New Master's Programin Management at Msu: From Development to Implementation

The paper reflects the process of creation and presents the results of two-year work of a new master’s program “Business Development Management”. The authors were actively involved in the program’s design and its curriculum development to meet the requirements of contemporary management education. The paper presents the approaches to designing master’s programs and substantiates company’s life cycle concept as a basis for “Business Development Management” program, which involves a combination of disciplines forming students’ professional, soft, and digital skills. Drawing on the results of a first- and secondyear undergraduates’ survey, conducted in January 2023, this paper determines the factors influencing students’ interest in the program and assesses the quality of compulsory and elective disciplines. Finally, it identifies crucial problem areas in master’s education developing modern managers, shapes clearer description of a graduate of “Business Development Management” program, and outlines new areas for management education development. The authors propose to replace disciplines with poor scores and expand a list of elective courses (also taught in foreign language); strengthen the practical focus of the learning process; introduce e-learning modules and the best practices of business gamification, which will allow using the knowledge gained and the developed soft and digital skills without time gaps between education and employment. Our findings have implications both for examining management education transformation and for creating and upgrading master's degree programs in management.