BA (Hons) Business and Management

This module examines the interactions between the external business environment and the business. It aims to introduce you to the external influences in the business environment. You will be able to identify the key features of the political, economic, social, technological, legal, ecological, and competitive forces affecting organisations. You will also gain an understanding of the range of businesses and organisations and how they interact within the various business sectors.

The aims of this module are to provide students with a sound foundation of behavioural and organisational concepts. You will also gain an understanding of the internal environment of organisations – their structure, culture, and resources. You will appreciate the different roles and responsibilities of the key functions – marketing, operations, human resources, finance, and information systems.

This module is designed to introduce economics and globalisation, emphasising its applicability to the analysis of contemporary business environments and strategies.

 

The module will introduce you to the fundamental principles of economics that are relevant to modern-day business, and how economists build and use models to analyse the economic development around us. You will also develop the ability to apply these theories in your study of business and in your daily life. The primary objective of this module is to guide you towards a better understanding of the global economic environment and develop an appreciation of the opportunities available to, and limitations imposed upon, business strategies in this environment.

 

This module is designed to introduce the use and interpretation of numbers useful to business. As a result, it is of value to students of Business and Management; students taking other subjects that rely on quantitative data may also find this module beneficial. This introductory module assumes a basic level of maths as a starting point. Working with data is important in another year 1 module, for example, Economics. The acquisition of advanced spreadsheet skills, which have direct applications in business, will be a feature of this module.

This module uses Design Thinking methods to give you the confidence to use your own knowledge and experience to generate new ideas that solve real-world problems and make a difference in people's lives. The module will show you how to think conceptually, design solutions and make decisions.

This module introduces you to the core concepts of: professionalism; professional practice including reflective practice; and personal development planning. It aims to provide you with a more acute understanding of what you currently offer a potential employer and how to develop and market yourself to stand-out in your prospective career area. You will be encouraged through increased skills and strengths awareness. You will also gain a perspective that Professional Development (PD) is intrinsic to Higher Education and your experience of university.

Today’s managers are increasingly expected to generate creative and effective solutions to organisational problems as a key part of their role. This module has two aims:

• To provide students with the skills and knowledge needed for them to be able to generate ideas in order to solve problems and create new products and services
• To provide students with the understanding required to manage others’ idea generation and facilitate creativity in the workplace

The module introduces a range of business tools and techniques which might be used to affect successful change within organisations. There is also a positive emphasis on evaluating and improving personal employability through skills development and self-reflection.

Innovation (the implementation of ideas) is a strategic priority for many, if not most, organisations. Today’s managers are increasingly expected to understand the innovation process and how to progress from idea generation through to an implementable plan and subsequent evaluation of success.

This module has two aims:

• to provide students with the skills and knowledge needed for them to create an effective and persuasive business case for the implementation of an idea (i.e. innovation)
• to provide students with the understanding required to manage innovation and its various enablers, such as organisational culture, reward and networks

The module introduces a range of business tools and techniques which might be used to affect successful change within organisations. There is also a positive emphasis on evaluating and improving personal employability through skills development and self-reflection.

Business needs managers who can understand and interpret basic accounting information. The aims of financial accounting are to convey a wide range of qualitative and quantitative financial data to the end users from managers and shareholders to governments and potential investors. In order to record, process and report accounting and financial information, it is vital for this module to focus on essential financial statements such as income statement and statement of financial position, and the implementation of the International Financial Accounting Standards (IFAS) in real life situations. The purpose of this module is to develop basic accounting literacy among business and management students.

Operations and Project Management are concerned with the delivery of an organisation’s promise or value proposition. This involves managing the resources of the organisation and its network to deliver value to the customer and the organisation itself. This field of study is applicable from small businesses and professionals to financial service companies, health care and manufacturing.

This module looks at how firms achieve competitive success through improving the processes involved in delivering goods and services (Operations Management) and delivering complex and unique outcomes for stakeholders Project management. It will cover operations strategy, process development, planning and control, project management, quality, supply chain management, and improving how the product/service is delivered.

The aims of this module are to provide an understanding of the challenges of operations in a wide variety of contexts, and the ability to deploy approaches and tools to meet those challenges.

International business affects the daily life of many people in this world. Globalisation is one of the key challenges in today’s business environment, domestically and internationally. A growing number of companies are going global. On the international stage, businesses encounter a wide variety of opportunities and challenges that arise from their position as (initial) outsider to a local context different from their home country. As a result, it is becoming more and more important that business students possess the knowledge, the competences and the skills to do business across borders as well as to enhance career aspirations.

The focus of this module enables you to gain an overview of the entrepreneurial mindset. You will refine your knowledge of the approaches used by Entrepreneurs to leverage latent potential from the business environment by applying a range of business assessment models to your own ideas. This module is also designed to give you the opportunity to understand ‘what it is to be entrepreneurial’ by asking you to ‘move to action’ and will also provide opportunities for your CV development. This module aims to develop your creative capacity and help you to improve your business skills. You will also become critically aware of the most highly regarded talents in business today. The course also encourages you to collaborate with other students to build on strengths and to reflect on, analyse and learn from shared entrepreneurial experiences.

You will develop an understanding of global challenges facing the world and explore the implications of these for contemporary business practices. You will engage in debate concerning the relationship between business and issues such as: climate change; the environment; humankind’s relationship to nature; inequality; social problems; and the challenge of sustainability in capitalist economies that privilege economic growth.

The future and success of every organisation – small and big, public, private or third sector – is related to its strategy. So, what is strategy? How is it carried out? How can we analyse it? And why is it important?

In this module students explore these questions by looking at the process of creating, evaluating and developing strategy. Students investigate how individuals and organisations understand their position, choices and actions to bring coherence to their long-term direction.

This covers traditional and contemporary approaches to encourage students to develop a critical understanding of how strategy is researched and carried out in practice. Fundamentally, students will assess the applicability and usefulness of strategy concepts in different contexts.

The module introduces students to the theory and practice of leadership, with an emphasis on business organisations but covering leadership challenges and opportunities across a range of contexts. Students learn different approaches to understanding and analysing leadership, including both popular training approaches and more cross-disciplinary perspectives, as well as practicing leadership in the classroom context and developing reflections on their own styles and experiences.

The core aims are:

• To introduce students to established theories of leadership, with an emphasis on business
• To equip students with a range of strategies for exercising leadership in organisations
• To give students experience of trying to lead a team
• To enable students to reflect on what is involved in successful team leadership
• To establish foundations for developing personal leadership capabilities into the future

The focus of this module is to enable you to create a viable business proposition and to reflect on the challenges of running your own business. This module is designed to give you the opportunity to plan, develop and create your own business idea. It takes you from your initial idea through a reflexive journey to a final business concept and culminates in a presentation of your plans to an expert panel. This module will develop your business skills and awareness of what is required when working for yourself or entrepreneurially within innovative commercial organisations. The course encourages you to collaborate with other students to build on each others’ strengths and to learn from shared experience and knowledge.

This module provides you the opportunity to identify and select a business related issue and investigate it independently. You will be encouraged to work with a real business – maybe an existing employer or a placement provider; alternatively, you can carry out your research in an academic related topic. Whatever you choose, you will define a clear research question and identify the objectives of your research. You will then review and synthesise existing knowledge in a literature review. You will design the method and collect the data. Your data will then be analysed and critically discussed in relation to your research question and objectives.