MSc Business with Human Resource Management with Advanced Practice

This module aims to develop your critical knowledge and understanding of how HRM can add value and enhance organisational effectiveness and sustainability, by exploring the effective integration of HRM with broader business and HR strategies, in order to facilitate the achievement of organisations strategic objectives.

You will be able to identify strategies for managing the shared and divergent interests of key stakeholders in HRM and understand how HRM can add value to individual and organisational objectives.

In this module you are introduced to a variety of approaches to organisational analysis, enabling you to challenge and critique, both organisational practice, and the theories, models and frameworks underpinning management, business and organisation. Mainstream views of organisational behaviour and practice are introduced, with progression to exploring alternative ways of ‘seeing’ organisation and organizing. This approach develops your critical thinking and draws on contemporary research to explore alternative ways of organizing.

The module introduces you to the most established paradigm perspective on organisation theory (Burrell and Morgan’s (1985), and thus allows an exploration of organisation behaviour and practice through the lens of mainstream and critical organisation theory.

In this module you will learn about a variety of different research methods. This will equip you with the knowledge and practical skills necessary for you to conduct research at Masters level and prepare you to complete a Masters dissertation or consultancy project. By the end of the module you will know how to apply both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques. In quantitative techniques you will learn about sampling, questionnaire design, statistical inference, and hypothesis testing while qualitative techniques covered will include methods such as interviewing and focus groups. Analysis methods such as content analysis and thematic analysis will also be covered. In addition, you will gain some understanding of research philosophy (positivism and interpretivism) and research ethics and you will be able to write a research proposal to bring these ideas together.

This module is the first of two that prepares you to be highly employable by developing key hard and soft skills which have been identified by current research as those necessary for postgraduate students seeking work. The development of the module has been underpinned by Bird and Osland’s (2003) Global Competency Framework and will provide you with two discrete skills sets – emotional and cultural intelligence (soft skills) and business intelligence (hard skills).

This module is the second of two that prepares you to be highly employable by developing key hard and soft skills which have been identified by current research as those necessary for postgraduate students seeking work. The development of the module has been underpinned by Bird and Osland’s (2003) Global Competency Framework and will provide you with two discrete skills sets – emotional and cultural intelligence (soft skills) and business intelligence (hard skills).

This module has been developed for those of you who have little or no prior business and management subject experience. The aim of the module is to introduce you to the main business functions – Finance, Marketing, HRM, Operations – and show how each can contribute to the competitive advantage of a firm and hence enable the firm to achieve its strategic objectives.

You will undertake a series support sessions across each of the three semesters of your study. This will involve an introduction to culture, PG learning in a UK University, expectations, programme specific sessions and activities to aid specific skill development and employability.

Within this module, you will record your learning experience gained by undertaking a semester outside of the University as part of your Masters programme by means of Internship at an external organisation and it will enable you to assess the learning that has taken place in the University with a “real-world” business experience.

In this module you will gain an understanding of the academic skills that are required to produce a Masters Dissertation. By the end of the module you will have written a 3000 word dissertation proposal and a 15000 word Masters dissertation.

As a student enrolled on one of the 2-year Advanced Practice Programmes you may undertake a group consultancy project within the first semester of your second years of Masters study (the alternative is an Internship). Through your work-based experience, you will develop abilities as a problem solver with valued investigative, theoretical and practical business skills. This work-based experience will last the length of the semester and involve the examination of a complex organisational problem or commercial opportunity.

By undertaking this module, you will have enhanced your individual skills, knowledge, effectiveness and employability by locating learning and development within a work-based context and will have critically reflected and evaluated upon organisational practices and the relation with academic theory.

You will undertake a group consultancy project within the Business Clinic during the first semester. Through your work-based experience, you will develop ability as a problem solver with valued investigative, theoretical and practical business skills. This will last the length of the semester and involve the examination of a complex organisational problem or commercial opportunity.

This second semester module will involve the development of the client oriented management report and presentation alongside an individual literature review and personal reflection.