Politics, International Relations and Management BSc Hons - 2021 Entry

Course Structure

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and others which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism. We divide academic study into two sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). For most programmes Part 1 requires you to study 120 credits spread over at least three modules which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects. A higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster please visit our Teaching and Learning section.

The following courses do not offer modules outside of the subject area due to the structured nature of the programmes: Architecture, Law, Physics, Engineering, Medicine, Sports and Exercise Science, Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedicine and Biomedical Science.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research.

Year1

Core

• International Relations: Theory and Practice

  We will introduce you to some of the central aspects of the discipline of International Relations, providing a firm grounding in the major concepts and debates necessary to understand the modern world of international politics. You will have the opportunity to learn about: the dominant features and power relations of the contemporary global system; the nature of sovereignty and security, their expression and limitations; the real-world problems confronting the international community today.

  Areas of study typically include:

  + International Relations Theory: the study of how relations between states can and should be viewed and theorised, Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism and Feminism.

  + Regional Studies: the study of some of the key regions of the world, and the politics of their interactions.

  + International Institutions and Law: the international organisations, customs, and rules that govern inter-state relationships.

  + Global Politics and Belief: the study of how religious and ideological belief can shape international politics and the relation of states.

  + International Crises: the study of pressing issues confronting the international community, such as environmental collapse, technological advance, the rise of non-state actors, and terrorism.

  + International Relations and the Domestic: the study of how the domestic agendas can shape and influence international politics.

  Because of the increasing interdependence of the national and global, domestic politics and international relations can no longer be properly understood in isolation from one another. To ensure the best possible foundation for a degree in International Relations, in first year, we strongly recommend you also take Politics in the Modern World.

• Management and Organisation in Context

  The aim of this course is to introduce students to the fascinating world of management and organisation(s) via a series of lectures and seminars and reading groups.

  Over a period of ten weeks, we will attempt to familiarise ourselves with some of the main themes and issues that make up our ‘organised’ world. Our main objective will be to map out the ways in which we understand ourselves in relation to work, management and organisations. In order to so, we will attempt to trace how the meaning we give to these important themes has developed historically. To do so, we will analyse the thought of some of their main critics and contributors.

  The course begins by providing a perspective on capitalism (as the social order in which the forms of managing and organising we are interested in takes place), before moving on to look at management more concretely and ends with a focus on people (both managers and workers) in contemporary organisations and society.

• Management, Organisations and Work: Key Issues and Debates

  This module aims to provide you with a broad introduction to management covering a wide range of topics that are relevant to work, business and organisations. The module begins by locating organizations, work and technology in a broad historical context. It considers the meaning of work and different debates regarding alienation and technology. It then introduces different metaphors through which we can understand and analyse organisations. Finally, it considers the changing nature of employment relations by considering the shift from industrial relations to Human Resource Management (HRM). The module is constructed to encourage you to think critically and to reflect upon taken-for-granted assumptions about the world of work and management’s role in relation to it. As a means to achieve this, the second part of the course explores the contemporary issue of human resource management and development which fundamentally contributes to the development of employee-engaged and productive organisations. The final part of the module continues the theme of encouraging critical reflection and explores key issues and debates related to gig employment, globalization, sustainability and business ethics that are intimately related to management. Many of these debates and issues will be explored in greater depth in subsequent OWT modules (e.g. OWT.223 Human Resource Management, OWT.226 Management and Information Technology, and OWT.229 Business Ethics).

• Politics in the Modern World

  You’ll be introduced to some of the key themes in the study of modern politics, and will have the chance to gain critical insight into the nature and use of political power in the contemporary world. You will learn about: the foundations of the modern nation-state, and the ways in which our institutions can reflect or fail to meet the ideals of liberal democracy; the behaviour of individuals and groups in political contexts; the workings of national constitutions and international organisations; the interaction of global events and domestic agendas.

  Areas of study typically include:

  + Political Theory: the study of the scope, nature, and justification of state authority, and the history of political thought.

  + British Politics: the study of the theory, and political reality, of British governance in the twenty-first century.

  + Comparative Politics: the study of the various institutions of the nation-state, in a comparative context.

  + Ideologies: the study of political ideologies such as (neo-)liberalism, (neo-)conservatism, socialism, and fascism, their cohesiveness and social/political function.

  + Political Behaviour: the study of the ways in which agents and groups engage with politics in the age of mass and social-media.

  + Politics and Religion: the study of the relevance of religion to politics in contemporary society.

  + Politics in a Global World: the influence of global movements and events on domestic and international politics.

  Because of the increasing interdependence of the national and global, domestic politics and international relations can no longer be properly understood in isolation from one another. To ensure the best possible foundation for a degree in Politics, in first year, we strongly recommend you also take International Relations: Theory and Practice.

Year2

Core

• Business Ethics

  The main aim of this module is to provide students with a critical understanding of the ethical dilemmas that are associated with business and management. It will examine the various ways in which we make sense and speak about ethics, how questions of right and wrong occur and what responses they elicit. In simpler terms, if we describe ethics as being about sorting out right from wrong, our interest is on what constitutes ethical conduct, and on who the appropriate agent of this conduct might be. A critical understanding means that this module does not aim at providing answers or tools that would solve the various problems of ethics or that would guarantee the ethical behaviour of managers.

Optional

• China's International Relations

  This module focuses on the international relations of one of the most influential actors in world politics: China. The module explores the key question of when and how China’s actions conform with – and diverge from – various international relations (IR) theories. In the module, you have the opportunity to gain a broad understanding of how China’s foreign policies are made, its relations with its neighbours in East Asia, with international organizations, and with other global powers including Britain. At the same time, you can gain a deeper, more concrete understanding of the uses and limitations of IR theory in explaining global politics.

• Funding Entrepreneurial Ventures

  This module will provide you with an insight into the funding process for new ventures or projects. Topics will include funding sources, as well as the challenges and strategies for funding. A variety of funding sources will be discussed, including bank loans, venture capital and crowdfunding. The module will focus on what makes a good case for funding and the challenges that you might face. The module will also integrate practice which will help you develop skills that will be valuable in your future career.

• Human Resource Development

  Human Resource Development (HRD) is a dynamic and evolving area that is part of Human Resource Management (HRM). This module follows on from the Human Resource Management module and assumes the centrality of the self in managerial discourses. Where HRM focuses on a wide range of processes that deal with the needs and activities of people in an organisation, within those processes HRD in the new economy is concerned with the theory and practice related to training, learning and development for both the benefit of individuals and the organisation. In 1989 McLagan proposed that HRD comprises of three main areas: Training and Development; Organisational Development and Career Development.

  This module will take McLagan's three themes and offer a contemporary look at the tensions that occur when human resources (people) are exhorted through particular managerial discourses.

• Human Resource Management

  The aim of these two modules (223 and 224), which can be taken both separately as well as in combination (which we strongly advise), is to understand how the elementary functions of HRM unfold, and why they do so in certain ways nowadays compared to, say, thirty years ago.

  At one level, HRM seems very simple: it is a combination of (a) recruitment and selection, (b) control and motivation, (c) training and development, (d) strategy and planning. It is a function which mediates between organisations and people. How complicated can that be? The answer is that it is as complicated as the central objects of such practices – the human and work – are: namely, extremely complicated.

  The reason HRM is endlessly complicated (i.e. there never is an end to the central question to which it has to answer, namely what is work?) lies in the simple fact that the relationship between work as effort and efficiency as the rationality of work is always indeterminate. How much is an hour of work worth? How much should I be paid so that work is ‘fair’, or ‘just’? These essential questions cannot be answered in themselves – they depend on an endless list of other crucial questions – such as, what is it that I have to do? For what should I be paid? What counts as the work that is covered by an employment contract? Where does effort begin and end? What does it mean for instance to be committed to one’s job, company, or team – in terms of effort? How do we account for sentiments in work? What does it mean to be creative, or innovative? Are these part of the employment contract? How much commitment is one contracted to feel?

  These and all the other aspects of HRM have become its language and the objects of its practices; human work and human being have become entangled in management in very complicated forms in the last thirty years. You will be the subjects of these practices and will have to understand what is going on in them and how the simple question what is worth doing in the context of contemporary work? is asked and answered today.

  This means that HR practices in contemporary organisations (private, public, large or small) can only be understood if you will understand something much more fundamental, much more profound and much more enabling: the cultural conditions and resources that make these practices possible at all. You will need to understand how these practices are structured from a cultural viewpoint, from the point of view of the social imaginaries that make them possible.

• International Relations and Politics of the Asia Pacific

  The aim of this module is to look at some of the main political and economic trends and security concerns of the Asia Pacific. The term, ‘Asia Pacific’ is a contested term but here it refers primarily to countries from both South Asia and East Asia. The module will introduce you to issues/debates in Asian politics and cover topics like Asian nationalism, Asian democracy, Asian regionalism, Asian bureaucracy and governance, gender and sexuality in Asia, Asian values and Asian security. Typically, the module takes a strong case studies approach and most lectures will be backed by a single case study from the region.

• International Relations, Security and Sustainability

  The module explores some of the main theoretical foundations to International Relations, including realism and neo-realism, liberalism, and social constructivism and critical IR. We also explore how complexity theory relates to these theories. The second section focuses on some of the major international events of the 20th and early 21st centuries and how these relate to and interact with the development of international relations theories. The final weeks of the module focus on key relevant topics and developments including issues such as international political economy, debates relating to human/environmental sustainability and the impact of climate change and the practicality of an ethical foreign policy.

• Issues in Contemporary Political Philosophy

  This module will consider some of the major issues currently being debated by political philosophers and political theorists. Specific topics may change from year to year, but issues usually covered include some of the following:

  • - State power and citizens’ obligations
  • - Equality between social groups
  • - Material equality
  • - Environmental politics
  • - Public goods and state action
  • - Politics and regulation of business activity
  • - Global justice
• Management and the Natural Environment: Ethics and Sustainability I

  The module focuses upon the relationships between management theory, practice and the natural environment. The first part of the module examines how management have conceptualised the range of environmental issues which have emerged since the rise of industrial society. We then consider different aspects of sustainability focusing upon ecological modernisation, consumerism and waste management. There is a sharp focus throughout the implications for policy making.

  Learning outcomes

  On successful completion of this module students should normally have:

  • A broad but critical understanding of the complex interrelationships between management in contemporary organizations and their social, cultural and physical environments.

  • Improved their ability to relate key ideas and theoretical frameworks such as those presented in this module to the ongoing social and intellectual controversies concerning management and its place in the modern world.

• Managing Knowledge, Data and Information Systems

  This module examines several of the transformations that have arisen in contemporary organisations as a result of the introduction and use of information systems. In order to consider how information systems have been implicated in these transformations, this course will focus on three themes:

  • Knowledge Management and Information Communication Technologies (ICTs)
  • Informational devices and their mobilities
  • The ethical dimensions of managing information and information systems

  Each of these themes have been important in the study of the role of information systems within organisations. For each theme, one or more cases and/or readings will be introduced and discussed in detail over the course of ten two-hour interactive lectures. This will enable students to (1) familiarise themselves with key historical and contemporary developments, (2) to explore the challenges that the introduction of different forms of information systems may pose, and (3) to consider the scope for management action in response to these challenges. Students are required to produce an assessed group presentation and to sit an exam in the summer. The aim of both the lectures and these forms of assessment is to enable students to develop techniques, methods of analysis and research expertise relating to the place of information systems in contemporary organisations. By the end of the course, students should have enhanced their understanding of relevant theoretical and practical issues that arise, as well as having developed their critical and analytical skills.

• Managing People at Work

  This module outlines how the management of people is approached and understood within different cultural, economic and political contexts. It will review to what extent the meanings, strategies and practices of managing work and workers have changed over the last couple of decades. Particular emphasis is thereby placed on the exploration of the social, temporal and spatial dimensions of managing and regulating work within the organizational context and beyond.

  Overall, the module aims to outline the organizational as well as individual challenges, ambiguities and complexities that are concomitant with current modes of managing workers and employees. We will cover topics such as bureaucratic and entrepreneurial forms of work organization, creative knowledge work and workers, employee subjectivity and identity, normative forms of power and control, as well as ethico-political aspects of contemporary management.

• Networking for Entrepreneurship

  The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the importance of networks for entrepreneurship. At the same time, the course will outline key ideas and concepts underpinning networks/networking for entrepreneurship. Based on these key ideas, you will have an opportunity to practice and develop your own networking skills.

• Organisational Psychology

  This course is concerned with major theories in social psychology and related social sciences that have guided the organisation and design of work.

  In this module students should develop an understanding of the importance of the role of psychology in the development of people management techniques and practices. They will also develop an understanding of the historical development of psychology, with specific reference to the relevance of psychological expertise to the effective management of organisations.

• Politics and History of the Middle East

  In the few years that have passed, the Middle East has experienced momentous changes. Most notable of these changes are the so-called ‘‘Arab Spring’’ uprisings, which started in late 2010, and the following consequences of these uprisings on the international relations of the region. Topics include the early emergence of Arab states, origins and sustainability of authoritarian regimes, state types and personality cult, masculinity and constructions of identity and belonging, women’s movements, social mobilization and the Arab uprisings. The module offers you the opportunity to engage with some of the most important themes in the study of the politics of the Middle East and to locate and contextualise them within wider debates and scholarship of international politics

• Power in British Politics: The Role of the Prime Minister

  This module explores British politics by focusing on the role of its central figure – the Prime Minister. Judging by media coverage, it would seem that the Prime Minister dominates the decision-making process, dwarfing other institutions such as the Cabinet, Parliament and the judiciary. But does this impression reflect reality? Does Britain really have a system of ‘Prime Ministerial’ – or, as some commentators have claimed – even ‘Presidential’ government? The module attempts to answer these crucial questions through case-studies of recent Prime Ministers and an examination of the sources of Prime Ministerial power, such as the ability to appoint ministers, to influence public opinion and to shape Britain’s foreign policy.

• Public Policy

  The goal of this module is to introduce you to some of the key concepts of public policy both in theory and practice. The module is designed to give you a rich understanding of the actors, mechanisms and processes that underpin public policymaking, as well as a comprehensive overview of different public policies. The module aims to enable you to identify how and why public policy is made, the actors and factors that explain policy outputs and policy failures, and to be able to assess the explanatory power of different theories that seek to explain differences in policy outputs. In addition, you will also assess policy outcomes associated with different policies and policymaking regimes. In this module, you will have the opportunity to gain an understanding of a range of public policies as well a comprehensive understanding of a specific public policy arena, including the debates surrounding such policy, through their policy briefing assessment. In this module we will touch on a number of questions and themes related to public policy, including why does policy change? Who makes public policy? How can we explain differences in policy outputs? What explains the gap between policy outputs and outcomes (or policy failure)? How do ideas shape policy? Are differences in public policies a consequence of different cultures, economic conditions, political institutions or interest group pressures? How are policy problems defined?

• Research Methods in Management

  The course provides students with general knowledge and understanding concerning social research and particular methods and methodologies that lie within the positivist and interpretivist paradigms. It is primarily aimed at students from across the management school that are planning to undertake an industrial placement and/or a dissertation in their final year of study. This module helps to prepare you to undertake your own research with a view to highlighting different research approaches and techniques that are used in the production of knowledge.

  The module provides an insight into the various ways research can be undertaken and the implications of different approaches. We will examine the conceptual and practical complexities of undertaking research in practice. Initially you will be introduced to research methods and that are most commonly employed in business and management research. The module will then examine the methodological approaches and paradigms that are linked with these methods and the assumptions that underpin positivistic and interpretivist approaches. The final part of the module explores how this understanding can be used in writing your research proposal and dissertation.

• The Changing Role of Management

  In OWT 228 we look at the changing role and position of management and managers in organisations and society. Much of modern analysis of management emphasises a change in forms of management control from traditional authority through vertical hierarchical forms to ones which are more horizontal and look to incorporate employees into the organisation and its goals in ever closer ways. This happens for example through attempts to align employees identities, emotions and interests with commitment to the organisation: the much discussed capturing of hearts and minds. Another aspect of this is the manipulation of meaning in order to facilitate this identification of employee and organisation, usually discussed as the corporate culture movement. Together these can be taken as two significant aspects of modern management the management of meaning and the management of identity - which feature little in traditional management texts that emphasise management as the co-ordination of tasks and the control and deployment of resources.

  However, it is important to see management and managers within the light of organisation analysis. Managers are not the autonomous agents they are often portrayed, first because they are also employees themselves (albeit in the position of formally representing the interests of capital), and second, they are also subject to organisational structures, cultures and power relations. Perhaps especially in the light of managerial control designed around commitment, integration and identification with the organisation, managers are tied in by the very control strategies that they themselves are promoting. However, as we shall see, there are also important tensions between the changing context of management and these forms of control which can lead to unintended consequences such as impression management and various forms of resistance.

  Thus this module focuses on how management is a social process, and what this means for the lived experience of doing management. In exploring this we look at topics which are relevant for the day-to-day experience of managers, although rarely are these addressed in conventional management textbooks: issues such as humour, diversity, impression management and emotional management.

• The Government of the United States

  The aim of this module is to familiarise you with some of the key institutions of American governance. The module begins with an analysis of the US Constitution and the developmental history of American state-building. We then examine some of the major institutions of the federal government: Congress, the presidency, the federal bureaucracy, and the federal courts. Subsequently, the module turns to organised actors who operate within these institutions: political parties and interest groups. It will be in these weeks that we will explore the increasingly important economic and other social factors shaping policy influence. Finally, the module moves out of Washington to consider how governance operates in the American states and localities.

• The Politics of Race

  Race has played a central role in shaping the political agendas of many nations around the world – and has acted both as a mechanism of political exclusion and as a form of politicised identity. In this module we critically examine the notion of race, and its connection to the politics of ethnicity, religious identity, and class. We examine the role race has played, and continues to play, in the determination of domestic and international politics. We look at the way in which race is politicised and de-politicised, and consider the nature of various forms of racism that exist in politics.

• Understanding Liberty: Theory and Practice

  This module explores a range of ideas which are central to any understanding of politics. In this module we will focus on the relationship between negative and positive accounts of liberty. We will examine and discuss the distinction between the two accounts, and apply those accounts to the analysis of the work of Hayek and Mill, as well as advancing the capacity for essay writing skills. This module aims to develop an understanding of some of the key ideas of the thinkers under review, and the ability to assess the contribution that these thinkers have made to our wider understanding of politics. We also aim to enable you to recognise the relevance of these thinkers to our current political debates and the ability to employ their ideas within them. You will also have the opportunity to build on your ability to evaluate the key features of an argument, the confidence to express your own views and evaluate the response of others.

• Work Based Learning

  This module, is scheduled for one week in the Lent Term of Year 2 and is the first in a series of compulsory modules designed for students undertaking a placement in Year 3.

  This first module takes the form of a number of lectures, workshops and seminars and combines academic work with work-based learning and careers knowledge of placement opportunities in preparation for the placement year.

Year3

Core

• Business and Management in the 21st Century: Central Questions in the Global Economy, Ecology and Ethics

  The underlying objectives of this module are to explore how management and business can be treated as a global phenomenon – in other words, that management and business are not merely a collection of techniques from several disciplines, but rather have a coherent cultural core which corresponds to a system of values that have to be grasped and understood if management and business are to make sense at all. We will investigate some of the key themes of current management and business agendas in order to equip you with a wider understanding of the complex problems you are likely to face in your professional lives. First, we will examine together how the 21st Century is characterised by what has come to be known as the Knowledge Economy and examine the global reach of management. The idea of a new kind of global economy in which personal, organisational and social success is divided by the ability to access, mobilise and produce knowledge sets up a complicated, tense context for managerial work and asks new kinds of questions about the object and implications of management. Following on from this theme, we will consider some of the reactions in management and business to unprecedented environmental challenges, as well as the major ethical issues and demands facing business today and in the coming decades.

Optional

• Africa and Global Politics

  This module provides a historical and thematic introduction to the issues facing Africa in the international system today. The module is divided into two sections. The first section explores the historical incorporation of the continent into the emerging international system centred on Europe from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. We focus on the impact of colonialism and independence in terms of the economy, the state and the politics of race and the implications these have for the region’s prospects for democracy and development today. The second section looks at key contemporary issues and agents shaping the continent. The latter includes ‘top-down’ actors such as the Chinese state, as well as grassroots actors such as unionised South African workers.

• Britain in the World

  This module presents a detailed analysis of the major developments in British foreign policy since 1945. It explains these developments within a global context, offering rival interpretations of Britain’s changing role and status – issues whose importance has been underlined by the debates surrounding the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum. The major themes include: the consequences of Britain’s participation in the Second World War; the retreat from Empire after 1945; the ‘special relationship’ with the United States; and the prolonged attempt to redefine Britain’s global role in the context of perceived economic and geopolitical decline.

• Business Model Innovation

  This module takes a practical approach to help you understand and design business models. This module has been developed to provide you with a theoretical basis as well as cutting-edge tools and frameworks for business model design and innovation for both start-ups, and established organisations,which you will apply to real-life organisations.

• Contemporary Issues in Human Rights

  This module introduces you to human rights as a political and legal concept. It provides a critical overview of contemporary debates in the field, without losing sight of key theoretical questions. What are human rights? What is their source? In what sense are they ‘universal’ and ‘inalienable’? Following a discussion of philosophical and historical foundations the module will examine the post-World War II international legal regime for the protection of human rights. We will explore the political implications of enshrining human rights at the international level, and engage with questions of culture and diversity, development and globalization, poverty and health. You will have the opportunity to research and discuss such issues as gender-based violence, torture in the ‘war on terror’, treatment of refugees and asylum seekers and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. These empirical case studies of recent human rights struggles and controversies, will shed light on the complexity of global human rights politics in the early 21st century.

• Ethical Responsibility in Business

  The objective of this module is to attempt to develop moral sensibility and practical reasoning in the context of managerial everyday action in organisations. It will be concerned with morality in action, as it happens, rather than a removed reflection on codes and principles of ethics.

  The module seeks to show that ethics in action is diffused and difficult. Nevertheless, managers and employees have a responsibility to ‘work it out’ for themselves. It is this ‘how to work it out’ that the module will keep as its focus. A number of case studies will be used as a basis for developing a moral sensibility so that managers will be able to act in a morally appropriate manner as part of their ongoing organisational action.

• Family Business

  This course tackles the overarching question: How can family enterprises achieve a match between internal organisational capabilities and external environmental conditions that facilitates improved performance, potentially across generations? The module will enable you to develop management and practical skills by confronting theory with practice through case study material and direct contact with family business owners.

• Franchising

  This module seeks to develop your familiarity with current theory and research while also allowing you to gain practical knowledge of franchise organisations. It explores the role, structure and probable future of franchising in the global economy and critically examines the management issues involved in founding and developing a franchise network.

  Other topics considered include the expansion of franchising and the nature of the franchisor/franchisee relationship. The module also involves a role-play activity in which you play the part of a potential franchisee looking to invest in a franchise organisation.

• Gender and Entrepreneurship in a Global Context

  The module will provide you with an alternative gendered and socio-political insight into the importance of entrepreneur and employee diversity in an increasingly globalised world. The module takes an interactive and practical approach to classroom learning to help you develop skills to explore the impact of gender and diversity on models of business, including the sometimes controversial facts and fictions presented in the media, policy and everyday societal attitudes towards management and entrepreneurship across the world.

• Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice

  The aim of Managing Human Resources is to develop an informed, critical understanding of how the management of Human Resources is undertaken, why and with what effect. What it is not is a prescriptive course providing ‘how to do it’ set of rules and practices. The focus here is on a critical understanding of the employment relationship within the organisational context. Some students are interested in becoming HR practitioners in their future careers and many wish to become a manager of some form. In both cases the course provides a solid foundation to evaluating different approaches to managing human resources and gain a critical understanding of where they would be appropriate.

  Initially the course introduces the development and roles of HRM and the ways in which different management styles can be adopted in organisations. The course then examines the nature of the relationship between HRM and performance (including aspects of remuneration). The lectures then present contemporary HRM issues, for example, Equality and Diversity, Flexible working, Careers and Wellbeing.

• International Human Resource Management

  Economic, social, cultural and political globalization have all contributed to the growth of economic activity that cuts across national borders and to the emergence and proliferation of organizations that transcend national boundaries. Increasingly, organizations are engaged in the employment contract in multiple different national employment systems. The human resources of organizations are located in multiple country locations. Internationalization thereby becomes a key challenge for the practitioners and a dimension that cannot be taken as given or standard for scholars of HRM. In a context of the transformation of a growing number of organizations (and especially the largest ones) into “transnational social spaces”, HRM practices flow across borders. Some strategic scholarship argues that such flows are critical to the success of individual firms, and concentrate their efforts on identifying “best practices” that will yield the greatest leverage to each. Strategic scholarship keen to understand what will work best to increase the efficiency and financial performance of multinational organizations also studies the various “glitches” that might obstruct flows or make the flows of HRM practices everywhere not always desirable.

  This module examines the challenges of managing human resources against a backdrop of cross-cultural and institutional work contexts and teams, variation in local socio-political-legal contexts and the necessity for cross-border assignments. The analytical/critical approach to IHRM taken concerns itself with questions of whether employment (and HRM) practices are converging or diverging around the world, how power and politics are implicated in the internal dynamics of multinational corporations, and if the corporate social responsibility pledges for appropriate treatment of workers can possibly suffice to ensure a fair employment relationship in the absence of a transnational regulator, among others.

• International Political Economy of Globalization

  Globalization remains a buzzword in academic and policy discourses. It is often related to the acceleration of global communication as well as internationalization of the economic, political and social processes. This module addresses some of these changes especially those related to trade, production and investment in the international political economy. There are many approaches in understanding these changes, this module introduces you to both liberal and critical ones (e.g., neo-Gramscianism). Drawing from their insights, it investigates and analyses the roles of state and non-state actors (e.g., transnational corporations and NGOs) in rebuilding the governance of global production and finance. Finally, we examine the rise of transnational justice movements in offering alternatives to globalization and its uneven development, before and after the financial crisis of 2007.

• Islamic Politics

  What is Islamic Politics? This module seeks to introduce you to some of the key debates surrounding the nature and character of political Islam in the historical and contemporary context. While the core inquiry is a political one the module is interdisciplinary in nature. Islamic Politics draws on a variety of related disciplines such as anthropology, contemporary international relations, history, sociology, and religion to construct a cohesive representation of Islam in the political context. As such, we engage with debates surrounding its historical roots, its core political ideology, its relationship to violence, its compatibility with democracy, its representation in the media, the place of Muslim communities in non-Islamic polities and the prospects and possibilities surrounding engagement with radical Islam. In terms of area study focus we cover the greater Middle Eastern region. It is a module designed as much for students with little or no background in Islamic Politics, as it is for students who have already had some grounding.

• Managing Marketing Innovation

  The aim of the module is to introduce students to theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence of contemporary innovations in markets and an exploration of marketing activities that support them. Students will be given time and opportunity to reflect on their learning and to discuss their emergent understanding. They will have the opportunity to explore challenges faced by managers of innovation, as well as comparing potential outcomes of marketing management decisions in real world scenarios.

  The module begins by identifying marketing innovations, followed by exploring the issues of why firms are thought to either typically succeed or fail in business. From here students will be encouraged to explore the changing business environments within which firms must survive. The module will be organised around six themes: (i) Creating Innovations (ii) Developing an Innovation Strategy (iii) Building the Innovative Organization (iv) Managing the Innovation Process (v) Capturing the Value from Innovations (vi) Emerging of the Contemporary Innovations in Markets. We see how Social Innovation, Innovations for Emerging Markets and Sustainability-led Innovation are emerged and contribute to the global markets.

• Marketing of Services

  This module aims to introduce students to the theoretical and research issues surrounding the fast expanding field of service marketing. It is designed to develop an understanding of the special context and techniques in the marketing of services. For those who recognise the crucial role that services play in the economy and its future, this module aims to develop an appreciation and understanding of Services Marketing from a theoretical point of view as well as business and management context. This module explores frameworks for understanding the nature and characteristics of services, and how these help in formulating marketing strategies and planning marketing tactics in relation to services. This is achieved through exploring the key theoretical foundations for services marketing, including the models and frameworks associated with the marketing of services and examining how these are employed by managers in service based companies. Other more common topics in services will also be addressed, including service quality; the role of people in service organisations; service encounters and moments of truth; customer satisfaction; customer retention; services branding and strategic issues.

• Media, Religion and Politics

  This module takes a case study approach to contemporary issues in media, religion and politics from around the globe. Media will be broadly defined to include Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, tabloids, feature films, documentaries, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc. The module may include the study of topics such as: US President Trump’s evangelical council; Brazilian President Bolsonaro’s campaign; Boko Haram and ‘the Chibok girls’; ISIS on Twitter; witchcraft and the ‘Thames torso boy’; Ugandan antihomosexuality campaigns; zombies; Nollywood; and other subjects selected by students. Using both primary and secondary sources, we will contextualise each case study and subject it to historical and critical analysis. Where possible, concerted effort will be made to investigate topics in ways that Politics, International Relations, and Religious Studies students will all find compelling.

• Organisational Change

  The aim of this course is to provide students with a critical understanding of organisations and the management of change. Management gurus and media commentators have heralded a break with earlier ways of organizing and managing and yet change is often more difficult than they suggest.

  This course introduces different ways in which to understand change. It pays particular attention to management gurus and asks why their prescriptions are so popular? Overall, the course examines some of the problems and obstacles that companies face when attempting to introduce a variety of new change initiatives including teamwork and knowledge management and it draws on case study material to enable students to explore change in different organisational settings.

• Organising in the Digital Age: Power, Technology and Society

  Technology is widely regarded as an unstoppable engine of change that is driving the advance or progress of the modern world. It would seem that no corner of the planet is left untouched by the transformative power of technology: from computers and telecommunications technology to biotechnology, from genetic engineering to the production of designer drugs to control and reshape human behaviour, the technological (re)ordering of the world would appear to have no limits. Against this background utopian or dystopian depending on your viewpoint OWT.326 aims to explore the (inter)relationship between technology and organisation.

  The lectures place a strong emphasis on the examination of accounts and representations, visions of technology, technologically mediated change in organisations and society (including issues of identity, power and surveillance), and the ethical dimensions of technology.

  No prior knowledge of technology is assumed.

• Politics of Cultural Diversity

  Culture is, perhaps, the most contentious and prominent feature of contemporary political debate. Whether it be religious schism and ethnic conflict, migration, controversy regarding bodily integrity, justifications for development policy and overseas aid or debate over the nature of wellbeing, the issue of cultural diversity looms large. The aim of this module is to provide you with the conceptual, analytical and normative resources to understand and assess the politics of cultural diversity. In essence, the module grapples with the question of whether, and in which ways, we can make judgements about culture.

• Politics of Global Danger

  This module examines the changing character of war and security in a time of rapid and disruptive technological and geopolitical change. The module combines analysis of contemporary policy documents with the interdisciplinary insights of intellectuals that have examined how war has changed in the modern age. In this module you are introduced to a range of concepts that are currently significant in the policy debates about the future of war – concepts such as ambiguous war, the gray zone, the third offset strategy and the three block war. While the module is grounded in broader debates from social and political thought about war and modernity, it explores a range of evolving and inter-related case studies that are central to understanding how war is changing: cybersecurity/artificial intelligence; cities and urban war; drones and the future of robotics; climate change and ecological insecurity. Each year we try to bring a guest lecturer from the Ministry of Defence or the FCO to discuss questions relevant to the course – and to discuss how the course can be relevant to a broad range of careers.

• Psychological Approaches to Managing Change

  Organisational change is widely accepted as a defining feature of contemporary life. Most of the topics covered in management courses, for example, structure; technology; people; power; culture; strategy; leadership and learning, to name a few, assume the need for changes of one kind or another. This course of lectures and the associated seminar programme review some key ideas associated with approaches to change. Seminal approaches to the field that can be said to conceptualise change management are introduced and compared, particularly those at the micro - that is the individual and group level.

  Material included in the course will help you understand your own and other peoples' reactions to changes. It will help you develop informed opinions about theories of change and will help you to understand how changes might be managed effectively. Expressed more formally, the course will

  • introduce you to some key management and social, and behavioural science contributions in the field;

  • help you to compare different orientations and to appreciate their relative strengths and weaknesses;

  • help you to relate such ideas to actual events in organisations; and,

  • help you to understand and evaluate your own approaches to the management of change and to evaluate management practices in this area.

• Race and American Politics

  This module analyses the politics of the United States through the lens of its racial divisions, with particular emphasis on the black-white divide. In this module, you will have the opportunity to develop an understanding of why race has been and continues to be central to American political life and development. You will also have the chance to gain a deep theoretical and historical understanding of racial formation in the United States before moving on to apply these insights to current debates about the role of race in American democracy and public policy. Topics typically include race and sexual politics, the black power movement, racialised voting, race and the labour movement, the carceral state, and other subjects. Ultimately, this module concludes that in order to understand the politics of the United States, we must understand its unique relationship with race.

• Religion and politics

  This module will take a historical and cross-cultural approach to examining the relationship between religion and politics. In the first half of the module, we will look at primary sources from the ancient world, such as Plato’s Republic, the Analects of Confucius, the inscription of Ashoka, and the Laws of Manu. In the second half of the module we will look at contemporary debates about secularism, multiculturalism, and pluralism taking place throughout the world today. Throughout the module we will be addressing the following questions: How has the relationship between religion and politics been characterised in different cultures and at different historical moments? To what extent are ancient discussions about the relationship between religion and political relevant today? Is there something distinctive about recent debates about secularism, or are these debates playing out perennial questions? Is it possible to separate religion and politics?

• Religion and Violence

  There are those who claim that religion is little more than a perverse and irrational scar on the modern world, one that invariably causes violence, while others (at times driven by political motivations) claim that religion is ‘good’ and that violence only occurs when ‘religion has been hijacked by other forces’. Others still claim that ‘religious violence’ is a myth constructed for political purposes, and that one should not therefore speak of religion in such terms.

  In disentangling such claims, in this module we examine the relationship between religion and violence, asking whether one can draw such associations between the two and whether one can develop any broader theoretical understandings about their relationship that enhances our understanding of religion in the modern world. It thus challenges you to think through and develop an understanding of these issues. While examining a variety of theories and perspectives on the topic, including close examination of the arguments outlined above, we will continually refer to empirical data and case studies in which religious movements and religious individuals have been involved in violent activities, as well as examining cases where acts of immense violence (including genocide) have occurred in what appear to be political contexts, but where religious rhetoric may have been used by the perpetrators of violence.

• Social contexts of entrepreneurship

  The module will provide you with an alternative view of entrepreneurship and enterprise development by examining the social context of entrepreneurship. The module will be based on an interactive, student-led model of learning. Conceptual issues such as the power and dominance of a particular enterprise discourse, organisational legitimacy, theories of trust, responsibility, sustainability and stewardship will be applied to practice.

• Strategic Marketing

  The module "Strategic Marketing" aims to equip students for a career in strategic marketing management in various industries, which may include among others fast moving consumer goods and retailing, automotive, consulting services or the luxury sector. It is essential for students to obtain a solid understanding of various perspectives on strategy and to develop the ability to evaluate, design and implement sustainable and profitable marketing strategy. The module combines a critical academic perspective on strategy research with applied and practicable models and frameworks essential to developing strong marketing plans. The module aims to stimulate the student's thinking around such questions as: Why do some products or services succeed and others fail? How do you design a profitable and sustainable marketing strategy? What are the challenges involved in developing and implementing marketing strategy? Is marketing strategy a planning framework or improvised practice?

• Strategic Negotiation : Making Sustainable Deals

  The key theme of this module is to learn how to negotiate and make sustainable business deals. Strategic negotiations are highly relevant in today’s interconnected business landscape. Companies need to negotiate with multiple stakeholders, such as suppliers, customers, agencies, governments and authorities to be able to access the resources that they need. A strategic deal that companies would need is not a fixed entity but rather the outcome of long and time-consuming negotiations that affect further negotiations. The module will examine 1) the strategic challenges that companies face in their markets today, 2) the analytical tools that are needed to make sustainable business deals, 3) the biases and errors in deal-making 4) the various ways by which business deals are manifested and 5) the managerial implications of strategic negotiations.

• The Management of Marketing

  In this module, we explore how marketing activities are managed in businesses, organisations and markets. Our focus is on three levels- namely, individuals, organisations and market place. Our understandings of marketing management are to a large extent shaped by theories and evidence on consumer behaviour in various markets. With this module, we turn our attention to managers and how they should make sense of and take action towards creating values for consumers and clients, their own businesses and organisations, and society at large. We approach this management question from multiple theoretical perspectives- namely, organisational and institutional theory, behavioural sciences, and marketing. We critically review these perspectives to understand how they construct and study the tasks of judgement and decision-making for marketing managers. We then employ these perspectives to identify and evaluate the opportunities and challenges contemporary marketing managers face within businesses, organisations, markets and society. These relate to technological advances and innovation, globalisation and its discontents, the inclusivity and exclusivity of consumption, marketing ethics, sustainability and climate change.

• Understanding External Intervention in Violent Conflicts

  The module aims to provide you with an in-depth knowledge of the different facets of contemporary Asian conflicts and how international organisations such as the UN, and how Western and Asian governments have attempted to deal with these challenges in recent times. Conceptually, the module will examine the principles of state failure; terrorism, ‘New Wars’, the New Security Agenda, Islamism, nationalism and sub nationalism, international conflict prevention; peace keeping and global governance. Empirically, the module will focus on conflict zones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indian Kashmir, the Indian northeast, Chinese Xinjiang and Tibet. Thus, the aim of this module is to provide you with an overview of the security of a region which is now of tremendous global importance.