External summary

Managing the most costly, but often the most valuable, resource has for a long time been a key field of interest with business and management. Globalisation, and changing economic, financial, demographic, and political landscapes means that what constitutes effective HRM and how it may best be practiced is constantly evolving. The University of Edinburgh Business School's MSc in International HRM is at the forefront of research-led, practically and theoretically-informed education.

The programme provides a combination of courses that will enable the professional development of future HR professionals capable of operating across national borders. Accreditation CIPD will be sought as soon as possible. The programme combines theoretical and empirical perspectives with the development of practical skills and opportunities for the application of knowledge to real-life HR issues.

Educational aims of programme

• To provide students with a critical appreciation of HRM through the delivery of a range of academically grounded courses.
• To provide an opportunity for students from diverse national and educational backgrounds to develop the theoretical knowledge required for an international career in HRM.
• To provide students with a deep but balanced understanding of the theoretical foundations of HRM in the light of evolving practitioner applications in core areas (e.g. employee engagement, etc).
• To provide students with the practical skills required to address HRM and business problems.
• To foster proficiency in communication skills, independent action and team working.
• To produce critical and reflective HRM practitioners able to pursue successful careers in HRM in a variety of contexts; corporate, SMEs, public sector, third sector, but with a particular focus on multinational corporations.

Programme outcomes: Knowledge and understanding

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of key terms, theories/concepts and practices within the field of HRM.
• Obtain, through elective courses, an in-depth knowledge of specific HRM-related theories, skills and practices.
• Appreciate the implications of increasing globalisation for the management of human resources, with particular reference to HRM in multinational corporations.
• Develop an ability to undertake qualitative and quantitative research and apply this knowledge in the context of an independently constructed work (i.e. dissertation).
• To be able to identify and appreciate the significance of ethical issues in HR practices and the management of people in the workplace.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in research and enquiry

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Critically assess existing theory and practice in the field of International HRM and be able to challenge these.
• Identify and analyse problems in the field of HRM and provide innovative solutions for these.
  Be critical and reflective in the process of evaluating all knowledge.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Respond positively to problems in unfamiliar contexts.
• Identify and apply new ideas, methods and ways of thinking.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in communication

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate competence in communicating and exchanging ideas in large and small group contexts.
• Be able to advanced well reasoned and factually supported argument in both written work and verbal/oral presentations.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal effectiveness

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Work effectively with colleagues with diverse skills, experience levels and ways of thinking.
• Demonstrate competence in the field of professional HR management and be able to locate/identify practitioner and academic resources for the purposes of strategic development and/or problem solving.
• Be able to identify and to evaluate social, cultural, ethical and environmental responsibilities and issues in global contexts.

Programme outcomes: Technical/practical skills

These skills are covered under the headings above.

Programme structure and features

Degree Criteria

MSc full-time (12 months). It consists of 180 SQCF credit points, of which 120 constitutes the

taught portion of the programme with the remaining 60 devoted to the dissertation component of

the degree.

Degree Programme Table and Modes of Study:

The Degree Programme Table can be viewed at

http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/22-23/dpt/drpsindex.htm

Progression and Exit Awards

The programme conforms to the University's taught Assessment Regulations.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/academic-services/policies-regulations/regulations/assessment

Teaching and learning methods and strategies

Knowledge and understanding are cultivated principally through lectures and project groupings, with directed study of key source materials (including journal articles, business reports, and CIPD reports), explicit guidelines for assessed coursework and formative feedback.

Specific skills in research methods, including statistical and qualitative case investigations, will be developed through the compulsory 20 credit course in Methods of Research, and applied with the 60 credit dissertation scheduled for the summer block. Practical human resource management abilities will be cultivated via the preparation and evaluation of collective case investigations of human resource scenarios, group and individual presentations from appraisals of human resource managerial options, and problem-solving exercises based on contemporary challenges confronting global companies.

Assessment methods and strategies

The assessment strategy for the MSc IHRM relies upon a combination of methods to meet the full range of aims and learning objectives and draw maximum advantage from the variety of teaching approaches employed. The assimilation of knowledge, capacity for critical scrutiny and propensity for reflective analysis will be gauged primarily through coursework essays and closed book examinations.

Compulsory courses will also employ group based assessments, requiring joint submissions and evaluating presentations as well as performance. A formal template will be used to provide formative and summative feedback, including a checklist relating to the effectiveness of presentations, content and focused observations about individual performance. Copies of this will be issued to students at the end of each stage of the group-working schedule. Additionally, formative assessment will be provided through verbal and/or written feedback on group reports and presentations, and via written comments on individual essays that will also be returned with a formal report sheet completed by the marker.

Over the summer block, independent learning will be assessed principally by an 15000 words dissertation (worth 60 credits). This must comprise a piece of original research on a topic relating to International Human Resource Management. Various types of dissertation are acceptable. A dissertation may critically review theoretical work, analyse problem-specific data or evaluate new modelling approaches. Examples of the aims of the dissertation are: to give the student the opportunity to practise and gain confidence in the use of skills which s/he has acquired in the preceding courses; to provide an opportunity to study a particular topic in depth have an international focus, draw on internationally sourced data and involve an engagement with practice or link to a business problem. Student development towards this will be supported via the 20 credit Methods of Research class. The assessment here will centre on the submission of a research proposal of 3000 words that relates a chosen topic to a summary of relevant literature (to be fully reviewed within the dissertation) and incorporates an investigation of viable methodologies. Computer competence will have been assessed through project based exercises relating to the Computing in Business component of the Developing Skills for Business Leadership course.

Career opportunities

Our aim would is to provide graduates with a broad enough grounding to seek employment with a range of internationally recognised public, private, and charity sector organisations. Graduates of the MSc in IHRM would be eligible for, and encouraged to apply to jobs on prominent websites such as jobs.personneltoday.com and generalist and specialist HR roles for graduates as specified on the CIPD careers webpage (http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-careers/explore-hr-careers/new-graduate.htm).

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