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Master's Programme in People Management and Organizational Development
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Curriculum 2024–2026
About the programme
Degree level learning goals
In addition to the goals stated in Government Decree on University Degrees (794/2004) 7 § the aim of the Master of Science degree in Economics and Business Administration is to provide students with
- Business knowledge: A comprehensive understanding of the area of specialisation, including its potential to address environmental, economic and social sustainability challenges.
- Problem-solving and opportunity creation skills: The ability to identify and analyse sustainability challenges and business opportunities and creatively develop solutions.
- Scientific thinking: The ability to independently retrieve, assess, apply and create knowledge in the field of business and economics.
- Ethical behaviour: The ability to reflect on the ethical foundations and implications of business decision-making for different stakeholders and to act accordingly.
- Communication and teamwork: The ability to communicate effectively and to foster diversity, equity and inclusiveness in organisations.
Programme level learning objectives
Business knowledge
- Graduates know and are able to critically evaluate state-of-the-art knowledge of sustainable people management and organizational development theories, practices and trends.
Strategic and analytical skills
- Graduates can systematically analyze people management related data to identify business opportunities and challenges in changing business, societal, environmental and technological environment and create future oriented solutions for sustainable organizational development.
Scientific thinking
- Students are able to ask relevant questions and answer them by collecting, analyzing and interpreting data with the help of the theories and conceptual tools relevant to the field of people management and organizational development as well as assess the practical implications of their findings.
Responsible people management
- Graduates are able to reflect on the implications of people management practices and tools to different stakeholders and make ethical decisions accordingly.
Effective communication skills
- Graduates have diverse communication skills that they are able to use to support change, facilitate teamwork, and nurture the wellbeing of others in organizations.
Inclusive mindset and behavior
- Students value and are able to foster diversity, equity and inclusion to enhance sustainable success of organizations and the overall wellbeing of the society.
Degree structure
Total
120
ECTS
ECTS
ECTS
*including Master's thesis 30 ECTS
Programme studies 90 ECTS
Code: BIZ233
Scope: 90 ECTS
Programme directors: Marjo-Riitta Diehl and Anastasia Koulouri (1 August 2024 onwards)
| Code | Course name | ECTS | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| MNGT1.thes | Master's thesis | 30 | I-V |
| MNGT-E1016 | Master's thesis Seminar | 2 | I, III |
| MNGT-E1003 | Quantitative Methods | 3 | II, IV |
| MNGT-E1011 | Qualitative Methods | 3 | II, IV |
| MNGT-E2011 | Global Political Economy | 6 | I |
| MNGT-E1009 | Leading Yourself, Teams and Organizations | 6 | I |
| MNGT-E2008 | Strategic People Management | 6 | II |
| MNGT-E2015 | Data Analytics for Managers, module 11 | 3 | II |
| MNGT-E1017 | Current Issues in People Management2 | 6 | III |
| MNGT-E1010 | Managing Organizational Behavior | 6 | III |
| MNGT-E1018 | Capstone: Organizational Development3 | 7 | IV-V |
| MNGT-E1019 | People and Organizational Analytics4 | 6 | IV |
Choose 6 ECTS from the following list |
|||
| 21E16001 | Sustainability in Business | 6 | I, V |
| ABL-E1377 | Financial Management | 6 | II |
| MNGT-E1004 | Managing Diversity and Inclusion | 6 | II |
| MNGT-E1005 | Strategy in Action | 6 | II, III |
| JOIN-E3910 | Design Thinking for Innovation5 | 1 - 2 | I-V |
| MNGT-E4001 | Influential Organizational Communication6 | 6 | V |
| 32C31000 | Työsuhdejuridiikka | 6 | IV |
| BIZ-E0100 | Customized Student Business Project | 6 | |
1 Replaces MNGT-E2014 Data Analytics for Managers 3 ECTS (module 2, (3 ECTS) is elective and can also be chosen in addition to the compulsory module 1)
2 Replaces MNGT-E1006 People Management Practices and Tools
3 Replaces MNGT-E1012 Organizational Development
4 Replaces MNGT-E1013 People and Organizational Analytics
5 Replaces MEC-E3006 Design Thinking and Creativity for Innovation
6 Replaces 77E18000 Organizational Communication
Elective studies 30 ECTS
You can choose elective studies to your Master's degree so that the scope of the degree (120 credits) is fulfilled. You can exceed the scope of the degree by one course maximum.
Elective studies can include basic, intermediate or advanced level courses. You can use the module e.g.
- To complete a minor
- To broaden your skills and knowledge via multidisciplinary studies:
- select courses in the field of technology or art
- select courses in other universities via JOO study right
- Select gender studies via Hilma network or other Aalto networks
- To gain entrepreneurial skills
- To deepen your language and communication skills (see short informational video about the Language Center here)
- To deepen or broaden your skills and knowledge in the field of business
- select additional courses in your degree programme or major
- select courses from other degree progarmmes or majors in the School of Business
- select additional courses in your minor
- complete the Customized Student Business project BIZ-E0100 (read more here)
- To gain work experience and working life skills via an internship (read more at During your studies > Other studies)
- To gain skills in self leadership, finding meaningfulness, and improving study wellbeing via Personal Impact courses
The scope of the minor varies depending on the minor. Please check each minor's requirements. For a list of all the minors at Aalto University, see Aalto Minors hub.
Please also check your programme's curriculum to see if there are any requirements for the minor in your programme.
A minor included in the Master's degree can be one of the following:
- a module confirmed in the curriculum (a minor study entity offered at the School of Business)
- a module completed in an official exchange programme partner of the School of Business or in another programme meeting the requirements set in the official exchange programme policy of the School of Business
- a module earned at another Aalto University school
- a module earned at another Finnish university e.g. under the agreement on flexible study rights (JOO agreement).
Exchange studies is a very popular minor among the students of the School of Business. If you are interested in completing exchange studies as your minor, please check out this short informational video.
If you have mandatory language studies in your master's degree, they are included in the elective studies module. You have received information about these in the beginning of your studies, if this applies to you. If you are uncertain of whether you need to demonstrate language proficiency in the master's degree, please contact your programme's planning officer to get further information about the matter.
- If you have completed your bachelor's degree in Finland (in Aalto or in another higher education institute), you have fulfilled the compulsory language requirements in the respective degree or received the exemption. You do not need to complete language studies in the master's degree.
- If your language of education is Finnish or Swedish and you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside of Finland, you must demonstrate proficiency in national languages by writing the maturity test in your language of education (Finnish or Swedish) and complete the language proficiency tests in the other national language. Read more about the language of education here. You may also apply for an exemption of demonstrating proficiency in national languages. See also the following bullet.
- If you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside of Finland, you must complete minimum of 3 ECTS in English. You can choose any course on B2 level or higher. Students, whose language of education is not Finnish or Swedish, may alternatively complete an elementary course in Finnish or in Swedish. The courses in national languages can be at any level on CEFR scale.
Language studies are included in students’ elective studies and are agreed in the personal study plan (HOPS). Language center offers the language studies.
Below you can find our recommendations of suitable bachelor as well as master level minors on offer at Aalto University. You can include a minor from either level to your master’s degree from any of the Schools of Aalto University or even from another university. Note that completing a minor is not mandatory.
The Department of Management Studies offers great minors that support the work of people management professionals. The department offers the following minors:
- International Business
- International Design Business Management
- Organizational Communication
- Strategy
- Sustainability Management
- Sustainable Entrepreneurship
We strongly recommend that students that do not have a bachelor’s degree in business studies would choose a minor in the fields of accounting or finance in order to have sufficient understanding of financial statements and corporate finance to operate in management positions in the corporate world.
Improving data analytics skills will also be of great importance in the future for any of our degree students, see Minor in Business Analytics. Also coding skills may come handy, see Minor in Computer science.
For those wanting to study throughout the summer we recommend Information Technology Programme (ITP) as a minor. ITP is a full-time academic summer programme, which is interactive, hands-on, international, and organized in close cooperation with companies in the fields of information technology and digital design.
There is also a possibility to focus on gender studies through Hilma, the National Gender Studies Network. Hilma studies enable you to gain a deeper understanding on gender equality and other forms of non-discrimination in working life and society at large.