Course overview
Accredited Foundation year Work placement
Study at Teesside University International Business School
See what it’s like to study at our modern, enterprising and dynamic business school
You explore key functions of HRM, from leadership and mentoring, and business psychology, to business ethics and corporate social responsibility. You gain knowledge and insight into the workings of an HRM department, exploring areas such as recruitment, payroll, employment policies, and benefits, in order to succeed in any modern business.
Organisations are only as good as the people who work within them – a successful HRM practitioner maximises employee performance, helping business to gain a competitive edge. Whether you want to work with international companies, start-ups or not-for-profit organisations, this course gives you the skills and expertise to accelerate your career in HRM and the wider field of business.
Top five reasons to study human resource management with us:
- Financial awards: study this course and you may be eligible for £2,000 off your accommodation in the first year, or a £9,000 Professor Jane Turner scholarship.
- Real-world experience: our final-year students run Teesside Marketing Clinic offering tailored real-world consultancy services to small businesses, social enterprises, sole traders and start-ups in the Tees Valley area.
- Industry input: we work with brands including Coca-Cola, Apple, Virgin Money, Volvo, and Microsoft, to give you experience of working with global organisations.
- Entrepreneurial opportunities: our students have created 500 new business start-ups through Launchpad – a start-up community who provide support and advice for students looking to start a new business venture.
- United Nations’ PRME initiative – we’re a proud signatory of the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative, which aims to globally raise the profile of sustainability and responsible leadership to equip current and future leaders with the skills to deliver positive change for business and society.
Course details
Year 1 focuses on providing you with the necessary underpinning in terms of broad human resource management knowledge and skills. It introduces key business and management concepts.
Year 2 lets you explore your own interests and deepening your insights as well as having more responsibility for your own learning.
The final year explores more advanced topics within human resource management and you develop your awareness of your own responsibility as a future leader of human resource management. Finally, you have the opportunity to put your knowledge into action by undertaking a self-managed independent project through the Dissertation module.
Course structure
Year 1 core modules
This module will inspire you to think about entering the workplace once you have completed your studies. The module is delivered as an interactive learning experience which will enable you to develop an enterprising mind-set and help to identify some of the skills and attributes you already possess. The module content will encourage you to begin to think about your personal career aspirations, whilst addressing potential gaps linked to your knowledge, skills and experience. You will be encouraged to think in an enterprising fashion; learn new approaches to adapt and enhance your individual style. You will have the opportunity to work independently and as a member of a group by participating in personal challenges and group projects, and will learn to understand the importance of networking. Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to hear from and to question experienced external practitioners.
You gain an understanding of the way in which accounting is used in the external evaluation of organisations and develops the ability to use accounting and finance techniques in decision making, control, management and adding value to performance.
This module draws on the applied science of business psychology to allow you to investigate how to make people and organisations more effective. By engaging with social scientific research methods to study people, workplaces and organisations you will gain an understanding of how to create healthy and productive relationships between people and organisations for mutual benefit.
International Market Environment
You are introduced to basic economic theories of markets and competition along with aspects of the wider business environment, including government policy and the macro-economy. These ideas are then applied to the practical analysis of markets using segmentation, targeting, and positioning framework.
Personal and Professional Development for Business
You become more aware of your own personal and professional development through reflection and interaction with peers. Drawing on related theories, you understand the importance of personal development and develop skills to enhance your future employability.
You study some of the general principles of business management, particularly in the context of structure, culture, leadership, organisational behaviour, the business environment and the impact of these areas operationally. You are also introduced to the concept of strategic management with an emphasis on organisational resource and competency. And you consider the impact of organisational behaviour on overall business effectiveness, examining the role of the individual within the organisation and exploring motivation, perception and personal impact.
Year 2 core modules
In a world of relentless and fast paced change the most important question for any company is ‘are we agile?’ In other words are we able to deal with new situations and changes quickly and successfully. For many the answer is no. In this module you will learn how to get to yes through the greatest resource available: people. You will develop knowledge and understanding of why much of management is no longer fit for purpose (management 1.0), and how a new alternative is emerging (management 2.0) is an alternative fit for the 21st century.
This applied module allows you to demonstrate your practical skills and knowledge within a work environment. You explore the theoretical and practical world of business and will explore entrepreneurial and wider managerial approaches to the development of business within enterprise. Through your work within an enterprise, you will develop valuable professional skills and first-hand knowledge of an enterprise. If you already work you will be guided to recognise and reflect on this practice and use your own organisation as a case study. You are supported by academic staff and business contacts from across and outside the University.
You will look at the issues around creating a compelling environment for human resources (HR). You will also look at how to align and integrate the HR function and its activities better with the rest of the business. You will also learn about contemporary HRM issues.
International Business and Management
You develop an understanding of the main issues affecting international business in the global economy and explore topics including globalisation, trade, economic growth and development. You focus specifically on examining these topics across different cultures. As the module progresses you become able to differentiate cultural variations and the impact of cultural difference on individuals and key organisations. You also have the opportunity to study a culture of your choice in-depth.
Leading others and acting as a mentor provides insightful ways of developing self and others. Contemporary methods of leadership, married with mentoring, provides an opportunity for the student to explore both leadership and mentoring in a variety of contexts and purposes. A person who accepts the role of mentor may have to adopt or use many different skills depending on the needs of the learner. The mentor is likely to develop a leader-follower relationship and may carry out a wide range of directing and helping strategies to facilitate successful learning. This module will put mentoring into a learning environment and prepare the student to take on the role of mentor.
Building on prior learning within various stage 1 modules, this module develops your understanding and awareness of the principles and practicalities underpinning ethical and rigorous research. Through interactive seminar sessions with research-active academic staff, the module develops the practical skills you require for conducting a rigorous and ethical research study. The skills developed and knowledge gained will link to the stage 3 Dissertation module.
Optional work placement year
You have the option to spend one year in industry learning and developing your skills. We encourage and support you with applying for a placement, job hunting and networking.
You gain experience favoured by graduate recruiters and develop your technical skillset. You also obtain the transferable skills required in any professional environment, including communication, negotiation, teamwork, leadership, organisation, confidence, self-reliance, problem-solving, being able to work under pressure, and commercial awareness.
Many employers view a placement as a year-long interview, therefore placements are increasingly becoming an essential part of an organisation's pre-selection strategy in their graduate recruitment process. Benefits include:
· improved job prospects
· enhanced employment skills and improved career progression opportunities
· a higher starting salary than your full-time counterparts
· a better degree classification
· a richer CV
· a year's salary before completing your degree
· experience of workplace culture
· the opportunity to design and base your final-year project within a working environment.
If you are unable to secure a work placement with an employer, then you simply continue on a course without the work placement.
Final-year core modules
Concepts and Principles of International Management
This module develops your awareness and understanding of some of the key paradigms, principles, models, theories, concepts, techniques and practices of management and international management. You will then be able to appropriately explain, evaluate and apply the concepts, models and techniques.
Contemporary Issues in Business Management
You develop an understanding of the challenges faced by organisations and explores the controversies and dilemmas of contemporary management thinking and practice. You study three key interrelated contemporary issues facing businesses - internationalisation; technological innovation and sustainability.
Current Issues in Business Ethics and CSR
Business operates today in a marketplace where increasingly companies are expected by consumers to not only do well but also to do good. "Doing the right thing" is seen as "the next big idea", a realisation by companies that embracing corporate social responsibility can be a driver to success because other groups in society see you as acting correctly. In the light of Enron and the BAe bribery case; the anti-globalisation protestors; endless "mandate" groups each with their own set of demands; and even demands from institutional and retail shareholders, companies of all sizes are increasingly aware of the new marketplace and seeing the growing importance of being (or at least appearing to be) seen embracing business ethics and corporate social responsibility.
Your final year dissertation is an opportunity to do an independent piece of research, demonstrating that you know how to take a systematic approach to research, analysis and evaluation within a structured business-orientated framework. It also encourages you to reflect and critically evaluate your personal development.
Sustainability, Strategy and Society
You gain knowledge and experience of business in society and how to implement responsible leadership for organisational sustainability. You will review the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and work with stakeholders, analysing the macro environment and providing evidence-based solutions to overcome a problem in society.
Modules offered may vary.
How you learn
Modules are taught by lectures, seminars, practical workshops, work-based activities and group work. Teaching staff adopt a range of web-based technologies to deliver module content, assess, provide feedback and communicate with students.
How you are assessed
The programme is assessed via a variety of methods including assignments, examinations, group work, presentations and live practical projects.
Our Disability Services team provide an inclusive and empowering learning environment and have specialist staff to support disabled students access any additional tailored resources needed. If you have a specific learning difficulty, mental health condition, autism, sensory impairment, chronic health condition or any other disability please contact a Disability Services as early as possible.
Find out more about our disability services
Find out more about financial support
Find out more about our course related costs
Entry requirements
Entry requirements
A typical offer is 80-104 tariff points from at least two A levels, T levels or equivalent.
We welcome applications from mature students without conventional entry requirements. We take into account any alternative qualifications or other experience you may have.
For general information please see our overview of entry requirements
International applicants can find out what qualifications they need by visiting Your Country
You can gain considerable knowledge from work, volunteering and life. Under recognition of prior learning (RPL) you may be awarded credit for this which can be credited towards the course you want to study.
Find out more about RPL
Employability
Work placement year
Career opportunities
We provide an environment that allows you to develop the extra practical employability characteristics that make you more attractive to employers in the job market.
Our staff use their extensive business connections to provide many and varied opportunities to engage with potential employers through fairs, guest lecture sessions, live projects and site visits. In addition we offer a series of workshops and events in the first, second and third year that ensure all students are equipped with both degree level subject knowledge plus the practical skills that employers are looking for in new graduate recruits. We also offer extensive support for students to find and secure industry-year placements which have been shown to make have significant positive impact on a student’s career prospects on graduation.
Our award-winning careers service works with regional and national employers to advertise graduate positions, in addition to providing post-graduation support for all Teesside University alumni.
Through collaborative projects with our international partners, you gain the skills and confidence to succeed in the world of work on a global scale. You work with SMEs and large corporate organisations, developing practical business skills by formulating solutions to real-world challenges. We ensure that you acquire a unique mix of ability, knowledge and experience to secure the perfect role.
Information for international applicants
Qualifications
International applicants - find out what qualifications you need by selecting your country below.
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Useful information
Visit our international pages for useful information for non-UK students and applicants.