Distance learning Masters | 2 years | Part-time | Multiple intakes
Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT)
Global Logistics, Operations, and Supply Chain Management (GLOSCM) is an exciting and ever-changing area of business. In an increasingly globalised economy, businesses are required to become more agile to their partners and customers. As such, this creates numerous career opportunities.
Elevate your expertise, advance your career, and become a business professional with our part-time MSc Global Logistics, Operations, and Supply Chain Management (Online). With double accreditation from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), this online Masters degree offers an in-depth global logistics, operations, and supply chain management education.
You’ll benefit from an experiential approach to learning, ensuring you’re exposed to up-to-date professional practices. Specialist GLOSCM modules will cover topics such as strategic procurement, international logistics, and sustainable supply chains, culminating in a Masters dissertation.
You will be taught by industry experts who will help you to:
There will also be the opportunity to attend (optional) on-campus sessions for each module.
Accredited by the CIPS & CILT
Northumbria University’s Global Logistics, Operations, and Supply Chain Management degree is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) and also the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT).
Industry-specific skills
Our courses are informed by the latest research and developed with expert and professional body input, ensuring you learn up-to-date and career-focused knowledge and skills.
Career opportunities
Global logistics, operations and supply chain management are key areas for businesses competing in an increasingly globalised economy.
Having an accredited MSc GLOSCM degree could open the door to roles in a variety of areas within the industry.
Study online with support
Study this part-time degree online to fit your studies around your commitments.
You can access support and guidance from your course tutor whenever you need.
WHY STUDY WITH US
Modules
All modules on this distance learning programme are core modules and worth 20 credits, unless stated otherwise.
This module is designed to enhance your employability by developing your team working, management, and leadership skills, capabilities, and attributes alongside key inter-personal and intra-personal skills. You will not only prepare for your career after graduation but also kick-start your commitment to life-long personal and professional learning. The module will also involve applying theoretical frameworks and researching contemporary literature for a more ind-depth understanding.
During the first part of this module, you will complete a self-analysis to demonstrate your self-awareness and self-understanding. A leadership and team-building event, where you will complete problem-solving activities in culturally diverse teams, will provide further feedback on your potential and areas for development.
The second part of the module will build upon your self-analysis to help you explore your strengths, weaknesses, and areas for development in the context of your career development plans. Our Graduate Futures team will help you research your career of choice, using labour market data and other resources, to improve your career readiness. Your understanding of self will help you identify the employability challenges you may face in your target profession or industry.
Throughout this module, you will develop your knowledge of the global graduate market (including routes such as self-employment and career development with an existing employer), drawing on local, national, and international examples.
Global Operations and Supply Chain Improvement is very important for any business leader. It encompasses a range of activities; from product and service enhancement to maintaining and sustaining well-managed supply networks, with a focus on efficiency, quality, and technology application.
To advance your knowledge of operations and supply chain improvement, you will investigate ongoing developments, both in theory and practice, within the global context. By learning about strategic theories, you will gain knowledge associated with internal and external performance improvements that enable value chain strategies to be put in place.
Online lectures will develop your theoretical knowledge, and you will link theory with practice during interactive activities and seminars to develop your problem-solving skills. Your overall learning experience on this module will be research-led through directed study, which involves:
This module will be assessed through enquiry-based critical evaluation of contemporary challenges in a global operations and supply chain context.
This module is designed to equip you with the necessary knowledge, skills and techniques to develop Strategic Supply Chain Relationships. Furthermore, it emphasises the contribution of Logistics and Supply Chain Management to organisational strategy, with a focus on managing innovation in supply chains, particularly international supply chain relationships.
You will examine case studies of manufacturing and service supply chains during this module, with a strong emphasis on relationships within your learning. Consideration will be given to the logistics partnership, supplier and partnership development, making change happen, and developing frameworks for managing change.
An international focus is recognised by consideration of cross-cultural management and exploration of intercultural encounters taken from the supply chain management perspective. Through an interactive Business Simulation, you will gain valuable strategic decision-making experience, including operations management decisions, to reinforce the strategic nature of your learning.
Your experiences on the module are underpinned by research-rich learning, where the academic work of the teaching team and others will inform your learning experience. By linking theory to practice, this showcases enquiry-based learning and the role of reflective practice, that builds on the practitioner and research experience of the module teaching staff.
This module aims to provide you with an appreciation of the synergy between strategic procurement and international logistics management. Focus is given to processes that add value through the production and delivery of services and products in the supply chain, and the tools needed to manage these processes effectively.
The content on this module focuses on two key areas:
You will gain a comprehensive understanding of contemporary approaches to strategic procurement and international logistics management throughout the supply chain. For example, you will be introduced to some of the digital aspects in supply chains and supply chain continuity management and how these aspects can be managed from a strategic procurement and international logistics perspective. In addition, you will be introduced to the advantages of various aspects of digitalisation in relation to international logistics and strategic procurement.
On completion of the module, you will be able to critically analyse the approaches to managing procurement and international logistics management used by a variety of product and service organisations operating in a global business environment, which will inform an individual report-based assessment.
Research-rich learning plays crucial role in the module, particularly placing you as the participant through enquiry-based and research tutored interventions which inform both your interactive seminars and your summative assessment. These interactive seminars also serve the purpose of formatively assessing your understanding of the concepts taught during the lectures and their practical applications.
This module will provide you with essential knowledge and analytics skills needed for you to complete a high-quality Masters Dissertation, Consultancy Project, or Management Enquiry.
By undertaking and reflecting on practical research-based activities you will understand the process of designing and carrying out a research study. You will also engage in activities that involve an understanding of data and the analysis of data. This will place you in a strong position to undertake your own Masters level research, Consultancy Project, or Management Enquiry.
At the end of the module you will write a research proposal, which will be assessed and will contribute to your final mark. When you write your dissertation, you will work under the supervision of a member of academic staff and this proposal will help to ensure you get the most from that relationship.
The research methods skills developed in this module will be critical in developing your ability to collect, analyse, and interpret data.
This module applies concepts of supply chain sustainability, resilience, and risk to contemporary issues of risk and sustainability that impact 21st Century Supply Chains and their associated networks.
Greening supply chains, ethics, sustainability, and risk resilience are key themes which cover salient, local to global issues, such as decarbonisation within logistics, wider global supply chain externalities like Climate Change, and, most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic.
This module will provide you with a thorough understanding of the tools and techniques necessary to analyse, evaluate, and implement best practice to generate risk-resilient and sustainable supply chains as part of a broader inclusive Circular Economy. You will also critically review the principles and applications of Supply Chain Risk Management and Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the context of risk and vulnerability in commercial environments.
As this module is research led and research tutored, you will learn about research through wider subject reading to supplement various management theories presented during lectures. You will also be asked to conduct independent and group research regarding supply chain sustainability, resilience, and risk theories, which aim to expose you to enquiry-based learning to inform your interactive seminars and assessment.
You will design a research project, assessed through the prerequisite 20-credit module, BM9718 Research Methods and Analytics for Business Practice, proposal and will then work under the supervision of a member of academic staff who will give you appropriate guidance and support throughout the dissertation process whilst encouraging learner autonomy: this is your dissertation and you will have responsibility for decision making as the dissertation proceeds.
On completion of this module, you will be able to conduct research and organise the findings into a comprehensive and explicit structure that is critically assessed and is linked to the conclusions drawn. You will demonstrate this by identifying a topic, critically selecting and applying an appropriate research methodology and data collection method(s), demonstrating a rigorous understanding of the relevant theory and literature and showing how these link to the research method(s). You will also critically reflect on how your research contributes to the understanding of the topic area.
This module aims to support your study, language and communication skills for academic purposes in the study in your chosen discipline at postgraduate level. It is designed to enable you to become an advanced independent learner.
The module is supported by a teaching and learning plan which outlines the formal sessions. Interactive workshops will be tailored to address some of the specific issues that you meet within your discipline. You may also be asked to complete some preparation tasks for some seminars but these will be kept to a minimum. You will be expected to identify those skills which you need within your postgraduate programme, and to develop these independently through a range of learning activities that might include extended reading and reflection.
The course information displayed on this page is correct for the academic year 2025/26. We aim to run the course as advertised, however, changes may be necessary due to updates to the curriculum (due to academic or industry developments), student demand, or UK compliance reasons.
Teaching
The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Blackboard will be used for this programme which will provide you with electronic reading lists to guide your preparation for seminars and independent research.
On this programme, modules will be split into weeks and further broken into smaller, manageable units. Your tutor will make weekly announcements to indicate which tasks need completing.
Teaching takes place through online tutorials, lectures and practicals using a combination of video, text, interactive tasks and concept check activities. You will be assessed through coursework, which includes presentations and projects where you can collaborate with other students in study groups which will be organised at the start of term. There are no exams on this programme.
There will also be an optional on-campus session for each module for students who are able to attend.
Entry requirements
Academic requirements
Non-standard entry requirements
If you don’t meet the academic requirements
If you do not have the required technical expertise from either previous study, professional qualifications, or work experience, you may find our MSc Cyber Security Technology (Online) more suitable.
Academic requirements
Non-standard entry requirements
Fees and funding
2024/2025 tuition fee: reduced to £9,460 for the July 2025 intake (save £1,000 on the original price of £10,460).
2025/2026 tuition fee: reduced to £10,000 (save £1,000 when you enrol on our October 2025, or January, April or July 2026 intakes (original cost = £11,000).
Find out more about payment plans, student loans and other discounts on our Finance page.
Access to a laptop/PC and a reliable internet connection is required for this online distance learning course.
Alongside the cost of running this online programme, your tuition fees also cover the cost of providing a range of student services including:
Teaching staff
Our teaching staff here at Northumbria University London are experts in their field, with a wealth of industry experience to help you get the most out of your studies. Meet the GLOSCM programme leader, Dr Mahmood Ali, below.
What career opportunities do I have after completing MY STUDIES?
After completing your degree, you will have an accredited degree by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT).
Typical careers and roles for GLOSCM Masters graduates include (but are not limited to):
We offer multiple intakes, enabling you to apply to study when you’re ready.
Our online application portal allows you to upload your supporting documents at the time of application and your student application number, which you will need throughout the application process, will be automatically generated and issued to you.
Please note that we are not currently able to sponsor International students to study online programmes at Northumbria University London. For more information about our full-time on-campus programmes please visit the course pages on our Northumbria University London site.
If you have any questions about studying with us, take a look at our frequently asked questions to find out more.
Choose the intake you wish to apply for to study MSc Global Logistics, Operations and Supply Chain Management (Online):
We strongly recommend that you submit your application as early as possible to allow enough time to complete all the preparations needed to study your programme. Please refer to the Finance page for more information.
View more information about the application process and how to apply, including guidelines for the application forms.
Information for applicants with disabilities
At Northumbria University London, we are committed to ensuring an equal and accessible application journey for all of our students. Your application will be considered on an equal basis to all other applications, and if you require any assistance please contact us. This website is continually optimised to adhere to accessibility best practice guidelines; tools to assist users with specific accessibility requirements have also been provided. More information is available in our accessibility statement.
ENQUIRE NOW
Dr Mahmood Ali is an Associate Professor an Programme Leader for MSc Global Logistics, Operations, and Supply Chain Management.
He received his PhD from the University of Greenwich, UK. Before undertaking his PhD, he had worked in major corporations in the USA, including Bank of America and Citigroup.
Dr Ali is an active researcher and his research interests include supply chain management, sustainability, logistics, innovative technologies, and information technology.