International Business Management MSc
1 Year Full-Time | September Start

In this module you will learn about a comprehensive range of research methods and business analytics techniques. This will equip you with the knowledge and practical skills necessary for you to conduct research at Masters’ level and prepare you to complete a Master’s Dissertation, Consultancy Project or Management Enquiry. By the end of the module you will know how to apply both quantitative and qualitative data collection and business analysis techniques. In quantitative techniques you will learn about sampling, questionnaire design, statistical inference, and hypothesis testing while qualitative techniques covered will include methods such as interviewing and focus groups. Analysis methods such as content analysis and thematic analysis will also be covered. In addition, you will gain some understanding of research philosophy (positivism and interpretivism) and research ethics and you will be able to write a research proposal to bring these ideas together.
Furthermore, this module will provide clear, critical, and analysis of data, you will also be able to consider the use of analytics implementation skills, where you will be introduced to analytics software such as SPSS. SPSS statistics analysis is one of the powerful solutions that is designed to help businesses and researchers to solve problems by various methods (geospatial analysis, predictive analytics and hypothesis testing).

Studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This

module is designed to support your transition to postgraduate level study in the use and practice of subject specific skills around assessments

and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to further develop your abilities to read and study effectively

for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your

use and application of language and communications skills suitable for a postgraduate level of study.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding postgraduate assignment briefs.

• Developing advanced academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.

• Practising advanced ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’

• Planning and structuring postgraduate level academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).

• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.

• Speaking in postgraduate seminar presentations.

• Presenting your ideas

• Giving discipline-related postgraduate level academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.

• Postgraduate level speed reading techniques.

• Developing self-reflection skills.

Owing to changing migration patterns and digital media, we live in an increasingly global society. Whilst posing many opportunities for business, the decision to internationalise a company’s offering involves as range of complex business decisions. In this module, you will explore how marketing practices can be applied to global business, and in doing so develop a thorough commercial appreciation of the complexities of marketing across nations.

The module is broadly composed of three themes:

• The Global Consumer: Consumers across the globe differ on a wide range of factors, including education levels, cultural norms, religious beliefs and wider lifestyle preferences. You will be introduced to some of these core differences, explore how cultural values differ across regions and the emergence of a global consumer culture. You will also explore how consumers tend to favour products from certain countries based on principles of country-of-origin and national identity.

• International Marketing Strategy: This theme will introduce you to the various market entry strategies utilised by organisations, including export, intermediate and hierarchical modes. Here you will explore the complexities of the global marketing environment (encapsulating political and economic differences) and developing international buyer-seller relationships.

• Global Marketing Decisions: Once an organisation chooses to internationalise, you will explore the range of marketing decisions that need to be made, including queries over product, pricing, marketing communications and branding. As part of this, you will be introduced to the ‘standardisation versus adaptation’ debate, which considers whether organisations should offer identical offerings across markets or implement a more tailored approach.

This module addresses global contemporary operations and supply chain issues, challenges, strategies and tools and will develop you as an active learner. The mission of this module is three-folded:

1. This module aims to provide you with an underpinning knowledge about supply chain and operations improvement, whilst investigating the ongoing developments in theory and practice within the global context. You will learn strategic theories and gain knowledge associated with performance improvement inside, outside and beyond the organisations that enable value chain strategies to be put in place. The key themes include:
• Global Operations and Supply Chain Strategy
• Quality Management Models, Strategies and Systems
• Industry 4.0
• Robotic Process Automation
• Service Operations Improvement
• Performance Measurement and Benchmarking
• Process Improvement strategies
• Lean Management
• Location Management
• Supplier Development
• Global Supply Chain issues
• Process and product Design
• Postponement
• Global Logistics and Transport

2. This module aims at developing your practical problem solving skills in the global operations and supply chain context by analysing contemporary issues through interactive case study analysis in each of the weekly seminars. You will have opportunity to analyse cases relevant to the various theoretical themes and discuss with your tutor, fellow students and team members to answer the relevant questions with the facilitation of your seminar tutor. Your development in linking theory into practice is supported by regular seminar-based analysis of contemporary case studies that align to the different theoretical themes presented in the modules through the lectures. This practical seminar work further supports your development in team-based research and underpins the module’s assessment activities.

3. This research-informed module also aims at developing your research skills. You will have opportunity to learn more about critical reading and writing of peer reviewed academic journal articles individually and with your seminar group. You will develop your team-based research skills including collaboration, research framework development and oral presentation.

On completing this module, you will be able to demonstrate your developed capability to analyse global operations and supply chain issues, underpinned by relevant knowledge and be able to implement suitable improvement strategies and tools.

This option is offered as an alternative to the NBS Masters’ Dissertation on all 1-year MSc programmes and in the second semester of year 2 on the 2-year programme variants with Study Abroad and with Advanced Practice (if the students select an Internship in semester 1), again as a Dissertation alternative. It is also offered as alternative to the Management Investigation on the MBA.

On this consultancy based module you will enhance your individual effectiveness and employability skills by locating the learning and development in an organisational context. In doing so, you will promote personal and group development, commercial awareness, and a range of inter-personal, intellectual and practical skills and knowledge centred on and demonstrated through a group negotiated real-time work-based project.

The content of the management report will be unique. The nature and scope of the area of your investigation will be defined and agreed in collaboration with the organisation and the University supervisor. The syllabus will include:

• Conducting research in organisations.
• Identifying researchable questions.
• Consultancy and project management skills.
• Research methods and doing a literature review
• Presentation, communication and report writing skills.
• Analysing findings.
• Writing recommendations and action plans.
• Reflecting on work based experiential learning.

In undertaking this project based module, you will critically reflect and evaluate upon organisational practices and their relation with academic theory, and in doing so, provide practical and actionable recommendations through an investigative management report.

The assessment for your module consists of a Group Consultancy Report (7,000 words) and Final Client Presentation, weighted at 60%, alongside an Individual Assignment comprising a Literature Review (4000 words) and a Reflective Learning Statement (2,000 words), weighted at 40%.

In this module you will gain an understanding of the academic skills that are required to produce a Masters Dissertation. By the end of the module you will have written a 15000 word Masters dissertation. The areas included are:

• Justification for the choice of topic
• Appropriate understanding, awareness and critical analysis of existing and up to date literature evidenced by a comprehensive and well-referenced literature review with an extensive reference list
• Selection, justification and application of an appropriately rigorous methodology - including limitations of the approach selected
• Clear statement of the findings of the research
• Critical analysis of the findings
• Explicit links between the analysis and the conclusions supported by critical argument
• Evidence of original work or thought for example in the form or context of the data collected, analytical process or application of findings

The Masters’ Management Enquiry module is a student-led individual project that enables you to undertake a significant piece of assessed

work commensurate with a capstone module and is offered as an alternative to the Masters’ Dissertation and Masters’ Consultancy Project.

The module aims to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate an authentic engagement with managers and/or professionals in your

discipline (this enquiry has to be discipline specific), and to integrate the knowledge you have developed during your programme to explore

the theory in practice. The learning on this module is experiential and problem based, where the focus is upon you discovering, probing and

questioning key practice-based issues. Through the module you will be offered the opportunity to develop and enhance key transferable

employability skills including; time management, project management, communication (written, aural and verbal), negotiation, persuasion and

influence, discovery, initiative, problem-solving and analysis.


The module has five thematic areas; explore, review, engage, reflect and connect. These form the key elements of the assessed submission

which is a single 15,000 word report.


Part A (35%, 5,000-5,500 words)

Explore: Interviewing a manager and/or professional in your discipline. In this interview you will either explore a key issue which you feel the

discipline is facing or, alternatively, explore with the manager or professional the key issues that they feel they are facing in practice. It is

expected that you will apply non-verbatim documented conversation and provide evidence of the key ideas emerging within the submitted

enquiry report (e.g. within the appendices).

Review: Critically examining the academic and practitioner literature to support the exploration, displaying an ability to critically assess and

appraise the knowledge of your discipline related to a specific key issue arising from your exploration.


Part B (65%, 9,500-10,000 words)

Engage: Displaying an authentic engagement with the discipline problem/issue identified in Part A, by collecting/generating and analysing

further live data (beyond the initial interview) regarding the discipline problem/issue. This live data may be primary data (e.g. further interviews

with, or questionnaire to, managers and/or professionals in practice) or secondary data (e.g. industry data). Application of appropriate,

ethically-considered, research methods and appropriate qualitative or quantitative data analysis.

Reflect and Connect: Demonstrating an ability to critically evaluate and reflect on the issues arising from the Management Enquiry.

Demonstrating how you have connected and fed-back to the participants of the Enquiry (usually the manager and/or participants) your key

findings to provide clear prioritised, well-justified, practical and actionable recommendations for change/enhancement/improvement to existing

practice to show how the recommendations would potentially affect workplace professional decision making.

This module examines worldwide integration of economic, political, and socio-cultural aspects of business in order to explore and understand the impact of globalisation on countries, organizations, and individuals. You will develop a world-view of the global marketplace. You will learn how knowledge and understanding of the global environment affect business functions. Special consideration is given to key issues in ethics, global social responsibility and technology. You will also gain essential knowledge of international business management and will learn how to evaluate challenges of organisational functioning in the global economy. You will be engaged in the analysis of the wider impact of individual and organisational decision making with respect to the business environments in major world markets. The aim of the module is to introduce you to the main International Business (IB) theories relating to external environment analysis and demonstrate how they can be used to inform strategic decisions.
You will also engage with key issues pertinent to the global business environment today, particularly as it pertains to recognising global shifts in political and culture as well as developments in emerging economies and least developed countries.

This 20-credit core module is delivered during the first semester of the MSc International Business Management and is aimed at you if you have prior business and management academic experience.

The aim of the module is to build on your prior academic knowledge of business management and explores the new post-recession economic and business environment. It aims to develop your academic knowledge and professional skills in evaluating sustainable strategic options for international organisations seeking competitive advantage through innovation. Contemporary but also traditional strategy formulation theoretical frameworks are presented within the module to develop you as critical thinkers and future practitioners.

The module is designed around five pillars: (i) developments in the new (post-global recession) economic and business environment; (ii) strategic options for international growth; (iii) innovation; (iv) leadership and change within an international/global business model; and (v) sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

This is a 20-credit module running in the second semester of the MSc Business with programme and is developed for those of you who have prior awareness of entrepreneurship and seek a deeper understanding of contemporary issues of entrepreneurship and small business subjects. The aim of the module is to introduce you to the main theoretical concepts of entrepreneurship and small business – Entrepreneurship Characteristics; Creativity; Risk and Strategic Options; Technology Innovation; Networks; Sustainability; Orientation – and show how each can contribute to the activities, success or otherwise of entrepreneurship. On completion of the module you will be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills suitable for strategic leadership roles adept at organisational change and innovation and utilise oral, written and communication skills. The content of the module comprises of a range of components which are listed below.

Entrepreneurship
Introduction to the module; Entrepreneurship; context; entrepreneurial revolution; influences; Differences between entrepreneurs & owner-managers’; characteristics and traits, skills; stakeholders; models of entrepreneurship and critical thinking & summative assessment guidance.

Strategies & Models of Entrepreneurship
The Entrepreneurial Environment, Entrepreneurial Strategies; Objectives and Competitive Advantage; Entrepreneurial Productivity & Performance.

Characteristics and Activities of Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship Traits and Behaviour; Motivations and Values; Growth & Skills; Entrepreneurial Leadership Skills; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Culture; Structure & Control; Types of Entrepreneurs including Social and Civic Entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship Technology & Innovation
Role of technology innovation & Change; Technology Industries Leadership; High Tech; HEI-SME knowledge interactions; Entrepreneurial State; Benefits & Limitations of Open Innovation and Business Clusters, Creativity and Knowledge; Diffusion and Adoption.

Entrepreneurial Networks and Open Innovation
Understanding Social Networks and their contribution to Entrepreneurship. Weak and Strong Ties; Enterprise Partnerships & Policy; Public Entrepreneurship; Business Ventures; Motivation & Engagement.

Public Sector Entrepreneurship
Social Innovation; Public Sector Entrepreneurs; Regional Policy.

International Entrepreneurship
Globalisation & International Entrepreneurship; International Start-up; Models of Internationalisation; Influence of Networks and Learning Theories.

Entrepreneurial Orientation
Entrepreneurial Synergies ; Psychological Orientation ; Gender in Entrepreneurship.

Critical Thinking Skills
The module seeks to foster your critical thinking, analytical, synthesis and reflection skills through developing your awareness of contemporary issues of entrepreneurship and small business to ensure a critical appreciation of the entrepreneurship and small business field of study.

In this module, you will gain a detailed understanding of international trade and the economic environment within which international businesses operate. The module will provide you with the opportunity to review both traditional and modern theories of international trade, discuss sources of international finance and analyse the impacts of international trade and finance in diverse contexts. In addition, this module aims to provide you with the skills necessary to discuss and critically appraise policy issues related to these issues. The module will cover relevant theories of trade and you will be supported in investigating their application to real world contexts. This will be combined with analyses of international and domestic trade flows, institutions governing trade, exchange rates and finance flows. By the end of the module, you will be able to apply the acquired skills to discuss and critically appraise policy issues related to the international trade of goods and services.

The module provides students with an understanding of concepts, theories, and frameworks that are relevant to strategic decision making, the dynamics of global strategy, and enhanced performance in international business. The module combines theoretical and managerial insights on international business strategy to provide knowledge and understanding of what happens in complex international business settings. The module content will cover core international business concepts, and strategic options available to managers. It will also cover strategic decision making in relation to functional areas and how to improve business performance across borders. Students will develop knowledge and ability to critically analyses and apply models of international business strategy to cross-border operations.

In this module, students will analyse the organisation of international business activities across countries and consider how these global connections shape development in host / home markets. The module focuses on key business actors, including multinational enterprises (MNEs), governments, SMEs and multilateral institutions operating across borders. In the module, students will critically examine the processes and impacts of foreign direct investment and trade; explore the theoretical foundations of international businesses as policy and development actors; evaluate how MNEs and other international business actors can profitably harness opportunities in host economies and contribute towards addressing vital development challenges.

The module overviews the past three hundred years of global economic and business history and in providing students with the context necessary to acquire an in-depth understanding of the global business environment, is related to some of the key themes explored within the rest of the International Business Management course. In particular, we will examine various political economic systems – capitalism, socialism, colonialism and imperialism – and their divergent experiences of economic development. We will also examine the evolution of the governing institutions of the global economy such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation – understanding the origins of these institutions is key to understanding how they function today – and how business has interacted with national and supra-national entities.
Through the course’s Learning and Teaching activities, students will become familiar with interpreting a varied range of quantitative and qualitative evidence, and to synthesise them into coherent analysis. A research-rich module is underpinned by the faculty’s world-leading research in business and economic history.

In this module, you will study the concept of place, culture and creativity in cities worldwide.
Our contention is that people make places, and to an extent, places make people. In the module, students explore how spaces become meaningful places for leisure and consumption around the world as a result of what people (tourists, entrepreneurs, residents, policymakers, captains of industry) do. Students will be introduced to concepts on place-making, including the creation of contemporary bohemia / neo-bohemian cultural quarters aimed at the and day to night-time economy alongside creative and heritage industries, and cultural performances. Some of the themes to be studied include the significance of placemaking as cultural production and consumption, from the glossy, large-scale mega-development of event spaces, concert halls and sports grounds to more grass-roots community engaged bohemian entrepreneurs and sole operators.

This module engages you in personal and professional development in order that you develop and hone your teamworking, management and leadership skills, capabilities and attributes, and in so doing, enhance your employability. On this module, you will not only prepare for your first job after you graduate but also kickstart your commitment to life-long personal and professional learning. In the first part of the module, you will be supported in a self-analysis by a range of activities, including the completion of self-administered tool-kits to demonstrate an increased self-awareness and self-understanding. This will also involve applying theoretical frameworks and researching contemporary literature for a more in-depth understanding of self. A key outcome of this process is how you will be able to exploit this development in order to lead, and manage, more effectively in your future careers. The second part of the module contains activities which enable you to build on your self-analysis and explore further your strengths, weaknesses and areas for development in the context of your career development plans. . Furthermore, you will use your understanding of self to help you to understand the key issues and specific challenges that you face, with your skills profile, in relation to your employability prospects in your target profession/industry/sector. This will also include the development of knowledge into the global graduate market, (including routes such as self-employment and developing your career with an existing employer) drawing upon local, national and international examples.