Programme Specification: MSc Management and Human Resources
1. Awarding Body
2. Details of accreditation by a
professional/statutory body, e.g. ESRC;
BPS etc
3. Name of final award
4. Programme Title
5. Duration of the course
6. Based in the Department/Institute:
7. Relevant QAA subject benchmark
statements
8. Application Code
9. First written/last amended
LSE
The programme has been designed so as to
allow students to satisfy the educational
requirements of the CIPD’s new professional
levels of membership.
MSc
Management and Human Resources
Full-time 12 months
Employment Relations and Organisational
Behaviour Group
N/A
N6U4
Nov 2011 / Nov 2012
10. The programme aims to:
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provide a high quality education in a research-active environment for intellectually
able students from a wide range of backgrounds;
help students understand the social science basis and inter-disciplinary nature of
HRM and how they might be applied in practice both in the UK and abroad;
encourage students to develop intellectual flexibility and powers of rigorous
analysis, by placing a premium on developing minds and on bringing forward
their analytical reasoning ability;
give students practical experience of the competencies required by HR
professionals and allow them to explore how the HR function operates in
practice;
familiarise students with the tools necessary to research HR issues within
organisations and give them the opportunity to use those tools in a companybased project;
ensure students (who wish to do so) to reach the standards required for a
professional qualification (Membership of the CIPD) that will facilitate a career in
HRM and inspire them to become ”reflective practitioners”.
11. Programme outcomes: knowledge and understanding; skills and other attributes
Students completing the MSc M&HR and fulfilling the educational requirements of the CIPD’s
professional level of membership should possess:
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an advanced, critical understanding of a social science-based approach to HRM and a
firm grasp of the contributions of various disciplines;
a broad understanding of the issues and practicalities covered by the CIPD
Professional Standards and an approach to HRM that will allow them to develop
professionally into a ‘Thinking Performer’;
a broad understanding of the importance of comparative study and the international
dimension in HRM;
a capacity to work independently and creatively on research-based tasks, as
demonstrated in their project report;
basic competence in the practical skills and knowledge necessary to begin a career in
HRM;
a longer term potential to think rigorously about complex HR issues and strategic
choices at senior levels of management.
Information relating to careers can be accessed here
12. Teaching, learning and assessment strategies to enable outcomes to be achieved
and demonstrated
Teaching and learning strategies:
Core academic courses are taught by lecture and class, supplemented by individual tutorials
where necessary. Extensive hand-outs (typically in electronic format) are available on many
courses. Students are required to make class presentations regularly, usually as part of a
syndicate. They are encouraged to think of learning as a collaborative process and teamwork
is welcomed. As part of professional training, skill in presentation is particularly valued.
Assessment strategies:
The academic courses are assessed by coursework (2000-word essays) and examination.
For diagnostic purposes both practice essays and mock exams are used.
Students wishing to become members of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development (CIPD) take an additional practice-orientated course ID493.
13. Programme structures and requirements, levels, modules and awards
For further information see the MSc Management and Human Resources.
Additional information
14. Criteria for admission to the programme
Students will normally need a first class or upper second class honours degree or its
overseas equivalent to be accepted onto the MSc. In exceptional cases, where candidates
lack the required academic attainments, the School takes relevant work experience into
account. Experience in Human Resource Management is an advantage but not essential. The
programme is academically demanding and students are expected to be inquisitive and
thoughtful, to have good writing skills, and be willing to grapple with research methods. Even
so, a social science degree is not a prerequisite.
15. Indicators of quality
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Growing demand from well qualified applicants from around the world. Intense
competition for places, despite higher fees;
Reports by the CIPD quality control team. The Employment Relations and
Organisational Behaviour Group is a CIPD “Centre of Excellence”;
Favourable remarks by external examiners and consistently good examination
results. The majority of MSc MHR students achieve Merits and the proportion of
Distinctions has risen in recent years;
Student feedback;
Employer evaluation of and demand for MSc MHR graduates;
The Department was ranked highly in the last RAE;
The Department has made a number of new appointments at the top of their
respective fields;
The LSE Careers Centre website provides data on career destinations of LSE
graduates.
16. Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standard of teaching and
learning
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The TQARO student questionnaire, which is used as a tool to diagnose problems and
explore improvements;
Staff-Student Committee on which the MSc M&HR has designated representation
and whose concerns are always prominent on the agenda;
Teaching teams on each course – who meet regularly to evaluate past performance,
remedy defects and propose improvements;
Staff meetings in which the problems of teaching and student service are routinely
discussed;
External examiners, who pay particular attention to the MSc M&HR research projects;
A professional adviser, drawn from the local CIPD branch to consult on the key
issues relating to the profession;
CIPD visiting panels, who inspect the department every three years in relation both to
CIPD Standards and our “Centre of Excellence” status;
The Teaching and Learning Centre is available to monitor and observe teaching and
offers constructive advice on how to improve the standard of teaching and quality;
The Teaching Learning and Assessment Committee which regulates all aspects of
teaching quality;
Full departmental TLAC review every five years;
The Graduate Studies Sub-Committee which oversees all graduate programmes and
ensures that significant changes to programmes and courses pass through a
sequence of formal stages, so that curricular changes are appropriate and compatible
with other developments.