Course Overview
Course summary
Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) – the only professional body in the world that can award Chartered status to HR or learning and development professionals – this specialist course focuses on international human resource management (HRM),
As globalisation encourages companies to operate and trade in multiple locations, and provides more opportunities for staff to work abroad, managing and developing people has never been more critical – or complex. On our MA, you’ll learn to appreciate the unique challenges of international HRM – from the cultural, legal and economic differences to remote relationship building.
Our problem-based approach to teaching means you’ll get to apply what you learn to management problems through assignments and projects based on actual situations. We’ll draw on everyday HR issues in the news, case studies and current examples, at times addressing some of our own students’ workplace experiences. Demonstrating evidence-based HRM, you’ll learn to collect and analyse relevant data and information, developing your ability to identify, evaluate and propose the most appropriate solutions, looking at issues ranging from expatriate employment, employee engagement, managing change and reward management.
Each year, our annual HRM conference offers you the chance to hear direct from a range of guest speakers, who have previously covered issues such as immigration and labour supply, and the impact of EU legislation on employee relations post-Brexit. You’ll also have the opportunity to develop essential HR practitioner skills through a series of practical workshops in areas such as finance, employment law, interviewing, disciplinary and grievance handling, counselling and negotiating. Working in teams, you might simulate dealing with a disciplinary hearing, for example, or conducting a job evaluation exercise. When studying people resourcing, you may participate in an assessment centre or practise your interviewing skills.
Fully accredited by the CIPD, this course is ideal if you’re coming to study from outside the UK or if you're looking to pursue or advance your HRM career with organisations operating at an international level. Successfully completing it will set you on the path to Chartered Membership and Fellowship, alongside the relevant professional practice. Past graduates have secured jobs as consultants (internal and external), HR managers, compensation and benefits managers, change management specialists, HR business partners/operations managers, civil servants and mediators.
Top reasons to study with us
- Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), meeting the L7 advanced knowledge requirements needed for full membership on graduation
- We pay your joining fee and initial CIPD membership fee, giving you student access to CIPD knowledge resources and professional networking events, part of a 150,000-strong worldwide member network
- Annual HRM Conference offers the chance to hear from leading experts, with past themes including making a difference at work, talent management and HRM in transition.
- Taught by accomplished professionals with specialist HR knowledge and experience of academia, research and training, some as senior HR professionals and consultants
- Workshop series develops essential skills in interviewing, negotiation, counselling and disciplinary handling
- Optional 8-12 week internship
Course structure
We cover a range of interesting modules focused specifically on international HRM, comparative HRM, organisational analysis and development and management skills. This will give you a deeper understanding of the theory, practices and policies of HRM and what these mean for different groups of individuals and organisations at local, national and international levels.
The modules below are indicative of what you will study on this course. You may choose one option module.
Semester 1
Deepening your knowledge of the theory and practice of leadership and management in a global context, we will examine current international HRM approaches. The Comparative Employment Relations module, which is only available to students on the International HRM programme, considers how people are managed and the HRM policies, practices and employee relations systems that are adopted in various countries and cultures, highlighting cross-national similarities and differences. Developing your awareness of how organisations operate in an increasingly international business environment, we’ll consider the economic, global and local labour market factors influencing corporate strategy and how managers, HR professionals and other staff interact and respond during change and uncertainty.
Semester 2
As the course develops, we’ll examine the skills required to be an effective HR manager or consultant, focusing on how to diagnose HRM problems and apply appropriate solutions taking particular account of specific international, national and local contexts, institutions and cultures. The project module gives you the chance to demonstrate your ability to critically analyse, research and report independently a specific HR problem, practice, policy or opportunity, through systematic enquiry and the integration of theory. Past students have, for example, considered the role of expatriates in developing the workforce or examined differences in culture and leadership when operating internationally.
Core modules
You will analyse how people are managed – and the HR practices and employee relations systems that are adopted – in different cultures.
You will examine the working environment of HR practitioners by analysing the impact of economic, political, social and technological factors.
This module concentrates on the international context of HRM, and the policies and procedures that organisations need to devise when designing international human resource strategies.
You will explore different approaches to the management of human resources and the implications for organisational success.
This module examines the academic ways in which organisational effectiveness is influenced by structure, technologies, culture, power and attitudes. You will use concepts and modes of analysis to critically evaluate organisational design and development.
The aim of the project is to enable students to develop or evaluate, on the basis of empirical or conceptual research and analytic rigour, a specific area of human resource knowledge.
This module aims to develop your knowledge and competence of the research process, and the application of research methods in the area of international human resource management.
This module will help you to develop the interpersonal management skills and techniques you need to work both as an internal and external consultant to organisations.
A choice of one of the following:
Option modules
This module provides you with the theoretical underpinning necessary to critically evaluate both individual and organisational learning processes.
You will develop your critical awareness of the links between an organisation's need to achieve corporate objectives, and its need for people.
This module focuses on the management of reward systems, critically analysing the links between reward systems and employee behaviour, through the use of theory and case studies.
Accredited internship
All students on our full-time business Masters courses can apply to undertake the PG/MBA Internship Programme Reflective Practitioner Module. This is an 8 week unpaid accredited internship, which can be taken in addition to option modules and will help students to gain invaluable work experience. The internships, which are with London-based organisations, take place during the summer period. To apply, students must submit a completed application form and a copy of their updated CV to the Business Experience Team; the team then shortlist from the applications and conduct group meetings with the applicants.
Ultimately it is up to our internship employers to decide whether they would like to interview the candidate(s) and offer him/her an internship. We have received very positive feedback from both postgraduate students and employers and expect that the internship programme will continue to remain popular amongst our students.
Accreditation
Westminster Business School will pay your CIPD joining fee and your membership fees for the first period of your studies. You will also be provided with text books which contain the essential reading for the core modules.
Programme Specification
For more details on course structure and modules, and how you will be taught and assessed, see the programme specification.
Careers
Graduates will be able to develop an international management career within a wide range of business management opportunities, potentially working locally, nationally and trans-nationally for global corporations, trans-European, trans-Asian, African or Australasian companies. You could pursue management consultancy, general HRM, become an expatriate HRM specialist or facilitate organisational development, such as a move from national to international operations.
Past students have gone on to become consultants (internal and external), HR managers, compensation and benefits managers, change management specialists, HR business partners/operations managers, civil servants, and mediators. Companies that have employed our students include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Capgemini, BBC, and Visa.
With a growing global network of 3,000 employers, our Careers and Employability Service is here to support you to achieve your full potential.
Build key skills
Practical skills workshops develop essential HR practitioner skills.
Develop CQ skills
Develop your cultural intelligence – or ‘CQ’ – studying alongside students and staff representing more than 100 nationalities.
Learn from experts
Several members of staff are leading authorities in their respective fields, and many have practised at a senior level, often as HR consultants.
Industry links
We are recognised as a CIPD Approved Centre as a result of our long-established reputation for both leading-edge research and high-quality professional education for HR practitioners.
We enjoy a close relationship with the HRM profession and recently collaborated on a research project investigating diversity and inclusion practices in organisations. Launched in October 2019, our joint report, Diversity management that works: an evidence based review, identified six priority recommendations for practice.
We have been deeply involved at CIPD branch level for many years and also have close links with other professional bodies, such as the British Universities Industrial Relations Association. Several members of staff are leading authorities in their respective fields, and many have practised at a senior level, often as HR consultants.
Job roles
This course will prepare you for roles such as:
- Change management specialist
- Civil servant
- Coach/mentor
- Compensation and benefits manager
- HR business partner/operations manager
- HR consultant (internal and external)
- HR manager
- Mediator
Graduate employers
Graduates from this course have found employment at organisations including:
- BBC
- Capgemini
- EY
- Harrods
- HSBC
- KPMG
- Linklaters
- PWC
- The Royal Household
- Transport for London
- Visa
Westminster Employability Award
Employers value graduates who have invested in their personal and professional development – and our Westminster Employability Award gives you the chance to formally document and demonstrate these activities and achievements.
The award is flexible and can be completed in your own time, comprising a set of core and optional extracurricular activities.
Activities might include gaining experience through a part-time job or placement, signing up to a University-run scheme – such as mentoring or teaching in a school – or completing online exercises.
Course Leader
Dr Elisabeth Michielsens
Principal Lecturer
With a wealth of academic experience, Elisabeth joined the University of Westminster in 1997 having previously worked as a researcher at Warwick University.
Originally from Belgium, she studied her degree in Political and Social Sciences at the University of Antwerp, followed by postgraduate studies in Business/Managerial Economics at the University of Leuven. Her PhD, achieved at Westminster in 2016, was the culmination of 10 years of research in the field of diversity management, an area she continues to research. Specialist areas include women in non-traditional occupations, equality and equal opportunities and European social policy.
Elisabeth’s teaching now focuses on research methods, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level, though she has previously taught subjects including international HRM, organisational behaviour and equality and diversity. She speaks three languages – English, Dutch and French.
Funnily enough, I originally wanted to be an HR Manager, but found myself researching this area soon after I graduated and have continued to do so. I’ve conducted diversity-related research with European funding on women in management and am fascinated by women who work in male-dominated occupations, such as engineering.
Course Team
Teaching and assessment
Your learning experience is designed to provide both a practical and theoretical understanding of people management approaches and their impact on organisational behaviour.
To assist the learning experience, we provide reading lists, lecture and seminar materials in advance via Blackboard, our virtual learning environment. Where possible, lectures are recorded using specialist software and similar tools to make sure you can really listen to what is said in class and don’t miss a thing.
How you’ll be taught
Through a variety of teaching methods – from traditional lectures and seminars to case study analysis and projects – we encourage active, experiential and reflective learning. You will demonstrate independent learning, critical evaluation, reflection, discussion and debate, as well as the opportunity through the project to research, in significant depth, a relevant topic.
The emphasis in the classroom is on problem-based learning, blending theory and practice, problem diagnosis and the selection of managerial tools to provide the best fit with the situation. For one assignment, for example, you will interview two managers to see whether or not their career development experience fits the concept of the managerial escalator, which seeks to explain how specialists become managers.
Classes are often run on a workshop basis, giving you the opportunity as a group to pool your experience, as well as drawing on the expertise of the tutors. Skills-based workshops include finance, introduction to employment law, interviewing skills, disciplinary and grievance handling, and negotiating skills.
You will develop practical knowledge, expertise and valuable insights from visiting HR professionals from a wide range of industries. The teaching team itself has specialist HR knowledge in employee coaching, employment law, international HRM, management development, managing culture and change and reward management.
Our annual HRM Conference brings together expert practitioners and academics who address a range of HRM related topics, which have previously included neuroscience for organisational change, comparative industrial relations and inclusive leadership.
In the following graph you'll find examples of how study time has been distributed in the past (data from the academic year 2019/20). Changes to division of study time may be made in response to feedback and in accordance with our terms and conditions.
Year
1
16%84%
How you’ll be assessed
Using a wide range of techniques, you can expect to be assessed on the learning outcomes of your course in core modules through coursework in the form of essays, reports, presentations, case studies as well as time-constrained in-class tests and exams.
We try to make assessments as practical and relevant as possible, incorporating the type of work required by future employers, for example, you might prepare plans to lead large-scale structural transformation to maximise efficiencies or provide recommendations on how to develop a leadership culture at a time of crisis.
In the following graph you'll find examples of how marks have been calculated in the past (data from the academic year 2019/20). Changes to assessment weights may be made in response to feedback and in accordance with our terms and conditions.
Year
1
30%2%68%
Why study this course?
Build your analytical skills
Learn which human resources information and data to source and analyse as part of evidence-based practice.
Combine theory and practice
Link theory to global practice through real-life case studies, guest lectures, workshops and assignments.
Get industry insight
Annual HR Conference gives you the chance to hear from experts on themes such as HRM in transition and talent management.
Online open evenings
Find out more about the University by visiting us at one of our open evenings.
Entry Requirements
A minimum of a lower second class honours degree (2:2). Relevant degree disciplines include: business studies, economics, geography, management, and operations research. However, students with qualifications in other disciplines such as engineering, environmental sciences, the humanities and languages are also encouraged to apply.
If your first language is not English you should have an IELTS 6.5 with at least 6.0 in writing.
Applicants are required to submit one reference.
A minimum of a lower second class honours degree (2:2). Relevant degree disciplines include: business studies, economics, geography, management, and operations research. However, students with qualifications in other disciplines such as engineering, environmental sciences, the humanities and languages are also encouraged to apply.
If your first language is not English you should have an IELTS 6.5 with at least 6.0 in writing.
Applicants are required to submit one reference.
Student work
One of the most popular aspects of this course is the fact that our students graduate with a CV that already demonstrates direct experience, making them more attractive to employers.
Coaching is just one of the ways in which we do this. We’ll show you some of the core techniques and tools to use for coaching in the workplace, such as the Wheel of Life visual tool, the GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Well) model and the Johari Window self-reflection tool. You’ll then deliver real-life coaching to fellow students, attending supervisor meetings and producing performance reports just as you would do as a professional coach.
Founded in 1995, Westminster Business Consultants is a student-run consultancy service affiliated with the University, which offers management and strategic consultancy, specialising in HR, market research, market analysis, brand strategy, feasibility studies, business development, performance improvement and product development. It works with a diverse clientele of emerging start-ups, SMEs and large corporations at home and overseas, giving students opportunities to gain extensive knowledge and experience in various industries.
Learn new skills
Develop your creativity
Develop your creativity to think outside the box.
Build critical thinking skills
Learn to critically evaluate the strategies that managers use to help organisations adapt in an uncertain or complex environment.
Improve your problem-solving skills
Improve your problem-solving skills to better understand and tackle people management issues.
Fees and Funding
UK tuition fee: £11,500 (Price per academic year)
When you have enrolled with us, your annual tuition fees will remain the same throughout your studies with us. We do not increase your tuition fees each year.
Find out how we set our tuition fees.
Alumni discount
This course is eligible for an alumni discount. Find out if you are eligible and how to apply by visiting our Alumni discounts page.
Funding
As well as tuition fee loans, there is a range of funding available to help you fund your studies.
Find out about postgraduate student funding options.
Scholarships
The University is dedicated to supporting ambitious and outstanding students and we offer a variety of scholarships to eligible postgraduate students, which cover all or part of your tuition fees.
Find out if you qualify for one of our scholarships.
Additional costs
See what you may need to pay for separately and what your tuition fees cover.
International tuition fee: £13,000 (Price per academic year)
When you have enrolled with us, your annual tuition fees will remain the same throughout your studies with us. We do not increase your tuition fees each year.
Find out how we set our tuition fees.
Alumni discount
This course is eligible for an alumni discount. Find out if you are eligible and how to apply by visiting our Alumni discounts page.
Funding
Find out about funding for international students.
Scholarships
The University is dedicated to supporting ambitious and outstanding students and we offer a variety of scholarships to eligible postgraduate students, which cover all or part of your tuition fees.
Find out if you qualify for one of our scholarships.
Additional costs
See what you may need to pay for separately and what your tuition fees cover.
Westminster Business School blog
Read our blog and get an insight into life and studies at Westminster Business School.
Facilities
Learning platform
Meeting spaces
Library
Classrooms
Bloomberg Suite
Group study zone
Cafe
Supporting you
Our Student Hub is where you’ll find out about the services and support we offer, helping you get the best out of your time with us.
- Study support — workshops, 1-2-1 support and online resources to help improve your academic and research skills
- Personal tutors — support you in fulfilling your academic and personal potential
- Student advice team — provide specialist advice on a range of issues including funding, benefits and visas
- Extra-curricular activities — volunteering opportunities, sports and fitness activities, student events and more
Course Location
Our Marylebone Campus has benefitted from a multi-million-pound refurbishment resulting in new workshops, digital studios and development of the Marylebone Library. The campus is home to Westminster Business School and our award-winning Architecture, Planning and Tourism courses. For more details, visit our Marylebone Campus page.
Westminster Business School
Based in the heart of London's political, media and financial services, Westminster Business School has excellent industry links and a strong commitment to social enterprise.
Our courses are accredited by professional bodies including the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Our practical teaching relates learning to the real world, and we develop graduates who are ready to respond to contemporary business challenges.
Contact us
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Opening hours (GMT): 9am–4pm Monday to Friday
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