The MBA in International Business Practice is structured around a group of core modules, a number of electives and a Management Project. In the first year, candidates complete four core modules. These are: Managerial Accounting and Finance, Organizational Behavior and Leadership, Global Business, and Strategic Management, which includes participation in Capsim Business simulation. In addition, candidates follow a module in Business Research Methods and Fieldwork. While candidates are completing these modules they are working full time. Classes for each module are delivered via three full weekend teaching blocks (Saturday and Sunday), three evening seminars (3 hours each), and are supported by on-line learning. (Total of 250 in-class contact hours over the entire year).

The degree is completed with a four-month fieldwork programme based in Bangkok. Prior to the fieldwork experience, candidates take two modules from the following four electives: Principles of International Finance, Global Marketing, Managing Change, and Operations & Supply Chain Management. Following on from the Module in Research Methodology undertaken previously, candidates will also complete an MBA Project / Dissertation. This is expected to be approximately 15,000 words in length, preferably based on their field research in Asia Pacific.

Core Modules:

Managerial Accounting and Finance
In addition to preparing financial statements, managers need to know how to analyze accounting and financial data to support and evaluate a company’s business goals and to develop appropriate financial strategy for its future. This module is designed to teach graduate students how to develop and analyze various and appropriate financial data, and to understand the important relationship between financial instruments , decision-making and business strategy.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module graduate students will be able to do the following:

• Understand, analyze and interpret financial statements.
• Describe how the concepts of recognition, valuation and classification apply to business transactions and why they are critical factors in ethical financial reporting.
• Prepare financial statements from an adjusted trial balance.
• Use financial statement to evaluate liquidity and profitability.
• Analyze the statements of cash flows and determine cash flows from investing and financing activities.
• Apply accounting principles and financial theory to strategic decision making.

Organizational Behavior and Leadership
This module will help graduate students understand the full relationship between individual behaviour, organizational structure and organizational processes. Students will also develop a more comprehensive perspective on organizational behaviour through a deeper understanding of the theory, research and practice of the varied disciplines that focus on organizations. These disciplines include psychology, sociology, political science, social systems theory, international human resource management and cultural anthropology. On completion of this module, students will be able to integrate various theoretical perspectives into a coherent view of organizational life. This comprehensive perspective will allow them to manage organizational behavior, lead organizational initiatives and increase organizational effectiveness.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module graduate students will be able to do the following:

• Understand how to manage complex change within the organization including the typical obstacles to change and how to overcome them.
• Examine the role of leadership in the organization including an exploration of the various types of leadership and the unique contribution that each type of leader makes to the effectiveness of the organization.
• Examine organizational theory as a tool for understanding behaviour in organizations, for identifying likely cause of organizational problems, and for working towards potential solutions to those problems.
• Analyze the impact of an organization’s culture on individual and team behavior and evaluate the ways in which national culture can influence individual and organizational behavior, management styles and practices.
• Analyze the links between rewards systems, job performance and organizational commitment and assess management’s role in enhancing workplace motivation and leadership.
• Recognize the increasingly dominant aspect of the role that group work and teams play in organizations, identify some of the problems inherent with working in groups and teams, an understand inter-group and intra-group conflict, and build and maintain effective teams.

Global Business
The world is increasingly becoming a single market place. Technology, the Internet, expanding international trade relations, improved transportation and communications have opened the doors to global trade but have also produced a new competitive landscape. More and more companies are conducting global business through globally dispersed value chains, taking advantage of the different business opportunities offered by regional trading blocs and other regional arrangements, as well the opening up of trade of particular countries as they seek to develop their economies.

The aim of this module is to provide graduate students with both theoretical and practical understanding of the complexity of the globalization process and its impact upon the activities of multinational enterprise. It also examines the importance of regional business for the development of global competitive advantage and regional integration.

Learning Outcomes

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

• Demonstrate an understanding of the main analytical and technical skills of evaluating international market opportunities, conducting international risk analysis and developing appropriate frameworks for managing international business operations.
• Select, evaluate and apply appropriate theoretical frameworks to operational and strategic problems facing international business operations.
• Evaluate the main regulatory frameworks, which shape and constrain the conduct of business within the Triad: European Union, USA and Asia Pacific and develop competitive strategies for doing business in the Triad.
• Analyze the macroeconomic, political and cultural environments of the emerging market economies and the forces for change within them and make strategic recommendations for firms wishing to enter emerging markets.

Strategic Management
This module aims to analyse the operation of strategic management from initial analysis through to implementation. The module will provide students with a comprehensive appreciation of the formulation and development of strategy from both an organisational and individual perspective. Particular emphasis will be placed on developing student’s awareness of contemporary issues related to Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Entrepreneurship and the recent trends towards creating of shared value by business.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the Module students will be able to:

• Critically evaluate the application of a range of strategic analysis tools to the strategic management process.
• Critically evaluate the rationale underlying the processes of strategic decision-making.
• Critically analyse the relationship between an organisation’s strategy and its structure and deal with complex issues, both systematically and creatively.
• Evaluate a range of strategies for managing change and demonstrate a critical awareness of the contemporary context of organisational change.
• Demonstrate an advanced understanding of contemporary trends in Business and Management towards planning and implementing the Triple Bottom Line Policy: People, Profit and Planet.

Business Research Methods and Fieldwork
The aim of this module is to assist students to carry out an applied research project in the field of International Business Management. It aims at providing them with the knowledge and skills to identify a business research problem, collect and analyse primary and secondary data at both the organizational level and within the wider body of knowledge in International Business studies.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this Module, students should be able to:

• Identify various philosophical approaches to research and understand their implications for problems in International Business.
• Select, justify and utilize primary and secondary data collection.
• Identify and apply appropriate research methodology appropriate for their research project.
• Recognise the importance of undertaking research ethically and have applied this to their own field research.
• Report their research findings in forms that are appropriate to both academic and organizational audiences.

Electives begun prior to the fieldwork experience in Asia Pacific:

Electives (Students choose two):

International Finance
This module builds upon the core module Managerial Finance and Accounting. It provides a more specialised and technical understanding of International Corporate Finance. Key corporate financial issues are explored including exchange rate exposure, taxation, securities pricing, the cost of capital, and the evaluation of foreign projects.

The graduate students will explore, discuss and increase their knowledge base in the following areas: short-run exchange rate behavior such as interest parity and expectations, long-run exchange behavior such as cross-currency debt and exchange risk, hedging with forwards and foreign exchange options, models of foreign exchange exposure, foreign currency bonds, syndicated loans and international financing, international equity markets, cost of capital and capital budgeting for international investments, and international taxation. The module also seeks to evaluate the theories and practices of financial risk management.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this module graduate students will be able to do the following:

• Demonstrate an advanced understanding of how international trade flows are influenced by global economic factors and international capital flows are influenced by country characteristics including currency fluctuations.
• Critically explore and evaluate the complex parameters of the valuation model for multinational corporations.
• Discuss the influence of inflation, national income, government policy and inflation on international trade flows.
• Evaluate how stock markets vary among major countries and the critical role of international equity and debt markets in creating sustainability in international businesses.
• Examine how exchange rate behavior, exchange rate risk management and hedging allow international businesses to use arbitrage as revenue generating tool and to manage economic exposure.

Global Marketing
This module provides students with a high-level understanding of the principles and practices of marketing in global markets. The importance of ethical, legal, cultural and political norms are reviewed with a particular emphasis on North American, European, and Asian markets.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the Module, students should be able to:

• Critically assess a range of approaches to global marketing.
• Evaluate marketing needs within the context of a specific geographical region and organisational context.
• Critically review the opportunities and challenges of entering a foreign market while addressing local market needs.
• Demonstrate a detailed appreciation of the legal, political, cultural and ethical requirements of different countries and markets.

Managing Change
This module develops a critical appreciation of the complex factors contributing to organisational change. It takes both a practical and theoretical approach to the issue of organisational change. It promotes evaluation of the implications of change, particularly in relation to individuals, groups, organisations and society, and provides students with the necessary analytical tools to define, plan and manage change situations.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the Module, students should be able to:

• Critically evaluate forces to change and communicate effectively the implications of such change.
• Demonstrate a detailed appreciation of the different change processes and develop strategies for managing change successfully.
• Critique the implementation of change management procedures within an organisation and recommend appropriate actions in regard to individuals and groups.
• Critically assess the characteristics of different organisational structures and evaluate their advantages/disadvantages in facilitating organisational change.
• Demonstrate a critical awareness of organisational cultures and evaluate their input to cultural change and re-orientation processes.
• Critically evaluate and recommend appropriate models and instruments of change management.

Operations and Supply Chain Management
The aim of this module is to critically examine the nature of operations management from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. Students are equipped with a detailed understanding of both operating strategies and the use of process technology. The module emphasises the application of supply chain management techniques within the context of outsourcing relationships and diverse trend networks.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the Module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate an advance understanding of the nature and function of operations management across the range of different industries.
• Demonstrate a critical appreciation of the role of operations strategy in the achievement of management objectives.
• Critically evaluate the concepts of planning and control and analyse the issues surrounding their implementation.
• Critically assess the implementation of just-in-time production and optimised production technology.
• Demonstrate an advance understanding of the doctrine of total quality management and its role in operations management.

Dissertation:

Management Project and Fieldwork
This Management Project provides students with the opportunity to review the general principles of research methods and then to put them into practice by developing a body of independent research under supervision. Students are encouraged to base their Management Project on an international dimension of the various aspects of business practice, which have been covered during the course. The international residential component of the degree provides opportunities to conduct research in the emerging markets of Asia and gain additional and varied knowledge of international business practice. Preparation for the Management Project, however, will begin in London and it is hoped that many students will undertake this Study as a consulting project in cooperation with their work placement sponsoring company and/or its international affiliates.

Students who have recently completed the MBA degree with an Asia Pacific fieldwork experience have written dissertations on the following topics (partial listing):

• A study on the effects of profitability for a Thailand based starch factory running at full capacity.
• China - Growth versus Freedom.
• Competitive analysis of marketing research and consultancy companies in the Asia Pacific region – a study for Forrester Research.
• Corporate Social Responsibility: Filtering through the supply chain of a Thai company.
• Charities around the world – unique situations and similar problems.
• India’s Demographic Dividend – Capitalising on middle class youth.
• Sustainable architecture in developing China.
• Building the right brand for China's new elite.
• Problems and opportunities in Medical Tourism in Asia.

The underlying educational philosophy behind the St Mary's University College, Twickenham, MBA is known as 'experiential education'. As you complete this degree your daily work becomes a part of the educational process, as you relate your classroom assignments to real life situations in which you are a principal actor.

We are anxious that you, therefore, see your continuing education as precisely that – part of a life long learning process. The skills, knowledge and competencies you acquire, will give you a framework for your future development. They will also give you a series of templates which will help you grow professionally, as you move into more responsible positions or even change careers altogether.

The opportunity to examine at close hand in the emerging markets of Asia will necessitate your own response to change and to the challenges of adapting to a new academic and business environment. Experiences such as these do not come often, and you will be encouraged to make the most of the 12 weeks you will spend overseas immersing yourself in an Asian business and coming to terms with the impact of cultural differentiation.