Department of International Business and Economics
Greenwich has been at the heart of global business for more than four centuries, from the days when navigators such as Sir Francis Drake and James Cook sailed from our doorstep. The famous East India Company was based nearby and across the river the great London docks were long the centre of world trade. And, of course, Greenwich is home to the meridian, the international starting point for longitude and time, vital to international coordination and logistics. Today, the centre of UK shipping remains nearby at the vast container port of Tilbury; in place of the old London docks are the shimmering towers of Canary Wharf, a principal centre of global finance.
Today the University of Greenwich Business School Department of International Business draws on these historic and contemporary links to provide leading-edge research and teaching on global business. With our economics programme rated first in the UK for student satisfaction in the 2009 National Student Satisfaction Survey and 2/3 of our research rated world class or world leading in the last Research Assessment Exercise, we contribute critical rigour to contemporary practice in international business.
Undergraduate degree programmes provide a solid grounding in Economics, Business Economics, International Business and Business Law. The Department's research and teaching are closely interrelated, with the Department host to a number of vibrant industry-linked research groups. Our postgraduate degree programmes are amongst the University's largest, drawing students from around the world, and we have a strong EDMBA-acredited PhD programme.
We work with industry bodies, such as the Chartered Management Institute, to ensure our curriculum meets the needs of international business today. Students on a number of our degree programmes gain associate membership of the CMI on graduation. Departmental staff have won major external research funding from the European Commission and have carried out many research and consultancy projects with major corporate bodies, including The Work Foundation, Unilever, The National Health Service, The Pensions Regulator, Universities UK Institute of Management Consultants, Public Services International, Unison and the GMB.
The Department hosts the Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), the internationally renowned and independently financed research unit based at Greenwich. PSIRU undertakes research and consultancy projects on behalf of governments and other public bodies into privatisation, public services, and globalisation. We also support a vibrant Centre for Business Network Analysis, the largest concentration of business network analysts in the UK, with specialist expertise in the Social Network Analysis of organisations. This group works with major international corporations, such as IBM, Pfizer, Geo Post and Unilever to innovate managerial and organisational practice. The centre is leading a major international project on networks among microfinance institutions, funded by the Leverhulme Foundation. The Department also hosts the Centre for Indian Business and the Economic Governance Research Group.
Research in these areas feed directly into our MA and MBA International Business, MBA International Business in India, MBA Information Technology Management and the MA/MSc Business and Financial Economics.