Module Aims
* To provide an overview of key topics in organisational behaviour and management thought.
* To assist you in developing a robust conceptual framework for the analysis of management ideas and issues.
* To nurture your capacity for systematic and critical thinking in relation to the many unaddressed assumptions which underpin theories and practices of management and organisational behaviour.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. A critical awareness of the nature of organisations and the process of management.
2. A robust understanding of a range of key concepts in contemporary management and organisational behaviour theory and practice and be aware of key debates and positions.
3. The ability to describe, analyse and evaluate the range of approaches that underpin the practice and analysis of management and organisational behaviour.
4. An understanding of, and the ability to demonstrate, the value of critical and analytical approaches to the study of management and organisational behaviour.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
The module will also enable you to develop a range of transferable skills:
1. Develop written communication skills through writing and receiving feedback on a case study assignment and an essay.
2. Practice research skills through collecting and analysing organisation-specific information.
3. Hone critical analytical thinking by evaluating different perspectives on organisations and management.
4. Develop IT literacy through electronically accessing module materials and completing and submitting assignments.
- Module Supervisor: Marjana Johansson
- Module Supervisor: Marina Michalski
Module Aims
Using a range of theories and concepts, to give students the opportunity to explore the relationship between observed behaviour in organizations and their experiential meanings.
1. To challenge the conventional rhetoric of standard management textbooks, and to give students the opportunity to attend to competing and alternative discourses of organization.
2. To consider alternative organizational forms and styles of working.
3. To pose moral and ethical considerations for future practising managers.
Module Outcomes
On completion of the module, you should be able:
1. To relate everyday observations of organizations and organizational members to the experience of organizations and to be able to hypothesise about management actions and their consequences for the behaviour and experience of members.
2. To be able to write essays which demonstrate an ability to analyse and evaluate aspects of organizational behaviour.
3. To produce a coherent and well-structured argument about the psychological aspects of organizational behaviour.
4. To demonstrate a critical approach to reading and talking about how organizations function.
5. To hypothesise about alternative forms of organization and to understand the complexity of the psychological contract of work.
6. To understand the need for a principled approach to management.
- Module Supervisor: Casper Hoedemaekers
At the end of the module, students should have a good grasp of the main functions of management, understand how these are located in wider political and economic context, and have an appreciation of some of the key issues and challenges facing management
today.
Module Aims
* To provide an introduction to the main topics and issues in contemporary management and organization theory.
* To connect management thinking to broader currents in contemporary social science and theory.
* To provide an analytical framework to assist students to think reflexively about management and organizational processes.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
* To understand the nature of organizations and the process of management.
* To be able to explain, and critically analyse, a range of contemporary managerial concerns.
* To be able to explain and evaluate different approaches to the practice and analysis of management.
* To be able to analyse a case study, and to reflect on personal experience through the lens of the module material.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
By the end of the module, you will have developed your skills in the following areas:
* Thinking critically
* Developing your ability to work with curiosity on an unfamiliar project
* Plan and (time-)manage a project of low to moderate complexity
* Developing your commercial awareness based on your case study work
* Reflect critically on your own learning and (future) managerial interventions
* Team-working
Module aims
To provide students with a critical understanding of historical developments and trends in the field of creativity, both as an academic discipline and as a practice in organizations.
To familiarise students with key creativity concepts, perspectives and techniques, including popular concepts such as brainstorming and lateral thinking.
To enable students to independently and critically analyse the concept of creativity in theory and practice.
Module Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
Demonstrate an understanding of key perspectives, theories and concepts that inform contemporary notions of creativity.
Analyse the historical emergence of creativity as a crucial organisational phenomenon and understand the social, economic and political embeddedness of creativity.
Critically evaluate the wider implications of utilising creativity techniques in an organisational context.
Skills for your professional life (Transferable Skills)
The module is specifically designed to provide students with a set of transferable skills which will be applicable in their professional life. Specifically, the module seeks to support students to:
Analyse the interrelation between theory and practice in a creative and independent manner.
Develop critical thinking for evaluating a variety of texts (judgement skills).
Develop creative problem-solving skills to tackle a wide-range of organisational problems
Work effectively as part of a team (team working skills).
Work effectively independently to meet assignment instructions and deadlines (time keeping skills).
Communicate ideas effectively by verbal and written means (communication skills).
Gather, evaluate, structure and present information (presentational skills).
- Module Supervisor: Casper Hoedemaekers
- Module Supervisor: Stevphen Shukaitis
Module Aims
The module has been designed to:
1. Provide an understanding of corporate ethics and sustainability in relation to management theories and practices;
2. Provide an insight into contemporary issues of business ethics and environmental sustainability and enable students to engage with, critique, and propose possible solutions to these problems;
3. Explore possibilities for managing organisations in more ethical and sustainable ways;
4. Develop students' abilities to tackle theoretical and empirical problems, regarding ethical and sustainability issues in management, through class discussion, reading, case analysis, participation, and assessment.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module the students should be able to:
1. Understand the historical context for the rise of concerns about sustainability, ethics and corporate social responsibility;
2. Understand issues of ethical and sustainable supply chain management and the role of a variety of different stakeholders;
3. Understand and critique green and ethical management, marketing and other corporate communication approaches;
4. Critically engage with and understand a variety of different cases and examples of corporate behavior in relation to ethics and sustainability.
- Module Supervisor: Sandra Moog
for granted assumptions about the way today's global economy is organised.
Module Aims
1. To provide an overview of the main topics and issues in studies of globalisation
and international political economy.
2. To introduce students to ideas, theories and concepts from the social sciences in order to facilitate a critical understanding of major structures and processes
shaping the international business environment.
3. To engage with these ideas, theories and concepts in order to assess their value in contributing to knowledge about international management and enhancing students' capacities to act as informed citizens.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the module students should be able to:
1. Explain the importance of studying international business environment and
globalisation.
2. Apply conceptual frameworks developed during the module to practical examples and case studies.
3. Evaluate the various ideas, theories and concepts that are relevant to the topics
discussed in terms of their ethical, political and practical implications.
Module Description
The overarching objective of this module is to enable students to enhance their understanding of the way in which globalisation and international business activities affect management and management practices across cultures. Managers increasingly find themselves working across borders which calls for a thorough understanding of issues that relate to cross-cultural management.
This module offers interactive engagement with organisational practices that are affected by or affect successful management across cultures. Through the combination of lectures, case study analysis, group discussions and student-led presentations students will be invited to engage in an in-depth consideration of issues concerning management across cultures.
You will find that you are learning alongside a diverse group of students from a range of countries, which also provides an opportunity to reflect on cross cultural interactions in a class room setting.
Module Aims
- To provide students with a critical understanding of different aspects of management across cultures;
- To introduce students to key concepts and theoretical lenses on management across cultures;
- To enable students to independently and critically analyse the considerations needed for successful management across cultures;
- To provide students with skills for their professional life.
Module Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will:
- Be able to demonstrate an understanding of key perspectives, theories and concepts that inform management across cultures, especially with regard to:
- The cultural context of management across cultures;
- The practices of managers in international contexts;
- The management of cross-cultural conflicts, problems and challenges.
- Have developed a range of transferable skills.
Skills for your professional life (Transferable Skills)
Improve your listening skills and develop greater understanding of the learning gains from sharing different viewpoints by participating in group discussions.
- Improve your team working skills by preparing small group presentations.
- Improve your oral communication skills by participating in small group presentations.
- Improve your time management by working on a 15 minute group presentation.
- Develop your presentation skills by working on delivery, logical development, non-verbal communication (body language, eye contact, general posture, use of notes, use of voice, pace and timing)
- Nurture your curiosity and reflexivity by keeping a weekly Learning Journal documenting key learning points, including your observations and experiences of individual and group work.
- As you work on your learning journal, develop your critical thinking and written communication by reflecting on your learning in a cross-cultural setting and relating your learning experiences to theories and concepts studied throughout the module.
- Module Supervisor: Maria Hudson
Module Aims
i) To introduce students to the theory and practice of HRM
ii) To provide critical approaches to understanding the impact of HRM on a range of stakeholders
iii) To consider the strategic influence of HRM on business performance
iv) To review contemporary HRM developments and debates
Module Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
i) Demonstrate an understanding of key perspectives, theories and concepts that inform historical and contemporary understandings of HRM
ii) Analyse the effects of HRM practices and ideologies within a wider social, economic and political context
iii) Critically evaluate the significance of HRM for firms' performance
iv) Show awareness of current debates and challenges facing HRM in a contemporary context
- Module Supervisor: Beatrice Piccoli
This course offers students a comprehensive and engaging introduction to the strategic management arena, introducing five different schools of thought and critically appraising each of them. Through a variety of teaching styles incorporating lectures, group work and group discussions students will be engaged in deep and critical analysis of business strategy and strategic management and its application to business today.
Module Aims
1. To provide students with a critical understanding of business strategy and strategic management
2. To introduce students to different schools of thought within the strategic management area, critically appraising each of them
3. To enable students to understand the tools used in strategy analysis as well as the issues that are of concern when strategists use these tools
4. To enable students to independently and critically analyse strategic management practices in organisations
Module Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of key approaches, theories and concepts that inform business strategy and strategic management
2. Critically appraise different schools of thought on the topic, understanding their benefits and limitations
3. Apply the different schools of thought to business practice
4. Use tools of strategy analysis
5. Critically assess situations of strategizing in organisational settings
- Module Supervisor: Noelia-Sarah Reynolds
This module will be partly based on group study and presentation work in groups. You will also be asked to prepare a short individual presentation as well as an individual reflection piece.
Module Aims
* To provide an introduction to management and marketing as a foundations for your studies on the Masters programme.
* To explain the differences between prescriptive management theory and social science approaches to studying management and organization.
* To provide an analytical framework to assist students in locating theories and examples encountered later in their studies.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
* To understand the foundations of management and organization.
* To understand the foundations of marketing.
* To be able to search for, and synthesise, resources appropriate to the study of management and organization from a range of sources, including the University Library.
* To be able to use a range of suitable resources to research organisational phenomena, and to synthesise material from a range of sources
* To be able to write a short report on a contemporary management phenomenon.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
By the end of the module, you will have developed your skills in the following areas:
* Working in a group
* Creative problem-solving
* Presenting confidently
* Critical thinking
* Personal development
This module addresses the principles and practice of human resource management (HRM) and development (HRD) in different work environments. The knowledge and techniques associated with the discipline as well as recent developments which propose an alignment of human resource management with the strategic management of an organization will be considered. The context sensitive nature of human resource management will be highlighted: including the distinctive characteristics of the public, private and voluntary sectors and the implications for human resource managers. Other key contextual considerations concern the managerial, institutional and social context of human resource management. The impact of international developments and technological change for human resource managers will be addressed. Employment strategies in practice will be considered, including flexible working, the contingent workforce and new forms of organisation, the management of identity in different work settings: culture management, branding and the learning organisation. Introducing students to both orthodox and critical perspectives on the nature of HRM and emphasizing the ethical responsibilities of the HR practitioner, the module aims to provide a basis for critical judgement on the current state of theory and practice in the field.
Module Aims
The module will explore:
-the aims and objectives of the HRM and HRD functions in different types of organizations
-the knowledge and techniques associated with the work of the human resource practitioner and their historical development
-concepts of commitment and engagement, their implications for work organization and critical assessments of the theories
-theories of human capital advantage – best practice, best fit and resource based perspectives on the strategic management of human resources and critical assessments of the theories
-theories of human resource development and organizational learning and critical assessments of the theories
-the managerial environment in which HRM operates and the reputational problems of the human resource practitioner
-the role of the business environment, institutional conditions, political forces, ideologies and social conditions and their implications for management and human resource management
-globalisation, demographic and technological change and the consequences for management and human resource management
-recent changes in the practice of HRM in both private and public sectors: including various forms of employee contingency and flexibility and attempts to redefine employee identity and their consequences
-leadership and organizational change, the development of leaders, the major theories of leadership and critical assessments of the theories
-the ethics of human resource management and development and the ethical and professional obligations of the human resource practitioner.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1.Identify different types of organisations and their principal environments.
2.The managerial and business environment within which HR professionals work.
3.Review and critically evaluate major contemporary research and debates in the fields of human resource management (HRM) and human resource development (HRD).
4.Evaluate major theories relating to motivation, commitment and engagement at work and how these are put into practice by organisations.
5.Critically discuss the aims and objectives of the HRM and HRD function in organisations and how these are met in practice.
6.How organisational and HR strategies are shaped by and developed in response to internal and external environmental factors.
7.The market and competitive environments of organisations and how organisational leaders and the HR function respond to them.
8.Globalisation and international forces and how they shape and impact on organisational and HR strategies and HR practices.
9.Demographic, social and technological trends and how they shape and impact on organisational and HR strategies and HR practices.
10.Government policy and legal regulation and how these shape and impact on organisational and HR strategies and HR practices.
11.Assess the contribution made by HRM and HRD specialists in different types of organisation.
12.Contribute to the promotion of flexible working and effective change management in organisations.
13.Promote professionalism and an ethical approach to HRM and HRD practice in organisations.
14.Debate and critically evaluate the characteristics of effective leadership and the methods used to develop leaders in organisations.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
The module will:
Enhance your oral communication skills through short presentations given in group work activities.
Enhance your critical thinking through case studies encouraging you to discern preconditions and consequences of management actions and to apply diverse theories and concepts to the analysis of practical organisational situations.
Enhance your teamwork and collaborative skills through group based practical activities.
Commercial awareness will be enhanced by practitioner guest speakers, by observation of a 'real life human resource department in action and by practical activities and cases.
Innovation will be encouraged by practical exercises encouraging you to develop solutions to human resource issues and problems.
This module will be partly based on group study and presentation work in groups. You will also be asked to prepare a short individual presentation as well as an individual reflection piece.
Module Aims
* To provide an introduction to management and marketing as a foundations for your studies on the Masters programme.
* To explain the differences between prescriptive management theory and social science approaches to studying management and organization.
* To provide an analytical framework to assist students in locating theories and examples encountered later in their studies.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
* To understand the foundations of management and organization.
* To understand the foundations of marketing.
* To be able to search for, and synthesise, resources appropriate to the study of management and organization from a range of sources, including the University Library.
* To be able to use a range of suitable resources to research organisational phenomena, and to synthesise material from a range of sources
* To be able to write a short report on a contemporary management phenomenon.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
By the end of the module, you will have developed your skills in the following areas:
* Working in a group
* Creative problem-solving
* Presenting confidently
* Critical thinking
* Personal development
Module Aims
The aim of the Module is to critically evaluate the main theoretical models relating to employee and executive reward and to relate these to current pay practices.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Analyse the relationship between the environment, strategy and systems of reward management
2. Explore the conceptual apparatus and theoretical debates informing reward management
3. Critically discuss traditional, contingent and knowledge bases for transactional and relational rewards
4. Design internally consistent reward structures that recognise labour market and equity constraints
5. Analyse executive and expatriate rewards in an international context
6. Critically evaluate key issues in reward management.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
In addition, this module will also contribute to your development of the following employability skills.
* Written Communication
* Oral Communication
* Research Skills
* Critical Thinking
* Teamwork-Collaboration
* Innovation and Curiosity
* Commercial Awareness
- Module Supervisor: Danielle Tucker
Module Aims
This module is designed to allow students to:
1. Develop an appreciation of the role of employment relations with respect to achieving desired organizational performance and outcomes.
2. Develop an appreciation of the role of key actors and factors in the field of employee relations at local, organizational, national, global and transnational level.
3. Develop an appreciation of the factors affecting trade union growth, collective bargaining and the changing role of the state in such processes.
4. Develop an understanding of the nature of employment relations in Britain and in other countries, including, but not restricted to, other European countries and BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China).
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module learners will be able to understand, analyse and critically evaluat:
1. Different theories and perspectives on employment relations;
2. The impact of local, national and global contexts shaping employment relations;
3. The roles and functions of the different actors involved in the employment relationship;
4. The importance of organisational-level employment relations processes, policies and practices that support organisational performance, including employee voice and consultation, employee engagement; diversity management; and conflict resolution;
5. The importance of employment relations procedures that help mitigate organisational risk, including the design and implementation of policies and practices in the areas of discipline, grievance, dismissal and redundancy;
6. The importance of employment relations procedures and policies that help mitigate social injustice;
7. The integration of employment relations processes and how they impact on policy, practice and organisational outcomes such as performance and employee engagement.
- Module Supervisor: Marina Michalski
Aims
Students will gain an insight into:
- the key HR challenges facing organisations working internationally;
- the impact of national culture on how individuals react to HR interventions in different countries;
- differences in HR policies and practices in different countries;
- the management of globally mobile employees
Learning Outcomes
On completing this module, students will be able to understand, analyse and critically evaluate:
1) how organisational and HR strategies are shaped by and developed in response to internal and external environmental factors.
2) globalisation and international forces and how they shape and impact on organisational and HR strategies and HR practices.
3) analyse and evaluate the major features of national and international employment markets from which organisations source staff and ways in which these markets evolve or change.
Skills for your professional life (Transferable Skills)
- Enhance your written communication skills through preparing a logically coherent and cogently argued integrated HR project
- Develop your research skills through locating and retrieving information from a variety of online and offline sources in preparing your integrated HR project
- Critically evaluate information from a variety of sources when building a compelling argument in preparing your integrated HR project
- Being innovative in building your own case when preparing your integrated HR project
- Develop your commercial awareness by researching the real-life commercial context of the company at the centre of your integrated HR project
- Module Supervisor: Huiyan Fu
Module Description
This module considers the ideas, debates and concepts underpinning the development of different policies and practices shaping the management of equality and diversity within contemporary work organizations. It also considers the changing contexts and practices shaping lived experiences of equality and diversity at work. Encouraging a critical, reflexive understanding of theory and practice, it outlines and evaluates the role played by HRM and by HR professionals in managing equality and diversity.
Module aims
The module aims to consider the following:
1. The changing social, economic, political and cultural context of equality and diversity.
2. Philosophical, theoretical and conceptual debates underpinning different approaches to the management of equality and diversity at work.
3. Academic research and case study material focusing on lived experiences of equality, diversity and discrimination in contemporary work organizations and labour markets.
4. The role of HRM policy and practice, and of relevant legislation, in shaping the experience and management of diversity.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. A considered understanding of the changing context of equality and diversity management, informed by relevant scholarly research and case-study material.
2. A critical awareness of relevant philosophical, theoretical and conceptual debates underpinning different approaches to the management of equality and diversity at work.
3. An informed and reflexive appreciation of lived experiences of equality, diversity and discrimination in contemporary work organizations and labour markets.
4. An ability to analyse and evaluate the role of HRM policy and practice, and relevant legislation, in shaping the experience and management of diversity.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
- Nurture your curiosity through a self-evaluative approach to co-learning.
- Develop your capacity for reflexive critical engagement and collaborative analysis of key issues through weekly interactive group discussion and case study analysis.
- Foster your commercial and social awareness through discussion of contemporary case studies engaging with current issues in the management of equality and diversity.
- Improve your oral communication skills by participating in small group presentations.
- Develop your research skills by producing a developmental outline of a case study of your choice.
- Improve your critical thinking and written communication by developing an in-depth case study which draws on your module learning.
- Module Supervisor: Maria Hudson
Module Description
This module is designed to encourage students to think and reflect upon the nature of change in organisations. In particular, the module will consider many of the key aspects in preparing for, implementing, and evaluating a variety of types and aspects of organisational changes. Building upon an awareness of these key theories and debates students will explore the process and consequences of introducing change in organizations while recognizing the complexity inherent in changing organizations.
The emphasis of the module is providing the analytical skills to understand the broad principles underlying the key stages in a change process that could be then applied to a range of different types of changes within organizations. The course is not driven by providing recipes but more realizing the value of critical analytical and reasoning skills that can be applied to the practicalities of different organizational change interventions.
Module Aims
The main aim of the module is to enable students to appreciate and analyse organisational change and how this can best be managed.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Understand various theoretical perspectives and critical debates on how organisations change.
2. Appreciate the complexities of organisational change and the barriers which organisations face in managing change.
3. Analyse the assumptions and reactions which various organisational actors experience towards organisational change and the human issues which are related to change.
4. Discuss various techniques and practices which managers can employ to manage change in organisations.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
In addition, this module will also contribute to your development of the following employability skills.
* Written Communication
* Oral Communication
* Research Skills
* Critical Thinking
* Teamwork-Collaboration
* Innovation and Curiosity
* Commercial Awareness
- Module Supervisor: Danielle Tucker