International Human Resource Management MSc

Study level: Postgraduate
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Effective human resource management (HRM) is an integral part of any successful organisation and, within the context of a competitive global market, the demand for skilled staff is now increasing within every business sector.

Year of entry

2023-24

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Full-time

Duration

1 year full-time
2 years part-time

Course code

FBLT145

Start date

September 2023
January 2024

How to apply
Book an Open Day
Download a prospectus
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The information on this page is for 2022-23 entry and should be used as guidance for 2023-24 entry. Please keep checking back on this course page to see our latest updates.

Course overview

People play a critical role in the effective and efficient performance of commercial businesses, public sector organisations and not-for-profit bodies. This course has been designed for people who want to learn how to manage and organise paid and voluntary staff to maximise their potential, which ultimately allows businesses and organises to flourish and succeed.

  • Our new MSc International Human Resource Management course is designed for individuals wishing to either develop their understanding and expertise in human resources, or for those who want to branch out into this area of management.
  • The course content has a strong strategic focus, looking at the management of people in a more systematic manner, over longer time scales.
  • The course adopts an international approach to teaching, skill development, and knowledge acquisition, which should prepare you to operate in a globally connected business world.
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Global ready

An international outlook, with global opportunities
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Teaching excellence

Taught by lecturers who are experts in their field
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Employability

Career ready graduates, with the skills to succeed

Why you should study this course

  • Coventry University has taught Human Resource Management (HRM) at postgraduate level for over 40 years and is currently a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Accredited Centre.
  • The course aims to prepare you for international employment in human resources management or development (HRD), upon successful completion.
  • It places an emphasis on research-informed human resource management practices, which is used in the problem-based approach to teaching, to develop practical solutions, to real world business problems.
  • Coventry Business School are currently active members of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) and our teaching is designed to adhere to the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME), with the aim of promoting personal and professional ethical behaviour by presenting a range of ethical dilemmas designed to expose you to professional codes of conduct. Please see the Memberships section for further details.
  • There is currently no intention for either of these memberships to lapse however if either of these memberships were not to be renewed, we would notify applicants and students as soon as possible.

Accredited by:

Following changes that have been made to improve the course, we are applying for reaccreditation with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), one of the largest HRM professional bodies. The course has been designed to fulfil CIPD’s requirement for professional accreditation and Coventry University is currently a CIPD approved centre.

If accreditation is confirmed, successful graduates of this course will be awarded CIPD Associate Membership (subject to CIPD’s application criteria and approval). This is a globally recognised accreditation and provides you with the opportunity to develop industry standard knowledge, understanding and skills to drive organisational performance. CIPD membership also has an international dimension, as Associate members can benefit from several mutual recognition agreements between the CIPD and other Global HRM professional bodies.

For more information, please visit the CIPD website.

Certified Association of Business Schools

Coventry Business School is currently an active member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools, which has a membership of over 120 business schools and higher education providers and supports its members in maintaining world-class standards of teaching and research.

What you'll study

The course focuses on strategic people management and development within an international organisational context, placing special emphasis on global employment issues, including national cultures, legislation and strategies. For example, we consider the role of HR professionals in managing skilled and unskilled migration and how this impacts on organisational effectiveness.

Our course team currently benefits from a close relationship with the CIPD, organising and hosting CIPD local branch events. Your programme of study currently reflects the CIPD’s current professional standards and expectations, which aims to broaden your awareness of HR generalist and specialist functions in an international context and provide you with the essential requirements needed to work within the broad context of international people management and development. Please see the Accreditation and Professional Recognition section for further details.

We will aim to develop your strategic awareness of global business operations, for example, by considering how the individual goals and strategies of businesses drive their marketing, production, employee or customer orientation, as well as learning and development strategy. We will also look at how HR professionals can add value in organisations through ensuring cultural diversity through recruitment and selection practices or global talent management programmes.

You will have the chance to study a range of technical modules, such as HR Analytics and Managing Organisational Change Projects using project management, in addition to core HR accredited modules to help you achieve Associate CIPD membership, upon successful completion of the course. Please see the Accreditation and Professional Recognition section for further details. We also ensure that you have the opportunity to gain a genuinely internationalised learning experience, so that you have the chance to develop your awareness of a range of international contexts. For instance, the ‘Comparative Global HRM’ module allows you to select two regions from four to compare HR practices, which should enable you to tailor your studies depending on your personal requirements and in line with your future career aspirations.

This course currently includes the Professional Development Module – Consultancy, giving you the opportunity to study a module developed in partnership with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), focused on consultancy, which can lead to a professional qualification upon successful completion. Please see the Accreditation and Professional Recognition section for further details.

The Project module can allow you to undertake an internship2 with a host company, with the experience informing the production of the final module submission, allowing you the opportunity to gain practical experience during your course.

Please note that all of the below modules are mandatory, and the order of modules within semesters is subject to change.

Modules

  • This module aims to examine key aspects of resourcing and talent development activities, looking at both strategic as well as operational issues. A major and fundamental objective of the human resources (HR) function is the mobilisation of a workforce. Organisations can only function if they are able to assemble teams of people with the necessary skills, attitudes and experience to meet their objectives.

    Compulsory

  • The aim of this module is to enable you to develop a critical awareness of the complexity of the management and development of Human Resources in the international context, to enable understanding of the theoretical constructs of comparative analysis and to be able to apply HRM/HRD techniques with sensitivity to national cultural differences.

    Compulsory

  • Human Resources Specialists need a fundamental understanding of the interactions that occur among people in the workplace. This module aims to provide you with the tools to critically understand and evaluate individual, group and organisational processes. You should also gain an appreciation of the relevance of the study of organisational behaviour to the practice of human resource management.

    Compulsory

  • This module aims to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of employment relations perspectives and debates, both national and international, from a theoretical and behavioural competency perspective. It should enable you to understand, analyse and evaluate competing theories and perspectives associated with managing employment relations strategies and their outcomes on organisational climate, employees and management.

    Compulsory

  • Project management is the art and science of making change work. It is both widely recognised, and a self-fulfilling prophecy, that change is the only constant in the environment faced by organisations in the modern world. Factors such as technological advances, increasing competitive pressures, changes in regulatory reforms and globalisation are creating opportunities and threats that organisations need to address if they are to survive and prosper. This module seeks to critically evaluate the stages of every project and explore how to develop projects that solve problems and seize opportunities.

    Compulsory

  • The module is primarily concerned with the development of skills and aims to widen your appreciation of the contribution intrapreneurs make within a business. Drawing on a range of key entrepreneurial skills, the module aims to help you to understand how HR Practitioners can support business performance by utilising these pivotal business skills.

    Compulsory

  • This module provides an overarching synopsis of four critical areas of global work: Learning and development, Technology and Artificial Intelligence, Sustainable futures, Green HRM. It focuses on the role of the learning function within organisations of all types and assesses how learning provision within organisations is influenced by a variety of internal and external factors. Importantly, it considers how organisational power and political structures impact upon the learning function.

    Compulsory

  • This module explores the role of People Analytics in providing an organisation with insights for effectively managing teams and individuals, managing projects and processes, and enabling predictive decision taking that eventually fosters superior organizational performance. The module aims to enable you to critically analyse the concept of insight driven people management and development and its connection to the meaningful analysis of broader organisational data.

    Compulsory

  • This module aims to provide you with a framework of knowledge and understanding of how to effectively lead and develop people in a strategic and entrepreneurial way. You will explore for example, the influence and impact of leadership theories, culture, wellbeing, the principles of entrepreneurial practice and understand the different contexts in which entrepreneurship can flourish as well as the characteristics of entrepreneurial leadership within different types of organisational scenarios.

    Compulsory

  • In this module, you will carry out a substantive piece of independent research into a business issue relevant to your studies. You will be expected to draw upon the knowledge acquired, and the intellectual, technical and analytical skills developed throughout your course. You will be supported in this module through a series of group supervisions, and will be allocated a project supervisor.

    Compulsory

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

How you'll learn

As well as traditional teaching and learning methods, such as lectures, workshops and seminars, specific subjects adopt a mix of experimental approaches to try to facilitate richer deeper learning. These sessions may be delivered through a combination of face-to-face teaching and online classes and tutorials.

As well as traditional teaching and learning methods, such as lectures, workshops and seminars, specific subjects adopt a mix of experimental approaches to try to facilitate richer deeper learning. These sessions may be delivered through a combination of face-to-face teaching and online classes and tutorials.

You will have the opportunity to participate in a range of employability skills workshops (subject to availability), specifically designed to develop skills required for working in the areas of international human resource management. These feature a range of learning tools, such as simulation exercises, team building and motivational activities, case studies, and working with specialist guest speakers on a range of problems to try to develop the competences identified by the CIPD as being important to professionals in the sector.

We are particularly proud of our innovative use of assessments centres and utilising speakers from industry. Our assessments centres involve you going through a day-long event, replicating the process a business would go through for recruiting large groups of candidates. In relation to speakers from industry, we now have an annual week-long event (subject to availability) where practitioners, many of whom are former students (alumni), come in to share their insights about HR issues and how they have overcome them, together with offering many opportunities for developing their professional network.

This course can be studied on a full-time or part-time basis. Whilst we would like to give you all the information about our part-time offering here, it is tailored for each course each year depending on the number of part-time applicants. Therefore, the part-time teaching arrangements vary. Please request information about studying this course part-time.

Teaching contact hours

The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the University may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the University may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.

Assessment

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will vary depending upon the module. Assessment methods include the written assignments, practical coursework, presentations and individual assignments or group work elements, many of which will have a strong applied problem-based approach to real world HR problems.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

International experience opportunities

There is an international emphasis across the programme, through the inclusion of internationally focused learning outcomes and specific modules with a comparative, international perspective. This aims to help emphasise intercultural engagement and group working between students and staff from all over the world, which in turn can foster intercultural competency. Opportunities2 will also be sought to develop Collaborative Online International Learning projects with other partner institutions across diverse countries.

Past students have been offered international opportunities such as Collaborative Online International Learning Projects (Coil), virtual Fieldtrips to attend conferences in different countries, which also offers a variety of overseas Fieldtrips for postgraduate students (subject to application and fees).

Entry requirements

  • Applicants normally hold an honours degree 2:2 or above, where a variety of academic subjects or disciplines can be considered for entry.
  • Applications from candidates with relevant experience can be considered on an individual basis.
  • Each application will be considered on its merits and the final decision will be made by the course director.

We recognise a breadth of qualifications, speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you. 

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Applicants should hold a business-related honours degree at 2:2 or equivalent qualification.

Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:

Europe

Americas

Middle East

South Asia

South East Asia

East Asia

Africa

Russia and Central Asia

You can view our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

If you do not have the typical entry requirements, you may want to consider studying this course with an international pre-master's. Upon successful completion our International Pre-Master's - Business will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to progress onto this postgraduate degree.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 6.5 overall (with at least 5.5 in each component area)

If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course. 

For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

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Fees and funding

2023/24 Tuition fees

Student Full-time Part-time
UK £15,400 per year Not available
International £20,050 per year Not available

For advice and guidance on tuition fees3 and student loans visit our Postgraduate Finance page.

We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

  • We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Your fee status determines your tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available to you. The rules about who pays UK (home) or international (overseas) fees for higher education courses in England are set by the government's Department for Education. The regulations identify all the different categories of student who can insist on paying the home rate. The regulations can be difficult to understand, so the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) has provided fee status guidance to help you identify whether you are eligible to pay the home or overseas rate.

    If you meet all the criteria required by any one category, including any residence requirements, your institution must charge you the home rate. You only need to find one category that you fit into.

Facilities

Our aim is to offer you sector-leading facilities4:

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The Library

The Lanchester Library is open 24/7, 364 days a year and has 1,400 study spaces, including group and silent areas. Many of the resources available to students are accessible online.

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Jaguar Centre

Our refurbished Jaguar Centre has been specifically designed to provide facilities and services to support our postgraduate students including: social spaces, computer suites and separate areas for small group study.

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The Hub

The Hub is the centre of student campus life. It's also home to: The Health and Wellbeing Centre, The Spirituality and Faith Centre, The Tank Studio, The Careers and the Enterprise Hub.

Careers and opportunities

Upon successful completion, you will be able to:

  • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of International Human Resource Management and related subjects outlined in the current CIPD HR Profession Map relevant to a course start in 2022/23. (Please see the Accreditation and Professional Recognition section for further details.)
  • Appreciate any ethical, legal and financial factors and their effects at local, national and international levels upon the strategy, behaviour and management of organisations.
  • Exercise sound judgements in the selection of different methods and approaches available to deal with financial, cultural and legal business problems nationally and internationally.
  • Use financial skills to communicate and work effectively to persuade and influence others to make decisions.

This course prepares you to be able to operate either as a generalist or a specialist manager, with opportunities to develop more specific areas of expertise in the diverse area of HR. The course will provide you with a deep insight of people management as a set of practices, which can include the processes of talent acquisition, optimization, and retention, while providing continued support for the business and guidance for the employees of an organisation.

Upon successful completion, you should gain a clear understanding of a broad range of HR, managerial and business principles, practices and competencies in different regions of the world. You should develop specialist technical competence, strong analytical and problem-solving skills in managing organisational change and in HR analytics.

Our Faculty aims to give you access to Employment Personal Tutors, aligned to your area of study, to work with you throughout your course. Our Employment Personal Tutors have previously worked in industry and some have experience of being a recruiter; because of their experiences, they understand the labour market, the skills employers look for and the processes used by employers to select candidates.

Where our graduates work

Many of our past graduates from similar courses have found employment positions within generalist HR, general management, specialist pay and reward, people development and employee relations roles in organisations such as, British Nuclear fuels, BNP Paribas, McKesson Lloyds Pharmacy, Coventry City Council, Hays Plc at Honeywell, Sage Publishing, JLR and the BBC.

How to apply

  • Coventry University together with Coventry University London Campus, CU Coventry, CU London, CU Scarborough and Coventry University Online come together to form part of the Coventry University Group (the “University”) with all degrees awarded by Coventry University. 

    1Accreditations

    The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery.

    2UK and international opportunities

    Please note that we are unable to guarantee any UK or International opportunities (whether required or optional) such as internships, work experience, field trips, conferences, placements or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (which could include, but is not limited to, equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable travel COVID and visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the visa requirements, please contact the International Office.

    3Tuition fees

    The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For Home Students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation.

    For International Students, we may increase fees each year but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.

    4Facilities

    Due to COVID-19, some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) and some non-academic offerings (particularly in relation to international experiences), may vary from those advertised and may have reduced availability or restrictions on their use.

    Student Contract

    By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. The 2023/24 Contract is currently being updated so please revisit this page before submitting your application. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.

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