International Management [China] (MSc and Postgraduate Diploma)

Overview
Structure
Study materials
Fees
Assessment
Requirements
Leaders

Is this programme for me?

With the emergence of China as a leading economy in the global supply chain, multinational companies and firms throughout the world have a growing need for senior personnel with high quality management skills and an in-depth knowledge of China. These programmes respond to this need.

Programme aims

The MSc/Postgraduate Diploma will give you the opportunity to study the interplay between global and local factors that influence management decisions in business related to China. You will not only increase your understanding of the Chinese business environment but also develop management skills that can be applied worldwide.

Programme details

	You study	Study period	Cost (2013)
MSc	8 courses	2-5 years	£9,840
Postgraduate Diploma	4 courses	1-5 years	£4,920
Individual Professional Courses	You can take up to three individual courses from this distance learning programme. Each course lasts eight weeks and you are registered for two years. The fee per course is £1,230.

Prestige

The programme has been developed by academics at the Centre for Financial and Management Studies (CeFiMS), a postgraduate research and teaching department within SOAS, University of London. Staff at CeFiMS have international reputations and are involved in researching their subjects at the very limits of current knowledge.

Career progression

These programmes provide a sound foundation for a senior position in modern corporations, banks, financial service companies, business consultancies and international organisations.

Comprehensive study materials and support

You will be given all of the learning materials that you need to complete each course. These will typically include:

The Study Guide, a core text specially written for the course. This takes the form of a looseleaf binder containing eight ‘course units’. The units are carefully structured to provide the main teaching of the course, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the further assigned readings.
Textbooks and collections of key journal articles and book extracts.
Online and multimedia tools. You will have access to the Online Study Centre (OSC), which is a web-accessed learning environment. Via the OSC, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the course using discussion forums. The OSC also provides access to the course Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library. In addition, some courses materials will also include video lectures on DVD, CDs of case studies, and econometric software.
A Welcome Pack is available online, which provides you with resources and tips on effective distance learning. We will also send you a Study Skills textbook to help you manage your studies.

Your time commitment

This will depend partly on choices you make, but most students take three years to complete the MSc. The study calendar consists of five sessions per year. Each session is devoted to a specific course and lasts eight weeks (with the exception of the first session which runs for 10 weeks). During each session you will need to allocate between 15-20 hours per week to complete the programme.

Summary of key dates

Application deadline	3 September 2012	19 November 2012	8 April 2013
Programme starts	November 2012	January 2013	June 2013
Examinations	October

MSc: 8 courses (5 core courses plus three electives)

Postgraduate Diploma: 4 courses (3 core courses plus one elective)

MSc

Five core modules

Cross-cultural management

You will study the importance of culture in management and develop skills that will help you to analyse when national culture is, and is not, an influence on decision-making.

Unit 1: International Management and Culture
Unit 2: Comparing Cultures
Unit 3: Shifts in the Culture
Unit 4: Organisational Culture
Unit 5: Culture and Management Communication
Unit 6: Needs and Incentives - An International Management Perspective
Unit 7: Dispute Resolution and Negotiation
Unit 8: Global Staffing - Cross-Cultural Dimensions

International management

The course aims to provide the frameworks, techniques and examples to help you both understand and participate successfully in the exciting and risky world of international business. You will look at how the strategic plans of multinational companies are implemented in their foreign subsidiaries and in joint ventures; how the hazards of operating in unfamiliar territories are mitigated; and you will look at the organisational forms that enable international businesses to seize new opportunities.

Unit 1: International Investment
Unit 2: Choice of Entry Strategy
Unit 3: International Production and Sourcing
Unit 4: International Marketing
Unit 5: International Organisation
Unit 6: Financial Management in the International Business
Unit 7: Assessing Country Competitiveness
Unit 8: Assessing Country Risk

Management in China: domestic developments

The evolution of Chinese managerial systems is described and explained in this course. You will explore the major domestic issues that have influenced the development and growth of China’s economy and the challenges that lie ahead. Topics include China’s development strategy, the changing role of the state and its enterprises, the rapid growth of the private sector, reforms in management practices, and financial market and exchange rate policies.

Unit 1: The Pre Reform Economy
Unit 2: Economic Reforms in China
Unit 3: Management Reforms
Unit 4: State Enterprise Reforms
Unit 5: The Non-State Sector
Unit 6: Reform and Development in China’s Financial Sector
Unit 7: Capital Market Development in China
Unit 8: Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy

Management in China: international perspectives

You will study recent and contemporary developments in Chinese management practices, focusing particularly on policies for trade, foreign direct investment and technology transfer, and on the relationship between the PRC, Hong Kong and Taiwan. You will also study how international business deals with the art of Chinese negotiation and how they overcome the many challenges associated with managing business alliances in China.

Unit 1: Key Perspectives and Reforms
Unit 2: International Trade
Unit 3: Foreign Direct Investment
Unit 4: Economic Integration – Hong Kong and Taiwan
Unit 5: Business Networks and Investment by Overseas Chinese
Unit 6: Investment Strategies and Joint Ventures
Unit 7: Negotiating with the Chinese
Unit 8: Managing Business Alliances in China

Topics in the Chinese economy

You will gain an extensive knowledge of a wide range of economic and social issues concerning the contemporary business environment in China. Topics covered include population, migration and labour; rural development; agriculture and food security; China’s energy needs; the environment; living standards; and cross-strait trade relations with Taiwan. It will also examine China’s future growth trajectory.

Unit 1: China’s Transition to a Demographic ‘Golden Age’
Unit 2: The Employment Challenge
Unit 3: The Role of the Rural Sector in China’s Economic Growth
Unit 4: Energy Security – Meeting China’s Energy Needs in the Twenty-First Century
Unit 5: The Sustainability of China’s Economic Growth
Unit 6 The Impact of Economic Growth on Welfare in China
Unit 7: Economic Integration across the Taiwan Straits
Unit 8: China’s Future Economic Trajectory

PLUS three electives from the following

Corporate finance C321

This course enables you to relate principles and practice to the financing decisions of enterprises in modern economies. The course analyses the decisions firms make about financing their investments in productive capital.

Unit 1: Perspectives on Corporate Finance
Unit 2: Net Present Value and Capital Budgeting Decisions
Unit 3: Risk, Capital Market Equilibrium and Capital Budgeting Decisions
Unit 4: Efficiency of Capital Markets and Implications for Corporate Financing Decisions
Unit 5: Dividend Policy
Unit 6: Capital Structure I
Unit 7: Capital Structure II: Information Asymmetries and Agency Costs
Unit 8: Mergers

Corporate governance

This course is specially designed for the postgraduate study of such areas as management, finance, financial law, corporate law, economics and related subjects, and has been designed to increase the depth of your understanding of corporate government issues. The course places a strong emphasis on the relationship between theoretical concepts and real world issues, making a real contribution to your in-depth understanding of the relevant corporate governance issues and future career development.

Unit 1: Introduction to Corporate Governance
Unit 2: Theory of the Firm
Unit 3: Corporate Governance and the Role of Law
Unit 4: Corporate Governance around the World
Unit 5: Board Composition and Control
Unit 6: CEO Compensation
Unit 7: International Governance
Unit 8: Overview of Corporate Governance Codes

International human resource management SOAS

This course introduces you to the basic concepts of international human resource management and will survey the span of British and American human resource systems and consider how far British and American concepts of HR apply in a Chinese context.

Unit 1: Study of International Human Resource Management
Unit 2 The National Context of Human Resource Management
Unit 3: The National Context of Human Resource Management – Case Studies
Unit 4 Managing HR Across the World
Unit 5: Differentiation and Integration
Unit 6: Knowledge Transfer within a Multi-National Company
Unit 7: HRM in International Joint Ventures
Unit 8: Foreign Assignments – Conclusion to the Course

Risk management: principles and applications

This course examines the techniques and the foundation of risk management in corporations. It covers the use of derivatives, portfolio allocation, the value of risk, and the management of credit risk and operations risk. The course includes cases and applications.

Unit 1: Introduction to Risk Management
Unit 2: Portfolio Analysis
Unit 3: Management of Bond Portfolios
Unit 4: Futures Markets
Unit 5: Options Markets
Unit 6: Risk Management with Options
Unit 7: Value at Risk
Unit 8: Credit Risk

Finance in the global market

The main objective of the course is to enable you to understand some of the main characteristics of that globalised financial world. Because of the centrality of foreign exchange markets to international finance, we regard understanding foreign exchange markets as the core of that objective.

Unit 1: The International context of finance
Unit 2: The markets for foreign exchange
Unit 3: Exchange rates and prices
Unit 4: Exchange rates and interest rates
Unit 5: Managing foreign exchange exposure
Unit 6: International corporate financing and project finance
Unit 7: Capital structure and cost of capital in international financing
Unit 8: Corporate finance and currency crises

Research methods C353

This course will develop your research skills, which you can later apply to research projects. It will provide you with a thorough understanding of the theoretical concepts, methodological approaches and reporting issues that underpin good quality research projects, and has a specific emphasis on how to evaluate the merits of existing research. It is also a prerequisite if you have decided to write a dissertation.

Unit 1: The Nature of Research
Unit 2: Planning and Designing Research
Unit 3: Reviewing the Literature and Making Methodological Choices
Unit 4: Data
Unit 5A: Interviews, Focus Groups and Surveys
Unit 5B: Introduction to Data Analysis I
Unit 6A: Fieldwork and Observation
Unit 6B: Introduction to Data Analysis II
Unit 7: Validity and Reliability
Unit 8: Writing and Presenting Research

Dissertation C354 (prerequisite C353 Research methods)

The dissertation is a supervised piece of research on a topic that we will agree with you. It should be 10,000 words long. Before we can consider your proposal to submit a dissertation, we will need to review you academic performance so far. Completion of the Research Methods course is a prerequisite for writing the dissertation.

Postgraduate Diploma

Three core modules

International management

Management in China: domestic developments

Management in China: international perspectives

PLUS one elective from the following

Topics in the Chinese economy

Cross-cultural management

You will study the importance of culture in management and develop skills that will help you to analyse when national culture is, and is not, an influence on decision-making.

Corporate finance C321

Corporate governance

International human resource management SOAS

Risk management: principles and applications

Finance in the global market

How you study

Without leaving your job or home you can study, write and submit assignments, receive expert guidance from your CeFiMS tutor and advice from the student support team. In addition to printed study materials, the Online Study Centre allows students to work with course materials, send queries to tutors and submit assignments via the Internet.

When you take a CeFiMS distance learning course you will be sent everything you need to complete your studies. A typical set of course learning materials would include:

The Study Guide, a core text specially written for the course. This takes the form of a looseleaf binder containing eight ‘course units’. The units are carefully structured to provide the main teaching of the course, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the further assigned readings.
Textbooks and collections of key journal articles and book extracts.
Online and multimedia tools. You will have access to the OSC, which is a web-accessed learning environment. Via the OSC, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the course using discussion forums. The OSC also provides access to the course Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library. In addition, some courses materials will also include video lectures on DVD, CDs of case studies, and econometric software.
A Welcome pack is available online, which provides you with resources and tips on effective distance learning. We will also send you a Study Skills textbook to help you manage your studies.

Online Study Centre

Created by CefiMS to provide additional resources and support, the Online Study Centre allows students to:

access study materials that complement printed texts
submit assignments
communicate with tutors
contact support staff regarding administrative queries
access online resources provided by the Univeristy of London Library including full-text journal databases of JSTOR and EBSCO.

Note: Students who are eligible to use the OSC are automatically contacted by CeFiMS staff and given information about how to access the system for their course.

Fees

You have the option to pay for some or all of your course fees at the outset (thus avoiding any subsequent rise in fees) or you can pay for one course each time you enrol in a study session.

	2013
Fee per module	£ £1,230
Total MSc	£ £9,840
Total Postgraduate Diploma	£ £4,920
ConvertGBP x 1

Note

The University reserves the right to amend previously announced fees, if necessary. All fees must be paid in pounds sterling, which may be paid either by a credit card recognised by MasterCard International or by the Visa group OR by banker's draft, cheque or UK postal order.

Other costs

Where students are following the programme under arrangement with a local institution offering tutorial facilities, there may be some variation in the fees quoted to cover local administration costs. Besides the fees payable to the University, you should also budget for the fee levied by your local examination centre to cover their costs (if you do not sit your exams in London).

Academic Requirements

In order to be considered for registration applicants must have:

Either
(a) a good degree in finance, economics, or other appropriate discipline, from a university or other institution acceptable to the University (qualifications in other subjects will be assessed on their merits)

Or
(b) previous education and experience without a First degree, which satisfies the University as a qualification on the same level as a First degree approved under (a) for this purpose, and which has included suitable preliminary training.

Language Requirements

For awards at FHEQ level 7, students must provide satisfactory evidence showing that they have passed within the previous three years a test of proficiency in English at the following minimum level:

IELTS with an overall grade of at least 6.5 with a minimum of 6 in each sub test; or
TOEFL with a score of 600 of 250 on the computerised test plus a Test of Written English (TWE of at least 4.5); or
a test of proficiency in English language from the prescribed list published by the University.

Where an applicant does not meet the prescribed English language proficiency requirements but believes that they can demonstrate the requisite proficiency for admission the University may, at its discretion, consider the application.

Note: Some programmes will require greater proficiency in English language; these requirements will be reflected in the relevant programme regulations.

Computer Requirements

Online access and general computer requirements
As one of our students you need to have regular access to a computer and the internet; this may be for accessing the Student Portal, downloading course materials from the Virtual Learning Environment, and accessing resources from the Online Library. You will also need to have access to appropriate software, for example, a PDF reader and suitable hardware capacity on your computer, e.g. for document storage. Additional requirements include that you have JavaScript and cookies enabled to access particular online systems, for example, the Student Portal.

Supported Browsers include:
Internet Explorer 7+
Firefox 5+
Chrome 13+

Screen resolution (recommended)
1024 x 768 or greater

Certain programmes may have their own specific requirements, please refer to the relevant Regulations.

International Management [China] (MSc and Postgraduate Diploma)