Find out more about studying MA - Management and Organisational Dynamics at University of Essex? We've gathered all the key details, entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Master of Arts - MA
University of Essex
Part Time
Oct 2027
2 Year
The contemporary organisation is characterised by complexity and change. Our unique MA Management and Organisation Dynamics, offered jointly by Essex Business School and the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies aims to equip you with powerful tools to support your development as a future leader, manager, organisational consultant, researcher or executive coach.Drawing upon both critical management theory and the developing field of systems-psychodynamics, this innovative course will be of particular interest to anyone who wishes to understand the complex processes that impact on change in organisations.The integrated approach provides a deep analysis of the way organisations function, the nature of leadership and the way organisational structure and dynamics contribute to the operation of groups and systems.A priority is given to experiential learning. We aim to foster a fresh take on what is involved in both leadership and followership in the contemporary context.
What interests you? Do you want to deepen your knowledge, build invaluable research skills and develop your academic freedom? Your dissertation lets you study a topic of your choosing, in depth, with supervision and guidance from our world-leading academics.
This module is designed to encourage students to think and reflect upon the nature of managing people and organisations. In particular, it encourages students to consider the main topics of Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management. Throughout the sessions, the core issues affecting organisational behaviour and outcomes will be discussed and critically analysed. Therefore, it invites participants to consider the tensions emerging from competing views and perspectives. In so doing, the module challenges many of the taken-for-granted assumptions about people management, and provides tools to analyse organisations and to explore the realities of organisational life.
This module is designed to encourage students to reflect on a variety of issues relating to management and business strategy. It will introduce students to the basics of management such as dealing with teams, culture and organisational management structures. It will then introduce students to managing strategically, covering topics that involve the analysis of the external and internal environments of the business as well as avenues for implementation. Consequently, the module offers an insight into a range of current business issues, management dilemmas, ethical considerations, and general governance issues relating to the strategic direction of organisations. Overall, the module provides an introduction to management and strategy and a critical examination of its application in practice.
In this module we will explore the main theoretical developments since Freud, with emphasis on the British school. Amongst the authors studied you will find: Sandor Ferenczi, Anna Freud, Melanie Klein, Wilfred Bion, Donald Winnicott, John Bowlby, Michael Balint, Jacques Lacan, and Heinz Kohut. The aim of the module is to understand the developments while comparing different analytic and psychoanalytic schools.
You’ll explore the points of convergence and divergence, between critical management theory and systems-psychodynamic approaches to organisations. You’ll develop the means to compare and debate issues relevant in both psychoanalytic and management discourses; will consider and evaluate the relevance and the limits of psychoanalytic thinking for understanding organisations; and will discern and explore what is unique to a psychoanalytic, an academic and a professional understanding of organisations.
What is the unconscious? And how does it influence the behaviour of groups? Explore how a psychoanalytic approach can illuminate the dynamics of groups and organisations. Understand the classic theories of Freud and Bion, then develop perspectives on how psychoanalytic ideas explain individual and group behaviour.
