54.009°N 2.786°W / 54.009; -2.786

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Lancaster University Management School

Type	Business School
Established	1969
Dean	Professor Claire Leitch
Undergraduates	2,268
Postgraduates	1,231
Location	Lancaster , United Kingdom
Campus	Semi-Rural
Website	http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/

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Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) is the business school of Lancaster University in Lancaster, England. The school's history can be traced back to the establishment of departments of marketing and of operational research at the university's foundation in 1964. These and other related departments were organised into the "School of Business and Organizational Studies" in 1969. A full range of subjects are taught, ranging from undergraduate degrees to postgraduate degrees, including executive and full-time MBAs, PhDs and post-experience executive education.

Lancaster University was founded in 1964, with departments including marketing and the first department of operational research in Europe.^[1][2] At that time, a deliberate decision was made not to establish a general business school in competition to those being set up in the wake of the Franks report in London and Manchester, and at other universities. However, within five years it was proposed to unify work in marketing, operational research, financial control, systems engineering, relevant parts of economics, computer science (then considered part of mathematics), and politics into a Lancaster Centre for Business Studies. After politics was removed from the plan and a new Department of Organizational Research created,^{[lower-alpha 1]} this became a reality under the name of the School of Business and Organizational Studies in 1969.^[3] In 1974 the name of the school was changed to the School of Management and Organizational Science "to reflect more accurately the school's wide spread of interests in business, commerce, the trade unions and the public services".^[4]

The school remained an assembly of largely autonomous departments until Alan Mercer was appointed to a three-year term as chair in 1982. He reorganised the school into the integrated Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) against stiff opposition, transforming it into a cohesive unit. Later, as associate dean for research, he persuaded the departments to make a single submission as LUMS to the 1992 Research Assessment Exercise, resulting in a top-grade of '5' for the school and contributing significantly to moving Lancaster into the top ten UK universities by research rating.^[5][6]

The MBA course was introduced in 1989.^[7]

LUMS is one of the four faculties of Lancaster University and is situated on the university campus, south of the city of Lancaster. The campus consists of a number of new buildings and facilities grouped together near the south end of the campus.

Within the Management School, the Hub area and atrium of the school opened in 2005. The Charles Carter Building opened in 2010 and provides additional teaching and study facilities. The West Pavilion building opened in 2021, providing new lecture theatres, study and teaching space. From 2022, it is home to the Departments of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Marketing, and Organisation, Work and Technology.^[8]

LUMS has worked in partnership with many companies to develop customised executive education. Partners have included: AstraZeneca, BAE Systems, Bass, British Airways, Pilkington, Rexam, Royal & Sun Alliance and Total. The School has worked with many public sector organisations including the NHS and The UK Cabinet Office.^[9] Through its Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, it also provides business support and knowledge transfer for small and medium enterprises in England's North West region. LUMS was awarded a Small Business Charter Gold Award^[10] in 2014.

In 2005, LUMS partnered with Ernst & Young to offer undergraduate degrees in Accounting and Finance, in which students undertake two periods of paid work-experience with Ernst & Young, in preparation for a Chartered Accountant career. Several LUMS postgraduate programmes have modules designed and delivered by employers – these include Accenture, Deloitte, Cisco, IBM and SAP AG.

Seven subject areas exist within the Management School: Accounting and Finance, Economics, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Management Science, Marketing, Organisation, Work and Technology, and Business and Management.