BSc Management (Innovation, Strategy and Entrepreneurship)

Globalization & Employment introduces students to discussions about the implications of globalization for employment. Overall, the course provides students with an international perspective on contemporary trends related to the changing features of employment in the context of globalization and an understanding of key issues relevant to national and international employment policy. It begins by identifying the key processes of globalization, such as changes to the global landscape of work, the role of different stakeholders (the state, multinational companies, migrant workers, etc) and the main dynamics that characterise the landscape of work and employment in a globalised world, such as global production networks, offshoring, and outsourcing. The course then invites students to critically investigate the implications of globalization for the organization/ location of production and patterns of employment, and to reflect critically on the social responsibility of multinational corporations in relation to those perceived to be winners and losers in employment dynamics in the context of globalization The course ends with a focus on the role of regulation in the context discussions of global governance, exploring the possibility of developing a regulatory framework that leads to sustainable employment in a global world.

Available as option for BSc Mgt/Mgt Specialism, IM and IMABS. Core for BSc Management with HR Specialism and BSc Management with IS Specialism .

Available as option for BSc Mgt/Mgt Specialism, IM and IMABS. Core for BSc Management with HR Specialism and BSc Management with IS Specialism.

 

Globalization & Employment has two main aims. First, it aims to introduce second year students to key issues relevant to employment policy and practice arising from the internationalization of economy, changes to labour markets and dynamics of contemporary work and employment emerging from economic globalization. Second, it aims to provide foundational theoretical and empirical knowledge that supports students to pursue specialist Year 3 courses, including Comparative Employment Systems, International HRM, and Comparative Industrial Relations.

On completing Globalization & Employment, students should be able to:
1.    Analyse the key characteristics of a globalised economy.
2.    Explain the factors that influence the changing global patterns of production and employment.
3.    Discuss the implications of globalization for the roles of different stakeholders and their capacity to maintain and develop labour standards.
4.    Evaluate the empirical evidence about the impact of globalization on patterns of inequality within and between industrialised and developing economies.

Globalization and changes to the world of work
Is the nation-state relevant?
Multinational corporations and employment in a global world
Labour migration
From international markets to global production networks
The costs of ’fast fashion’: global production in low-cost manufacturing and retail
Globalization, offshoring and employment
Winners and losers in globalization and employment
Regulation of labour: Towards sustainable employment in a global world
Course review session and preparation for the examination

Lectures and seminars

Formative

Individual written piece (optional)

 

Summative

Examination (100%)

In line with university policy, feedback for all formative and assessed coursework will be returned within 15 working days of the submission deadline and in the case of examinations, within 20 working days of the examination date. A working day is defined as Monday to Friday, not including bank holidays and excluding student vacation periods and University examination periods. Generic feedback will be provided following the examination via Blackboard on how each question was answered and on overall class performance. Students have the opportunity to discuss any feedback ‘in person’ by emailing the course coordinator and arranging a meeting.

Dicken, P. (2015) Global shift: Mapping the changing contours of the world economy, 7th  edition, London: Sage.

Jones, A. (2010) Globalization: Key Thinkers, Cambridge: Polity

Lechner, F.J. & Boli, J. (2014) The Globalization Reader, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell

Steger, H. (2013) Globalization: A Very Short Introduction, 3 edition, Oxford: Oxford. University Press.

Williams, S., Bradley, H., Devadason, R. and Erickson, M. (Eds) (2013) Globalization and Work, Cambridge: Polity.

Pre-requisites: None
Co-requisites: None
Dependent courses: None

Programme Restrictions:
BSc Management / Management (specialism)
BSc International Management
BSc International Management with American Business Studies
Core: BSc Management (Human Resources)

BMAN24271 is available to study abroad and exchange students admitted through the University of Manchester’s International Programmes Office

For Academic Year 2023/24

Updated: March 2023

Approved by: March UG Committee