Master of Business Psychology

Core modules:

Organisational Behaviour 

Through a mix of theory and case studies, we examine people and relationships within a professional context. We will explore what motivates employees, how people work together and relationships between managers and their staff. This helps you to understand how to manage people in working environments and how to be managed.

Organisational Development

This module takes a strategic view of organisational development, design and the management of organisations, people and change. It achieves this by focusing on organisational diagnosis aimed at achieving strategic transformation of organisations and developing High Performance Work Systems. It also deals with recent strand of scholarly debate on the role of consultancies.

Learning and Talent Development

For most organisations, their biggest expense comes from their people. You will learn differing views on how to best develop people and ensure they add value to an organisation. We also look at talent management and succession planning approaches for getting capable people into more senior positions.

Research Methods

This module will help prepare you for your dissertation. We'll introduce various research methods which can be used in the context of HRM Work Psychology and Organisational Behaviour. We'll look at how to effectively use primary and secondary data and you'll develop your quantitative and qualitative research skills as well as your analytical abilities.

Ethics in Research Practice

This module provides an introduction to the Academic Offence framework. By completing the resources, you will understand the key principles underpinning the submission of academic assignments. These principles can then be applied to the rest of the modules studied at the university.

Assessment, Performance and Reward

In this module you’ll be introduced to the approaches and theories for ensuring the right people are recruited into the business and that they then perform effectively. You’ll cover thought-provoking topics, such as how reward can be used to enhance performance, how to measure staff performance and how to manage employees who are under-performing.

Strategy, Change and Leadership

This module encourages you to consider the role of strategy and leadership in shaping and changing organisations. Through exploring the complexities of strategic change, you will be encouraged to develop critical insights on what appear to be everyday business decisions. Reflecting on the role of the leader, you will appraise different approaches to leadership and examine their impact.

The Aston Global Advantage

The Aston Global Advantage is our professional development programme that runs throughout all MSc programmes at Aston Business School. Focusing on professional development and employability, this integrated module gives you the opportunity to identify, develop and apply the key transferable skills you will gain throughout the year.

Business Project or Dissertation

The Business Project/Dissertation is a chance for you to carry out an original piece of work applying material that you have learnt in the taught element of your degree. Specific requirements will be explained relating to different degree programmes but in summary you must demonstrate both theoretical and practical knowledge of your chosen area of specialism.

Optional Modules:
Note: Availability of any optional modules will be subject to staff availability and a minimum number of students who express an interest in studying the optional modules.

Employee Relations in Context

Relationships matter within organizations. You will often find the main reasons for people leaving a role is down to poor relationships with manager or peers. In this module we will look at the way organizations can improve working relationships, reduce employee turnover and enhance employee satisfaction.

Careers and Counselling

This module will help you develop an understanding of concepts and models for counselling in the workplace and use case studies to critically evaluate their effectiveness. We examine the theories of vocational development and look at the practice of executive coaching at work. You will also learn appropriate people management techniques to manage conflict situations effectively.

Strategic and International Human Resource Management

In this module we look at the theory and practice of (International) Human Resource Management and consider how external and internal factors shape HR strategy and policy in private, public, SME and multinational companies. You’ll discover the benefits of managing people in different settings in different ways and learn to identify the appropriate people strategy for the context.

Marketing Management

In this module you will gain a comprehensive understanding and critical evaluation of marketing management practices, underpinned by relevant theories and conceptual frameworks. These frameworks are applied to contemporary issues and organisational strategies within national and international contexts and culminating with the creation and the proposal of a professional marketing plan.

Management of Innovation

This module introduces you to key concepts and models of innovation management and guides you through their critical evaluation. Using recent real-world cases, the module develops your ability to analyse innovation management of business organisations in practice and to formulate and communicate innovation-based strategies for both short- and long-term successes.