Business & Human Resource Management

Business and human resource management is a combination that recognises a fundamental truth about organisations: that their performance depends above all on the people within them. Human resource management is the professional discipline concerned with attracting, developing, motivating, and retaining the talent that organisations need to achieve their goals. It covers recruitment and selection, employee relations, learning and development, performance management, reward, organisational design, and the legal and ethical frameworks within which employment relationships operate.

Studying it alongside broader business management gives you both the strategic perspective of general management and the specialist understanding of how organisations manage their most important resource.

At the University of the West of Scotland, this four-year full-time programme develops your knowledge of business management principles alongside in-depth understanding of human resource management practice. You will study the core business disciplines including finance, marketing, strategy, and operations, as well as the specific HRM subjects including employment law, people management, and organisational behaviour, developing the combined perspective that senior managers and HR professionals need. The four-year structure allows you to develop genuine depth in both areas, and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development framework is an important reference point for the professional HR content of the programme.

Business and human resource management graduates are well placed for careers in HR and general management across every sector of the economy. Graduate roles include HR assistant, HR adviser, talent acquisition coordinator, learning and development officer, and general management roles in organisations that value the combination of business and people management skills. The CIPD qualification pathway is open to graduates who wish to achieve professional recognition in HR, and many graduates pursue associate or full CIPD membership alongside or after their degree.

Postgraduate study in HRM, organisational behaviour, or business administration is also available for those seeking to develop specialist expertise or advance to strategic HR director and senior leadership roles.