International Business Management (MSc)

Teaching and Delivery

The Masters is delivered through three 60 credit blocks. Each block represents 70 hours of taught content, normally within 2-hour sessions. The first two blocks are each divided into 4 x 15 credit modules. Four modules are taught in each 10-week term, with one Reflection week per term. The third 60 credit block will usually comprise the student undertaking training in a research dissertation, based on individual and professional interest.

Each teaching session includes lecture, seminar and interactive workshop elements. You will, usually, have one formal summative assessment at the end of each module. In addition, students are expected to read and prepare for several formative assessments throughout the module. Students will, standardly, have 8 hours of taught sessions per week, with an expectation of a further 30 hours per week, of personal study, reading and assessment preparation. 

The sessions are taught by members of Liverpool Hope Business School’s senior academic staff, augmented by visiting lecturers, from local and regional businesses, with experience in implementing various business practices.  There are, also, occasional fieldwork visits to local companies and other institutions across the Liverpool city region.

Term One: Common Core Modules

Global Human Resource Management Practice and Organisational Behaviour

The module develops functional knowledge and critical understanding of key perspectives on human behaviour in the workplace. It focuses on processes of organising, leading, planning and managing human activity, in business settings. The module considers core organisational HRM policy and practice.

Leading with Purpose

This module equips students with the knowledge and skills to lead organizations with purpose, aligning leadership strategies with organizational values, ethics, and societal impact. Through theory and practice, students will understand how to mobilize teams towards meaningful and sustainable goals.

Strategic Management

This module provides an opportunity to reflect on contemporary issues surrounding strategic management. Through critical insight and outlook, the topics will enable an understanding and critical examination of current and relevant challenges faced by organizations.

International Marketing in the Digital Age

The module provides an overview of international marketing strategies and practices, that businesses face when operating in the global marketplace. Students will learn to develop, implement, and manage marketing strategies related to international trade, cultural differences, and global market trends.

Term Two: Specialist Modules

Strategic Operations and Project Management

This module examines the strategic role of operations and project management. It develops students' critical understanding and strategic skills required to effectively and efficiently manage operations and projects. Students will learn how operations decisions and strategies impact business performance, how operations and projects should be designed and managed in order to create competitive advantages for businesses, and the important role of operations managers. Throughout this module key concepts, various theoretical models, principles, and techniques for analysing, designing, and improving business processes will be introduced and critically assessed. Students will also critically examine the business environment, emerging issues, and the influence of corporate social responsibility and sustainability on operations management. Real-case scenarios will be utilised.

International Business Sustainability and Ethics

This module is based on a strong international dimension relating to International Business Sustainability and Ethics, looking at global cases of sustainable businesses, using the 6 C’s GENE-based model, through which students will become familiar with how to investigate businesses that claim to be sustainable.  They will learn that not all such claims prove to be credible or accurate. The module draws upon contemporary and critical debates surrounding the topic and will contemplate on the fact that while ‘Sustainability’ might be one of the business buzzwords of the age, in reality, however, practice can be far from the rhetoric. Consequently, for some, this module will challenge your frame of reference.  Even so, thinking critically about business practices is necessary to seek improvement in performance in order to achieve a more sustainable world.

Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship

This module blends research-driven and practical approaches to the development and management of new ventures and entrepreneurial projects. It is tailored for entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to hone the skills necessary for creating innovative solutions. It covers the dynamic fields of innovation management and entrepreneurship, and equips students with the crucial knowledge and skills to succeed in today’s competitive business environment. It is ideal for those looking to foster innovation within their organizations or to launch successful ventures.

International Finance and Global Economics

This course provides an insight into the world of finance within an international context, to develop an understanding of the structure of business finance, particularly those relating to the decisions of financing and investment appraisal, and explore international financial risk management. The module’s contents lay emphasis on the understanding of the main futures of multinational finance and their implications.

This topic links theory with practice, providing insight into the world of finance within an international context. It offers participants the opportunity to develop an understanding of the structure of business finance, particularly those relating to the decisions of financing and investment appraisal, and explore international financial risk management. The module’s contents lay emphasis on the understanding of the main futures of multinational finance and their implications. The course will aid in the development of an advanced level of understanding of international finance, coupled with a critical understanding of the themes surrounding financial management. It provides an increased awareness and understanding of various multinational financial management theories and practices with respect to the environment within which international financial management takes place. Students will develop a critical understanding of the topics related to the functioning of markets, financial risk management, the finance of multinational corporations, foreign investment analysis, and multinational working capital management.

Term 3: Consultancy Project or a Research Dissertation

Drawing upon the skills and knowledge developed in the first two semesters, students will complete either a Consultancy Project or a Research Dissertation. Preparation for the Project starts at the outset of the programme, during the induction activities. Students will be expected to draw on their own work experience and, if possible, their own relationships with employers or former employers to discuss and develop their Research Projects. While they are studying during the second semester, they develop their proposal further in discussion with tutors, and they also study the compulsory Research Methods course. In doing so, students will study specific research articles and case studies (including from an international context) to critique and analyse, which will influence and help shape their own approach to the dissertation or consultancy project. This will include the collection from both primary and secondary data sources and the application of both qualitative and quantitative (and mixed) methodologies.