The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2025)
72
72nd for Business and Management in the world
QS World University Rankings by Subject (2024)
Introduction
BSc International Management examines in-depth global management practices in a world that has changed radically in the last decade. A new international landscape lies ahead: international tensions and conflicts among the leading economies of the world, climate change and environmental emergencies, major issues of social justice and business ethics, as well as global economic pressures on limited resources of all kinds.
All management processes and business decisions, in all types of organisations and markets, have to face these new realities and their impact on societies, economies, and people’s everyday lives.
All employers are asking management and business schools for two essential things: on the one hand, graduates capable of understanding the multiple dimensions of contemporary management and business and their global connections; on the other, graduates with an understanding of the world in which business takes place, a world characterised by complex economic, political, and cultural processes.
Course overview
This course offers a unique and genuine interdisciplinary understanding of management, its essentially international nature, and the realities of the world today.
Your studies will develop your critical understanding in three fundamental areas:
Core areas of management (human resources, marketing or accounting and finance, sustainability, ethics, and technology);
Core issues in contemporary international relations and world politics that shape the real world today;
Core responsibilities facing global businesses in the coming decades: ecology and the natural environment, sustainability and ethical responsibilities.
You will take modules from both the Management School and Politics and International Relations - a unique feature of this degree. There are two pathways through the degree: you can choose to focus either on marketing or accounting and finance. You will, therefore, have the opportunity to choose additional modules from one of these disciplines.
In your second year, you will deepen and broaden your understanding of management and global business operations today, with modules in management and international organisations, human resource management, and business ethics. These will be complemented with modules in international relations and world politics, security and sustainability, and the politics of development.
In your final year, you’ll cover more issues surrounding international human resource management, management and organisations in the digital age, as well as sustainability, together with more optional modules in marketing management or corporate finance (depending on which route you’ve chosen), and international relations such as the Governance of Global Capitalism. You will also synthesise your academic achievements in an individual dissertation, a much-valued addition to your professional resume.
This course offers our students an excellent appreciation of the many challenges modern businesses face today, in the real world, and those they will face in the future. Lancaster University Management School offers a compelling view of responsible management by placing real people and real-world issues at the heart of our conception of management education for the twenty-first century.
Key facts
BSc International Management is also offered as a four-year degree. In the four-year course, your third year is either a year abroad or a year in industry. Switching to one of these courses after you start may be possible, subject to availability, visa and other requirements.
Course outcomes
By the end of your degree, you will have gained a deep understanding and appreciation of how management and business both depend upon and shape the global social and economic system. You will have developed an excellent awareness and knowledge of the fundamental processes of management, from human resources to organisational analysis, from marketing to the role of technology in contemporary organisational systems, as well as of contemporary international affairs and the political environment in which all business processes take place.
Ultimately, you will have the skills to work within any type of organisation that places emphasis on global connectivity – from multinational corporations to globe-spanning Non-governmental organisations or public sector services dealing with foreign or local affairs.
Find out what it's like to study International Management at Lancaster University Management School.
Three reasons to study with us
International Management analyses the contemporary global context in which management and business take place. It shows how international politics, world events, societies and cultures are deeply influential in management and business decisions. This degree can lead to a variety of fulfilling and rewarding careers shaping strategy in all types of organisations. Here are three things we offer:
Critical/Analytical/Inquisitive. This degree combines the latest understanding of a range of key management functions with detailed analyses of major trends in the world today and in the future. Thinking about management in an international context requires a broad understanding and the capacity to shape critical strategic decisions.
Person-centred and ethical. This programme allows you to consider the major challenges arising for management within a rapidly changing global landscape. How will organisations face the future and adjust in the context of profound changes, innovations, and realignments?
Academic and professional. We combine insights from various disciplines to broaden your academic and professional horizons, giving you a rich understanding of management and business organisations and the wider world in which they operate.
For all undergraduate queries please contact our Undergraduate Coordinator Jessica Thackway.
Careers
Lancaster University is dedicated to ensuring you not only gain a highly reputable degree, you also graduate with the relevant life and work-based skills. We are unique in that every student is eligible to participate in The Lancaster Award which offers you the opportunity to complete key activities such as work experience, employability awareness, career development, campus community and social development. Visit our employability section for full details.
Lancaster University Management School has an award-winning careers team to provide a dedicated careers and placement service offering a range of innovative services for management school students. Our high reputation means we attract a wide range of leading global employers to campus offering you the opportunity to interact with graduate recruiters from day one of your degree.
Entry requirements
Grade Requirements
A Level ABB
GCSE English Language grade C or 4
IELTS 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component. For other English language qualifications we accept, please see our English language requirements webpages.
Other Qualifications
International Baccalaureate 32 points overall with 16 points from the best 3 Higher Level subjects
BTEC Distinction, Distinction, Merit
We welcome applications from students with a range of alternative UK and international qualifications, including combinations of qualifications. Further guidance on admission to the University, including other qualifications that we accept, frequently asked questions and information on applying, can be found on our general admissions webpages.
Delivered in partnership with INTO Lancaster University, our one-year tailored foundation pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University degrees. Visit the INTO Lancaster University website for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.
Contextual admissions
Contextual admissions could help you gain a place at university if you have faced additional challenges during your education which might have impacted your results. Visit our contextual admissions page to find out about how this works and whether you could be eligible.
Course structure
Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and some which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism.
Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.
We will introduce you to some of the central aspects of the discipline of International Relations, providing a firm grounding in the major concepts and debates necessary to understand the modern world of international politics. You will have the opportunity to learn about: the dominant features and power relations of the contemporary global system; the nature of sovereignty and security, their expression and limitations; the real-world problems confronting the international community today.
Areas of study typically include:
+ International Relations Theory: the study of how relations between states can and should be viewed and theorised, Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism and Feminism.
+ Regional Studies: the study of some of the key regions of the world, and the politics of their interactions.
+ International Institutions and Law: the international organisations, customs, and rules that govern inter-state relationships.
+ Global Politics and Belief: the study of how religious and ideological belief can shape international politics and the relation of states.
+ International Crises: the study of pressing issues confronting the international community, such as environmental collapse, technological advance, the rise of non-state actors, and terrorism.
+ International Relations and the Domestic: the study of how the domestic agendas can shape and influence international politics.
Because of the increasing interdependence of the national and global, domestic politics and international relations can no longer be properly understood in isolation from one another. To ensure the best possible foundation for a degree in International Relations, in first year, we strongly recommend you also take Politics in the Modern World.
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the fascinating world of management and organisation(s) via a series of lectures and seminars and reading groups.
Over a period of ten weeks, we will attempt to familiarise ourselves with some of the main themes and issues that make up our ‘organised’ world. Our main objective will be to map out the ways in which we understand ourselves in relation to work, management and organisations. In order to so, we will attempt to trace how the meaning we give to these important themes has developed historically. To do so, we will analyse the thought of some of their main critics and contributors.
The course begins by providing a perspective on capitalism (as the social order in which the forms of managing and organising we are interested in takes place), before moving on to look at management more concretely and ends with a focus on people (both managers and workers) in contemporary organisations and society.
This module aims to provide you with a broad introduction to management covering a wide range of topics that are relevant to work, business and organisations. The module begins by locating organizations, work and technology in a broad historical context. It considers the meaning of work and different debates regarding alienation and technology. It then introduces different metaphors through which we can understand and analyse organisations. Finally, it considers the changing nature of employment relations by considering the shift from industrial relations to Human Resource Management (HRM).
The module is constructed to encourage you to think critically and to reflect upon taken-for-granted assumptions about the world of work and management’s role in relation to it. As a means to achieve this, the second part of the course explores the contemporary issue of human resource management and development which fundamentally contributes to the development of employee-engaged and productive organisations. The final part of the module continues the theme of encouraging critical reflection and explores key issues and debates related to gig employment, globalization, sustainability and business ethics that are intimately related to management.
You will be introduced to how to navigate the job market and different sectors of it, alongside some of the key terminologies. The importance of personal development planning and self-reflection will be discussed, including goal setting and an outline of resources available to support you with this. The module will also start preparing you for engagement with potential employers through developing communication skills and building the confidence to pose sensible and insightful questions. The content of this module integrates with the academic skills you will be developing in your other first-year modules and the approaches to management and organisational behaviour you will be introduced to.
Optional
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This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the basic concepts and techniques of Accounting and Finance, which include financial accounting, managerial finance, and financial statement analysis.
An important element of this course is that it provides exposure to the business and financial environment within which the discipline of Accounting and Finance operates, using real-world financial data for actual companies.
The course covers concepts, techniques and interpretive skills that relate to the external financial reporting of companies and their relationship to the stock market, and to the use of accounting information for internal management purposes.
This module is designed to give you a broad and critical introduction to the subject of marketing through a series of lectures and seminars. A comprehensive range of topics is taught at foundational level which you will then explore further in your second and final years. Subject areas that you will study include Understanding Markets, which examines how markets are created and sustained, Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Communications, Marketing Research and Innovation.
Throughout the year, you will be asked to consider how theory works in practice, by examining your own experience of marketing as well as current stories from the press and marketing media. Assessment consists of coursework including an individual essay and a group-based business report, and a summer exam which is largely essay-based. As part of your studies on this module, we will help you to develop all of the necessary academic skills to succeed in your first year at university and throughout your degree.
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The main aim of this module is to provide students with a critical understanding of the ethical dilemmas that are associated with business and management. It will examine the various ways in which we make sense and speak about ethics, how questions of right and wrong occur and what responses they elicit. In simpler terms, if we describe ethics as being about sorting out right from wrong, our interest is on what constitutes ethical conduct, and on who the appropriate agent of this conduct might be. A critical understanding means that this module does not aim at providing answers or tools that would solve the various problems of ethics or that would guarantee the ethical behaviour of managers.
Human Resource Management is that part of management that happens to everyone, all the time. Nobody can escape HRM. We are all human resources and, therefore, it should not be a surprise that HRM has become very much a reflection of us – we find in HRM our own conceptions of ourselves, of work and of life in the 21st Century. The aim of this module is to understand how HRM is done and why we manage people in the ways we do.
The module introduces and analyses HRM as a complex part of management today in all organisations. OWT.223 examines aspects of employability, of performativity, performance management and of work motivations as key ingredients for the management of people in contemporary corporations, large or small, private or public. For you and your employability, it will be essential to understand what is going on in HRM and how this is done. You will have to be able to grasp the fundamental question of work: what is worth doing in the context of contemporary work? What is asked of you, and how do you have answer in return?
Also, it is essential to remember that every manager is always a human resource manager: they have to know how to recruit, how to communicate decisions and how to understand people and their motivation to work, how to think about individuals and teams, and about all the psychological and social aspects of work. No effective and respectable manager or executive can be a poor manager of people.
This module introduces key debates relating to management in international organisations. Beginning with fundamental questions about purpose and organisation, and then proceeding to explore questions about impacts on economy and society, the module provides a critical and analytical approach to understanding international organisations in a range of sectors. On completion of the module, you will be able to analyse the factors affecting the operation and impacts of international organisations, in both ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ world contexts.
Part 1 of the module introduces key debates and concerns relating to international organisations, in particular in relation to rationales for and modes of internationalization and associated organisational forms. The challenges faced by international organisations are also considered. The purpose of the first part of the module is to allow you to understand the key debates relating to international organisations in different sectors (e.g. manufacturing versus services).
Part 2 of the module builds on Part 1 by considering different ways of analysing international organisations. A series of perspectives are introduced that take account of the different organisational forms and processes found in international organisations. The purpose is to allow students to understand the different analytical questions that need to be considered when studying and managing international organisations.
The course provides students with general knowledge and understanding concerning social research and particular methods and methodologies that lie within the positivist and interpretivist paradigms. It is primarily aimed at students from across the management school that are planning to undertake an industrial placement and/or a dissertation in their final year of study. This module helps to prepare you to undertake your own research with a view to highlighting different research approaches and techniques that are used in the production of knowledge.
The module provides an insight into the various ways research can be undertaken and the implications of different approaches. We will examine the conceptual and practical complexities of undertaking research in practice. Initially you will be introduced to research methods and that are most commonly employed in business and management research. The module will then examine the methodological approaches and paradigms that are linked with these methods and the assumptions that underpin positivistic and interpretivist approaches. The final part of the module explores how this understanding can be used in writing your research proposal and dissertation.
Optional
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The overall aim of this module is to develop an appreciation and understanding of the fast-moving and multi-faceted world of advertising from both a theoretical and managerial perspective.
We will focus on advertising within the private sector and cover a number of contemporary issues in advertising, including social and ethical issues, international advertising and advertising regulation. On completion of this module, you should be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of advertising theory, strategy and execution.
This module focuses on the international relations of one of the most influential actors in world politics: China. The course explores the key question of when and how China’s actions conform with – and diverge from – various international relations (IR) theories. This offers students a twofold payoff. Students gain a broad understanding of how China’s foreign policies are made, its relations with its neighbours in East Asia, with international organizations, and with other global powers including Britain. At the same time, students gain a deeper, more concrete understanding of the uses and limitations of IR theory in explaining global politics.
The overall aim of this module is to develop an appreciation and understanding of consumer behaviour from both managers' and consumers' perspectives, building on current research in consumer behaviour and the social sciences generally. The lectures initially focus on consumers as individuals and then consider more closely the influence of our social experiences on behaviour. The workshops provide a chance to focus on a specialist topic within the field, focusing upon improving academic reading and analysis skills.
The module gives you a unique opportunity to engage with the key academic and industry-led questions at the forefront of digital marketing practice. It will stimulate your understanding around the following questions:
How can we create data-driven, effective digital marketing campaigns?
How does the consumer decision-making journey change in a digital space?
How does digital technology transform marketing strategy in a business-to-consumer and business-to-business context?
Why do so many companies fail in managing cyber risk despite having cybersecurity measures in place?
As well as engaging with academic perspectives, you will practice real-life integrated digital campaign planning using industry-leading global data from Similarweb. An external industry expert session ensures that you also gain further insight into relevant careers and the practice of digital marketing.
This module focuses on the politics and international relations of the European Union. This includes a focus on the political systems of key EU member states (especially Germany, France and Poland) and the wider dynamics of European integration. The module will also offer an account of the activities of the various European institutions in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg (Council, Commission, Parliament, Court of Justice).
The module explores the main theoretical foundations to International Relations, including realism, liberalism, constructivism and critical IR (Marxism, Feminism, Postcolonialism). It explores the development of International Relations (IR) theory in the 20th and 21st centuries and examine it in the light of major historical developments and contemporary events. The module aims at providing the students with the necessary skills and background knowledge to engage critically with the world that we live in. To do so, the module pays special attention to the unequal power relations and Western dominance in the study of IR and politics, and to how they have become embedded into our institutions, theories and methods. The module will also introduce students to theories and debates in human and environmental sustainability.
This module provides an introduction to the use of management accounting information for management purposes. This includes an examination of cost-volume profit analysis, the concepts of direct and indirect costs, and various costing methods. The importance of budgets to organisations and their impact on performance are also discussed.
This module introduces the key concepts and techniques in marketing research and the analysis of marketing problems. The main aim is to prepare you for future roles as marketing, product, brand and advertising managers by giving you the skills needed to commission, manage, interpret and use marketing information. It will also prepare you for practical market or advertising research projects conducted in your final year (e.g. MKTG310 & MKTG331). The module covers both qualitative and quantitative research methods, as well as how to run and manage research projects. For the quantitative part of the unit, you will be introduced to SPSS.
This module covers project evaluation methods, risk, return and the cost of capital (including the capital asset pricing model), corporate financing (including dividend policy and capital structure) and an introduction to options.
This module will familiarize you with the politics of protest, the social and political significance of countercultures, theories of social movements, and the ways in which movements either implement or prevent social and cultural change. Relevant political philosophies will be introduced, as well as the core ideas informing, for example, the women’s movement, the peace movement, and the environmental movement. The module will also examine the practice of protest, introducing, for example, protest art, music, and acts of civil disobedience.
In this module, you will learn about the decisions, actors and actions involved in transforming a product from its raw state to one desired by consumers, and how brand owners work with retailers to ensure shoppers’ access to the product.
This understanding is important to all marketers since it allows marketers to communicate with other areas of the organisation (such as manufacturing or logistics) over issues such as new product launches and promotional initiatives.
We will focus on the retail end of the route to market and how brand owners coordinate with retail (possibly also wholesale) actors to ensure optimal product placement and communication at the point of purchase, using real-life examples.
You will gain vital understanding and perspectives to equip you for entry-level jobs in areas such as trade marketing, customer marketing, shopper marketing, category management and areas of retail. In many companies, graduate entry-level jobs in these areas are the only route to a career in brand management. The thinking is “if you can’t manage retail partners, you can’t manage brands”.
Throughout the module, we will consider the international contexts of routes to market, ethical questions in routes to market, modern techniques and shopping behaviour and ICT use in routes to market.
This module gives you the chance to explore various forms of social media in the context of digital marketing and online consumer culture. You will develop awareness and gain insights into a diverse range of topics such as:
social media tools,
mobile marketing,
online consumption environments,
virtual identities and online consumer behaviour,
online consumption experiences,
the rise of virtual economies.
As part of the module, you will also explore current and potential trends in the digital environment.
For some the free-market economy has produced the greatest levels of freedom ever experienced by human society while other see it as the source of social ills, poverty and crisis. How can we reconcile the needs of the masses, or the demos, with those of a profit-driven economy? Can the state balance the two? Can the state intervene in the economy without undermining it? How should the state respond to demands for greater equality? Do we need more state or more market? The module examines the various answers that have been given to these questions by historical figures within the tradition of political economy. It introduces students to the main political economy approaches to the relationship between the state the market and raises some key issues regarding the state’s governance of the market economy. The module draws from liberal and critical state theories of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries and discerns their implications for understanding main challenges facing the modern state today. The main themes scrutinised by the module are: (a) the theoretical evolution of liberal and critical approaches to the state; (b) the relationship between the state and the economy, (c) the relationship between liberalism and democracy; (d) the state management of market and democratic imperatives.
This is a critical introduction to the underlying themes of development in the global South, such as debt, aid, inequality, migration; and how the state, the economy, national social movements and powerful external actors, including international NGOs, interact with each other. It begins by looking at how neoliberalism came to dominant development thinking and practice in institutions like the World Bank from the late 1970s onwards and its impact on development and then provides in-depth case-studies of recent alternative development models in Latin America and Syria. This course helps to broaden students’ understanding of Politics and International Relations away from a Western focus on the UK, Europe and the US in preparation for third-year modules such as PPR.336: The Global Politics of Africa.
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The dissertation gives students an opportunity to apply the learning from their degree programme to undertake a substantial in-depth research study. The dissertation is intended to provide them with the opportunity to explore at length and in depth aspects of theory, knowledge, experience and skills introduced during the degree programme (or gleaned from elsewhere) and draw critical interpretations from this analysis. Further, the ability to make sense of the area under investigation, unravel the complexities and develop purposeful insights is at the heart of the dissertation.
Economic, social, cultural and political globalization have all contributed to the growth of economic activity that cuts across national borders and to the emergence and proliferation of organizations that transcend national boundaries. Increasingly, organizations are engaged in the employment contract in multiple different national employment systems. The human resources of organizations are located in multiple country locations. Internationalization thereby becomes a key challenge for the practitioners and a dimension that cannot be taken as given or standard for scholars of HRM. In a context of the transformation of a growing number of organizations (and especially the largest ones) into “transnational social spaces”, HRM practices flow across borders. Some strategic scholarship argues that such flows are critical to the success of individual firms, and concentrate their efforts on identifying “best practices” that will yield the greatest leverage to each. Strategic scholarship keen to understand what will work best to increase the efficiency and financial performance of multinational organizations also studies the various “glitches” that might obstruct flows or make the flows of HRM practices everywhere not always desirable.
This module examines the challenges of managing human resources against a backdrop of cross-cultural and institutional work contexts and teams, variation in local socio-political-legal contexts and the necessity for cross-border assignments. The analytical/critical approach to IHRM taken concerns itself with questions of whether employment (and HRM) practices are converging or diverging around the world, how power and politics are implicated in the internal dynamics of multinational corporations, and if the corporate social responsibility pledges for appropriate treatment of workers can possibly suffice to ensure a fair employment relationship in the absence of a transnational regulator, among others.
Technology is widely regarded as an unstoppable engine of change that is driving the advance or progress of the modern world. It would seem that no corner of the planet is left untouched by the transformative power of technology: from computers and telecommunications technology to biotechnology, from genetic engineering to the production of designer drugs to control and reshape human behaviour, the technological (re)ordering of the world would appear to have no limits. Against this background utopian or dystopian depending on your viewpoint OWT.326 aims to explore the (inter)relationship between technology and organisation.
The lectures place a strong emphasis on the examination of accounts and representations, visions of technology, technologically mediated change in organisations and society (including issues of identity, power and surveillance), and the ethical dimensions of technology.
No prior knowledge of technology is assumed.
The objective of this module is to attempt to develop moral sensibility and practical reasoning in the context of managerial everyday action in organisations. It will be concerned with morality in action, as it happens, rather than a removed reflection on codes and principles of ethics.
The module seeks to show that ethics in action is diffused and difficult. Nevertheless, managers and employees have a responsibility to ‘work it out’ for themselves. It is this ‘how to work it out’ that the module will keep as its focus. A number of case studies will be used as a basis for developing a moral sensibility so that managers will be able to act in a morally appropriate manner as part of their ongoing organisational action.
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This course provides a historical and thematic introduction to the issues facing Africa in the international system today. The course is divided into two sections. The first section explores the historical incorporation of the continent into the emerging international system centred on Europe from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. It focuses on the impact of colonialism and independence in terms of the economy, the state and the politics of race and the implications these have for the region’s prospects for democracy and development today. The second section looks at key contemporary issues and agents shaping the continent. The latter includes ‘top-down’ actors such as the Chinese state, as well as grassroots actors such as unionised South African workers.
This module will provide you with a managerial and critical understanding of how brand strategy must integrate and balance a variety of perspectives such as the social, symbolic, and material dimensions of contemporary consumer culture with the managerial and economic determinants of organisations.
You will master the language of brand strategy, discover how the brand function fits with the other functions of an organisation, and learn how this knowledge can be applied in real marketplace contexts. We will also critically evaluate the role of branding in society and we will trace the history of “the modern brand”. A range of theories, concepts, strategies and practices designed to build, evolve and sustain brands will be addressed across a range of categories, product types and industries. You will be encouraged to think for yourself about the possible future brands and the necessity of branding in a changing world.
This course presents a detailed analysis of the major developments in British foreign policy since 1945. It explains these developments within a global context, offering rival interpretations of Britain’s changing role and status – issues whose importance has been underlined by the debates surrounding the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum. The major themes include: the consequences of Britain’s participation in the Second World War; the retreat from Empire after 1945; the ‘special relationship’ with the United States; and the prolonged attempt to redefine Britain’s global role in the context of perceived economic and geopolitical decline.
Who killed John F. Kennedy? Did the moon landing really happen? Was Covid-19 caused by the erection of 5G network masts? Factual answers to such questions are easily accessible. And yet many people eschew documented facts in favour of conspiracy theories, which explain events and complex phenomena with reference to nefarious forces and alleged hidden machinations of powerful actors. Such narratives are nothing new, but they used to be regarded mostly as a curiosity rather than a serious subject of research. Today communities of conspiracists are no longer considered so benign. As they thrive online, they attract increasing interest of scholars and policymakers, who study their digital influence, their links with political movements and their status as participants in democratic public spheres. This module introduces students to the developing body of research on the origins, spread and the political and social effects of conspiracy theories, including multidisciplinary work seeking to explain why people embrace conspiracies, what (if any) are the harms of such beliefs, what insights can we draw from the study of historical conspiracies (19th and 20th century) and what is the relationship between conspiratorial thinking and other political beliefs.
This course provides an introduction to US Foreign Policy. The United States plays an important role in the international system. As one of the largest, wealthiest, and most militarily capable states, its foreign policy has a profound influence on the international system. Therefore, to fully comprehend international relations and world events, one needs to understand US foreign policy. The course examines how US foreign policy is made and conducted by studying the historical development of US foreign policy, the institutions and processes involved in the foreign policymaking process, how the US projects power in the international system, and contemporary challenges and issues in US foreign policy.
This course equips students with the knowledge to apply corporate finance theory to real-world situations. It builds on and extends the concepts covered in the basic financial management courses and introduces advanced topics in Corporate Finance. The major topics covered include capital budgeting, capital structure, corporate valuation, real options, equity financing for startups, IPOs, leasing, short term financing, merger and acquisitions, and corporate governance
The module concerns the communications strategies and techniques used by new social movements, brands and people. We will study a spectrum of tools and media of communications, such as lobbying, design, sustainable communications (and greenwashing).
You will use action learning to develop a campaign strategy and creative work for a major UK government campaign. We will examine how protesters and social activists use communications, and you will be encouraged to think critically about how communications shape societies and human values.
As marketing activities become more internationally focused, firms are increasingly looking for prospective employees with the knowledge and skills to address the new challenges and opportunities associated with globalisation. This module combines the latest research in the field of international marketing; providing insights, theories, concepts and tools that enable students to navigate the global market. Students will take part in interactive lectures and assessment-centred seminars to examine trends in global marketing management. The module will also pay special attention to emerging markets and the roles they play in invigorating marketing theories and practice.
This module provides knowledge that is important to those concerned with financial management in a multinational setting. Areas covered include the relationships between exchange rates, interest rates and inflation rates, forward, futures and options markets, and corporate exchange rate risk management.
This course examines the changing character of war and security in a time of rapid and disruptive technological and geopolitical change. The course combines analysis of contemporary policy documents with the interdisciplinary insights of intellectuals that have examined how war has changed in the modern age. Students are introduced to a range of concepts that are currently significant in the policy debates about the future of war – concepts such as ambiguous war, the gray zone, the third offset strategy and the three block war. While the course is grounded in broader debates from social and political thought about war and modernity, it explores a range of evolving and inter-related case studies that are central to understanding how war is changing: cybersecurity/artificial intelligence; cities and urban war; drones and the future of robotics; climate change and ecological insecurity. Each year we try to bring a guest lecturer from the Ministry of Defence or the FCO to discuss questions relevant to the course – and to discuss how the course can be relevant to a broad range of careers.
This module investigates the role of ethics in business life. The course looks at this topic from multiple perspectives, considering various theories and models that help to unpack both individual and corporate ethics. The syllabus includes stakeholder analysis and management, corporate social responsibility, different forms of ethical reporting, various codes of governance and conduct, and some ethics-related aspects of UK law.
Latin America is a dynamic region dominated by a complex set of issues. This module examines the forces and events that have shaped the culture and politics of contemporary Latin America. The lectures in this module are arranged and organised along specific themes: an overview of politics of populism, the role of the Latin American left in shaping the public discourse, democracy and dictatorship, the emancipatory role of religion, the culture of everyday violence, politics of dependency and development, the political economy of migration and the role played by external actors in shaping its cultural, economic, social and political identity. This module provides students with an opportunity to develop their general as well as specialist knowledge of major issues in contemporary Latin American society and politics.
Investors, business executives, regulators and the accountancy profession increasingly recognise that social and environmental challenges pose significant risks to the financial resilience of business while also providing many novel opportunities. Accountancy plays a major role in effective management of these risks and opportunities to build resilient businesses.
In this module, you will learn about cutting-edge developments in accounting for sustainability for the improvement of business resilience. You will also develop your knowledge and understanding about the importance of awareness of the changing social and institutional context within which organisations operate.
Global capitalism is at crossroads. It faces a deepening crisis in the world of work, its engine of growth is sputtering out while the climate emergency is aggravating. For some the 2008 recession, COVID-19 and the 2022 cost-of living of crisis offered tragic glimpses of the world that is to come if radical change is not pursued. How can we govern a world characterised by perpetual emergencies and chronic economic crises? Can capitalism be reformed? What does it take to address inequality, precarity or biodiversity collapse? What are the challenges and constraints faced by governments today? The module offers an opportunity to discuss these questions by examining a range of political economy approaches to the study of global capitalism. In doing so the module analyses the most important transformations of the past 50 years that radically transformed the global economy and the issues they raise for economic policy. It examines the constraints, limits and opportunities facing the governance of the global economic order and explores the governing dilemmas that arise in the era of so-called late capitalism.
In this module, we explore how marketing activities are managed in businesses, organisations and markets. Our focus is on three levels- namely, individuals, organisations and market place. Our understandings of marketing management are to a large extent shaped by theories and evidence on consumer behaviour in various markets. With this module, we turn our attention to managers and how they should make sense of and take action towards creating values for consumers and clients, their own businesses and organisations, and society at large. We approach this management question from multiple theoretical perspectives- namely, organisational and institutional theory, behavioural sciences, and marketing. We critically review these perspectives to understand how they construct and study the tasks of judgement and decision-making for marketing managers. We then employ these perspectives to identify and evaluate the opportunities and challenges contemporary marketing managers face within businesses, organisations, markets and society. These relate to technological advances and innovation, globalisation and its discontents, the inclusivity and exclusivity of consumption, marketing ethics, sustainability and climate change.
The module will explore the key debates in immigration politics, as well as key trends in immigration policies. The main themes explored by the module are (a) which actors drive the politics of immigration; (b) key theories and concepts in the study of immigration politics (c) key factors and determinants of immigration policies
Topics covered will typically include:
Theorising migration: What is immigration? Why do people move? Who is an immigrant?
History of immigration in Western Europe: How has immigration flows & policy developed since post war period? What do we mean by the politicisation of immigration? Why has immigration become politicised?
Public opinion: Why do people oppose immigration? Is the rise in anti-migrant politics due to economic anxieties or identity and cultural concerns?
Parties and political elites: What roles do parties play in the politics of immigration? Why do centrist parties struggle with the issue of immigration?
Mass media: How and why does the mass media politicize migration? Does the mass media drive or reflect public concerns over immigration?
Political economy: varieties of capitalism, client politics and the liberal paradox: Why do expansive immigration policies persist despite public concerns? Is the need for migrant labour unavoidable?
Losing control? Globalisation, post-national rights and Europeanization of immigration policy
Have states lost control of immigration? Has migration policy become Europeanised? Why is it so hard to develop a common EU policy on migration and asylum?
Bringing the state back in: governance and colonial legacies: Who makes policy and how do states regulate immigration? How do colonial legacies shape immigration politics and policy?
Gap hypothesis: street level bureaucrats, shifting up and out and everyday bordering: Why do gaps between policy outputs and outcomes persist? What is everyday bordering and what are the implications?
Politics of belonging: Has multiculturalism failed? Is integration a toxic term? What is citizenship? What does it mean to belong?
Fees and funding
Our annual tuition fee is set for a 12-month session, starting in the October of your year of study.
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
College fees
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small college membership fee which supports the running of college events and activities. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.
For students starting in 2025, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses.
Computer equipment and internet access
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
Study abroad courses
In addition to travel and accommodation costs, while you are studying abroad, you will need to have a passport and, depending on the country, there may be other costs such as travel documents (e.g. VISA or work permit) and any tests and vaccines that are required at the time of travel. Some countries may require proof of funds.
Placement and industry year courses
In addition to possible commuting costs during your placement, you may need to buy clothing that is suitable for your workplace and you may have accommodation costs. Depending on the employer and your job, you may have other costs such as copies of personal documents required by your employer for example.
The fee that you pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a home or international student. Read more about how we assign your fee status.
Home fees are subject to annual review, and may be liable to rise each year in line with UK government policy. International fees (including EU) are reviewed annually and are not fixed for the duration of your studies. Read more about fees in subsequent years.
We will charge tuition fees to Home undergraduate students on full-year study abroad/work placements in line with the maximum amounts permitted by the Department for Education. The current maximum levels are:
Students studying abroad for a year: 15% of the standard tuition fee
Students taking a work placement for a year: 20% of the standard tuition fee
International students on full-year study abroad/work placements will be charged the same percentages as the standard International fee.
Please note that the maximum levels chargeable in future years may be subject to changes in Government policy.
Scholarships and bursaries
You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.
You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status:
Unfortunately no scholarships and bursaries match your selection, but there are more listed on scholarships and bursaries page.
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We also have other, more specialised scholarships and bursaries - such as those for students from specific countries.
Lancaster is ranked 9th in the UK and joint 72nd globally for Business and Management according to the QS World Rankings by Subject 2024, one of 11 subjects at Lancaster to be featured in the top 100 in these prestigious listings.
The information on this site relates primarily to 2025/2026 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.
The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.
More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.
Our Students’ Charter
We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. View our Charter and other policies.
Undergraduate open days 2024
Our summer and autumn open days will give you Lancaster University in a day. Visit campus and put yourself in the picture.
Our historic city is student-friendly and home to a diverse and welcoming community. Beyond the city you'll find a stunning coastline and the picturesque Lake District.