International Business Management with Placement Year

Globalisation has opened up exciting career prospects for people who understand business from an international, cross-cultural perspective. We’ve designed this new BSc (Hons) International Business Management to help you make the most of those opportunities.

The degree will encourage you to think widely and offers you the chance to study a range of subjects including business management, economics, accounting and finance, marketing, human resource management (HRM), logistics, enterprise, IT and technology. You'll put these skills into practice in industry with a placement between your second and third year.

Events such as Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and the global economic and financial crisis of 2008-9, have increased interest in many of these subjects. They have shown that it's important to get a complete picture of economic and business problems — both in relation to what causes them, what impact they have and what solutions there might be. 

Boost your employability with a placement year

You’ll have the opportunity to take a placement year to put the skills you’ve learned into practice in a real-world environment. We'll support you to find your placement and throughout your year in industry. Placements allow you to gain valuable experience to add to your CV, make industry contacts and help you to narrow down what kind of role you may be interested in after graduation. 

International Business – your questions answered

In the below video, Senior Lecturer, Dr Mehdi Hasan, answers some of the most frequently asked questions about International Business at the University of Derby. 

Professionally approved

This International Business Management degree is accredited by two professional bodies: the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). These are important quality marks, demonstrating that the degree has been independently assessed and judged to be high quality and relevant to a specific industry. 

CIMA accreditation means you will gain exemptions towards CIMA's professional accountancy qualifications and enables you to gain CIMA membership faster. Similarly, the CMI accreditation means that once you have successfully completed this degree, you will be eligible for another professional qualification: the CMI Level 5 Award in Management and Leadership.

About the pathways

All students take the same core modules in the first year to gain an important foundation in all aspects of international business management, including micro and macro economics, quantitative analysis, global business and sustainability, human resources, finance and business performance.

After that, you can choose one of our specialist pathways or continue on a general International Business Management route. If you choose a specialist pathway, around a third of your modules in years two and three will be dedicated to your chosen subject.

Whichever pathway you choose, you won't be closing any doors; you will still gain a solid grounding in all of the key areas, such as economics, data analysis, sustainability, project management, finance and business strategy. 

Core International Business Management pathway — BSc (Hons) International Business Management 

On this route you will develop a broader, rounded skillset but still get the opportunity to explore specialist areas through optional modules in years two and three. These optional modules make up around a third of the course content in the final two years and include various topics from across all pathways, as well as additional subjects such as Marketing and Enterprise. 

BSc (Hons) International Business Management (Economics)

If you are most interested in how wealth is produced and distributed, and how people, markets and governments interact, this economics pathway is for you. We will analyse current and historical economic debates and learn what it means to have a sustainable economy — a system that supports long-term economic growth without negatively impacting social, environmental, and cultural aspects of the community. 

You will also develop greater financial awareness, including the nature of international financial markets and the array of financial instruments available to investors and firms. We will introduce you to the methods that organisations use to manage the risks of trading in global markets and you'll build up valuable practical skills in risk management strategy.

BSc (Hons) International Business Management (Finance)

Strong financial management is essential to a prosperous international business, and this is a popular route that will further your financial expertise. You'll learn more about how international financial markets operate and develop the specialist skills needed to assess the financial health of an organisation. We'll also ensure you understand the key pillars of personal finance and how to make decisions that meet personal/family goals and maintain a decent standard of living in the long term. This is a valuable life skill and it could also lead you towards a career as a financial advisor or personal financial planner. 

In the final year you'll move back to studying finance for businesses, expanding your understanding of investment decision making, investor behaviour and financial markets in crisis. We'll analyse issues like asset bubbles, bank failures and the problems of regulating financial activity in domestic and global markets. You will even get the opportunity to build your own portfolio of investments and analyse its effectiveness and performance. 

BSc (Hons) International Business Management (Supply Chain and Logistics)

With logistics skills in high demand and short supply, this combination could make you a highly sought-after employee. Logistics and supply chain management is an important, vibrant and technology-driven industry undergoing massive expansion. Ensuring the right goods get to the right place at the right time and in the right condition is vital to any international organisation, as the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted. 

We will cover topics such as the importance of managing a business' assets and creating value from them, how to create and manage sustainable supply chains, the specific principles and practices relevant to international supply chains, and supply chain strategy. 

BSc (Hons) International Business Management (Business Technology)

Businesses increasingly rely on technology and IT systems to help them operate effectively and the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this trend. On this pathway you can combine your interests in international business management and technology and develop skills which will enable you to forge a career in areas like project management, business analysis or consultancy.

You'll gain broad knowledge of current and future business technology, including different types of database, Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs), intranets and portals, groupware and e-commerce. We'll evaluate various approaches for organising, resourcing and managing the IT/IS function in business organisations and look at the importance of having a coherent IT architecture. You'll learn to design and manage effective relationships with IT suppliers and become skilled in business analysis, so you're able to accurately capture business requirements and evaluate and propose IT-related solutions to business problems.

Studying abroad and overseas trips

In your second year, we encourage you to spend time studying abroad for a semester, so you can see international business from a different perspective. We have a wide range of overseas partners you could study with. If you choose to take up this opportunity, three of your six modules in year two will be replaced by modules at the overseas university. You can also enjoy a taste of international study by joining one of the short visits abroad we usually organise each year.

Building experience and boosting your CV

Our collaborations with regional, national and international employers help you amass up-to-date knowledge and build experience. You will attend insightful guest lectures, learn about real-world case studies and get to work on practical consultancy projects.

Work placements and internships

We also offer you plenty of opportunities to take work placements or internships, at home or abroad. In your second year you must complete at least 30 hours of work experience, and then between years two and three, you can choose to take a placement year or a summer internship. You can draw on our links with professional organisations like PwC, DHL, CPA Australia and the Institute of Directors to compete for international placement opportunities.

We'll help you find the right opportunity to match your career aspirations and interests and during your time in the workplace, one of our tutors will also visit you to monitor your progress.

Get recognition for the extra bits you do

You can choose to work towards our Futures Award in Networking and Awareness in International Business alongside your degree. It's designed to enhance your employability and your CV by formally recognising any extra-curricular career development activities you do. This might include:

• attending workshops on CV design and improvement
• developing techniques for interviews
• preparing for assessment centres or psychometric tests
• taking part in networking events, or
• leading a small project within a student society or voluntary role.

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

You will focus on solving genuine business and organisational problems. We use a combination of:

• interactive lectures
• problem-solving seminars
• group work and group discussion
• workshops
• case study analysis
• computer lab work and practical analysis.

Throughout your studies, you will also engage with businesses and external experts. 

At the start of the course, you will benefit from substantial direction from our teaching team. As your studies progress, you are expected to work more independently, taking greater responsibility for your own learning – but always with the support and advice of your tutors.

We also have a diverse range of guest speakers to inspire our students and share their stories. Recently we had Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, who delivered a session on ‘The concept of microcredit’ as part of our 2021 Student Lecture Series.

How you are assessed

Our assessments are designed to ensure you can identify issues, decide how to collect and analyse evidence, come to reasoned conclusions based on that evidence, and present your findings via various methods of communication.

We use a range of assessment methods; some are individual tasks while others are group tasks. These may include:

• computer-based assessments
• traditional essays
• business reports
• presentations
• data retrieval and analysis
• reflective portfolios.

High-calibre international business management graduates can command excellent starting salaries and look forward to rapid career progression. In comparison with more traditional degrees, our BSc (Hons) International Business Management offers a broader business education covering a wide range of subjects. Yet it also allows you to develop specialist skills in the areas of most interest to you through specific pathways. This breadth and depth of learning will give you a career advantage. The extra qualifications we offer, such as the Bloomberg Market Certificate and the Futures Award, add extra experience and substance to your CV too.

You will be well prepared for graduate management and consultancy training opportunities. It could be your stepping stone to senior roles in many rewarding fields including international trade, transport and logistics corporations, financial and investment institutions, government agencies and global business consultancies.

Our Careers and Employment Service will provide you with support from day one of your course to ensure you leave Derby as a ‘work-ready’ graduate – industry aware, motivated and enterprising – and help you gain relevant business work experience through part-time internship opportunities and year long placements. Throughout your studies, you will also benefit from our Personal Development Planning (PDP) scheme which enables you to reflect on your learning and develop your career ambitions.

The support continues once you have completed your course too: you are entitled to further help and guidance from the Careers and Employment Service for up to three years after leaving the University.

Further study

You could take your studies to the next level with one of our exciting masters programmes such as the MSc International Business, MSc International Business and Finance, MSc International Business and Marketing, MSc International Business and HRM, MBA Global and MBA Global Finance. You may be entitled to an alumni discount on your fees if you decide to extend your time with us by progressing from undergraduate to postgraduate study.

Contextual offers may apply to students who meet certain criteria.

Further information about our fees and support you may be entitled to

Additional costs and optional extras

Additional information about your studies

If you wish to join at Stage 2 or Stage 3, please email onlineapplication@derby.ac.uk.

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Course updates

The information provided on this page is correct at the time of publication but course content, costs and other individual course details do change from time to time and are updated as often as possible, so please do check these pages again when making your final decision to apply for a course. Any updated course details will also be confirmed to you at application, enrolment and in your offer letter.

If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.