International Business Management BSc(Hons)

Course structure 

In your first year you take core modules which will help you gain a broad understanding of business and management principles.

In your second year you will broaden your interests and choose from a range of modules so you can personalise your studies.

During your third year, you have the opportunity to study or work abroad in Europe or North America. In your final year you will continue your business management studies with a strong strategic and international focus.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. If you apply to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

Year 1 

In your first year, you will develop a comprehensive understanding of course business and management subjects.

Modules

• Business Economics

  In this module you will develop your understanding of key economic concepts by applying them to contemporary issues within the world of business and through the application of quantitative techniques. You will also gain an understanding of how political, economic and environmental factors influence the world of business.

• Financial Knowledge and Skills for Business

  This module provides you with an introduction to fundamental concepts in the fields of financial accounting, management accounting, and finance. You will develop a basic understanding of an organisation’s financial position and performance through the application of appropriate analytical tools and procedures.

• Marketing Principles

  This module introduces the role and function of marketing within organisational frameworks. You'll develop an understanding of basic qualitative and quantitative tools available for analysing and interpreting the marketing environment.

• Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management

  This module will introduce you to a range of concepts, principles and theories that have been adopted within the study of organisational behaviour and human resource management.

  This module will provide you with a grounding for understanding how people are managed and organised in the workplace.

• International Business Project

  In this module you will create an international communications/promotional plan incorporating a digital presence in an international context.

  Using project software and information technology, you will integrate key skills and formative learning outcomes from other first year modules and project management skills.

  Your understanding of culture, market dynamics, financial structures, human resources and how to reach potential international customers will develop through application to your own business ideas.

• Academic and Professional Skills

  This module will provide you with the underpinning skills and strategies required to study successfully at undergraduate level as well as developing attributes that contribute to employability. You will also develop skills to prepare you for the employability (and work placement) process.

Year 2

From your second year, core modules will develop your international perspective, while option modules allow you to tailor the course to your interests or career aspirations. 

Modules

• Working Across Cultures
• Business Operations and Systems
• Cross-cultural Research and Professional Skills
• International Business Analysis

Options*

• Creativity in Enterprise
• Working in the Voluntary Sector
• Economic Theory and Applications
• Money, Exchange Rates and Trade
• Leadership
• Digital Marketing and Analytics
• Gamification

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Year abroad

The option of a year abroad offers an excellent opportunity to gain international contacts and an advantage in the job market. You can choose to study with the partner institutions in the following countries:

USA

• Clarkson University  – New York State, USA
• Grand Valley State University – Michigan, USA

Canada

• University of Ottawa – Ottawa, Canada

France

• EDHEC Business School – Lille and Nice, France

Germany

• Hochschule Mainz – Mainz, Germany

Spain

• Universidad San Pablo CEU – Madrid, Spain*

Italy

• Universita degli Studi di Siena – Siena, Italy

More European countries

• Karel De Grote University College – Antwerp, Belgium
• University of National and World Economy – Sofia, Bulgaria
• Copenhagen Business Academy – Copenhagen, Denmark
• University of Orebro – Orebro, Sweden
• Hogeschool van Amsterdam (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Koç University– Istanbul, Turkey

While studying abroad, you may have the opportunity to undertake a work placement for part of the year.

Alternatively, you can secure your own international work placement for the duration of the third year abroad. Our students have worked for companies worldwide, from Europe to South America.

This experience of working in a different country looks great on your CV and provides excellent networking opportunities.

Check out International Business student Matt Boucher's blog about his year in Italy.

* You must study in the local language at these universities. At all other universities, you have the option to study in English.

Final year

During your final year, you will return to continue your business management studies with a strong strategic and international focus.

You will also have the chance to further tailor your course by researching an international issue of your choice and choosing option modules that interest you most and that fit your career aspirations.

Modules

• Cultural Insights for International Business
• Strategy
• International Placement Project OR International Research Project

Options*

• Small Business and Entrepreneurship
• International Law and Socio-economic Development
• The Digital Economy
• Game Theory In Economics, Finance and Business
• Environmental Economics
• Financial and Capital Markets
• Political Economy in Europe
• Researching Contemporary Issues in Economics
• Researching Contemporary Issues In Finance
• Understanding Employee Relations
• Employee Selection and Development
• Happiness, Work and Society
• Organisational Change
• Researching Contemporary Issues in HRM and Organisational Behaviour
• International Human Resource Management
• Researching Contemporary Issues in Intelligent Enterprise
• E-Commerce and Online Behaviour
• Commercial Law
• Employment Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• Retail Marketing And Distribution 1 and 2
• Marketing Communications 1 and 2
• Marketing Planning and Strategy
• Futurism for Marketers
• Customer Relationship Management and Service Marketing
• Consumer Psychology
• Marketing Across Cultures
• Researching Contemporary Issues In Marketing
• Public Relation – Principles and Practice
• Responsible Enterprise
• Procurement and Supply Chain Management
• Big Data and Business Intelligence
• Researching Contemporary Issues in Supply Chain Management
• Researching Contemporary Issues in Strategic Management
• Cruise Management: A Critical Perspective
• Destination Marketing

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Course leader

Dr Irina Popova

Irina is the course leader on this International Business Management BSc(Hons). 

She specialises in teaching entrepreneurship, business research methods, academic and professional skills across several of our courses. 

Irina's PhD research focused on start-up incubation and she previously worked for the social venture incubation programme, currently known as Cambridge Social Ventures. The programme was funded by the Big Lottery Fund. 

Irina also carried out postdoctorate research on the digitalisation of management in the UK and Sweden. The study involved three public sector organisations in Cambridgeshire and their ICT enabled transformation projects, as well as a local authority and a multinational company in Sweden. She worked with senior management in the public sector to deliver the programme. She is an NVivo trained expert and an experienced organisational ethnographer. 

Find out more about your course leader. 

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Course fees

If you choose to take the professional placement (sandwich) year offered on this course you will pay a reduced fee during this year. Our fee for the professional placement year is £1,410 for UK students and £2,180 for international students. This fee may be subject to small increases, in line with inflation.

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2023–24.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Local area

Maps

Support and wellbeing

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