MSc Global Corporations and Policy

This module provides a grounding in the Sociology and Politics of development, which is complementary to the module Political Economy of Development in the MSc Development Studies, exploring theoretical ideas and debates about development, with a historical perspective.

The MSc Global Energy and Climate Policy addresses precisely these issues, treating climate and energy policy as inextricably linked. Cases drawn from both the Global North and South will form the basis of your studies as you examine how policy is made, advocated and implemented – or sometimes prevented – around the world.

This module will give students an understanding of the UN and the UN system within the appropriate context of international organisations will complement the student’s knowledge and understanding of International Studies and Diplomacy.

This module is designed to provide a critical introduction to international relations theory and contemporary world politics for students with no prior background in international relations. Students will acquire a solid grounding in international relations theory and how to apply it to understand and analyse key developments in world politics from 1945 to the present, including the Cold War, decolonization, globalization, development, and the War on Terror, amongst others.

The Risk and Policy Analysis course teaches a core set of skills required of public, private and non-profit sector policy professionals, including: analysing, assessing and managing risks, understanding cost-benefit analysis, analysing stakeholders, scenario mapping, writing policy analysis, assessing policy impacts, and strategically communicating (policy) positions. Cases analysed are drawn from a wide range of policy fields and the skills profile taught is transferable across sectors in policy, diplomatic and corporate settings. The training is conducted through lectures and tutorials run in cooperation with external practitioners representing government, NGOs, think tank, risk advisory and business backgrounds.

This course provides an advanced introduction to global advocacy. The aim of the module is to teach the theories and skills that allow an individual to be a more effective in achieving their advocacy objectives.

The module covers the key issues relating to the regulation of both banking and securities business from a global perspective. It begins by considering the reasons for regulating the financial sector and examines the different approaches and models adopted by different jurisdictions in order to achieve them, with reference to examples including the UK, US, Mainland China, Hong Kong and South Africa. The global measures relating to capital adequacy are then addressed, including discussion of the question, to what extent the highly sophisticated provisions of Basel III are appropriate for developing countries. The module then goes on to examine deposit protection schemes, with the deposit insurance approach of Malaysia contrasted with the more guarantee scheme found in Europe, after which the global standards relating to bank resolution and recovery are considered. The module then goes on to examine the provisions designed to protect those who invest in securities markets: the conduct of business rules and the measures to combat market abuse. Finally, it turns to the regulatory framework of two of the major global financial centres.

The aim of this module is to introduce the philosophical, theoretical and practical bases of conducting academic research.

This module provides students with fundamental knowledge in principles of international corporate finance and asset pricing to understand and analyse the major issues affecting the financial policies of corporation in capital markets. This course is concerned with the decisions that firms make about financing their investment in a global economic environment. You will study the principles underlying such decision-making, their application and debates over them in relation to the modern literature to develop analytical skills in a challenging global environment, and other complex specialised contexts.

This module provides students with fundamental knowledge about how to use financial tools to manage risk. The risk tools of management covered by the module include portfolio analysis; bonds and the yield curve; financial derivatives (including forwards and futures); options (and how to use them to hedge) and Value at Risk (VaR).

International management

This module is designed to develop cultural intelligence through a highly practical approach to enhance interpersonal and intercultural communication skills for future career in international teams and global business environment. The body of the module examines the fundamental concepts of cultural, assesses the impact of cultural values in intercultural business environment and explores the the impact of cultural difference on international team effectiveness, business negotiations, communication, and personal presentation.

The aim of this module is to introduce the key concepts of Human Resource Management (HRM) by examining the evolution, functions and processes of HRM within a theoretical and ‘best practice’ context. The module then focuses on HRM from a global perspective and assesses the operation of HRM across distinct cultural and business contexts.

The overall objective of this module is to provide an informed appreciation of international marketing as an academic subject and management practice. This module focuses on the central strategic issue in international marketing – standardisation versus adaptation and examines the topics of marketing competitive advantage in relation to changing consumer behaviour and customer relationships.