MSc Managing Organisational Risk and Resilience

Why study this subject?

The fast pace of contemporary societal change has brought the critical requirements for organisations to be resilient. Organisations are vulnerable and exposed to threats and risks on a constant basis and in order to assess, mitigate and manage such events, a robust approach to organisational resilience is essential.

There is demand from organisations for specialists that understand the organisational resilience requirements needed and also those that are able to prepare for, respond to and recover in the event of critical incidences.

The job market for these specialist roles is very competitive and a masters in this area will really help boost your chances of employability (in some instances, it may even be a prerequisite).

There is also great flexibility in studying this course with our students coming from not just the UK, but all around the world.

Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?

Throughout the distance-learning course, you will learn from skilled lecturers within the School of Aviation and Security who have a high level of working knowledge based on industry experience. Our tutors will give you the practical, managerial and intellectual skills that will help you to plan for and respond to risk and resilience challenges.

You’ll have a supportive and flexible environment in which to develop your knowledge and skills and be confident in applying this in your workplace. Whilst the course primarily consists of distanced-based learning, we do occasionally bring all students together and conduct some teaching at our High Wycombe campus where applicable. When away from campus, we utilise our Virtual Learning Environment meaning that if you’re often deployed to remote areas you’ll still have a comprehensive student experience.  

The University has strong links within the resilience sector and is a holder of the Silver Military Covenant Award. We recognise the value serving personnel (both regular and reservists), veterans, and military families contribute to our business and country. If you are a member of the Armed Forces, you may be able eligible to received funding for this programme under the UK Ministry of Defence Enhanced Learning Credits (ELC) scheme – our ELCAS number is 1682.

As a BNU student, you will automatically become a member of Bucks Students’ Union giving you access to a wide range of services that we offer for free. Upon graduation, you will become a member of the University’s alumni community giving you access to a wide range of benefits throughout your lifetime.

What will I study?

This MSc has been developed to enable you to critically appraise a range of strategies for holistic organisational resilience and apply concepts, theories and principles to a wide range of organisational and sector threats and risks.

This has also been designed to give those from military backgrounds, as well as those with security, risk and related practitioner experience, the necessary skills and capability to develop parity of understanding and knowledge with that of mainstream business and wider organisational disciplines.

During your time studying on this degree you will cover areas including, threat, risk and impact perspectives, security management, emergency management and digital leadership.

How will I be taught and assessed?

We've designed this course to make our expertise accessible even to those who are unable to attend on-site. We provide a high level of support electronically using our Virtual Learning Environment. This online learning platform helps you make the most of your time studying and allows you to focus on the issues relevant to your company (as well as minimising your time away from work).

We also provide off campus access to library services, so you can borrow books from the virtual library and access peer reviewed journals as well as access to wider material via our interlibrary loan service.

You will learn through a range of approaches, from seminars to group work and lectures to tutorials. The live sessions are also recorded, meaning you have the option of synchronous and asynchronous approaches to the delivery. Self-guided learning and personal tutor support completes the delivery programme. 

The assignments range from academic essays, reports and executive briefings. We have previously received positive feedback from our students on the approach we take to assignments being very pertinent to the workplace and helps in addressing real-world issues.