International Business and Management - MSc

Understanding the Multinational Enterprise (MNE) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a key issue in economic theory and business. Since the emergence of the contemporary MNE at the end of the 19th century, changes in the macroeconomic and microeconomic environment, forced multinationals to change as a response to the rise of new technologies and products, the wider international division of labour and of course the greater integration of production, services, and – financial and other – markets. This changing process became more intense after the 1960s when U.S. and Japanese MNEs emerged as basic players in the international chessboard. Accompanied by the traditional European MNEs formed a triad that still dominates FDI in the world.

The changing geography of international production and investment reflects the dynamic interaction of many economic, organizational and policy factors. While many of these factors have long been relevant, their combination today represents the new forces influencing MNEs' location decisions. A simplistic approach of FDI towards location would not be appropriate to allow us to understand the complexity of international investments decisions. What is needed is a multidisciplinary approach of the phenomenon. It is the aim of this module to offer this multidisciplinary approach to students.

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Business failures in the global financial sector, and the subsequent repercussions for a range of different groups, not just shareholders, have put the spotlight on the role of business and the behaviour of managers. Is business just responsible for maximising profit for its owners, or does it have responsibilities to other groups? This raises a number of difficult questions; which groups? responsible for what? And if so, how to discharge these responsibilities?

This module has three main aims:

• To develop critical thought, insight and debate regarding the changing role of business in today's society.

• To broaden your views on the role of business in society.

• To provide you with the tools, skills and knowledge to manage responsibly.

The nature of the topic is constantly changing and evolving; therefore the module will be subject to continual refinement according to developments in industry, government and academia.

Indicative topics are:

• Definitions of Corporate Responsibility

• The Role of Business and Society

• Theories of Corporate Responsibility

• Ethics Theory

• Business Ethics and Corporate Governance

• Areas of Corporate Responsibility

• Firm Level Responses

• Social Accounting

• Criticisms of Corporate Responsibility

• Social Entrepreneurship

• Sustainability

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This module introduces students to the area of global value chain (GVC) and its implications for different types of business enterprises (multinational enterprises (MNEs), suppliers, small, large), with a special focus on key theoretical and empirical academic publications as well as available datasets. GVCs are transforming the nature of trade, and it has brought both opportunities and challenges for business enterprises around the world. Such an understanding of GVCs is vital for managers to develop optimal relationships with their value chains partners, adapt to changing business circumstances, and make responsible decisions.

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Employers are in search for individuals who possess logical thinking, analytical capability, leadership, communication and the ability to work under pressure. This module develops the necessary research knowledge and skills for students to be able to successfully complete a piece of research in industry or consultancy contexts or academia.

Indicative topics are:

• Choosing the topic of interest and literature review

• Research process and Ethics in in business research

• Choosing your research design

• Preparing the research proposal

• Communicating the Research

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Topics are:

- Marketing planning

- The market: understanding and analysing the marketing environment

- Segmentation, targeting and positioning

- Marketing research

- Understanding customers and buyer behaviour

- The organisation: marketing strategy and ethics

- The marketing mix (goods and services)

- New product development

- Marketing communications

- Pricing

- Marketing channels

- Contemporary issues in marketing

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The Global Strategy module has two main learning components:

• Acquiring theory and concepts in global strategy and value creation in today's dynamic environment.

• Application of theory and concepts to the formulation, implementation and evaluation of global strategy.

The aim is to critically examine and provide insights into the practice and process of strategic management within a variety of private and public sector organisations globally.

This course is designed to allow students to develop their skills of strategic analysis and their ability to think about the selection and implementation of appropriate strategies in different industry and geographic contexts and in different types and styles of organisations, including non-profit and public sector organisations.

Indicative topics may include:

• What is Strategy, and Why is it Important?

• The Context of Global Strategy and Value Realisation

• Competitive Global Strategy and Strategic Choices

• Business models

• Digital Strategy

• Contemporary Issues in Strategic Management

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This module provides an insight into the key concepts and theories of human resource management and organisational behaviour in an international context. It aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge for gaining an in-depth understanding of the links between HRM practices and organisational performance and the factors at play when managing employees globally.

Indicative topics are:

• Strategic management and International HRM

• Diversity and Equal Opportunity in the Workplace

• Gender in International Business and Management

• Managing a Global Workforce

• Organisational Culture Reward Management: International comparisons

• Expatriate Assignments and Adjustment Process

• Globalisation and HRM

• International Compensation

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The aims of the module are to:

- Develop an appreciation of the complexity and diversity associated with doing business internationally.

- Provide an overview of the major theories and concepts which have been developed by academics and practitioners in order to understand the international business

arena.

- Offer some practical solutions to the problems faced by the international business community.

- Derive insights which will enable students to effectively play part in managing resources across national boundaries within their organisation, at present or in the

future.

Business in an International Perspective is an exploration of an area that is highly topical within the practice of management and scholarly research. The chances are high indeed that, at some time during their career, today's MSc graduates will work for an international organisation, an international market research company or a multinational enterprise. The notion of purely domestic organisation is becoming more and more difficult to substantiate. The module adopts an analytical and critical perspective to the somewhat prescriptive literature which is associated with this contentious problem area.

The topics addressed in this module will include:

- International business and international trade theory

- Cultural factors and their impact on business, including human resource management

- Risk analysis, country risk and the consequences for trade and investment

- Government-business relations and market regulation

- International organisations and international business: GATT/WTO and multilateral trade issues

- The world financial environment and the multinational finance function: foreign exchange markets, business implications of exchange rate changes

- Corporate social responsibility and the impact of international business on various stakeholders

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The module provides a basic understanding of how accounting information can be used to interpret the financial position and performance of a business in an international scenario. It will also develop key skills in relation to how accounting information can inform planning and control decisions in multinational companies. The key principles and international standards upon which financial accounting is based and the form and content of the main financial statements prepared by different types of businesses, with a focus on public limited companies will be studied. The importance of corporate governance in modern businesses and the financial situation and performance of a global corporation by means of ratio analysis will be analysed as well as the importance of cost information for decision making purposes. This module covers the key internationally recognised management accounting techniques that modern businesses use for short-term and long-term decision making.

Indicative areas of the syllabus include:

• Concepts underpinning accounting systems and financial statements

• The construction of the primary financial statements and their interpretation and evaluation

• Classification and behaviour of costs and their use in short-term and long-term decision making

• Responsibility accounting systems and performance appraisal measures, including the balanced scorecard and budgeting

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The module aims to equip students with advanced knowledge to lead and participate in the digital marketing efforts of organisations. It is based around the idea of digital business models and how they can be used to both attract and retain customers in an increasingly competitive environment. The module will also show how digital marketing analytics can enable organisations to make data driven decisions.

Indicative topics are:

The digital marketing environment;

Enabling technologies for digital marketing;

Digital business models

Social media;

Customers in the Internet age: knowing, reaching & retaining the customer;

Network effects and versioning

Loyalty, Customer Relationship Management and Data Mining;

Data protection, privacy and legal issues;

Digital marketing and globalisation

Awareness of some commonly used digital business applications and analytics models

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The aim of this highly practical module is to give students an intensive grounding in analytics modelling and hands-on experience in using industry-standard spreadsheet software (Microsoft Excel®) to structure, analyse and solve a variety of problems encountered in business and management.

Students will learn how to build practical analytics models using descriptive analytics techniques to visualise and interpret data; predictive analytics techniques to predict future outcomes and trends; and prescriptive analytics techniques, such as optimisation and decision analysis, to support decision making in complex situations.

Students will be exposed to a variety of case studies that will prepare them to be data-driven managers and executives capable of utilising analytics for business value creation. Practical demonstrations will include examples in finance (e.g., optimal investment strategies, portfolio optimisation), human resources (e.g., staff scheduling, workforce planning, employee performance management), marketing (e.g., product development, customer classification, marketing campaigns optimisation), supply chain management (e.g., optimal transport routing, production scheduling) and project management (e.g., task scheduling, resource planning, project completion time optimisation).

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In today's competitive and global economy, companies are turning to project management to consistently deliver business results. Increased number of international and complex projects brings with it a growing demand for project management specialists, according to Project Management Institute (PMI). This module introduces the principles and practice of project management in a global context. The module aims to:

Equip you with project management tools, techniques and management issues, focusing on key challenges that arise from managing complex projects, such as with regards to project time, quality and cost, resource constraints, stakeholder analysis, cultural diversity and teamwork.

Analyse contemporary project management issues and employ a range of established and innovative methodologies for adequate project plan, execution and control;

Critically analyse risks in projects, develop sustainable contingency plans and demonstrate ability to set reasonable and achievable deadlines and milestones across different project tasks with due consideration to economic, social, and environmental aspects surrounding a project.

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The module examines the main methods of marketing communications. Strengths and weakness of marketing communications channels will be analysed as well as their suitability and effectiveness. The module systematically evaluates the principles, methods and strategies of marketing communications. The role of message content, format and source will be discussed as well as psychological processes involved in consumers' processing of and response to advertising. The module will discuss how different marketing communications platforms can be combined to reach specific objectives.

Indicative topics are:

• The communications process

• Advertising

• Strategy and media planning

• Image, brand management and packaging

• Direct marketing

• Digital and interactive media

• Sales promotion, merchandising and point of sale

• Public relations and corporate identity

• Exhibitions, trade shows, product placement and sponsorship

• Personal selling and sales management

• The implications of digital marketing communications are included in the above topics

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This module will enable students to write a high quality Business Report on a management and/ or business related issue which both supports their immediate career objectives.

The module will typically include:

•

• The Literature Review

• Electronic Literature Searching and On-Line Sources

• Using Literature Effectively

• Research Design

• Writing a Business Report

• Communicating Findings to Different Audiences

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