Course description
Structure and Content
The full-time programme consists of two 15-week semesters of taught modules and a three-month dissertation period.
In the Autumn Semester you take the following modules:
Work, Employment and Society: You will be provided with a strong foundation for the Master’s programme and be introduced to the key structural features of, and contextual influences on, the world of work and employment.
Personnel Management: This module introduces you to the range of policies and procedures used in organisations to manage staff. It will deal with human resource planning, recruitment and selection, managing performance, rewards, grievance and discipline, managing relationships with employees, learning and development, health, safety and welfare and diversity.
Organisational Behaviour and Analysis: This module takes a social science perspective to introduce the key concepts and theoretical approaches used in understanding social behaviour in organisations and to models of organisational analysis.
Industrial Democracy: The aim of this module is to introduce you to the theoretical debates surrounding the concepts of industrial democracy and employee participation and to examine the resolution of these debates in a range of practical settings. It will focus particularly on how the trade union-led demands for industrial democracy of the 1970s gave way to management-initiated employee involvement (EI) strategies in the 1980/1990s and their continued evolution in the 2000s.
Research Methods and Dissertation Planning (Part 1): This is a two-semester module in which you will be introduced to research methods in the field of business and management and be shown how these methods can be used in practice in preparing for your dissertation. The module covers the basics of both qualitative and quantitative research, as well as practical issues of topic selection, data collection and analysis and writing up a dissertation. It includes extensive workshop-based sessions.
In the Spring Semester you will take the following modules:
Human Resource Management: This module provides a critical analysis of the concepts, practices and outcomes of human resource management (HRM) as distinct from personnel management. It looks at the debate surrounding HRM and assesses the background, assumptions and aims of several models of HRM and evaluates them against traditional notions and practices of personnel management in the UK.
Management Development: This module provides a general introduction to the field of Management Development/Human Resource Development, with a particular focus upon the role of managers at a time when competitive pressure on organisations has encouraged a greater emphasis on performance.
International Human Resource Management: This module provides an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings and the practical implications of international approaches to human resource management. It will enable you to analyse the different models of international HRM and the major employment policies of multinational companies, to assess the implications of cross cultural differences for managing employees and explain the differences and similarities in HRM practices in different countries.
Research Methods and Dissertation Planning (Part 2): The second half of the module continues and develops the work of the first semester and includes the preparation and submission of an inidivudal research proposal that may form the basis of your dissertation topic.
Delivery and Assessment
Delivery includes lectures, seminars, case studies and presentations, followed by a three-month dissertation period. Assessment is by a mixture of examination and coursework, including written assignments and presentations. Successful completion of the taught element of the programme leads to the award of the Diploma or allows you to continue for the award of the MSc in HRM by completing a 15,000 word dissertation on a topic agreed with the Programme Director. This must be submitted by the end of August following completion of the taught programme.
Career Opportunities
Successful graduates can expect many career opportunities in the areas of human resource management, employee relations and personnel management. Graduates develop careers in a wide variety of roles: in consultancy, in the private, commercial and public sectors, in service and manufacturing organisations, as well as in research and further academic study. The programme has been running for many years and has an excellent reputation in the business community, leading to a very high employment rate for our graduates.
