Business Management

The aim of this module is to provide students with an understanding of the wider world of work. It introduces students to tools for analysing the external environment (eg PESTLE, SWOT etc.) in order for them to understand how socioeconomic factors influences organisational and HR strategies. It examines features of the contemporary economy such as, labour markets, changes in workforce demographics, changing composition of the economy (rise in service and knowledge work, decline of manufacturing) and the global economy. It explores the implications of specific contexts of the contemporary economy for managing people for example, service workers, knowledge workers, precarious workers, an international workforce, social care, and differences in public/private sector work.

The rapid growth in digital technologies and the associated use in smart devices, sensors and internet applications has resulted in a proliferation of big data, which are defined as data having large volume, high velocity and wide variety. This emergent trend has not gone unnoticed by business and other organisations, which consistently aim to utilise digital technologies to their advantage. As such, they aim to extract value and reap the potential benefits of big data by seeking ways of transforming these high complexity data sets into meaningful business opportunities. The module will introduce the digital technologies, which enable potential value to be captured from big data sets. It will also consider the methods and applications that are used to analyse and translate such data into meaningful, actionable information, which could inform current as well as future business models. Finally, ethical, security and privacy aspects of big data will be considered over the backdrop of some recent high profile and widely publicised case studies, such as Facebook and Google.

This module reviews the evolution of HRM and introduces students to the key underpinning theories. It explores the employee life cycle including recruitment and selection, development, reward and recognition, performance management, wellbeing, engagement, diversity and inclusion, conflict and departures. The module highlights various influences both internal and external to the organisation, which shape HR policies and practices, such as labour markets, CSR, political environment and the legal framework and their implications on workforce planning.

The module aims to enable students to recognise their digital and professional strengths and build on them, to manage their digital footprint, to engage with professional bodies, to advance their mental toughness, to reflect, and to become more self-aware and confident. The module enables students to meet the significant challenges facing individuals and enhances employability in an extremely competitive market.

This module gives students an understanding of the principles of the customer experience. It will introduce students to the customer journey in organisational contexts, the management of the customer experience, the role of technology, and the monitoring and measurement for improvement in the customer experience.

This module gives students an understanding of finance within organisations, with a specific focus on budgeting, and an introduction to FinTech, the key technologies and business models that will re-imagine the global economy in the 21st century.

This module will facilitate idea generation using a range of creative thinking tools. The validity and feasibility of ideas will be tested through the process of market research

This module introduces students to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through a focus on case studies and an understanding of the key concepts and the relationship to concerns such as climate change, poverty and sustainable development.

Operations is the part of an organisation that actually makes products and/or delivers services. Managing operations can be extremely complex and this is even more difficult today because of several challenges. These include the application of new technologies (broadly termed Industry 4.0) and the need for operational practices to be both ethical and sustainable. The module will consider how organisations formulate operations strategy against this backdrop. It will also examine operations management theory and its relevance to early career professionals. Finally, the module will consider how operations relates to the other organisational functions (HRM, Accounting, Marketing and Design).

This module presents a systematic approach to the study of strategy, building upon an array of ideas and theories ranging from industrial organisation theory to institutional economics. This module outlines the fundamentals of strategic management and gives students an introduction in this important area of business management. Students will gain an awareness of the issues involved and the techniques that managers adopt. The tools and techniques will help students understand how organisations achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

This module builds on the grounding from 'Global Concerns In Sustainable Development' and critiques the role of Multi-National Organisations, Social Enterprises and the role of the state in the emergence of Responsible Enterprise as a movement to address global issues for people and planet. 

This module will manage a project exploring concepts of social innovation through an entrepreneurial process. Using a problem-based approach, students will develop innovative solutions to address a given social or community issue and create positive social impact.

This module looks to empower students to successfully transition to Year 3, overseas study, placement and employment. Students develop confidence and purpose through shaping their digital footprint, building their professional relationships, exploring career choices and engaging in employability activities, and deepening cultural understanding.

This module will look at managing across both organisational and cultural boundaries and will review the challenges and complexities that arise because of working collaboratively in an international cross-cultural setting; understand the impact of globalisation on the organisation and its employees. Encourage collaborative working at every level; to avoid negative behaviours such as ‘ethnocentrism and prejudice’; but to acknowledge power, politics and trust will always be an issue that needs to be taken into account in the management of a diverse cross-cultural workforce. Recognition that organisations need to promote positive management behaviours such as ‘cross-cultural training’ to ensure that a ‘global mindset’, ‘diversity’ and ‘gender’ are acknowledged at every level in the organisation.

This module builds on the tools and techniques from Principles of Strategic Management (Level 5), and is concerned with the strategic choices available to organisations to achieve competitive advantage in a global economy. The managerial decisions, processes and activities, that allow the creation and implementation of an effective global strategy are discussed and reflected-upon through a combination of theories and real-world case studies. This module explains that strategic management is the one of the most imperative considerations in the global economy. Organisations and managers can no longer base their strategies on the assumption that global markets will remain stable with steady growth.

This module develops students’ research skills through a rigorous understanding of enterprise and social enterprise in the 21st century, building knowledge from both policy and practice. Introduction to key concepts. Entrepreneurs in context: Entrepreneurship and social enterprise concepts, issues, debates and drivers. The entrepreneurial process, opportunity recognition and development, discovery versus creation. Innovation and entrepreneurship. Characteristics of the entrepreneur, entrepreneurial cognition and self-efficacy. Self-interest versus social benefit, social entrepreneurship. Business in context: Strategic and global entrepreneurship, leadership styles and small business formats, introduction to social enterprise. Enterprise and society, drivers, tensions and change, responsible management, CSR, social and ethical capital, the rise of social businesses globally.

This module aims to help students become responsible leaders by developing the critical tools and moral imagination required to analyse and manage the ethical and sustainability challenges they are likely to encounter in the workplace.