International Business Management - MSc

More about this course

The key aim of the course is to develop the decision making and interpersonal skills that are essential for a successful career in business and management. As part of the degree, you will have access to an individual leadership assessment and feedback software. This software will help identify your strengths, and provide you with an opportunity for personal and professional growth.

The business simulation used will help bring business to life in the classroom. Competing in groups with other students, you will experiment with business strategies, test business ideas and experience the consequences of your actions in a virtual simulated business environment. The simulation will help you understand how teams work together to make decisions, manage risk and beat the competition.

Whilst not essential, any experiences of business, for example as employees, customers or managers will contribute in building and applying business concepts. We focus your learning on the practical understanding of the global world of business, providing a rich environment where international experience and practice is shared. You'll have the opportunity to develop presentation, critical thinking, negotiation and problem solving skills, all of which are desirable in successful employees in the world of global business.

Businesses make an extraordinary contribution to solving problems that we all face. They meet many of our needs efficiently and effectively, delivering innovation and improvement on a daily basis. They also provide great opportunity to grow and learn for those that pursue the dream of starting a business or of working for an international company. We expect our graduates to be high performing business managers who understand the vital need for sustainable growth, the importance of equality of opportunity and the value in diversity.

Assessment

Assessment will come in various forms, including individual coursework, group work reflective statements, presentations, peer assessments, essays, portfolios and videos.

Professional accreditation

In addition to your masters degree you will gain the highly sought after and widely recognised CMI Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership.

Entry requirements

You will be required to have:

• A minimum of a lower second class (2.2) undergraduate honours degree (or equivalent) in any subject discipline

Accreditation of Prior Learning

Any university-level qualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course at London Met. Find out more about applying for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).

English language requirements

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Student visa (previously Tier 4) you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. This course requires you to meet our standard requirements.

If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.

Modular structure

The modules listed below are for the academic year 2023/24 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.

Year 1 modules include:

Digital Marketing and Social media (core, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• spring semester - Wednesday afternoon
• summer studies - Thursday morning
• summer studies - Thursday afternoon

This module will equip you with Masters-level skills and awareness of the challenges and opportunities within the everchanging digital ecosystem. You will be able to critically explore the theoretical frameworks and models which are relevant to digital and social media marketing practice. You will look at the development and planning of supporting technologies for digital marketing and examine digital channels and their suitability for inclusion for effective integrated marketing programmes and campaigns.

The module aims to:

- enable you gain a comprehensive understanding of digital and social media marketing techniques applicable to marketing theory and practice, research and advanced scholarship.

- provide you with an understanding and the development of critical awareness of current theoretical research in digital and social media for the evaluation and effectiveness of different tools and technologies in digital and social media marketing.

- enhance your cognitive/intellectual, transferable digital practical skills and applied decision-making skills needed successful career in digital and social media marketing.

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International Business Strategy with Simulation (core, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Wednesday morning
• autumn semester - Wednesday afternoon

Business strategy addresses the choices firms make as they set their mission and goals, make decisions in relation to positioning and which markets to enter, and develop their business models. They do this in the context of the external environment, addressing changes in technology, government intervention, competitor actions, customers and markets.

This module aims to:

• Provide a context for current strategic and social issues raised by technology change
• Enable students to develop an understanding of business purpose, strategy and strategy development and to understand how this applies in global organisational contexts for both small and large businesses.
• Develop the knowledge and skills to analyse the current and future business environment through the recognition of changes and trends, and the construction of scenarios
• Introduce the importance of resources and capabilities and develop students’ abilities to critically evaluate their importance as sources of sustainable competitive advantage but also as potential sources of disadvantage when disruptive innovation occurs
• Develop critical awareness of the importance of stakeholders including governments, societies, suppliers and employees, and the need for corporate governance, ethical decision making and corporate responsibility.
• Develop an understanding of managerial decision making with limited information and industry uncertainty through participation in a business simulation.

A key element of the module is participation in the business simulation in which students will compete against each other in terms within a simulated global marketplace.

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Leading and Developing People (core, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• summer studies - Tuesday morning
• spring semester - Tuesday morning
• spring semester - Tuesday afternoon
• summer studies - Tuesday afternoon

The aim of the module is to prepare students to lead and develop people in a complex international environment, to build high performance teams and to create a productive work environment and culture. Over the course of the module, you will learn from relevant contemporary research, theories, and examples of business practices both past and present.
Management and leadership go together in business organisations, with managers typically expected to lead others as part of their role. The module will examine the roles and responsibilities of manager and leader, and the demands on these roles in international, digitally enabled businesses.

Critical to the value of the module is the encouragement of continuous learning and reflection in order to be effective in a changing world. You will have the opportunity to assess their own capabilities using Strengthscope.

The aim of the module is to ensure that students will:

• understand the role of business leaders and business managers in creating successful business organisations, cultures and working environments
• have the necessary knowledge of leading, motivating and developing to enable them to take on a management role successfully
• be able to evaluate their own capabilities and skills in relation to managing themselves and leading others
• be equipped to assess the challenges associated with workplace change and make a valuable contribution to the management of change.

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Operations and Technology Management (core, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Tuesday morning
• autumn semester - Tuesday afternoon

Operations and Technology Management is core to two MSc Pathways, MSC International Business Management and MSC International Business Management with Project Management.

A business adds value through its operations, but only in combination with others in the value network or eco-system, critically linked by the use of technology. Matching internal operations capabilities to changing market (and regulatory) requirements, whilst responding to a tidal wave of data from suppliers, customers and digital platforms involves operations in strategy, design, planning and control, supply chain, improvement techniques like lean but also the technology to connect and join up the dots to capture value.

The module aims to equip students with a broad understanding of operations and technology management that will make them stand out from their peers through being able to grasp how value is being created. The potential for AI and robotics to further increase the use of technology in the operational domain is already clear, whether using AI in legal processes or in robots that flip burgers, an understanding of the links between technology and operations is critical for anyone aspiring to be a business manager, owner or entrepreneur. Analysis is the core of the module, for example through process mapping, and problem solving using both case studies and other active learning exercises.

On successful completion of this module:

• You will understand the basis of the value Operations and Technology Management creates in any organization in any sector
• You will be able to recognize the key concepts and principles of operations and technology management that need to be implemented to support that value creation approach.
• You will be able to critically assess various techniques of product, service design and improvement, deploying a contingent approach to what works best and where
• You will be able to apply appropriate Supply Chain Management techniques in the light of your new knowledge of the scope (and management of) of inter-organisational co-operation
• You will be able to evaluate the necessary trade-offs that have to be made between operations management performance objectives and achievable performance

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Business Consultancy Project-portfolio assessment (alternative core, 60 credits)

This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Tuesday afternoon
• autumn semester - Friday morning
• spring semester - Tuesday afternoon
• spring semester - Tuesday afternoon
• spring semester - Friday morning
• summer studies - Tuesday afternoon
• summer studies - Friday morning

This module provides you with the opportunity to work on specific business issues that organisations are facing. Utilising your competences of handling and managing business challenges, starting from problem identification and concluding with solution-related recommendations, thus encouraging research into real world business issues impacting organisations.
Useful and applied business research, like useful reflection, leads to change. To that end, students will be encouraged to take a pragmatic approach to their research, seeking always to create actionable conclusions of value to business managers, owners and entrepreneurs.
The aims of the module are to:
1. Foster a critical awareness and deep interest in a management/business issue or topic associated with their subject specialist area and to combine knowledge and analyses acquired in modules to explore that topic in depth
2. Enable students to produce a full business research report and a management summary on an appropriate topic to a professional and engaging standard that provides the basis for action.
3. Encourage reflection to critically evaluate the success of a business-related project and assess personal competence in the light of current knowledge and skills.
4. Build each student’s knowledge and confidence in their chosen subject to facilitate employability.
The expectation is that students will undertake research in areas of interest to them that is in context to their chosen programme and that develops knowledge and skills that support employment. Examples of possible areas of research include:
• Evaluation of an opportunity to enter a new market e.g. is it feasible for a low cost airline to enter the market in Brazil?
• Evaluation of a specific firm’s strategy and performance e.g. how is Ford responding to the advent of electric vehicles, driverless technology and ride sharing?
• Analysis of the impact of technology change on a company, industry or sector e.g. how will driverless technology and ride sharing impact on car ownership?
• Analysis of trends to create potential strategic scenarios for a firm or industry e.g. what are the future scenarios for law firms in the light of the adoption of AI?
• Analysis of competition in a specific market or industry e.g. global competition in the rapidly growing e-bike industry
• Identifying solutions to a specific business problem e.g. with a small or medium sized business e.g. what needs to be done to grow the business to the next level
• Analysis of disruption in an industry and the implications for a specific incumbent e.g. how should a black cab driver respond to Uber and other ride sharing platforms?
• Analysis of the effect of government intervention in a particular industry e.g. the current trade dispute over subsidies to Boeing and Airbus
• Response from Banks and FIs to the changing customer interaction and business landscape in the post pandemic era

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Dissertation (alternative core, 60 credits)

This module currently runs:

• summer studies - Wednesday evening
• autumn semester - Friday evening
• spring semester - Wednesday evening

This module provides students with the opportunity to undertake research projects on specific research questions related to their course.

Students will critically investigate issues cognate to their programme of study. The aim will be to make proposals or recommendations for the future and / or a contribution to extant theory.

Students are expected to utilise appropriate investigative techniques and standards of data collection and analysis as they write their postgraduate research-based dissertation.

The dissertation will be 10,000 words in length.

The dissertation module has the following aims:

1. To facilitate a detailed investigation of one area or topic within the subject field;

2. To develop a thorough analysis and synthesis of theory, policy and practice in relation to the chosen topic;

3. To provide an opportunity for critical reflection on the research topic.

The expectation is that students will undertake research in areas of interest to them that is in context to their chosen course; the research supervisor will be allocated by the subject area within which the course is located.

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Data Analysis for Global Business (option, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• spring semester - Tuesday evening

This module offers students a critical understanding of data and different techniques employed for data analysis in relation to the global business.

To provide students with practical skills necessary to undertake data analysis for global business, the aims of the module are:

• to introduce methods for data handling
• to discuss mathematical and statistical foundations for data presentation and analysis
• to develop thorough analysis and synthesis of theory and practice in relation to the subject areas
• to foster a critical awareness and deep interest in global business issues
• to master steps in formulating an econometric model
• to provide an opportunity to students for critical self-reflection, studying and data analysis skills and knowledge.

The module uses Bloomberg for teaching delivery and enables students to join the elite group of Bloomberg users around the world. The module also enables the development of expertise in the use of packages such as SPSS, EViews and NVivo to analyse data.

Note: If there are not sufficient student numbers to make a module viable, the School reserves the right to cancel such a module. If the School cancels a module it will use its reasonable endeavours to provide a suitable alternative.

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Data Warehousing and Big Data (option, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Thursday morning

The module aims to strengthen students’ skills in data technologies ranging from database and data warehousing to Big Data. First, it will provide students with good understanding of database concepts and database management systems in reference to modern enterprise-level database development. Once gaining good skills in database development, students will be able to study and gain an in-depth understanding of data warehousing which include concepts and analytical foundations as well as data warehousing development. Through intensive hands-on sessions, the students will be able to get familiar with related technological trends and development in the field. the module will leverage a portfolio of SQL server tools that include SQL Server DBMS, SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and SQL Server Analysis Service (SSAS) to provide hands-on experience in implementing a reporting solution through a combination of assignments and lab exercises.
The module introduces also the foundation of Big data management based on Apache Hadoop platform and provides students with a broad introduction to Big Data technologies. This will involve hands-on sessions, designed for data analysts, business intelligence specialists, developers, administrators or anyone who has a desire to learn how to process and manage massive and complex data to infer knowledge from data. Topics include Hadoop, HDFS, MapReduce, Spark, Sqoop, Hive, Pig and MLlib.

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Economics of International Trade (option, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Thursday evening

This a core one semester module delivered on MSc International Trade and Finance course and as an option on other courses in the subject area. The focus of the module is on the international trade and economic theory. The topics that will be covered in the module include the benefits and reasons for international trade, patterns of international trade, reasons for protectionism, trade barriers, welfare effects of international economic policies, forms of regional economic integration, balance of payments, and determinants of exchange rates. The module will draw on the current research and empirical studies, and examine theoretical and contemporary policy issues and current debates in the international economy. It will also consider the issues and controversies that surround these activities, and illustrate the links between the theoretical concepts and practical realities.

The module also aims to develop a number of transferable skills of students, e.g. strategic thinking, problem solving, oral and written communication skills, subject research, quantitative and analytical skills.

Note: If there are not sufficient student numbers to make a module viable, the School reserves the right to cancel such a module. If the School cancels a module it will use its reasonable endeavours to provide a suitable alternative.

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Environmental Economics and Investment (option, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Tuesday evening

Environmental Economics and Investment is a Level 7 module which is core to MSc Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability. It is one of the optional Economics modules studied on other courses.

The Environmental Economics and Investment module considers in depth the issues faced by governments and businesses in the face of climate change and other global trends in relation to the environment and the economy. It extends their understanding of the complex and critical relations between man and nature in the processes of economic reproduction.

The module assesses the standard economic principles in their use as tools to investigate the causes, consequences and the possible solutions to problems of environmental degradation and climate change. The three major themes in the module are (i) the determination of the ‘optimum’ levels of environmental resource usage (ii) the analyses of alternative ways of attaining those targets and (iii) the impact of these actions on business decision making.

The crucial notion of 'sustainability' is a key to the investigation. So are the proximate and underlying causes of environmental problems. The main aim of the module is to introduce students to the established economists’ way of analysing environmental problems, and to explore the evolving methodologies prompted by the environmental crisis now upon us.

Note: If there are not sufficient student numbers to make a module viable, the School reserves the right to cancel such a module. If the School cancels a module it will use its reasonable endeavours to provide a suitable alternative.

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International Corporate Finance (option, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Wednesday evening

This module explores the theoretical underpinnings and empirical evidence concerning the activities of corporate finance from an international perspective. The module offers students the opportunity to develop their knowledge in a range of areas related to the international financial system, theories explaining foreign exchange rate behaviour, hedging currency risks, sources of finance for international trade and investment projects for both large and small firms, the effect on international capital structure of investment decisions, risk exposure and risk management, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and multinational working capital management. These topics will be dealt with the overall framework in relation to international corporate activities.

The module aims to:

• provide a framework for students to explore corporate strategies and decisions in an international perspective.
• Offer a conceptual framework for students on corporate strategies and decisions from an international perspective.
• a study on the application of relevant theories, models and empirical evidence for the analysis and evaluation of major corporate activities and decisions made by global firms.

The module uses Bloomberg for teaching delivery and assessment and enables students to join the elite group of Bloomberg users around the world.

Note: If there are not sufficient student numbers to make a module viable, the School reserves the right to cancel such a module. If the School cancels a module it will use its reasonable endeavours to provide a suitable alternative.

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International Logistics (option, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• spring semester - Monday morning
• spring semester - Monday afternoon
• spring semester - Thursday afternoon
• spring semester - Thursday morning
• summer studies - Monday morning
• summer studies - Monday afternoon

This module will enable you to understand the actual processes of the exchange of goods and services between partners in global trade, and the logistical arrangements within transnational corporations across state and regional boundaries. The focus will be on the economic imperatives which have influenced the development of global supply chain management, the micro-economic dynamics affecting the transport and logistics sector and the disruptive trends which are transforming the industry. It will include increasingly relevant concerns such as ethics and sustainability in global supply chains and the importance of understanding risk, especially in developing markets.

The module aims to introduce you to the different theories, methodologies and data sources which will allow you to monitor and understand the logistical strategies developed by the major global producers and consumer goods intermediaries. These connections and processes are part of the development of global trade and economic growth, and have profound consequences for economic and social development.

The aims of the module are:

1 To provide you with an understanding of the nature of logistics studies.

2 To ensure that you are able to explain the different theories and techniques applied to the study of logistics

3 To enable you to understand the types of logistics companies and the processes they use in moving goods around the world.

4 To define and explain to you supply chain management concepts, such as the trade-off between inventory and transport costs, which have influenced the production strategies of multinational enterprises.

5 To outline the types of technologies used to provide visibility in the supply chain and increase efficiency.

6 To provide an overview of the disruptive innovations which are being developed to make international logistics more efficient, and the impact these will have on supply chain strategy.

7 To explain the increased level of risk, which has evolved through the relocation of production processes to developing countries and how multinational enterprises should deal with it. Global waste recycling issues.

8 To provide a background to the increasingly important role which ethical and environmental factors play in the development of sustainable and economically viable supply chains. The circular economy.

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Major Account Marketing Management (option, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• spring semester - Thursday afternoon

With the complexity in the marketplaces ever increasing, knowing how to navigate sales with key accounts by tailoring sales and marketing to align with the buying decision making process is a significant source of competitive advantage.

Winning and retaining major accounts is critical to all businesses whether B2C or B2B. Managing key account is a strategic capability that organisations must embrace through analysis and planning.

This is a practical module designed to help build capabilities to deal with competitive situations, manage negotiations and offer the ongoing support needed to keep your major accounts.

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Sustainability in Global Companies (option, 20 credits)

This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Monday morning
• autumn semester - Tuesday morning
• autumn semester - Tuesday afternoon
• autumn semester - Monday afternoon

This module will address the critical issue of how current thinking on sustainability will impact on businesses and organisations and how they respond.

The need to create more sustainable organisations and businesses is fundamental to current and future organisational development strategies, and it is necessary for students to understand the growing influence of the sustainability agenda on industry. This influence takes on many forms, from government policies and international agreements to the measuring of impacts of organisational practices on the ecology and communities. It is clear that in the future, organisations, businesses, communities and individuals will be expected to understand and take responsibility for their economic, environmental and social impacts. This module will examine the current and future challenges, it will equip students with knowledge to deal with the challenge of creating sustainable forms of business that operate within ecological and socio-economic limits.

It will explore the sustainability context, and how business practices will need to evolve to reflect the realities of operating within a globalised trading system that is striving to apply sustainability principles. This is an important area of increasing scrutiny for airlines and airports. Particular focus will be given to the importance of Sustainability reporting and reporting standards.

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Where this course can take you

On completion of this course you'll be able to make a significant contribution within any business environment, at an individual level or as a member of a team. This would typically be in the finance, strategic planning, quality, risk and related management areas.

Additional costs

Please note, in addition to the tuition fee there may be additional costs for things like equipment, materials, printing, textbooks, trips or professional body fees.

Additionally, there may be other activities that are not formally part of your course and not required to complete your course, but which you may find helpful (for example, optional field trips). The costs of these are additional to your tuition fee and the fees set out above and will be notified when the activity is being arranged.

When to apply

You are advised to apply as early as possible as applications will only be considered if there are places available on the course.