International Business (MSc) 2027 entry

Course information may change. Module information and course content, teaching and assessment may change each year and after you have accepted your offer to study at the University of St Andrews. We display the most up-to-date information possible, but this could be from a previous academic year. For the latest module information, see the module catalogue.

• Compulsory

  • Contemporary Global Issues in Management: focuses on how various global trends impact upon economies, organisations and the practice of management, business and marketing within the context of responsible enterprise.
  • Global Business Strategy: Drawing on elements of the international political economy., develops a wide-ranging, critical understanding of the strategic issues involved within global organisations and the increasingly complex operating environment in which they are situated.
  • International Business and Emerging Markets: The module provides students with a distinctive approach to the study of International Business and Emerging Markets. The module looks at the rising economic powers and their emergence as key players in global politics and the economy.
  • Masterclasses in International Business: Industry guest speakers introduce and explore topics relevant to International Business through a practitioners lens in weekly 'master class' sessions and promote dialogue and discussion, which is carried into student led seminars on each topic.
  • People Management in Global Contexts: critically examines the people-related challenges of managing human resources in an international context, highlighting the challenges that multinational corporations face in different contexts, and discovering the theoretical frameworks to critically analyse and understand contemporary trends in international human resource management.

• Optional

  • Alternative Investment: provides students with an overview of investment opportunities alternative to the main equity and bond markets.
  • Behavioural Finance: introduces students to key concepts in behavioural finance and distinguishes between conventional financial theory and behavioural approaches. Focuses on deviations from rational models, illuminating resulting biases that impact upon financial markets, their institutions and other participants.
  • Corporate Governance: covers three key components: corporate governance, risk management, and financial management.
  • Critical Futures for a More Sustainable World
  • Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice: Provides an introduction to both the theory and practice of entrepreneurship for students who are not on the MSc Entrepreneurship programme, but who are interesting in gaining a better understanding of entrepreneurship.
  • Financial Systems: outlines the fundamentals of financial systems, focusing on the influence of technology and innovation along with the challenges that these pose to regulators. This module is required for achieving Chartered Banker Status.
  • Financial Technology: This module aims to introduce students to recent developments in financial technology (Fintech). Fintech is a broad and rapidly evolving field, and the module provides an overview of key trends and their impact on financial services.
  • International Financial Management: studies in the international monetary frameworks and the conduct of monetary policies in major developed economies.
  • International Marketing: Focus on critical study of international marketing looking at both theory and practice and how international marketing strategy is developed and what the micro and macro factors are that influence this.
  • Leadership in Organisations: Examines how views of leadership have changed since the Industrial Revolution, from mechanistic, behavioural models of behaviour to modern leadership frameworks which facilitate change in ever dynamic national, international and cultural climates.
  • Leading and Managing Organisational Change
  • Managerial Decision Making
  • Managing Natural Resources: This module examines managing natural resources and in particular topics such as managing for biodiversity, climate change and water resources and the challenges that arise from this for organisations.
  • Managing Non-Governmental Organisations: Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) occupy distinctive roles within society,. Situating these organisations within their different historical and international settings, this module goes on to examine the strategic challenges they face.
  • Marketing and Society: This module examines the effects of marketing on societies. The powerful social and cultural influence of marketing and in particular advertising has a significant impact on our lives and this module explores the ways in which it impacts us in depth.
  • Portfolio Management: studies key issues in asset allocation, and portfolio composition and management at an advanced level.
  • Risk Management: provides an insight into managing the exposure to risk and how to apply relevant theories to realistic financial decision problems. This module is required for achieving Chartered Banker Status.
  • Strategic Innovation Management
  • Sustainable Finance

• Dissertation

  Students attend lectures throughout Semesters 1 and 2 to prepare them for conducting the research portion of the dissertation. The dissertation is normally on a specific area of international business, however, at the University of St Andrews Business School, you will have the freedom to develop a topic of your own, which is of interest to you and will contribute towards your career development or further study goals.

  Supervisors are assigned based on a research proposal submitted in the second semester. Students will then research and write a 15,000-word dissertation over the summer to be submitted on a date specified in August.