Business Management BA(Hons)

This module is designed to raise your awareness of an increasingly dynamic business environment. You'll explore pressing global issues, such as globalisation, climate change, digital age and sustainability. You'll have the opportunity to develop an understanding of how these issues present challenges and create opportunities to businesses. As you progress through the module, you'll develop the skills to follow the developments of global events, give them a meaning and consider the causes and consequences of ongoing developments.

In this module you'll understand the importance of data and how managing this data can help organisations to make decisions. This will be achieved through the analysis and identification of various data management techniques and how these methods are used to support organisational innovation and growth. You'll critically apply various data analytical approaches and look at the various concepts and current prevailing ideas in data management. In addition, you'll investigate some of the key legislative, operational, and strategic issues which support the collection and usage of data within a digital business environment. This will be underpinned by looking at both internal and external data sets such as, data.gov.uk and the World Bank.

This module aims to make you aware of the economic and marketing underpinning of a range of business issues and problems. It has an even balance between theory and practice, you'll be introduced to the principles of microeconomics, featuring aspects which have particular relevance and application to those of you who intend to work in business and management. You'll also be introduced to key principles of strategic and operational marketing and will gain an understanding of the underlying concepts and theories underpinning marketing practice.

This module introduces you to key areas in both legal and financial aspects of business. You'll look at how financial information is prepared, presented and interpreted by internal and external users and consider aspects of employment and contract law relevant to non-specialists as well as delivering theory and technical information. Practical application is presented through real world examples, group work and discussions.

This module will enable you to conduct and use research that informs real world business decisions. You'll be given the opportunity to develop your higher-level research and analytical skills and this will act as a strong foundational preparation for the undergraduate dissertation you can choose to take in your final year. You'll also learn to distinguish strong from weak research which will allow you to make better quality business decisions in the future. Being able to fully appreciate research methodology as reported in academic journal articles will further provide you with the knowledge you need to deepen your critical analysis of the research-based literature when writing essays and other pieces of coursework on the remainder of your course.

This module introduces the key discipline of business operations. Operations relates to the delivery of products and services, using important planning and control techniques. After a general introduction to the concept some of the most important techniques will be covered such as capacity management, inventory management and quality.

In this module you'll explore the theory and practices that inform and enable management of people within organisations. ‘People are our greatest asset’ is often said in organisations, but how do you get the best out of your best asset? In undertaking this module, you will learn about creating an environment where people want to work and feel rewarded by their work. It will also help you consider the challenges of delivering value creating HR practices both in a conventional business, and with many forms of contract relationship, locations, and remote working.

The module is designed to provide you with an understanding of the challenges faced by those involved in leading organisations. You will learn models, theories, and research in the area of leadership, before looking at how leadership is enacted or applied. Approaches to understanding and improving leadership will be introduced and developed over the course of the programme of study.

In this module, you'll explore the theory and practices that inform and enable business start-up and small enterprise development. You'll follow the entrepreneurial journey in four phases; creativity and conceptualising the business; understanding context; opportunity spotting and scoping; and business model development. You'll use case studies to explore entrepreneurial practices in a variety of contexts. You'll experiment with opportunity spotting and the formulation of a business model, which will help you understand the practice and theory of new venture creation, from ideation to creating a business enterprise.

In this module you'll learn about strategy and innovation through an integrated approach. You'll start with an overview and analysis of business strategy and strategic options available for businesses. You then progress to the causes, mechanism and outcomes of business innovation and transformation from micro (individual and team), meso (organisational) and macro (national - global) lenses. While developing a strong theoretical overview, you'll develop a practical outlook through weekly case studies exploring real world business cases of strategy, innovation, and transformation.

The module examines the inter-relationship between business ethics, corporate social responsibility, business sustainability and sustainable development. You'll engage in constructive debates related to theories of business ethics and ethical decision-making by business managers and examine how companies could fulfil their social responsibilities. By focusing on global sustainability issues, you'll appreciate how businesses can develop sustainable solutions to resolve grand challenges.

This module adopts a perspective to examine the dynamics, complexities, and uncertainties of a modern world of work. Topics on the future of work will be studied in a national and global context. You'll explore the impact at an individual, organisational, and societal level of the need for efficiency and effectiveness in managing a diverse workforce, the impact of technological change, and the changing relationship between employers and employees. Through the module you'll develop a critical understanding of the workplace as employees and managers of the future.

In this module, you’ll learn how to organise and execute business activities and specific transactions on a variety of electronic platforms. You’ll build your understanding of the electronic economy and how the changes in the electronic landscape and technology are shaping the development and success of business. In addition to learning about e-commerce operations, you’ll consider how businesses interact with their key stakeholders, such as customer and public administration agencies, in the Internet context.

Ever wondered how training and developing employees can add value to an organisation? This module will explore this, looking at how investing in staff in this way builds increased commitment and enhances skills. After a review of HRD, how we identify, plan, develop, deliver, and evaluate training, we will consider interventions to support learning organisations as well as exploring the theories surrounding HRD.

This module will introduce you to psychological concepts and then you'll have the opportunity to learn, understand and appraise the application of psychological principles and theories to workplaces and organisations. This module will include a critical overview and discussion of personnel psychology, namely, theories of personality and psychometric testing and assessment centres. Furthermore, the module will help you to develop a critical appreciation of human behaviour in the workplace including the nature of employee behaviour, the extent to which the work environment contributes to the physical and emotional wellbeing of employees, group functioning, motivation and performance. Knowledge acquired from this module will provide a foundation for learners to pursue further study at postgraduate level in organisational behaviour, through enabling them to develop a comprehensive understanding of businesses from a psychological perspective.

The aim of this module is to equip you with a set of tools and techniques for managing environmental performance in both the context of national and international policy regulations, conventions and government policy and corporate strategy. You'll examine the impact of culture, media and religion on the formulation and implementation of environmental policy at international, national and corporate level. Techniques for improving the environmental performance of an economy as a whole as well as policies and systems for measuring and managing environmental improving corporate performance will be explored.

In this module, you'll explore entrepreneurship for large and small businesses in both national and international settings. This module considers the theory and practice of entrepreneurship from different academic perspectives (economic, organisational, behavioural, etc.) and in the current world business climate. The teaching and learning approach on this module makes extensive use of practical case studies.

Marketing is important, entrepreneurship is vital, and 95% of businesses anywhere in the world are small. When large organisations seek to improve performance – they often turn to the young dynamic small businesses as their role model. We weave these themes together into what can be called entrepreneurial marketing