Master of Science in International Development Management

at University of Westminster - Marylebone Campus United Kingdom

Incorporating the latest digital and analytic marketing practices, the broad curriculum of our Master’s degree reflects the rapidly changing global marketing environment. Whilst at Westminster, you can also secure two internationally-recognised professional qualifications – the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) Certificate in Digital Marketing and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Global Foundation Certificate, as well as joining the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).

Here at Westminster, we’ve been teaching postgraduate degrees in marketing communications for over 20 years. Our goal is to prepare you for professional life in the increasingly complex and dynamic marketing communications industry, incorporating the growing content of digital marketing and new innovations.

This course develops your ability to initiate and implement advanced analysis and research in transport policy, planning and management. You will learn the techniques and methodologies you need to take decisions, or to provide the necessary information for others to take policy decisions. The MSc course has been running successfully for many years, and is offered by the Department of Planning and Transport. The course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and graduates are exempt from the Institute's exams. The Course also forms part of the pathway to the Transport Planning Professional (TPP) qualification.

The course will enable you to understand the causes and motivations of personal travel and goods movement; to analyse transport problems and develop, and implement policies and measures for resolving such problems; to evaluate transport projects, plans and policies, taking into account the need for stakeholder participation and recognising the political, social, health, environmental and economic issues involved.

The MSc course balances theoretical and practical applications in the three separate components: core modules, option modules and a research dissertation.

The traditional world of banking and finance has been transformed with the emergence of new technology and the development of new, faster, cheaper and more efficient ways of conducting business. The financial services sector is evolving as FinTech and business data analytics are becoming mainstream global activities.

Technology–led changes in digital finance, along with a plethora of new market regulations and compliance, are seeing the evolution of a transformed landscape that is characterised as a smart financial ecosystem. The revolution in financial markets is rapidly increasing demand for postgraduates with this type of knowledge and learning. Financial services employers seek candidates who can help the business rapidly adapt their services and operations and develop new business models.

Our exciting MSc draws together knowledge of financial markets and institutions along with the education and skills to develop and implement technological solutions to problems in digital finance. Graduates will be equipped with contemporary digital financial and business analytics knowledge and skills to meet and adapt to the changing needs of businesses and digitally astute consumers.

This cross-disciplinary course, capitalising on our links with the School of Computer Science and Engineering, is designed to develop an in-depth understanding of the financial techniques and applications that are transforming the sector and giving rise to a new financial ecosystem. You will learn to apply the computational technologies, products and approaches used in business: blockchain technology, digital currencies, big data, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, machine and deep learning.

Sound and ethical financial management lies at the heart of every successful business: to generate sufficient income, optimise resources, reduce risk and gain a good return on investments. On this course, you’ll learn to strategically plan, organise, direct and control finances in a rapidly evolving global financial sector.

Our Finance and Business Management degree has been purposefully designed to meet the educational requirements of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI). Although exemptions are not available, our Course will provide you with the necessary set of skills to sit several professional exams.

With an emphasis on learning through practice, it provides a solid foundation of finance theories, systems and procedures, developing your skills for complex modelling and analysis. Gaining a greater appreciation of strategic financial decision-making with a specific focus on ethics and sustainability, you’ll be prepared for a fast track and rewarding career in the international financial services sector or in management.

You will learn to analyse financial markets to forecast financial performance, using real data – live and historic – in our Finance Markets Suite (FMS) with its replica trading floor. You’ll also hear directly from current professionals through guest speakers, field trips to financial institutions and professional training sessions.

Business School graduates have gone on to work for large banks and other financial institutions, including Vanguard, Standard Chartered, Citibank, Société Générale and Paribas, and governmental agencies, such as the World Economic Forum.

Marketing lies at the heart of every successful business. By engaging with and understanding the customer’s needs, marketing managers influence the development of products and services, providing advice on the best point of sale and recommending the most competitive price. They identify and make sure the target market knows what’s on offer – in increasingly more creative and dynamic ways.

You can also boost your employability by gaining additional qualifications with the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) and/or the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) – our status as a CIM Graduate Gateway institution entitles you apply for exemptions from modules on its professional qualifications, while you can gain IDM’s Award in Digital Marketing during the Digital Marketing Essentials module.

Top reasons to study with us

• Professionally focused course with chance to gain additional professional qualifications from the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
• Digital Marketing Essentials module incorporates a professional Award in Digital Marketing from the IDM
• Marketing degrees share a common first year, giving greater flexibility when choosing your specialism
• Option to spend one semester or one year studying abroad at one of our partner institutions, gain valuable work experience, or a combination of both. For example, one previous student worked as a marketing executive for ICG Medical
• Opportunity to study a foreign language as an optional module in each year of study: one of our students chose to learn Japanese and spent a year studying at Waseda University and working as an intern at SMEJapan in Tokyo
• Hear from experts and mingle with marketing students by joining the student-run Westminster Marketing Society or gain professional experience working for Westminster Business Consultants
• Guest lectures from industry practitioners have previously included speakers on the use of Google Analytics, and speakers from IBM, Tableau, Coca Cola and LinkedIn
• Programmes are delivered by a multicultural and international teaching body, who come from professional practice and/or regularly publish in top international journals

Modern organisations increasingly rely on digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Big Data, blockchain, cryptocurrencies and data analytics, to improve their business processes and provide increased value to customers. However, integrating these new technologies into existing operations can prove complex and costly – it requires a unique skillset that combines business acumen and digital competence.

Open to graduates from any subject area, this course is ideal for aspiring digital business professionals who want to enhance their skills and career prospects by becoming business oriented, but with sufficient understanding of the latest technology to envisage, plan and manage digital initiatives successfully. It will prepare you to manage digital business challenges and lead at the forefront of digital transformation. 

The Tourism Planning and Management BA focuses on the planning, development, management, and regeneration of destinations.

Tourism continues to be a major component of the global economy and has now become an established academic discipline, with roots in geography, economics, sociology, planning and business.

The University of Westminster has over 20 years of expertise in tourism education and research, and we are consistently ranked as one of the top universities for teaching quality and research output in the discipline. Our long history, dating back to the 1830s, includes a significant association with the early years of tour operating in Europe, and with the Olympic Games held in London in 1908 and 1948.

Located in the heart of London, we offer an unrivalled and stimulating environment in which to study tourism. We have close links with partner universities in Australia, the USA, Hong Kong and Malta, which in the past have given several students the opportunity to study abroad for one semester.

You can choose to take part in an optional year-long work placement module between years 2 and 3 (Levels 5 and 6). This is a further opportunity to enhance your transferable skills, commercial awareness and professionalism – increasing your future employability in the tourism sector.

This course is recognised by the Tourism Management Institute (the UK’s professional organisation for destination management) for the excellence of its content and is delivered in collaboration with our Department of Planning and Transport.

Project management is now a well-established discipline within the construction industry, applied to projects of all sizes and levels of complexity. On this course, you’ll learn the modern management skills, techniques, and systems to successfully deliver a project from inception to completion, and how to meet a client’s requirements within the constraints of the external environment.

You'll have the chance to apply your skills and knowledge to real-life practical problems through case studies. When possible, we also visit construction sites in London, so you can see how developers overcome some of the issues associated with developing in a challenging environment like the centre of a large metropolis, such as traffic and transportation.

The global environmental and energy challenge facing current and future generations of architects and building professionals calls for a deeper understanding of the principles of environmental design, and their effective application into architectural practice worldwide. Over the last decades Environmental Design as a subject area has developed, responding to new research and experimentation, both in academia and in practice. However, buildings claiming to be environmentally conscious do not perform to the expected standards, still heavily contributing to global CO2 emissions and often providing unsatisfactory comfort conditions to occupants. The same can be said for the existing built environment which is largely outdated and underperforming, requiring urgent implementation of effective retrofit strategies not only to improve energy performance, but also comfort, health and wellbeing. This is due to a lack of comprehensive performance prediction and feedback protocols, which are still not common practice in architectural design.

People are arguably an organisation’s most important (and expensive) resource in a global knowledge economy. To successfully adapt to the fast-paced, competitive environment, businesses must deploy staff effectively, developing their full potential.

Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), this exciting, stimulating and challenging degree aims to provide a solid grounding in business, alongside specialist skills in people management, leadership and development. Benefiting from the shared experiences of staff and students, many of whom continue to work in this profession, you’ll learn to appreciate the organisational, commercial and societal factors that shape company and individual behaviour.

With an emphasis on learning through practice, we consider how human resources (HR) fits into the structure of businesses and management with the functions and systems needed to support these. You’ll hear direct from practitioners currently working in industry. For example, previously lectures have been given by a representative from Save the Children UK and the general secretary of NAPO, the trade union for probation and family court staff.

You’ll develop key human resource skills in planning, organisation and control, gaining hands-on experience of common business computing and software used by HR professionals. Using specialist software in the HR Analytics module, you’ll interpret real-life data, looking for correlations around diversity or absence, for example, as you would in the workplace.

Top reasons to study with us

• Learn to understand human behaviour and how to drive a successful business through its people
• Programmes are delivered by a multicultural and international teaching body, who come from professional practice and/or regularly publish in top international journals
• Excellent industry links and opportunity to undertake an internship which has enabled previous students to gain experience with Disney, Warner Bros, London Fire Brigade, Goldman Sachs, Accenture, HSBC, L'Oréal, Enterprise Rent a Car, McDonalds Head Office, Debenhams, start-ups and charities including Marie Curie and Cancer Research
• Opportunities to participate in field trips to see work in practice, with past students visiting Mintel
• Outstanding facilities and access to the software widely used in industry: Bloomberg, NVivo and SPSS
• Past graduates have secured jobs as HR officers and managers within the retail and leisure sectors, among others