MSc International Management
School of Management
Royal Holloway, University of London
Induction 2011/12
(Sixth Cohort)
Dr Derrick Chong, Programme Director
Mrs Helen McEwan, Administrator
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September 2012
Where do you want to be?
What do you want to be doing?
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There is a requirement to manage your own personal
development alongside completing a rigorous
academic programme of study
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Hunt for a job and/or summer internship
Start in Term 1 to be considered by large companies
Consider opportunities outside your home country
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RHUL – School of Management
Taught Postgraduate (PGT) Programmes
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General Management (2)
 MSc International Management
 MBA International Management
Specialist Management (8)
 MA: Asia Pacific Business; Marketing
 MSc: Business Information Systems;
Entrepreneurship; International Accounting;
International HRM; Leadership and Management
in Health; Sustainability and Management
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MSc International Management
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Taught postgraduate qualification in International
Management from a research-led College of the
University of London
‘Pre-experience’ (0-2yrs of f/t work experience)
Did not read management as part of an undergraduate
(first) degree
Knowledge of core management functions and
transferable, soft skills
Aged 21-25yrs from 20-odd nations
AMBA-accredited (redesign commended in 2010)
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MSc IM Redesigned for 2010/11
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Reduction in taught courses
 Electives:
two courses rather than four
 Emphasis on six core management function courses
 Greater time to complete group-based assessments and for
personal development
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Independent Research Paper (8-10,000 words) in lieu of
Dissertation (12-15,000 words)
 MSc
IM students sit six exams (3hrs each = 18hrs)
 MSc IM is a ‘conversion’ degree
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MSc IM Redesigned for 2011/12
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Group-based assessment
 Greater
emphasis on process not just output
 Research Projects (Terms 1 & 2) is core for group-based
assessment
 Elimination of group-based assessment across six core
management function courses
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Degree classification by College
 Merit
band (60-69%)
 ‘Resits’ capped at 50%
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MSc IM
Programme Structure (12 months, full-time; Independent
Research Paper due in early Sep 2012, along with ‘resits’)
Term 1 (Sep-Dec 2011)
Term 2 (Jan-Mar 2012)
Exams (May-Jun 2012)
IS & Ops Mgmt
Business Economics
Business Economics
Int’l Accounting & Finance Int’l HRM & OB
IS & Ops Mgmt
Int’l Marketing
Elective 1 (with MBA)
Int’l Accounting & Finance
Int’l Strategy
Elective 2 (with MBA)
Int’l Marketing
Research Projects
Research Projects
Int’l HRM & OB
Professional Business Skills Professional Business Skills Int’l Strategy
Business Research
Methods
Independent Research Paper
Independent Research Paper
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MSc IM
Programme Weighting
Courses
Overall Weighting (%)
Six Core Management Functions
(6.0 X 9.52% each)
57.14
Two Electives
(2.0 X 9.52% each)
19.05
Research Projects
1.0 X 9.52% (= 2.0 X 4.76% per term)
09.52
Professional Business Skills
00.00
Business Research Methods
00.00
Independent Research Paper
(1.5 X 9.52%)
14.29
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MSc IM
Assessment – individual (including exams, in-class tests,
and Independent Research Paper) and group-based
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Six Core Management Courses
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Research Projects
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Personal development
Business Research Methods (0%)
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Assignment or in-class test or group-based project (100%)
Professional Business Skills (0%)
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Two group-based projects (50% each)
Two Elective Courses
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Individual assignment (20%) + exam (80%) or in-class test (20%) + exam
(80%)
Supports Independent Research Paper
Independent Research Paper
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8-10,000 words (100%)
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MSc IM
Attendance and Preparation
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Attendance is required for all sessions (lectures and
workshops)
 Monitored
by the College and UK’s Border Agency
 Do not sign attendance sheets for ‘friends’
 Do not pursue social and entertainment activities (on laptops
and/or phones)
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Preparation before sessions
 Essential
for both lectures (to understand what is being
presented) and workshops (to facilitate discussions)
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Term 1 Schedule
Mon
9-10
Core Mgmt
10-11
Core Mgmt
11-12
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Core Mgmt
Professional
Business
Skills 1
Core Mgmt
Core Mgmt
Also Term 1
Professional
Business
Skills 1
Core Mgmt
12-13
WS 1
Core Mgmt
WS 3
Core Mgmt
13-14
WS 2
WS4
WS 4
WS 2
14-15
WS 3
WS 1
Professional
Business
Skills 2
WS 1
WS 3
15-16
WS 4
Professional
Business
Skills 2
WS 2
WS 4
16-17
WS 2
17-18
WS 3
• Research Projects
(group-based)
• Business Research
Methods (preparation for
Independent Research
Paper)
WS 1
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Elective Course Selection – Term 2
(Note: selection process with submission deadline in early Oct)
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MN5104 – Advertising & Promotional Communications (Marketing)
MN5115 – Marketing Research (Marketing)
MN5211 – International Business Law (Law)
MN5212 – Commercial Dispute Settlement (Law)
MN5214 – Business Ethics (Sustainability)
MN5281 – International Sustainability Management (Sustainability)
MN5107 – International Investment Management (Finance)
MN5108 – International Corporate Finance (Finance)
MN5109 – Knowledge Management
MN5191 – Multinational Enterprise & the Global Economy
MN5193 – Entrepreneurship
MN5201 – International Business Analysis
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Working in ‘Peer-Based’ Groups
Process and Output
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Peer-based groups
 Not
direct management authority
 Cooperative effort is essential
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Organizations and teams (social system)
 Undertaking
involving cooperation around a common goal
 How to manage conflict (differences of opinion, effort)?
 Diversity in organizations is deemed good
 Ad-hoc teams in organizations
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‘Self and Peer Assessment’ document to be completed
 Support
and guidance of course instructors
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Skills Development
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Transferable skills (in addition to subject knowledge)
 Learning to learn
 Self-awareness, openness and sensitivity to diversity
 Interpersonal skills of effective listening, negotiating,
and persuasion
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Working in Groups
Some Suggestions
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Who are your group members? Why are they here?
What do they hope to achieve? (What do they eat?)
What and how you communicate or behave? How is it
perceived by other group members?
Adopt English as common language
Do not spilt the task (final output) in a piecemeal
manner; edit for consistency
Independent thinking in advance of group meetings
(including ‘brainstorming’ sessions)
Individual responsibility to the group (reliability)
Collective responsibility for the final output
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Maintain contact outside of scheduled meetings
Avoid Plagiarism
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Plagiarize = ‘take and use another person’s thoughts,
writings, or investigations as one’s own’ (COD); so
plagiarism and plagiarist
Considered academic misconduct (crime of intellectual
theft) by the College with severe penalties including
expulsion and material impact on degree classification
Deliberate attempt to deceive vs carelessness vs
ignorance of correct practice
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Research Resources
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Handbooks for Management
 Alan Bryman and Emma Bell, Business Research Methods, 3rd
ed. (2011)
 John Creswell, Research Design, 3rd ed. (2009)
 Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis, and Adrian Thornhill, Research
Methods for Business Students, 5th ed. (2009)
Citation / Academic Referencing
 APA Style (which includes the so-called ‘Harvard’ citation
system): http://apastyle.apa.org/learn/tutorials/basicstutorial.aspx
 Purdue University has an excellent and free resource, OWL
(online writing lab), with a summary of citation styles:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/
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Informed Reading and Listening
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‘Informed Opinion’ is important
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Databases of management journals
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Access College’s library portal http://xerxes.rhul.ac.uk/
Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly, California Management Review,
Sloan Management Review, and Journal of Management Studies are general
management journals
International business press
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Instructors are keen on your assessment/interpretation of a
situation/case, however, they will expect that your opinion is informed
Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Fortune,
Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Economist
MBA Gym www.mbagym.com (free and FT initiative)
BBC Radio
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Radio 4 (92.4-94.6); see www.bbc.co.uk for accompanying material
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In Addition to Studying
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Physical activity – individual exercise or team sport – is
important
Visit London and areas near Egham (Windsor and Richmondupon-Thames)
‘Half a pint of your finest bitter, please’
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Examples of ‘real ale’: Timothy Taylor Landlord, St Austell Tribute,
Fuller’s London Pride, Young’s Ordinary, Greene King IPA, Sharp’s
Doom Bar, Harveys Sussex Best Bitter, Adnams
Local pubs include The Happy Man, The Bee Hive, The Crown, Alma
Mater, and The Barley Mow (Englefield Green)
Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)
http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=181061
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What RHUL Offers
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Intellectual Rigour
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Personal Development
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Social Capital (Networks)
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