International Business Management MSc
Subject and course type
- Business and Management
- Postgraduate
Prepare for a career in international business management with Kingston Business School.
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Gain the skills needed to manage an organisation operating across multiple countries
You will apply your knowledge to practical business situations, including via a consultancy project with a real business.
This course sits within the Department of Strategy, Marketing and Innovation, which brings together research, practitioner insights and teaching expertise in the disciplines of marketing, international business, entrepreneurship, strategy and innovation. Our courses are truly experiential, providing you with opportunities to undertake company visits, attend networking events and hear best practice from industry guest speakers.
We are proud to hold the prestigious international accreditation by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). This accreditation has been earned by just 6% of the world's business schools and recognises the high quality and standard of our business degrees. Kingston Business School is one of only a few of the 120 UK business schools to be awarded an 'excellent' rating for its teaching quality by the Higher Education Funding Council. This course is also accredited by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and the Association of MBAs (AMBA).
All students will gain direct industry experience through the Consultancy in Practice module, with the possibility of study exchange overseas. You will also have the opportunity to study for a recognised Prince2 project management qualification.
I am finding this course extremely insightful and I have been able to really utilise it to mould my future career.
Why choose this course
This course is ideal if you aspire to a career in consulting or general management in a variety of sectors. For example, retail, media, healthcare, telecommunications, real estate, oil and gas, and energy. You will acquire the skills to become a dynamic business manager and work effectively in multicultural teams anywhere in the world.
You can choose from a range of optional modules, providing you with the opportunity to specialise in different business disciplines. These include project management, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance and responsible management and sustainability. Recent students have worked with General Electric (GE), L'Oreal, Henkel, Kimberly-Clark and Arqiva.
You'll benefit from an international curriculum and a diverse pool of students who come from all over the world to study at Kingston. As a result, you will finish the course with an international network of contacts.
Accreditations
Kingston Business School holds the prestigious international accreditation by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) in recognition of the excellence of its business education. This accreditation has been earned by just 6% of the world's business schools and recognises the high quality and standard of our business degree offerings.
This programme is accredited by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and the Association of MBAs (AMBA).
Ready for business
At Kingston Business School, we believe that professional success is shaped by honing your personal capacity and skillset, supported by the academic framework of knowledge. Through vocationally rich, employer-engaged and research-informed courses, we work alongside our students to help them meet personal goals and career ambitions.
Course content
This course combines academic rigour with a strong practitioner focus, with a range of core modules, electives, specialisms and a Consultancy in Practice module.
Please note: Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.
Year 1
Core modules
30 credits
This module will enable you to understand and prepare management information to support sound business decision-making in the allocation of resources, control of costs and maximisation of profits in productive enterprises.
The module has two main components:
1. Operations and Supply Chain Management
You will examine the key elements of manufacturing and services, including capacity, quality and scheduling, and how processes manage them. You will study the fundamentals of supply chain management, addressing contemporary issues such as sustainable supply chains, supply chain risk management, global (out)sourcing and the impact of emerging digital technologies.
2. Financial Resources Management
You will study the planning, organising, raising, and monitoring of the funds and assets that keep a business operating. You will learn how to calculate the costs associated with the production of products and the provision of services, and determine their price. You will explore budgeting approaches and how budgets are produced, as well as techniques used in evaluating the role of financial institutions and the economic environment in financial business decision making.
15 credits
The success of an organisation depends on its ability to make fast, widely supported and high-quality decisions on a frequent basis. This module introduces you to a range of processes by which organisations assimilate and process information, as well as interpret and make decisions within their environments.
These decisions tend to involve imitating competitors or differentiating themselves from them. Contemporary strategic decisions tend to involve learning, flexibility and adaptation rather than rigid, mechanistic processes of their planning era.
You will discover conceptual and analytical approaches and models to which help us to understand: a) the internal assets and capabilities of, as well as the political dynamics within an organisation, b) its relationships with suppliers, customers, regulatory bodies and other institutions, c) all of the above in the context of globalisation and international competition.
You will then consider the issues involved in understanding and designing strategic options, including those related to managing risk, managing expectations for accountability and ethical business behaviours, and financial and accounting factors.
15 credits
This module will develop your knowledge and understanding of the international business world, equipping you with the tools needed to assess changes in global business environments and configure organisations to adapt to these changing environments.
Topics include:
- Country analysis techniques to guide international expansion
- Free trade and protection
- Introduction to common terms related to international business analysis
- Internationalisation and multinational, global and transnational firms
- Foreign direct investment and entry mode
30 credits
This module will develop your understanding of how people and teams operate within modern global organisations, and how to equip them with the practical skills needed to maximise their contribution.
You will learn how to:
- Be a good communicator
- Inspire trust through reputational credibility and business expertise
- Be resilient in the face of uncertainty, change and pressure
- Work across different cultures and value systems.
Teaching consists of lectures, case studies, career development workshops and guest speaker sessions. You will learn from both academics and practitioners, and you will undertake a real-life project based on a social enterprise or volunteering organisation, which will enable you to apply your knowledge and skills within a team and as part of an organisation.
30 credits
This module will introduce you to the methodologies and tools used in conducting research in consultancy projects.
You will develop the practical skills that consultants use to gather and analyse information on a specific topic and turn information into actionable insights through analysis and interpretation. You will discover the exciting world of business intelligence and big data science, with a particular focus on its use to inform decision making.
As part of the module, you will investigate a business problem using appropriate theory and research methods, providing sound, evidence-based, managerial recommendations in the form of a research proposal.
30 credits
This module will equip you with the knowledge, understanding, skills and practical experience to conduct a consultancy project to solve a real business problem and make recommendations for clients.
You will work in groups while being supported by a series of lectures, seminars and workshops. You will produce a group presentation for the client, presenting your findings and recommendations, as well as submitting a professional consultancy report.
You will be encouraged to critically reflect and evaluate your learning, performance, development and experience, producing a personal development log.
Optional modules (choose 2)
15 credits
Participatory approaches have become increasingly widespread in recent years, and they recognise the publics and other stakeholders' right to be involved in environmental decision making, but also expects them to take on a variety of responsibilities.
This module explores the diversity of participatory approaches, from global policy to local action. You will examine the benefits and challenges of participatory approaches involving a range of stakeholders in a number of contexts, and consider those who may be excluded and questions of social justice.
You will explore the complexities of implementing these policies and methods through case studies which focus on key issues and the challenges of balancing a range of competing needs.
15 credits
This module will help you develop a critical understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development (SD), and recognise their development and growing importance.
You will learn contrasting methods while you evaluate CSR and SD practices that are applied to various business functions and how to manage organisations and their activities in a socially responsible way.
15 credits
This module will provide you with a broad understanding of the field of investment.
The main topics include:
- The UK stock market
- Stock valuation
- Investment strategies for equities
- Financial derivatives
- Portfolio diversification
- Optimal portfolio construction
- Financial risk management.
You will have access to our very own Bloomberg Trading Room and software packages to explore real-time financial data.
15 credits
This module offers an intuitive analysis of the international financial management environment.
You will study the role and functions of international financial markets (FX, capital markets) and institutions, and assess the tools that can be employed by firms' managers to assess and control for risk in these markets.
You will learn about international economic linkages, monetary systems and parity conditions in international financial markets. Several real-world examples and journal articles are used to bring together theoretical considerations and practise.
15 credits
This module looks at managing multiple complex projects in close alignment with an organisation's business strategy to enhance the management of business activities, both on a strategic and operational level to create and sustain competitive advantage in international markets.
You will learn how to develop portfolios that link to strategic objectives, before developing benefit maps to help organisations to track progress and measure against organisational goals. You will also plan a project from start to finish, using product breakdown techniques and online tools such as MS Project.
Risk and ethics workshops will provide you with practical tools for identifying, assessing and mitigating the most important risks and ethical challenges that face project and programme managers working in today's complex business landscapes.
15 credits
On this module you will turn knowledge of Agile project management tools and techniques into the skills businesses require to bring about strategic change, within a technology-driven context as well as other business areas.
You will explore how Agile approaches require specific organisational and cultural environments that are suited to the key values and manifestos that are so important to the success of these types of projects.
You will work in groups to develop coherent user stories, adopt timebox planning techniques and generate burndown charts to track the delivery of the most important themes that will deliver the greatest benefits back into the business.
15 credits
This module focuses on how people buy and use products, and how they react to marketing action.
On this module you will:
- apply this buyer behaviour information to specify marketing goals and define an effective services strategy
- critically evaluate the latest research developments in buyer behaviour, such as customer loyalty, satisfaction, advertising effectiveness, branding, pricing and store atmospherics
- take a scientific approach, based on evidence and theory, to understand the practical application of research findings and to identify areas where further investigation may be needed
- evaluate the most appropriate methods of investigation and analysis.
15 credits
This module will develop your knowledge of marketing within an international context. You will explore the various challenges and opportunities faced by a firm when marketing its products and services beyond its domestic borders.
Some of the topics explored in this module include:
- Marketing environments
- Cultural diversity
- Research in an international context
- Emerging markets
- International market selection
- Market entry strategies
- International marking mix decisions.
You will also analyse the impact of the internet and new technology trends such as artificial intelligence on various facets of international marketing.
15 credits
Organisations with a strong, consistent and successful focus on managing innovation outperform their competitors in terms of growth and financial performance.
Innovation management requires special knowledge and skills, which are different to standard strategic management theories and practices. This module introduces you to the main concepts and management tools for innovation activities within organisations, from small to large.
You will develop a deep understanding of the role and relevance of innovation within all kinds of organisations and you are asked to identify critical issues, skills and knowledge needed to implement innovation activities or projects.
The module uses a combination of learning and teaching strategies, such as case studies and practical examples of latest examples of innovations. You will carry out a practical innovation audit within an established organisation actively engaged in innovation.
15 credits
The module introduces you to the concepts of entrepreneurship and innovation from an international perspective.
You will develop a deep understanding of the role and relevance of enterprise, entrepreneurship, and innovation as critical features of economic and social development for all nations and types of organisation, public and private.
You will explore new venture and small business management realities, highlighting the difference in management between new/small and large established organisations. You will gain entrepreneurial management skills and the ability to cope with ambiguity, uncertainty, and complexity.
Optional Year 2
The professional placement year is optional. It takes place after the full time year. It allows students to do a 12-month work placement as part of their course. The work placement is an assessed part of the course and is therefore covered by a Student Route visa.
Find out more about the postgraduate work placement scheme.
Professional placement year
120 credits
The Professional Placement module is a core module for those students following a masters programme that incorporates an extended professional placement that follows completion of the first 180 credits of taught modules and project or dissertation. It provides students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills in an appropriate working environment, and to develop and enhance key employability skills and subject specific skills in their chosen subject.
It is the responsibility of individual students to locate and secure a suitable placement opportunity; this will normally involve one placement which must be completed over a minimum period of 10 months and within a maximum of 12 months. The placement must be approved by the module leader prior to commencement to ensure its suitability.
The content of this masters programme is an interesting mix and has taught me a lot about business, communication, management and finance terms. During my second semester, I chose the consultancy practice module; it consisted in working for a company and helping it to improve a business area.
Careers opportunities
Graduates from this course have gone on to set up their own businesses, work in SMEs, as consultants and for multinational companies.
You will take part in an Assessment Centre Experience, providing the opportunity to experience the pathway to employment with tailored feedback:
- Develop your understanding of the jobs market, including current trends and opportunities, different recruitment processes and how to identify relevant roles
- Receive personalised feedback reports to help you to improve and progress
- Access additional webinars on top tips, employer expectations and best practice
Teaching and assessment
When not attending timetabled sessions, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This typically will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and CANVAS, the online virtual learning platform.
As a student at Kingston University, we will make sure you have access to appropriate advice regarding your academic development. You will also be able to use the University's support services.
A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.
One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 180 credits across a year (typical for a postgraduate course) would equate to 1,800 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.
- 21% scheduled learning and teaching
The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.
Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.
Assessment typically comprises exams (e.g. test or exam), practical (e.g. presentations, performance) and coursework (e.g. essays, reports, self-assessment, portfolios, dissertation). The approximate percentage for how you will be assessed on this course is as follows, though depends to some extent on the optional modules you choose:
International Business Management
- 95% Coursework
- 5% Practical
- 0% Exam
Professional Placement Year
- 100% Coursework
Please note: the above breakdowns are a guide calculated on core modules only. Depending on optional modules chosen, this breakdown may change.
We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.
You will be part of an intimate cohort of students which provides dedicated academic guidance and advice and the opportunity to build a life-long network of colleagues. Some modules are common across other postgraduate programmes; therefore you will be taught alongside students who are on these courses within the Business School.
Fees and funding
| Fee Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | Full Time £13,500 |
| International | Full Time £19,700 |
| Fee Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | Full Time £12,900 |
| International | Full Time £18,900 |
Funding support for postgraduate students
If you are a UK student living in England and under 60, you can apply for a loan to study for a postgraduate degree on the government's website.
Scholarships and bursaries
Interested in studying International Business Management MSc at Kingston? The following funding support is available:
The Inspire the Future Scholarship offers a 40% reduction in fees for taught masters or postgraduate diploma courses with September start dates. 20 scholarships are available for progressing Kingston University graduates.
For more information on how to apply for this scholarship, visit the Inspire the Future Scholarship page.
International postgraduate students could receive up to £5,000 towards tuition in their first year of study.
For more information on how to apply for these scholarships, visit the International Scholarship page.
If you are a Kingston University 2024/25 undergraduate progressing to a 2025/26 postgraduate degree (taught or research), you could get a 15% reduction in tuition fees.
For more information on how to apply for this scholarship, visit the Postgraduate Progression Scholarship page.
Kingston University offers a 10% discount on full and part-time postgraduate degree course tuition fees to our alumni.
For more information on how to apply for this discount, visit our alumni discount page.
The International Business Management MSc I am studying has been one of the best experiences I ever had. Kingston is a real melting pot and a good place to live for students as it is not far away from London.
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Our libraries have an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as open-access computers and laptops available to rent. However, you may want to buy your own computer or personal copies of key textbooks. Textbooks may range from £50 to £250 per year. And a personal computer can range from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
Kingston University will pay for all compulsory field trips. Fees for optional trips can range from £30 to £350 per trip.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our free intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations - Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, and Norbiton.
How to apply
Before you apply
Please read the entry criteria carefully to make sure you meet all requirements before applying.
How to apply online
Use the course selector drop down at the top of this page to choose your preferred course, start date and mode, then click 'Apply now'. You will be taken to our Online Student Information System (OSIS) where you will complete your application.
If you’re starting a new application, you’ll need to select ‘new user’ and set up a username and password. This will allow you to save and return to your application.
Application deadlines
We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Applications will close when the course is full.
Information required to confirm your place
If English is not your first language, we will require proof of your proficiency to allow us to confirm your place on the course. This will generally be either an IELTS or TOEFL test certificate, which can be forwarded to us after you have submitted your application. If you do not hold a formal English language qualification, please indicate how you have acquired your proficiency in written and spoken English.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Find out more about course changes
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
What our students and graduates say
I have really enjoyed the International Project Management, Buyer Behaviour and International Business Strategy with Simulation modules. I have strengthened my management skills and I am considering applying to Project Management roles after graduating.
Studying MSc International Business Management at Kingston University was nothing short of a game-changer for me. The course didn’t just provide business concepts—it challenged me to think strategically, lead confidently, and approach problems with a global perspective.
Kingston didn’t just prepare me for a job—it prepared me to lead. I came here with a belief, & aspirations and left with the skills, mindset, and confidence to build something impactful. For anyone considering this course, I’d say don’t think twice—it’s an investment not just in your career, but in yourself.
I am really enjoying my time and my experience of being one of Kingston University's students. The course is very enjoyable and I highly recommend it to anyone who is searching for an unforgettable experience and thinking about an international business career.
