Course description

Developed in collaboration with leading global blue-chip employers, this course aims to create `the ideal graduate’ whose skills cover the challenging middle ground between business and IT. The uniqueness of the course is recognised by over 40 employers who maintain its quality and relevance to their sectors. Accenture, BBC, BT, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, IBM, Unilever and many other companies help to deliver the course through project work, student mentoring and a range of professional development activities.

Aims

The Information Technology Management for Business Degree is home to future leaders of the IT industry. Together with your outstanding fellow students from around the world, you will learn the application of technology within the modern workplace across diverse industries. Everything on the IT Management for Business programme is focused on the application of practice, enabling you to understand the real-life challenges faced by industry

No previous technology experience is required to join the programme, only a passion for harnessing innovation and creativity to improve the management of IT.

Special features

Teaching and learning

You will normally study four or five-course units per semester. Each week there are usually two hours of lectures for each course unit and a one-hour workshop in alternate weeks, although this varies slightly. You are expected to double this in private study. Group work and group or individual presentations will form a regular part of your assignments.

Coursework and assessment

Essays, multiple-choice tests, project reports and presentations, in-class tests and weekly assignments constitute the coursework component of assessment, although the nature and proportion of coursework vary across course units. The remainder of assessment is by unseen examination. Depending on the degree course, in your final year, you can choose to do a research-based dissertation or project. We aim to strike a balance between examinations and assessed coursework as well as providing opportunities for feedback on progress through non-assessed work.

Course unit details

You take courses totalling 360 credits over the duration of your studies in order to graduate with Honours; 120 credits in each year of study. Generally, one-semester courses are worth 10 credits and full-year courses are worth 20 credits. As your studies progress you have increased flexibility in choosing courses which suit your personal interests and career aspirations.

Course content for year 1

Project work integrates business and IT throughout the degree. Our current first-year project is supported by Credit Suisse and involves developing an application to solve a real business problem. In addition to foundation-level course units in IT, you will also study marketing, economics and work psychology. By the end of your first year, you will have presented your team project to employers at two employer showcases and participated in skills sessions delivered by companies such as KPMG, Fujitsu, and Bank of America.

Course units for year 1

The course unit details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Title	Code	Credit rating	Mandatory/optional
Economic Principles	GA10001	10	Mandatory
Marketing Foundations	GA10101	10	Mandatory
Integrative Team Project 1	GA10690	20	Mandatory
Introduction to Work Psychology	GA10872	10	Mandatory
Software Application Design and Development	GA11000	20	Mandatory
Academic and Professional Practice	GA11030	10	Mandatory
Database Design and Development	GA11041	10	Mandatory
Fundamentals of Information Systems	GA11052	10	Mandatory
Fundamentals of Data Analytics	GA11060	20	Mandatory

Course content for year 2

During your second year of study, you will undertake core course units in Business Analysis, Digital Strategy, User Experience Design and Data Analytics.

What sets the ITMB programme at Manchester apart is our ability to provide you with the opportunity to customise your programme of study to ensure that it fulfils a learning experience that meets your individual goals. Our current second-year Integrative Team Project is supported by Proctor and Gamble, where you will be tasked with the undertaking of a yearlong team consultancy project, the result of which will be showcased to employers at the end of both semesters.

Course units for year 2

The course unit details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Title	Code	Credit rating	Mandatory/optional
Business Data Analytics	GA24621	20	Mandatory
Business Analysis	GA24630	20	Mandatory
Digital Strategy	GA24642	10	Mandatory
Integrative Team Project 2	GA24650	20	Mandatory
User Experience Design	GA24662	10	Mandatory
Fundamentals of Finance	GA10552	10	Optional
Fundamentals of Financial Reporting B	GA10621B	10	Optional
Fundamentals of Management Accounting	GA10632	10	Optional
Consumer Behaviour	GA20271	20	Optional
Technology, Strategy and Innovation	GA20792	10	Optional
Displaying 10 of 20-course units for year 2

Course content for year 3

Your final year provides an in-depth view of big data and business analytics, IT risk and architecture. You will gain practical skills in the design and application of business IT architectures through a core unit developed with IBM, which applies a case study from the global technology giant.

You will also undertake your own final year research project – the development of an IT solution to a business problem which will encompass; investigation, requirement analysis, design and evaluation of your proposed solution. Previous ITMB students have studied a variety of topics including; how large corporations use technology to manage teams across geographic locations and time zones, IT provision in the treatment of diabetes in the NHS, and investigated the implications of the rise in social networking on management.

Course units for year 3

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Title	Code	Credit rating	Mandatory/optional
ITMB Final Year Project	GA31260	40	Mandatory
Digital Economy: Platforms, AI and The Business	GA31952	20	Mandatory
Business IT Architecture	GA32141	10	Mandatory
Marketing Strategy	GA31302	20	Optional
Services Marketing Management	GA31312	20	Optional
Retail Marketing	GA31461	20	Optional
Marketing and Society	GA31621	20	Optional
Advanced Strategic Management	GA31731	20	Optional
People Management and Change	GA31842	10	Optional
Economic Analysis II: Corporate Development, Growth and Strategy	GA31881	20	Optional
Displaying 10 of 15 course units for year 3

Scholarships and bursaries

The Manchester Bursary is available to UK students registered on an undergraduate degree course at Alliance MBS who have had a full financial assessment carried out by Student Finance England.  In addition, Alliance MBS will award a range of Social Responsibility Scholarships to UK/EU and international students. These awards are worth £2,000 per year across three years of study. You must achieve AAA at A-level (or equivalent) and be able to demonstrate a significant contribution and commitment to social responsibility. The School will also award a number of International Stellar Scholarships to international students achieving AAA at A-level (or equivalent). Additional eligibility criteria apply – please see our scholarship pages for full details.

Course collaborators

The distinctive feature of this group of programmes is the strategic involvement of world-class firms within the IT sector who partner with Alliance Manchester Business School to provide input to the course, in the form of prestigious `guru’ lectures, real business problems or projects, and mentoring. The degree has been introduced and directly supported by business and commercial input.

What our students say

‘I chose my course because although I loved information technology, I wasn’t one of the programming types. I also loved the business so the combination of the two was perfect. Alliance Manchester Business School offers additional opportunities to aid you such as workshops and providing you with an employer for guidance from companies such as IMB and Deloitte – mine’s been really helpful.’

– Olivia Potts

‘I am general secretary of the ITMB society, as well as taking part in many competitions run by universities and companies across the country. An example would be the IBM university business challenge, which places competitors as directors of a company across several rounds, and requires you to make decisions about how much to produce and spend on marketing for example. This really improves your business acumen, and puts much of the theory learnt at university into practice.’

– Thomas Anderson

More current students share their experience of studying BSc (Hons) IT Management for Business

Facilities

John S University Library is renowned as one of the most extensive libraries in the world. This is complemented by our specialist business and management Eddie Davies Library which provides a dedicated service to Alliance MBS undergraduates. There is an increasing provision of information via various web-based services and much of your reading material will be available through e-journals. These and other standard computing services, such as access to the internet and word processing, are available through computer clusters across campus in departmental buildings, libraries and halls of residence. Many buildings in and around the campus are also equipped with free Wi-Fi access.

Personal development plans

PDPs are aimed at helping you develop an awareness of generic transferable and subject-specific skills, improve independent learning and provide a record of your academic learning and achievement.

Academic advisors

All new Alliance MBS students are allocated an academic advisor who you will meet in regular sessions as part of a first-year course unit. Where possible, you will keep the same academic advisor throughout your time here. Your advisor will support you throughout your studies on matters of an academic nature, from providing feedback on a practice essay in preparation for your `formal’ assessment at the end of each semester to discussing your PDP or writing you a reference. We also have a dedicated undergraduate assessment and student support centre within the School, who will be your first point of contact for any ill health or other personal problems which are affecting your work.

Student mentoring

We operate a peer mentoring scheme which aims to provide you with a second or final year ‘mentor’ to provide practical assistance with orientation and induction as well as advice and information on any aspect of student life.

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service.

Email:  [email protected]