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Find out more about your course of interest, speak with our academics and discover the opportunities that further study has to offer at our Postgraduate Open Day.
Our next Postgraduate Open Day will be on Saturday 23 November 2024 from 11.00 - 15.00. We offer a range of discounts to help with travel costs.
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MA Human Resource Management (Global)
Why choose Herts?
- A bang-up to date, market leading programme, taught by expert HR practitioners and researchers
- CIPD accredited graduates can become Chartered member with relevant experience.
- Industry led and informed, vocational, skill based teaching
People are the lifeblood in any business and Human Resource Management (HRM) plays a pivotal role in helping companies, large and small, get the most out of this most important asset.
The Hertfordshire HR MA programme will develop your HR practitioner skills and know-how to nurture and maintain a happy, fulfilled, effective and responsible workforce.
Full or Part time study options available. Full time study takes one year and part time study in bite-sized modules takes two years.
Develop professional accreditations. Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and provides associate membership.
Learn from supportive, experienced HR specialists. With the benefit of first-hand knowledge, your teaching team help you develop an expert understanding of the role human resources plays in modern organisations.
Enhance your employment prospects. A dual accredited postgraduate and professional qualification is the gold standard ‘expert’ qualification that will boost your career. CIPD membership opens up opportunities for professional development and Chartered membership.
Build Industry Connections. At Hertfordshire Business School you can attend business networking events, meet HR keynote speakers, and form your own life-long industry peer group with fellow students.
Professional Accreditations
Our Hertfordshire MA Human Resource Management degree is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), ensuring it is industry-led and remains current.
Successful completion of the MA or PG Diploma, as awarded by the CIPD, means you are eligible to apply for CIPD Associate Membership (allowing you to use the designatory letters Assoc CIPD after your name).
You can apply to upgrade to Chartered Member if you have the relevant experience.
About the course
As a global Human Resource (HR) practitioner, you will need to find solutions to critical and complex issues in a global context. The course combines Human Resource Management (HRM) theory with a global business focus. You'll develop a deeper understanding of people management across cultures and nations. Having a global and international perspective and knowledge will provide a deeper insight into effective global people management.
If you love managing, helping and developing people, you’ll thrive on this contemporary and relevant post-graduate course. Learn how to manage employees effectively, recruit and motivate talent to ensure success and reward your best performers.
With technology increasing our connectivity across nations and cultures, workforces are increasingly global, diverse and more remote than ever. Attracting the best talent from an international pool has raised new opportunities and challenges for HR managers.
Central to this course are the themes of how to manage such change across personnel development, addressing real issues facing businesses such as equality, diversity and climate organisational change.
Explore the role human resources plays in modern organisations, developing both theoretical knowledge and practical skills, which you can apply to your current role from the start.
Understand how progressive organisations can, and do, respond to challenges arising from today's changing work environment embracing an innovative, forward-thinking approach.
Learn to think in radical ways to manage diverse attitudes and motivations of people entering the labour market. Discover how to work across departments to promote inclusive and productive environments, enabling your employees and organisation to thrive.
The intrinsic link between HR management, an organisation’s strategic and operational requirements, and the impact on society, can be powerful. Embrace relevant and practical tools needed to respond to a range of HRM issues.
Freshen your perspective with new ways of thinking about work and the role organisations play in the world, as you build the foundations needed to become a critical, inspiring leader of the future.
Full-time study – this study route is available to all prospective students
The full-time course, taught on campus and with some online teaching, can be completed in one year.
The sandwich and advanced research pathways are two years full time.
Part-time study – this study route is not available to students requiring a visa to study
A course designed to fit around work and family.
Classes are one evening a week for two academic years from a September start date, and two and a half academic years from a January start date.
You can also select a flexible mode option with online delivery. This is a combination of live online sessions once a week with supporting online material.
Tailor your path
We offer a variety of pathways so you can specialise in your area of interest. The below pathways can be combined e.g. Global Sandwich or Global Advanced Research. For any questions about our pathways please email Adrian Thornley, Programme Leader.
Why choose this course?
Our Postgraduate studies are sector leading amongst over 100 Higher Education Institutions in the UK as evidenced by our extraordinary achievement:
- 6th in Business and Management in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES, 2024)
- 1st for Skills Development, 2nd for Support, Resources, Community and Assessment (Advance HE, 2023)
Our course is well suited to those in the early stages of their HR career who want to delve deeper into HRM. Focus on key areas such as strategy, talent resourcing, employee relations, reward management and leadership.
Professional Body accreditation through the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) means you also benefit from associate CIPD membership.
Strengthen your personal learning to discover how to help others reach their potential, adding value to organisations and make a positive impact on society
Appreciate the real-life application of theory, with a fresh hands-on approach to teaching and learning, focused on applied practice and experiential learning.
Enjoy a flexible programme that gives you options to focus on areas on interest, such as specialising in global human resource management or work psychology.
Study alongside inspiring peers, expanding your learning opportunity and widening your perspective. Cohorts can include personnel and human resource managers, line managers, trade unionists and equal opportunity officers from a variety of backgrounds.
Learn from approachable, supportive HR practitioners, researchers and academics with first-hand experience and in-depth knowledge.
The world of human resource management is complex and unpredictable. By studying at Herts, you’ll gain the skills and strategies you need to help individuals, organisations and your own career thrive.
Meet Deans Award Rising Star 2022, Anusuya Sharma
A student on MA Human Resources Management
Anusuya proved to be a highly motivated student during her studies at Herts. She was a Student Representative on behalf of her peers and was awarded a Go Herts Award. As a dedicated and highly conscientious student, she was engaged in class and a great listener, often wanting to explore topics and issues further.
Recently, Anusuya been successful in her applications to become a Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Abingdon and Witney College, teaching a CIPD Level 3 course.
This is a fantastic achievement, Anusuya! Good luck in your new role and we can't wait to see what the future brings for you.
How will I learn?
Analyse the building blocks of human resource management at an individual, organisational, national and international level. Explore complex issues arising from research, practices and current debates.
Learn to recognise ethical dilemmas and corporate responsibility issues to ensure that the organisations you work with are sustainable.
Develop an inquiry practice-orientated mindset, expert problem-solving, evidence based decision making and evaluation skills.
Hone your practical skills with experiential real-life learning, where you’ll be immersed in activities that bridge the gap between theory and practice. For example, our tutors will facilitate and role model human resource management practice.
Experience a blended learning approach, including individual and group work, one-to-one sessions, workshops, guest speakers and live projects/case studies.
Assessments will provide you with academic and real-life practical skills to enhance your career. For example, you could carry out small consultancy work, deliver a presentation or write a brief to the board of directors to evidence your knowledge. This means you'll be able to immediately apply your learning to the workplace.
What will I study?
We offer a problem-based learning approach to our teaching so you can gain real life skills for the workplace. Together we’ll explore complex issues arising from research, practices and current debates and see these from a global perspective. You’ll analyse human resource management at an individual, organisational, national and international level. We’ll teach you how to recognise ethical dilemmas and corporate responsibility issues to ensure that the organisations you work with are sustainable. You’ll develop an inquiry practice-orientated mindset, showing expert problem-solving, decision making and evaluation skills.
We offer a blended learning approach, including individual and group work, one-to-one sessions, workshops, study trips, guest speakers and live projects/case studies. Formal lectures will be kept to a minimum (and available online if you can’t be with us in person or want to review later).
We value our students as HR practitioners in training. This means that you are starting or continuing your professional development in the class room. To reflect this, our teaching, learning and assessment shares this core value. For example, our tutors will facilitate and role model human resource management practice. Plus, we'll encourage you to apply your learning to HRM problems and issues in the class and during assessments.
Our focus is on experiential real-life learning, where you’ll be immersed in activities that bridge the gap between theory and practice. You’ll be assessed in this way too, with each assessment having two sections: a critical review of theory and application of that theory to practice. For example, you could carry out small consultancy work, deliver a presentation or write a brief to the board of directors to evidence your knowledge.
The world of human resource management is complex and unpredictable. By studying at Herts, you’ll gain the personal development, skills and strategies you need to help individuals, organisations and your own career thrive. You'll develop insights and skills in cross cultural management to empower you to manage a diverse international workforce in a fast-changing world.
We'll teach you the current issues and challenges that global HR needs to confront and solve. You'll explore major issues central to cultural and institutional differences in people management, local markets, legal, economic systems, differing management styles, different approaches to compensation management, and the global HRM decision-making process. Issues such as the major challenges in the global staffing process, selection, learning, training & development strategies, and the cultural differences in these. You'll analyse HRM and management policies, practices and strategies to overcome these issues and challenges.
Key staff
Adrian Thornley, Ch MCIPD, SFHEA (Programme leader)
A seasoned HR professional with including Board level and at UK and international operations, with over 10 years HE experience. Practised in both strategy and operations, specialisms include Reward, Global Mobility, Recruitment and Change Management.
Find out more about Adrian Thornley, Ch MCIPD, SFHEA (Programme leader)
Jo Cartwright (Deputy programme leader)
A seasoned HE professional and researcher, Jo has published Dr Jo Cartwright is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at the University of Hertfordshire. Prior to that she worked at London Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester
Further course information
Course fact sheets | |
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MA Human Resource Management (Global) | Download |
Programme specifications | |
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MA Human Resource Management | Download |
Additional information | |
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Sandwich placement or study abroad year |
n/a |
Applications open to international and EU students |
Yes |