International Management

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.

Human Resource Management is that part of management that happens to everyone, all the time. Nobody can escape HRM. We are all human resources and, therefore, it should not be a surprise that HRM has become very much a reflection of us – we find in HRM our own conceptions of ourselves, of work and of life in the 21st Century. The aim of this module is to understand how HRM is done and why we manage people in the ways we do.

The module introduces and analyses HRM as a complex part of management today in all organisations. OWT.223 examines aspects of employability, of performativity, performance management and of work motivations as key ingredients for the management of people in contemporary corporations, large or small, private or public. For you and your employability, it will be essential to understand what is going on in HRM and how this is done. You will have to be able to grasp the fundamental question of work: what is worth doing in the context of contemporary work? What is asked of you, and how do you have answer in return?

Also, it is essential to remember that every manager is always a human resource manager: they have to know how to recruit, how to communicate decisions and how to understand people and their motivation to work, how to think about individuals and teams, and about all the psychological and social aspects of work. No effective and respectable manager or executive can be a poor manager of people.

This module introduces key debates relating to management in international organisations. Beginning with fundamental questions about purpose and organisation, and then proceeding to explore questions about impacts on economy and society, the module provides a critical and analytical approach to understanding international organisations in a range of sectors. On completion of the module, you will be able to analyse the factors affecting the operation and impacts of international organisations, in both ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ world contexts.

Part 1 of the module introduces key debates and concerns relating to international organisations, in particular in relation to rationales for and modes of internationalization and associated organisational forms. The challenges faced by international organisations are also considered. The purpose of the first part of the module is to allow you to understand the key debates relating to international organisations in different sectors (e.g. manufacturing versus services).

Part 2 of the module builds on Part 1 by considering different ways of analysing international organisations. A series of perspectives are introduced that take account of the different organisational forms and processes found in international organisations. The purpose is to allow students to understand the different analytical questions that need to be considered when studying and managing international organisations.

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 overall aim of this module is to develop an appreciation and understanding of the fast-moving and multi-faceted world of advertising from both a theoretical and managerial perspective.

We will focus on advertising within the private sector and cover a number of contemporary issues in advertising, including social and ethical issues, international advertising and advertising regulation. On completion of this module, you should be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of advertising theory, strategy and execution.

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.

The overall aim of this module is to develop an appreciation and understanding of consumer behaviour from both managers' and consumers' perspectives, building on current research in consumer behaviour and the social sciences generally. The lectures initially focus on consumers as individuals and then consider more closely the influence of our social experiences on behaviour. The workshops provide a chance to focus on a specialist topic within the field, focusing upon improving academic reading and analysis skills.

The module gives you a unique opportunity to engage with the key academic and industry-led questions at the forefront of digital marketing practice. It will stimulate your understanding around the following questions:

• How can we create data-driven, effective digital marketing campaigns?
• How does the consumer decision-making journey change in a digital space?
• How does digital technology transform marketing strategy in a business-to-consumer and business-to-business context?
• Why do so many companies fail in managing cyber risk despite having cybersecurity measures in place?

As well as engaging with academic perspectives, you will practice real-life integrated digital campaign planning using industry-leading global data from Similarweb. An external industry expert session ensures that you also gain further insight into relevant careers and the practice of digital marketing.

This module focuses on the politics and international relations of the European Union. This includes a focus on the political systems of key EU member states (especially Germany, France and Poland) and the wider dynamics of European integration. The module will also offer an account of the activities of the various European institutions in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg (Council, Commission, Parliament, Court of Justice).

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.

This module provides an introduction to the use of management accounting information for management purposes. This includes an examination of cost-volume profit analysis, the concepts of direct and indirect costs, and various costing methods. The importance of budgets to organisations and their impact on performance are also discussed.

This module introduces the key concepts and techniques in marketing research and the analysis of marketing problems. The main aim is to prepare you for future roles as marketing, product, brand and advertising managers by giving you the skills needed to commission, manage, interpret and use marketing information. It will also prepare you for practical market or advertising research projects conducted in your final year (e.g. MKTG310 & MKTG331). The module covers both qualitative and quantitative research methods, as well as how to run and manage research projects. For the quantitative part of the unit, you will be introduced to SPSS.

This module covers project evaluation methods, risk, return and the cost of capital (including the capital asset pricing model), corporate financing (including dividend policy and capital structure) and an introduction to options.

This module will familiarize you with the politics of protest, the social and political significance of countercultures, theories of social movements, and the ways in which movements either implement or prevent social and cultural change. Relevant political philosophies will be introduced, as well as the core ideas informing, for example, the women’s movement, the peace movement, and the environmental movement. The module will also examine the practice of protest, introducing, for example, protest art, music, and acts of civil disobedience.

In this module, you will learn about the decisions, actors and actions involved in transforming a product from its raw state to one desired by consumers, and how brand owners work with retailers to ensure shoppers’ access to the product.

This understanding is important to all marketers since it allows marketers to communicate with other areas of the organisation (such as manufacturing or logistics) over issues such as new product launches and promotional initiatives.

We will focus on the retail end of the route to market and how brand owners coordinate with retail (possibly also wholesale) actors to ensure optimal product placement and communication at the point of purchase, using real-life examples.

You will gain vital understanding and perspectives to equip you for entry-level jobs in areas such as trade marketing, customer marketing, shopper marketing, category management and areas of retail. In many companies, graduate entry-level jobs in these areas are the only route to a career in brand management. The thinking is “if you can’t manage retail partners, you can’t manage brands”.

Throughout the module, we will consider the international contexts of routes to market, ethical questions in routes to market, modern techniques and shopping behaviour and ICT use in routes to market.

This module gives you the chance to explore various forms of social media in the context of digital marketing and online consumer culture. You will develop awareness and gain insights into a diverse range of topics such as:

• social media tools,
• mobile marketing,
• online consumption environments,
• virtual identities and online consumer behaviour,
• online consumption experiences,
• the rise of virtual economies.

As part of the module, you will also explore current and potential trends in the digital environment.

This module's starting point is one of the fundamental questions that have dominated modern societies: how to reconcile the political and democratic demands of the masses, or the demos, with the requirements of a free and efficient market economy.

The module introduces students to the main political economy approaches to the state and raises some key issues regarding the state’s governance of the market economy, drawing from liberal and critical state theories of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries and discerning their implications for understanding the main challenges facing the modern state today. The main themes you will scrutinise are:

1. The theoretical evolution of liberal and critical approaches to the state;
2. The relationship between the state and the economy,
3. The relationship between liberalism and democracy;
4. The state management of market and democratic imperatives.

This is a critical introduction to the underlying themes of development in the global South, such as debt, aid, inequality, migration; and how the state, the economy, national social movements and powerful external actors, including international NGOs, interact with each other. It begins by looking at how neoliberalism came to dominant development thinking and practice in institutions like the World Bank from the late 1970s onwards and its impact on development and then provides in-depth case studies of recent alternative development models in Latin America and Syria. This module helps to broaden your understanding of Politics and International Relations away from a Western focus on the UK, Europe and the US in preparation for third-year modules such as The Global Politics of Africa.

The dissertation gives students an opportunity to apply the learning from their degree programme to undertake a substantial in-depth research study. The dissertation is intended to provide them with the opportunity to explore at length and in depth aspects of theory, knowledge, experience and skills introduced during the degree programme (or gleaned from elsewhere) and draw critical interpretations from this analysis. Further, the ability to make sense of the area under investigation, unravel the complexities and develop purposeful insights is at the heart of the dissertation.

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.

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.

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.

Investors, business executives, regulators and the accountancy profession increasingly recognise that social and environmental challenges pose significant risks to the financial resilience of business while also providing many novel opportunities. Accountancy plays a major role in effective management of these risks and opportunities to build resilient businesses.

In this module, you will learn about cutting-edge developments in accounting for sustainability for the improvement of business resilience. You will also develop your knowledge and understanding about the importance of awareness of the changing social and institutional context within which organizations operate.

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.

This module will provide you with a managerial and critical understanding of how brand strategy must integrate and balance a variety of perspectives such as the social, symbolic, and material dimensions of contemporary consumer culture with the managerial and economic determinants of organisations.

You will master the language of brand strategy, discover how the brand function fits with the other functions of an organisation, and learn how this knowledge can be applied in real marketplace contexts. We will also critically evaluate the role of branding in society and we will trace the history of “the modern brand”. A range of theories, concepts, strategies and practices designed to build, evolve and sustain brands will be addressed across a range of categories, product types and industries. You will be encouraged to think for yourself about the possible future brands and the necessity of branding in a changing 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.

Who killed John F. Kennedy? Did the moon landing really happen? Is Covid-19 caused by the erection of 5G network masts? Factual answers to such questions are easily accessible. And yet many people eschew documented facts in favour of conspiracy theories, which explain events and complex phenomena with reference to nefarious forces and alleged hidden machinations of powerful actors.

Such narratives are nothing new, but they used to be regarded mostly as a curiosity rather than a serious subject of research. Today communities of conspiracists are no longer considered so benign. As they thrive online, they attract increasing interest of scholars and policymakers, who study their digital influence, their links with political movements and their status as participants in democratic public spheres. This special subject introduces you to the developing body of research on the origins, spread and the political and social effects of conspiracy theories, including multidisciplinary work seeking to explain why people embrace conspiracies, what (if any) are the harms of such beliefs, what insights can we draw from the study of historical conspiracies (19th and 20th century) and what is the relationship between conspiratorial thinking and other political beliefs.

As the Middle East has long been [and still is] one of the most unstable regions in the world, and it is further bedevilled by strong authoritarian states and pervasive ethnic and sectarian violence, what explains this instability and ongoing tensions? By examining some of the key questions surrounding the study of Middle Eastern politics, this module aims to provide you with a critical perspective of the region’s politics. This module introduces you to an analysis of the history, politics, society, culture and religions of the Middle East with attention to major events in the region.

This course equips students with the knowledge to apply corporate finance theory to real-world situations. It builds on and extends the concepts covered in the basic financial management courses and introduces advanced topics in Corporate Finance. The major topics covered include capital budgeting, capital structure, corporate valuation, real options, equity financing for startups, IPOs, leasing, short term financing, merger and acquisitions, and corporate governance

The module concerns the communications strategies and techniques used by new social movements, brands and people. We will study a spectrum of tools and media of communications, such as lobbying, design, sustainable communications (and greenwashing).

You will use action learning to develop a campaign strategy and creative work for a major UK government campaign. We will examine how protesters and social activists use communications, and you will be encouraged to think critically about how communications shape societies and human values.

As marketing activities become more internationally focused, firms are increasingly looking for prospective employees with the knowledge and skills to address the new challenges and opportunities associated with globalisation. This module combines the latest research in the field of international marketing; providing insights, theories, concepts and tools that enable students to navigate the global market. Students will take part in interactive lectures and assessment-centred seminars to examine trends in global marketing management. The module will also pay special attention to emerging markets and the roles they play in invigorating marketing theories and practice.

This module provides knowledge that is important to those concerned with financial management in a multinational setting. Areas covered include the relationships between exchange rates, interest rates and inflation rates, forward, futures and options markets, and corporate exchange rate risk management.

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.

This module investigates the role of ethics in business life. The course looks at this topic from multiple perspectives, considering various theories and models that help to unpack both individual and corporate ethics. The syllabus includes stakeholder analysis and management, corporate social responsibility, different forms of ethical reporting, various codes of governance and conduct, and some ethics-related aspects of UK law.

This module is interdisciplinary in nature, in the sense that it includes several approaches to study the Society and Politics in Latin America. It is designed on thematic issues that bind all the 21 member nations of Latin America in one form or another.

The primary aim of this module is to introduce students to an understudied region in the world. This is done through introducing them to various themes in Latin American politics. This module is designed for students, who have already had some grounding in politics of development, conflict and peace, religion and culture and also aimed at those who wish to develop an area studies specialisation in their intellectual quest.

The module will introduce you to some of the most important challenges facing the governance of the contemporary global economic order. The main themes explored by the module are:

1. the nature of power in the global economy,
2. the role, scope and limits of states within the world market,
3. the relationship between nation states and other actors in the global economy such as financial markets and supranational organisations,
4. the governing dilemmas with which policy-makers are faced and the way they manifest themselves in specific policy areas and issues such as production, finance, climate and development.

In tackling these themes, the module will introduce students to different ways to study governance in the global economy and examine the most challenging issues of the global economy such as financialisation, climate change and the future of growth.

• Climate Governance
• Power and domination in the global economy

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.

The module will explore the key debates in immigration politics, as well as key trends in immigration policies. The main themes explored by the module are (a) which actors drive the politics of immigration; (b) key theories and concepts in the study of immigration politics (c) key factors and determinants of immigration policies

Topics covered will typically include:

• Theorising migration: What is immigration? Why do people move? Who is an immigrant?
• History of immigration in Western Europe: How has immigration flows & policy developed since post war period? What do we mean by the politicisation of immigration? Why has immigration become politicised?
• Public opinion: Why do people oppose immigration? Is the rise in anti-migrant politics due to economic anxieties or identity and cultural concerns?
• Parties and political elites: What roles do parties play in the politics of immigration? Why do centrist parties struggle with the issue of immigration?
• Mass media: How and why does the mass media politicize migration? Does the mass media drive or reflect public concerns over immigration?
• Political economy: varieties of capitalism, client politics and the liberal paradox: Why do expansive immigration policies persist despite public concerns? Is the need for migrant labour unavoidable?
• Losing control? Globalisation, post-national rights and Europeanization of immigration policy
• Have states lost control of immigration? Has migration policy become Europeanised? Why is it so hard to develop a common EU policy on migration and asylum?
• Bringing the state back in: governance and colonial legacies: Who makes policy and how do states regulate immigration? How do colonial legacies shape immigration politics and policy?
• Gap hypothesis: street level bureaucrats, shifting up and out and everyday bordering: Why do gaps between policy outputs and outcomes persist? What is everyday bordering and what are the implications?
• Politics of belonging: Has multiculturalism failed? Is integration a toxic term? What is citizenship? What does it mean to belong?