MSc Human Resource Management
- Programme director
- Brian Good
- Programme length
- Full-time: 12 months
- Programme start date
- September 2013
Developing you with the knowledge, skills, self-awareness and personal development for careers within this area.
Programme overview
This programme aims to develop the knowledge and skills of evaluation, discussion and analysis on issues surrounding how managers are able to utilise human resources (HR) to create added value for customers and to secure a competitive advantage for their organisation.
A strong emphasis is placed on an international perspective to ensure relevance in today’s global economy. In this context, non-UK students are particularly important for enriching the overall international learning experience.
The programme aims to develop a range of business knowledge and skills, together with the self-awareness and personal development appropriate to careers in this area. This includes the development of positive and critical attitudes towards leadership, change and enterprise, so as to reflect the dynamism and vibrancy of the business and management environment.
The programme is designed around a central core of modules to give you a thorough grounding in the basic management disciplines, followed by specialist modules in particular aspects of human resource management. Thus, the programme is primarily differentiated through academic content rather than skills acquisition.
Entry requirements
Applicants should normally hold a Bachelors degree (UK 2.2 or above) or equivalent qualification from a recognised British or overseas university in a subject related to this MSc (psychology, economics, law, business studies with HR). If an applicant’s degree is not in a subject related to this MSc, they should have at least one year of relevant work experience to be considered for entry to this programme.
English language requirements
IELTS minimum overall: 6.5
IELTS minimum by component:
6.0
Fees and funding
All fees are subject to increase or review for subsequent academic years. Please note that not all visa routes permit part-time study and overseas students entering the UK on a Tier 4 visa will not be permitted to study on a part-time basis.
| Programme name | Study mode | Start date | UK/EU fees | Overseas fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSc Human Resource Management | Full-time | Sept 2013 | £9,650 | £16,315 |
Programme content
Compulsory Modules
- Management of Human Resources
- Financial Management
- Employment Law
- Industrial Relations
- Human Resource Development
- Research Methods
- Dissertation
Elective Modules (students must select two of the following):
- Advanced Organisation Theory
- International Human Resource Management
- Strategy
Module Overview
This programme consists of six compulsory modules, two elective modules and a dissertation.
Compulsory Modules
Management of Human Resources
This module provides a general perspective on human resource management and organisational behaviour. The topics covered include organisational structure and culture, motivation and performance management, labour markets, recruitment and selection, organisational learning and managing change.
Financial Management
The finance module introduces you to a range of finance systems and processes. The topics covered include profit and loss account, balance sheet, cash flow statement, financial analysis, and trend and ratio analysis.
Employment Law
This module exposes you to the legal framework which underpins and governs the employment relationship. The topics covered include common and statute law, contract formation, contract maintenance and termination, discrimination in employment, and health and safety in the workplace.
Industrial Relations
This module looks in depth at the employment relationship; the way in which it is formed and maintained. The individual and collective environments are scrutinised in detail. The topics covered include frames of reference and industrial relations theories, collective bargaining and incomes determination, employee participation, industrial action and comparative industrial relations.
Human Resource Development
This module looks at the way that individuals and organisations learn. The topics covered include individual learning processes and learning styles, organisational learning through mental models and the concept of a ‘learning organisation’.
Research Methods
The aim of this module is primarily to prepare you for the dissertation stage, but it also enables you to become competent in manipulating HR-related data for organisational decision-making. The module provides tuition in both qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Dissertation
The dissertation is a 15,000-word piece of independent research into an aspect of human resource management or organisational behaviour.
Elective Modules
Advanced Organisation Theory
The aim of this module is to provide participants with an understanding of the evolution and development of organisational theory in the UK and the USA, and the way in which this underpins the study and practice of organisation behaviour and human resource management.
International Human Resource Management
This module builds on the Management of Human Resources module by looking at the contribution that the HR function can make in the international environment. It is primarily directed towards multinational corporations. The topics covered include international recruitment and selection, international performance management and employee relations in multinational firms.
Strategy
This module addresses the broader concepts of corporate and business strategy and provides the opportunity for you to identify where HR strategy integrates with higher level strategy. The module topics include force field analysis, marketing and total quality management
Programme Structure and Modules
Semester 1 | Credits |
| Management of Human Resources | 15 |
| Human Resource Development | 15 |
| Employment Law | 15 |
| Research Methods | 15 |
Semester 2 | Credits |
| Financial Management | 15 |
| Industrial Relations | 15 |
| Elective 1 | 15 |
| Elective 2 | 15 |
| Dissertation | 60 |
Teaching and assessment
The teaching strategy provides a combination of lectures, seminars, discussion groups, video and case study analysis. We believe that a variety of teaching methods allows us to satisfy most individual learning styles and preferences at some point in the programme. The programme is specifically designed to provide a balanced assessment strategy.
We aim to expose you and your fellow students to a range of assessment techniques, so you are not penalised if one approach does not suit your particular style.
Assessments will include:
- Written assignments in the essay style, testing your ability to synthesise information and to compare and contrast theory with practical examples
- Traditional examinations, providing an opportunity for you to demonstrate how well you can take information and solve problems under time-constrained conditions, just as you might be asked to do in the workplace
We also recognise that, in modern organisations, HR professionals rarely work independently. Some of the written and oral assessments will involve pairs or groups. This allows you to develop the ‘soft’ skills of communication, coordination, teamwork, time management and project management, all of which are increasingly important in the HR departments of high-performance organisations.
Programme support
The Surrey Business School is proud of its high standards in teaching and research, the international reputation of the programme and the success of its graduates in securing employment after completing the programme.
The programme is delivered by a team of highly committed academics who are specialists in their field. Modules are delivered using many educational techniques which ensure that, wherever possible, your individual learning-style preferences are accommodated.
The School of Management building, like the majority on campus, is WiFi-enabled. In addition, we have our own dedicated computer labs which are open during normal office hours; across the piazza from the School, the Austin Pearce labs are open 24/7. Each MSc HRM module is supported by the University’s SurreyLearn web-based learning support system; learning materials are delivered via this platform and the majority of assignments are submitted through this system. So you do not need to be in the School to collect materials or to submit work for grading; you can literally study on the move.
Industry links
The Surrey Business School and its academic staff have a number of strong industry links. From time to time we invite managers from industry to come to talk to you about their experiences of human resource management.
They come from a variety of organisations and industrial sectors. Previous speakers have come from commercial organisations such as KPMG and The Good Corporation, from the political arena (Chris Huhne MP and Tom Spencer of the European Centre for Public Administration), from voluntary sector organisations such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, and Surrey Police.
Visiting speakers allow us to enhance our academic programme by raising and discussing contemporary organisational and HR issues and exposing you to the real world of the human resource practitioner.
International relevance
With the importance of globalisation, it is highly likely that, after graduation, you will spend at least part of your career in a multinational organisation. You will encounter management problems which are largely created by the cross-cultural nature of the modern organisation. To prepare you for this environment, we have purposefully designed a programme which is international in terms of its content and focus. Our academics have considerable international experience.
A challenging and professional programme
Whilst much of the programme is focused on HR-related topics, there are also modules of a broader business nature, such as Strategy and Financial Management. We believe that today’s managers need to acquire an understanding and appreciation of the broader business strategy, in order to create an internal alignment between the strategy pursued by the HR function and that of the organisation. HR professionals also need to understand finance. In most organisations the greatest single cost is labour; therefore an understanding of profit and loss accounts and balance sheets is essential.
Our specialist HR modules cover Industrial Relations, Human Resource Development, International Human Resource Management and Employment Law. These provide the opportunity for you to study in depth a number of HR issues. These include the nature of the employment relationship; the way in which organisations create added value by developing their employees to enhance their ‘asset’ status; the complexity of managing people in an international or multinational setting; and the way in which employers and employees are protected and constrained by the ever-changing legal framework.
Department links
Contact us
For general enquiries
0800 980 3200 or +44 (0)1483 681 681
For admissions enquiries
+44 (0)1483 686 300