Management Science and Innovation

MSIN7001 - Management Information and Control

MODULE PROFILE at a glance


Planning for projects and operations within a business requires an understanding of a range of matters, not least resources – financial and non-financial, quality, risk, and planning techniques. Subsequently the business must be able to measure its own performance. This module identifies and considers factors and issues connected with such matters. It sets in context the use of numbers in decision-making, especially in the crucial areas of risk management, profit generation, break even analysis, and investment appraisal. It explores the nature and role of non-financial indicators, particularly regarding quality and innovation. As such this module provides the essentials any manager should have when planning for a new project or initiative or operation. It sets out a framework for the construction of the essence of a business case for the proposal.

The module organisers are Dr Alan Parkinson and Lynsie Chew from Department of Management Science and Innovation, UCL

Intended Outcomes

By the end of this module, a successful student will have gained an appropriate knowledge and understanding of: 

  • The nature of planning and differing types of planning
  • How to apply and assess business environment analyses, particularly industry analysis, competitor and customer analyses, product/service analyses, and business landscape analyses
  • The nature and significance of quality and value
  • How management accounting information can help in planning for and subsequent control of operations through knowledge of costs, break-even analysis, cash payback, and the net present value of cash flow
  • The role of numerical/statistical information in setting production and service delivery levels and pricing
  • The nature and significance of risk, and how to take account of it in planning
  • Business performance measurement and management
  • The intricacies and challenges of planning for projects and operations.

Module Assessment

70% of the marks are awarded on the basis of examination result. The examination is held in the Summer Term and is unseen, and of 3 hours duration. 30% of the marks are awarded for group-based coursework comprising a group presentation, submission of group written project and tangible evidence of individual contribution to the group work.

Lectures & Seminars

Lectures: 10 lectures x 2 hours Tuesdays 14.00 – 16.00. Lectures commence on 5 October 2010.

Seminars: 9 seminars x 1 hour Thursdays between 09.00 and 16.00. Seminars commence on 14 October 2010.

Reading and resources

There is assigned reading required for completion before all lectures, followed by pre-assigned work, often case studies, to be completed in advance of seminars.

A challenge associated with this particular module is that there is no one individual textbook which is appropriate, given that the module draws its content from a wide range. The majority of readings will be a) distributed to you in hard copy, and/or b) placed in advance of sessions on Moodle on a weekly basis, and/or c) will be linked to specific web resources.