The Global Supply Chain and Distribution unit explores vertical integration, alternative supply chain strategies, their impact on critical paths and delivery to market, as well as alternatives distribution routes, their costs and benefits and the emergence of e-retailing, ethical issues and sustainability. The development of multiple new routes to market such as the emergence of e-retailing has created new levels of complexity in supply chain management that require the simultaneous application of analytical thinking and the delivery of creative solutions. The unit therefore is fundamentally concerned with flow of product covering on the one hand sourcing and on the other delivery of product to customers, enabling you to evaluate business problems and opportunities arising from buying and merchandising activity across the fashion retailing sector.

Organisations and brands frequently need to be refreshed and repositioned as the global competitive environment changes around them. The Global Strategy and the Fashion Organisation unit provides the opportunity to understand the principles of strategic management and apply these principles within the twin contexts of a global competitive environment and the innovative forces that are re-defining the fashion organisation. In considering these the unit will provide tools and perspectives available to organise analysis, identify strategic challenges and design an organisational response. These issues will be explored through a global lens where diversities within cultural, legal and operational still exist and where technology has the ability to disrupt existing organisational convention. The unit will engage with these issues through the use of case studies, input from key speakers and from your own business perspectives.

The Strategic Financial Management unit introduces candidates to the financial aspects of running a business and how the management of various forms of capital is critical in the formulation of successful strategies. It is important to trace different kinds of decisions from the strategic to the operational by reviewing and being able to interpret financial statements, budgets and the impact that these different decisions may have on the financial bottom line. You will examine how finance and accounting interact and learn how to tackle the main financial problems you may encounter. You will also be able to understand and analyse the accounts of different fashion companies.

The bigger an organisation gets and the higher up in the organisational hierarchy an executive is positioned the more he/she manages work flow and delivers results via other people's work outputs. Creating teams, motivating individuals and managing outcomes therefore become crucial in determining strategies. The Leadership and Strategic Human Resource Management unit will enable you to analyse and apply leading-edge thinking in the practice of HR management in the context of leadership and business ethics, employee resourcing, talent cultivation and development/performance management. The unit focuses on exploring the nature of 'leadership' as a personal attribute and the development of skills that are essential for effective management. Communication, negotiation, presentation skills, team building, intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship are some of the areas covered within this unit. You will have the opportunity to reflect on your current skill set, develop a set of personal aims and engage in actively enhancing the skills that support your own chosen aims.

The Strategic Branding and Marketing Management unit critically examines the main principles of brand management within a global fashion context. In conjunction with an understanding of the fundaments of consumer behaviour, you will have the opportunity to view the fields of branding and marketing in a holistic manner, examining them both from a strategic and operational perspective. Broader corporate objectives need to be aligned with market positioning and branding strategies so that they maximise performance by using resources effectively. You will have the opportunity to explore the interdependence and impact of these factors on business performance via the use of case studies, analysis of theoretical frameworks and discussions with industry practitioners.

Fashion products are by nature cyclical and ever-changing, subject to trends and wider socio-economical influences. Yet a fashion company needs to manage the creation of a product line in a strategic way that transcends short-term fluctuations and reflects a conscious longer term direction. In parallel to this, the complex nature of the fashion industry will be explored to re-define ways in which we create and develop fashion using flexible collaborative networks for global markets. The Product Portfolio Management unit explores how 'Product' (be it an entirely new design concept, the development of a whole range or even a service) needs to be created in a manner that is congruent with corporate objectives and values, whilst fashion ranges can be viewed as a portfolio of investments yielding varying returns according to desirability and demand.

The Consultancy Project unit is the capstone of your course. It provides the challenge and opportunity of applying the learning and skills you have gained during the EMBA course to pursue, with tutorial support, a personally directed research project. The research project will be focussed on addressing and solving a problem within a company of your choice. With a tutor to guide the construction of the report and an expert supervisor helping you focus on the theoretical and practical specifics of your enquiry you will explore, accurately diagnose and analyse a problem within a company. You will use available theoretical models, evaluate alternatives and propose effective solutions. In your final submitted project you will need to have demonstrated your competence in evaluating and analysing the complex factors revealed by your project. Having analysed the issues you will then need to explore a range of solutions, demonstrating a clear understanding of their effects in terms of costs and benefits to the company and its market position. You will finally put forward a proposal articulating fully the rationale of your chosen solution. To accompany your written report you will deliver a presentation to a panel of fashion practitioners and academics.

Learning and teaching methods

• Briefings, tutorials, and feedback
• Face to Face teaching
• Online learning
• Presentations
• Presentation skills workshop
• Industry panel discussion
• Networking events
• 2 to 3-day field trip
• Industry visits

Assessments methods

• Essays and reports
• Presentations
• Consultancy project/dissertations
• Online discussions