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Business in World Politics (L2085)

15 credits, Level 5

Autumn teaching

Are companies political actors? If so, how do they shape world politics? And what role should they play in making political rules and governing societies? In this module, you’ll explore these questions through both international relations and management studies.

You’ll examine:

• why companies take part in politics
• how they use political influence, including lobbying, partnering in governance and helping to carry out policy
• what this means for governance and democracy.

You’ll work with case studies from sectors such as big tech, energy, food and pharmaceuticals. You’ll also learn how ideas from non‑market strategy, global governance and power help us analyse the role of companies in world politics.

 

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 23 hours of contact time and about 127 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.