in adapting business and corporate strategy to enable firms to meet internal and external sustainability objectives. The United Nations 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) are the template for businesses pursuing a sustainability policies. My focus is particularly on climate change and strategies for firms to mitigate (become net zero carbon emitters) and adapt (the climate is changing, what do firms need to do to thrive in a warmer and more unpredictable world?).

Find out more about Dr Andrew Grantham

What will you study?

Studying our Sustainable Management MSc course will equip you with the knowledge and skills in the combined areas of business and sustainability. Our unit in Corporate Governance and Sustainability will allow you to gain a comprehensive understanding of global modern and progressive corporate governance in relation to company law. Here, you will critically evaluate governance structures by reviewing case studies, news and events that feature the failure of governance. You will evaluate this against good practice and UK/International company law to achieve corporate sustainability for global stakeholders.

Business Sustainability in Practice will then expose you to business impacts on the natural environment while allowing you to consider how these impacts can be managed to improve the environmental sustainability of large and small businesses to meet its obligations – such as transition to net or zero greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. You will also be introduced to the concept of environmental management systems and the UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) that will allow you to enhance your management skills and assess business and management practices to develop strategic and operational opportunities to embed sustainability more deeply throughout an organisation.

Aside from this, you will develop a good understanding of supply chain and logistics concepts as you examine key issues in the design and management of contemporary supply chains in our Integrated Supply Chain and Logistics Management unit. With this knowledge, you will learn to implement solutions for the design, control, operation and management of supply chains.

Furthermore, you will develop a critical and informed understanding of business environments and the business opportunities within them in our Strategy unit. Here, you will be introduced to a range of tools and concepts for strategic analysis and business modelling that will allow you to assess the strategic position of business organisations, formulate strategies, evaluate options and implement strategic decisions. Finally, you will complete our Capstone unit that will allow you to bring theory and practice together and research a topic of your interest that is relevant to your field of study. To help you with this, you will be introduced to the processes and techniques of research methods while working with a research supervisor to develop your ideas.

How will you be assessed?

The assessment includes coursework to test student knowledge and understanding and to demonstrate their ability to research, apply theories and models, critically thinking, communicate, and work in teams. Also, there is group work where an individual’s contribution to group work is evaluated via various methods, i.e. a set of individual questions at the end of presentations which are video recorded or/and via an assessment of the project logs stored in BREO group spaces. For MSc students, the final unit demonstrates s student’s ability independently to conduct academic enquiry, bring together knowledge and action, relate theory to practice, thereby to solve problems; or undertake dissertation or live projects.

The Course’s various Assessment Strategy includes:

Written Report or essays are used to assess academic writing skills and further test student ability to perform literature or data informed research, to review and evaluate the relevant sources and to use an appropriate methodology in order to analyse, and evaluate the relevant concepts and theories.
Case Studies are used to assess students’ ability to apply their knowledge in the context of specific cases.
Oral Presentations are used to assess presentation skills.
Live Projects are used to assess students’ ability to understand real live business problems and provide actionable solutions to problems.
Reflective Reports are used to allow student to reflect back on their own practices and learning.
Business simulations are used to simulate business problem and provide an opportunity to student to apply theory into simulated problems.
In-class tests are used to test students’ knowledge of core concepts in a given context.
Group work is used to help students to provide essential team working skills such as communication skills, collaboration skills, time management, leadership skills.
Capstone assessments are used to provide an opportunity to student to undertake an extensive research project where students are required to produce an individual, independent research report within the course specialist subjects. Students will have to identify the research question or problem under investigation, review relevant literature, develop a sound methodology in order to explore the problem, proceed with the analysis, discuss their findings and make recommendations. At the end, student viva will be conduct with students.

Students will undertake formative assessment activities; these are designed to support the development of their knowledge and skills. The purpose of such assessment is to enable them to monitor and improve their performance. For example, they will have the opportunity to discuss a report structure before completing the report, to present concepts/findings through presentations and receive feedback before producing a final report or presentation. In preparation for exams, they will have opportunity to attempt revision questions with guidance on how to address these, with appropriate solutions.

Careers

Sustainability has a wide employment reach encompassing as it does environmental social educational and economic fields as well as business. On successful completion of this course you will have the skills to find employment opportunities as a sustainability specialist across the private public and charity sectors in areas such as financial services; management services; consulting; marketing; or advertising – to name a few.

You will also be well prepared for further academic study at either MPhil or PhD level.

Entry Requirements

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area

Entry Requirements

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area

Entry Requirements

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area

Entry Requirements

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area

Entry Requirements

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area

Entry Requirements

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area

Fees for this course

UK

The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £10,000 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees and living costs. Visit www.gov.uk/postgraduate-loan

Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk