Overview
More and more organisations recognise that finding (and keeping) the best talent, and getting the most out of them, is critical to their future success. This MBA course will prepare you for a career in HR leadership – helping a wide range of organisations to grow and prosper.
Study for this MBA and you could build a successful strategic management career, developing people in the complex and fast-changing world of the contemporary workplace. You’ll graduate with a solid understanding of how and why people function at work, and of the relevant legal frameworks governing human resource management. You’ll also deepen your understanding of how to find, develop and engage the most appropriate talent for any organisation.
You have the option to either study at our exciting London campus- either full time for 1 year or part time for 2 years, or you can study online. The online course is designed to allow for flexible studying to fit around your life. You can study at your own pace and at a time that suits you, with a dedicated support team and online facilitators to help you every step of the way.
Online seminars and scheduled group discussions are designed to provide an interactive and immersive environment combined with the availability of subject-specific content and discussion forums at all times online. This enables the opportunity of an equivalent qualification and learning opportunity to the campus-based delivery, upon successful completion of the course.
The design, content, and delivery of this course both online and on campus is informed by the experience of HR professionals and educators, to help ensure the relevance and application of all learning to modern-day and global settings of HR management practice.
Upon successful completion, you’ll be awarded the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Advanced Diploma in HRM, and you could also obtain the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Certificate in Strategic Management and Leadership.
Why Coventry University London?
We believe that there is no better place to learn about business than to study in the heart of one of the most successful business and financial centres in the world. Launched in 2010 and located in the City of London, we are minutes away from the Bank of England and the London Stock Exchange, and are surrounded by several blue chip companies.
To ensure an optimised and continual student experience, the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via emerging online technologies and methods across all courses.
Global ready
An international outlook, with global opportunitiesEmployability
Career-ready graduates, with the skills to succeedStudent experience
All the support you need, in a top student cityHeart of the City
Minutes from the Bank of England and Stock ExchangeAccreditation and Professional Recognition
This course is accredited and recognised by the following bodies:
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Chartered Management Institute
What our students say...
The course changed my perception on leadership and heightened my focus on my specialist field of study. I realised my academic goals thanks to the tremendous support I got from the academic staff.
Course information
This superb MBA course is closely connected to the world of employment, offering work experience opportunities as well as the chance to mix with a range of employers through guest lectures and networking. Your understanding of other cultures and work contexts will be deepened thanks to trips overseas, as well as being part of a student cohort from all over the world.
You’ll be taught by academics who are accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and who have extensive experience working in industry. They will work hard to connect you with opportunities for work experience and other chances to mix with employers, including participation in UK and international field trips – which in the past have included Switzerland, France and Japan.
Your studies will take a globalised approach, preparing you to work across cultures and potentially anywhere in the world. You’ll learn to track and respond to significant and far-reaching economic, social, technological and geo-political changes affecting the contemporary workplace – changes which demand different patterns of thinking and behaviour from those who wish to manage and lead.
Course Specification
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Modules
In more detail...
Students come to this course from all over the world, with a wide range of backgrounds and ambitions. They all benefit from a superb MBA programme which has been designed in consultation with employers. You’ll graduate with the skills you need to impact positively and strategically on human resource management, and to lead and influence organisations at the highest levels.
Professional
The course has been approved by the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development (CIPD), the professional body for HR. When you pass your MBA, you’ll achieve the CIPD Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management. The course is also accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Providing you pass the course, register as a CMI member and pay a membership fee, you will also be awarded the CMI Certificate in Strategic Management and Leadership.
Practical
As far as possible, this course reflects the kind of challenges you’ll face in the workplace. As part of your learning you might develop your own recruitment and talent management campaign, a bespoke training programme, and/or and an employee engagement strategy. You might work with colleagues at overseas institutions to analyse international HR issues. There are opportunities for field trips in the UK and internationally, and you could even choose a work experience placement in your final term.
Tutors
You’ll be taught by helpful, supportive and highly qualified academics with extensive career experience in human resource management, and who are members of the CIPD. They will apply their experience to illustrate your learning, and they’ll use their extensive network of business contacts to create networking opportunities for students.
London
Our campus is based in the heart of the City of London, close to the headquarters of some of the most famous organisations in the world. You’ll be surrounded by businesses of every description, from start-ups to multi-nationals, and by opportunities to explore the dynamics of the way they manage their human resources.
Employability
You’ll have many opportunities to mix with employers and to build your CV. You could do a consultancy project for a real business client, or take up an internship in the HR department of a notable London organisation. Previous students have developed employee handbooks for government bodies, designed employee retention policies, and delivered recommendations on how to improve the recruitment and selection processes for international organisations. Should you wish to start your own business, we offer business start-up advice and support.
- There are opportunities for international travel
- This MBA course has been designed in consultation with employers
- You’ll also have the opportunity to achieve a CMI leadership qualification
- You’ll study in the City of London, one of the most dynamic square miles in the world
- You’ll study with students from all over the world, developing your ability to work cross-culturally.
- On passing the course, you’ll achieve the CIPD Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management
- It is approved by the CIPD, the professional association for HR with over 130,000 members worldwide
- Your tutors have considerable career experience in human resource management, and will draw on their extensive contacts to provide you with exposure to industry
- You’ll benefit from applied learning which connects you to industry both within and beyond the classroom, including consultancy products for clients and work experience with employers
Your main study themes are:
- Strategy – You’ll develop a wide range of strategic management, HR, marketing and finance skills which are transferable across all industries and which meet the objectives of a broad-based MBA
- Professionalism – You’ll learn to adhere to the highest levels of professional conduct, and you could be accredited by not one but two of the world’s leading professional associations for management and HR
- Globalisation – You’ll learn how approaches to issues such as labour, ethics, sustainability and finance differ globally, equipping you to work overseas, or within a multi-national, or within an importing/exporting organisation
- Talent – You’ll deepen your understanding of how to identify, attract, recruit, motivate, develop, engage and reward the very best people for any given role or context.
What you’ll learn on this MBA course is a true reflection of what’s current in industry, and will help to deliver the skills employers are looking for. That’s because we work hard to build strong relationships with professional associations (both in general management and in HR) and also with employers, especially when it comes to designing the content of the course.
Your modules will develop your critical-thinking and decision-making skills. Besides time spent in lectures and seminars, you’ll tackle practical exercises and collaborations, and could do real work experience. You’ll be challenged by realistic business simulations, group projects and case studies. Beyond the classroom, you’ll be encouraged to go out and explore the learning opportunities which London offers the HR professional.
Our wide network of prestigious alumni, leading academics and industry leaders means you’ll also be able to enjoy a fascinating programme of guest lectures (in the past, this has included people from Google and a former contestant on The Apprentice. Your tutors may also organise visits to businesses, trade shows and/or conferences.
You will develop a wide range of invaluable soft skills which are transferable between industries, such as confidence, communication, teamwork, presentation, and the collation and use of information. Extra-curricular activities such as our Student Enterprise Business society, student mentoring programmes and volunteering offer opportunities to develop your personal and professional skills. You could also apply for our High Flyers programme, designed to develop the most talented postgraduate students.
Teaching methods may include lectures, seminars, textbooks, workshops, debates, case studies, consultancy projects, simulations, business plans, and online collaborations.
The assessments on this MBA course are designed to reflect the work you’ll undertake in industry, helping you to prepare for the workplace and for appraisals there. Your tutors will take an employer’s perspective, as well as an academic one, when assessing the content and delivery of your work. You will be assessed regularly, rather than relying on a few major events. This will help you to stay focused on your ongoing learning, and will enable both you and your tutors to be aware at all times of how you’re performing and where you may need some additional study or support.
The course is infused with practical HR assessments such as creating a performance-management and reward-management system; a resourcing and talent-management strategy; a live training workshop; a learning and development strategy for a global client; and/or an employee-engagement survey.
You’ll be encouraged to prove your subject knowledge while demonstrating your ability to write professional reports, structure logical arguments, analyse data, and make compelling presentations. Your assessments will therefore consist of a mixture of seminar and workshop activities, debates, presentations, written assignments, and individual and group work.
On successful completion, you should be able to:
- Evaluate the impact of legal systems, international developments, corporate governance, and ethical, economic, environmental, social and technological change issues on human resource management
- Make judgements about customer service and business positioning from the perspective of an HR manager and/or business partner
- Evaluate the production and marketing of goods and/or services to maximise the management of resources and efficiency of operations in a range of international business and HR contexts
- Appraise the financing of organisations by examining the sources, uses and management of finance and accounting practices for managerial and financial reporting, and their applications for the efficient management of HR costs
- Interpret data and research from organisations, organisational behaviour, industrial/employee relations, human resource management, and change management
- Investigate a complex HR issue, providing information and evaluating options in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment.
As indicated by its title, this course has been designed to take a globalised approach. You’ll learn how and why HR practices and frameworks vary around the world, and how to apply effective strategies when working cross-culturally and/or in a multi-national organisation.
You’ll have the opportunity to participate in an international field trip; past trips have gone to France, Switzerland, Japan and the Czech Republic, where students have witnessed HR in action in SMEs and multi-nationals.
The course also offers a truly multi-cultural experience because you’ll study alongside students from over 50 countries, each offering their own contexts, experiences and insights.
What our students say...
The culturally diverse atmosphere on this course improved my multicultural understanding of people, and provided me with boundless opportunity to network.
Entry Requirements
Flying Start
Included in the fees:
- Specified core textbooks
- Any mandatory UK residential field trips
- Any mandatory UK site visits and trips
- 1,000 sides of black and white laser prints
Additional costs not included in the fees:
You may have the opportunity to participate in non-mandatory field trips in the UK and abroad. These visits are not included in the programme fee and prices will vary depending on the location of the trip.
Career prospects
Graduate Immigration Route visa
Based on current information from the UK Government, international students whose study extends beyond summer 2021 may be eligible for a visa under the UK Government’s Graduate Immigration Route, which will enable students to stay and work, or look for work, in the UK at any skill level for up to two (2) years. Check the most up to date guidance available to check your eligibility and any updates from the UK Government before making an application or enrolment decision.
Students emerge from our MBA International Human Resource Management with skills which are in high demand from employers in private, public and third-sector organisations around the world.
You’ll complete the course with well-developed powers of analysis, clear perspectives on strategy and strategic thinking, and highly effective communication and research skills. Importantly, you’ll also have a deep understanding of international and globalised perspectives on HR, equipping you to work, or to advise, across different cultures, faiths and countries.
In summary, the course will prepare you well to launch or develop a successful career in senior HR management. However, if you would prefer to start your own business, start-up advice and support is available to you during the programme.
Where our graduates work
Our graduates can expect to have the choice of a number of management and leadership careers in HR, whether in-house with an organisation or working at an agency or consultancy.
There are many generalist HR roles, or you could specialise in recruitment, employee relations, reward systems, employee engagement, or learning and development. For example, you might go on to work as a HR business partner, a HR data analyst, a researcher, or a benefits advisor/analyst. You could also work for a search and selection consultancy, advising organisations and identifying the talent they need to meet their business goals.
Alternatively, you might choose to go on to further study; some of our graduates have taken up PhDs in the UK or internationally.
What our students say...
Since graduating in 2014, I’ve worked for two Oxford colleges – managing 120 junior doctors through their studies and then helping to manage a programme researching the political situation in Myanmar.
