Programme overview
The MSc is a taught programme which covers the most important dimensions of contemporary management. Human Resource Management (HRM) and Knowledge Management (KM) are the crucial aspects of competitive advantage in the global economy in all organisations. People’s creative and innovative capacities underpin organisational and individual performance and productivity. Motivation, soft skills, talent, culture, teamwork, leadership and change are, and will be, the main drivers of management. As global market pressures increase steadily, as consumers become more and more demanding, the effectiveness of management and organisations depends upon their human and knowledge resources.
The economic downturn has already shown how important it is for any professional in management to possess a thorough understanding of people and knowledge in times of radical and relentless change, of unpredictable challenges to innovate, re-think, and re-organise.
The MSc is designed to address all these issues in a systematic and inspiring fashion. It will equip you with the ability to understand how human resource and knowledge management practices operate at multiple levels. This will allow you to acquire knowledge and skills necessary for a successful career in the most important management functions.
Programme content
The MSc is offered by the Department of Organisation, Work and Technology and is structured around four core taught units per term. These core units are designed to provide an overview of major concepts, theories and practices.
“I was encouraged mostly by the amount of individual attention given by my tutors as they took interest in my ideas.”
Gabrielle Durepos
MSc HR & Knowledge Management, 2004
Lectures are delivered in a dynamic and critical fashion. By utilising conceptual theoretical frameworks, you will acquire the indispensable ability to grasp how everyday organisational processes are constituted through managerial action and how to engage with them.
Equally crucial is the time taken by participants to study the materials taught in the courses and to have a lively and open dialogue with lecturers. This is why the MSc offers the opportunity for you to choose your own topics for essays and for the dissertation thus specialising and developing your particular interests. One of the main aims of this MSc is to create a vibrant environment in which you will be able to explore your own ideas and bring forth your own inputs and experiences. This enriches participants through close exchanges of ideas and approaches, and it has always led to an impressive variety of work being undertaken by each MSc cohort.
Dissertation project
A key feature of the MSc is the dissertation project which takes place in the last four months of the programme. This represents an opportunity to bring together the learning you have acquired throughout the programme in a systematic and integrative piece of work.
For those who wish to explore in more depth contemporary management through doctoral studies (PhD), the dissertation provides the opportunity to outline a future research project.
Programme participants
In choosing between applicants in any given year we aim to create a diverse, international group of participants with a range of different backgrounds, achievements, interests and intentions – a group which represents the global environment of contemporary management.
