International Business and Management MSc

Course modules

• Accounting for Managers – provides an overview of accounting and finance issues. You will look at company accounts from both the shareholder and the company perspectives.
  
• Critical Management in a Global Context – provides you with a critical understanding of management and organisations in a global context. The module will be informed by critical management and organisation studies.
  
• People Management and Organisation – provides you with the skills to conduct and critically analyse organisational development, including its consequences on human resources management (HRM). The relevant theoretical principles and models of change management, HRM and organisational behaviour will be considered and applied in a practical management context using case studies and real-life examples.

• Research Methods – introduces you to the basic elements of research methodology and the complete range of methods suitable for research in finance, accounting and business. It also aims to help you in defining a research topic and the production of a suitable research proposal for your dissertation.
  
• International Strategic Management, Markets and Resources – explore the integrative nature of strategic management and examine the contrasting perspectives between competitive positioning and the resource-based view of an organisation. You will also evaluate the impact of the external environment on organisational strategy, behaviour and management.
• Corporate Social Responsibility - addresses both the academic literature on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and explores its application and managerial impact through case studies and contemporary examples of specific local and international firms, industries or issues. While topic areas covered in the module look at transformation of the understanding of business in areas around legitimacy and social responsibility, it also aims to equip you with the understanding needed to demonstrate in the workplace around corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

Plus two options from the following*:

• Creative Action in International Organisations
• International Trade Theory and Practice

• Managing Across International Borders

• Leading Change and Innovation

• Operations & Service Quality Management

• Family Firm Management and Innovation

Dissertation – You must undertake a dissertation, providing an invaluable opportunity to work in depth on an element international business of your choice. The dissertation topic is chosen in line with your interests and preferences.

Note: All modules are subject to change in order to keep content current.

*The running of certain modules will be subject to student demand.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching will be delivered through formal lectures, informal seminars, tutorials, workshops, discussions, and e-learning packages. You may also benefit from inspirational guest speakers, who will bring their own personal experiences and knowledge to your learning. 

Assessment will usually be through a combination of individual and group work, presentations, essays, reports and exams. In addition, a particular feature of the course will be to take part in a state-of-the-art, computer driven business simulation exercise, which will integrate many aspects of your learning and development.

Teaching contact hours

This is a full-time course and in total you should be prepared to devote approximately 38 hours a week to your studies. You will typically have up to 14 hours contact hours of teaching most weeks for semester 1 and 2. Teaching is through a mix of lecturers, tutorials, seminars and lab sessions and the breakdown of these activities is shown in each module description.

In addition each module provides a 2 hour surgery each week available for individual consultation with the lecturer. You may also have some scheduled meetings with your programme leader, personal tutor, and/or careers throughout the year to discuss your academic progress and personal development.

Self-directed study: In order to prepare for, and assimilate, the work in lectures and seminars you will be expected to make regular use of our on-line resources, participate in classroom discussions including on our virtual learning environment (VLE) and engage in personal study, revision and reflection for approximately 24 hours per work during semester 1 and 2.

In semester 3, you will undertake independent research for your dissertation and again should typically allow around 38 hours per week for this. You will be allocated a dedicated academic supervisor to support you, who you will be able to contact on a regular basis.