Business Economics covers the basic principles of micro- and macro-economics. The micro element will provide a theoretical base, and thus allow for the study of organisational behaviour in the marketplace. The macro element will equip you with an understanding of the broader national and international environment in which business operates.

Introduction to Accounting and Statistics focuses on the development and interpretation of financial and statistics information to be used in the context of personal skills development and an understanding of business. The module introduces you to basic accounting statements including the statement of financial position; the income statement and cash flow statements and forecasts.

People and Organisations provides a comprehensive foundation to the study of management from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The module seeks to consider the conceptual frameworks relevant to the behaviour of individuals and groups in organisations and examine the issues which are raised in their management. The module focuses on three themes: rational modes of management, people strategies and contemporary issues in the workplace.

Operations Management is centred on the recognition that resources are scarce and that choices must be made between the alternatives available. The module outlines how organisations seek to ensure output is achieved as smoothly, efficiently and profitably as possible.

Marketing for Business equips you with an appreciation of marketing as one of the central functions of any business and at the heart of any organisation’s activities. Focusing on customers and successfully meeting their needs is central to the success of any business organisation. This module provides an introduction to marketing and demonstrates its importance to business decision making.

Information and the Organisation provides an insight into how organisations are creating, collating and making use of information for a range of purposes. Information has been described as the currency of the 21st century; unlike a physical good it increases not decreases in value as supply increases. The module will examine how businesses manage organisational processes, provide services, track the behaviour of consumers and forecast demand for products and services. This comes at a cost and you will also consider the ethical issues around a world where your movements, habits and hobbies can be quantified, anticipated, profiled and packaged for profit.

Research Methods for Business are crucial to personal, academic and vocational development. Employers are increasingly looking for graduates who have specific skills, including those significantly developed through learning about methods of research. This module introduces these methods and considers how they are required to undertake specific academic projects, enhance knowledge and understanding, and address specific business issues and practical managerial problems.

Quality Management provides you with an understanding of the importance of total quality management which is an essential aspect of every organisation, both manufacturing and service industries, in order to survive in a competitive environment. The essence of total quality management is a dedication to understanding what the customer wants and then employing resources including people to set up systems and processes to deliver products and services that ensure customer satisfaction and comply with government quality standards.

Strategic Purchasing looks at organisational purchasing from a managerial perspective. You will be introduced to a variety of concepts related to purchasing including the role of purchasing in organisational strategy, purchasing process, purchasing operations management, strategic sourcing and internationalisation of purchasing.

Logistics and Transportation investigates the transportation of goods and passengers. Transportation is a required aspect of supply chain management, seeking to ensure entire supply chains are not only efficient but also profitable.  The module recognises the choices that must be made to maximise the efficient use of scarce resources between the alternatives available.  You will explore transport planning and logistics and investigate the concept of sustainable systems.

Employability encourages you to contextualise and evaluate theoretical perspectives in a practical setting while at the same time providing an alternative learning environment which informs your future learning processes and outcomes. Workplace experience is increasingly seen as essential in contributing to graduate employability. It is an opportunity to hone employability skills, relate theory to practice and gain experience in a working environment. The module is designed to enhance your understanding, skill-base, personal development, aptitude for self-promotion and ability to reflect upon your experience in the workplace. It will also help familiarise you with professional business etiquette.

Graduate Enterprise enables you to experience running your own company with a number of your colleagues. You can create your own product or service, launch it into the marketplace and experience at first hand the issues faced by small business owners. You will be supported by your own business consultant who is on secondment from industry and the full resources of the Graduate Enterprise Company.

Managing the Human Resource is concerned with developments in human resource management since the early 1980s and current people management practice. In keeping with the management discipline in general, there have been a number of significant developments in the management of people over the last few decades, not least with the move away from Personnel Management to Human Resource Management. The module will take a practical yet integrated approach, as required by today’s HR professionals.

Project Management gives you opportunity to gain a PRINCE2® Project Management certificate as you learn about relevant concepts and practicalities for application in a working environment. PRINCE2® is the world’s most practiced, process-based method to develop first-class project management skills and gain recognition from potential employers. The module will enable you to improve your competitiveness at a global level. Project management is an area of study that recognises that resources are scarce and that choices must be made between the alternatives available in terms of bringing a project to a satisfactory finish, both on time and within budget. Progressing from basic economic concerns, the module considers the practical apportionment of people, time, finances and materials and outlines best practice for how organisations can ensure output is achieved as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

Managing People focuses on the drive to privatisation and marketisation that accelerated from 1979 in the UK and shortly after in the USA. The nature of work, as experienced by employees, also changed with significant increases in flexible work patterns and the increasing importance of service sector employment. Hence, the repertoire of skills required of those involved in managing people continues to expand. The purpose of the module is to provide you with a critical understanding of the changing nature of work, as well as raising your awareness of the practical strategies used by organisations to manage such changes.

International Business recognises that an understanding of the ways in which business operates internationally is important in the 21st century. The module studies the various factors shaping international business in today’s globalising world economy. You will analyse the different ways and conditions under which firms internationalise their operations and study how different structural changes in the global economy are impacting upon the international business environment.

Leadership Culture and Change explores the nature of leadership and management roles within an environment characterised by change and cultural and organisational diversity. At an organisational level, the module considers how far organisational culture and change can be influenced by leaders and managers. At a national level, it considers how national cultures influence leadership styles and the process of change. Both large-scale organisations and small and medium sized enterprises will be examined, including an analysis of contemporary trends in these areas.

Finance and Performance Management will develop your financial knowledge and examine the management of a business with a specific focus on the management of finance within the business context. You will investigate the processes used to develop information to inform managerial decision making. The module will examine how different business types use financial data in the measurement of their performance. It will also look at real time company information and decision making and evaluate the significance of the decisions. A key activity will involve investigating the measurement of financial performance of a business through analysing and comparing the models available.

Strategic Management explores the process of strategy formulation and implementation and considers how the decision making process influences the choices made by those involved in deciding the strategic direction of organisations. You will gain a critical understanding of how psychological, political, economic, social, cultural and technological factors influence decision making and the subsequent formulation and implementation of strategy in a range of different types of organisations.

Agile Supply Chains and Resilience recognises that sustainability can be explained as the ability of a company to survive and maintain the required level of quality and efficiency in the long term. Various factors within the macro and micro environments where organisations operate necessitates that organisations develop themselves in order to be sustainable for the future. The common perspectives of sustainability include economic, social and environmental dimensions. Other scholars have argued that these perspectives should incorporate operational and financial considerations such as agility. This module considers the nature and activities of supply chains in their efforts to remain sustainable and agile in the long term. The need for healthy approaches to risk management in order to improve competitiveness will also be considered.

Global Supply Chain Modelling equips you with an understanding of approaches to the design of a supply chain network, with particular focus on the global level. The module involves the design of supply chain networks, employing logical mathematical modelling of supply chains to identify an optimal solution for an organisation. While the mathematical calculations can be done using software tools, it is important to understand the logic behind the calculations to construct better models, deliver better results and aid good decision-making. The module also provides the opportunity to gain invaluable experience using SAP software. SAP is the leading business software solution used to improve work and data management in organisations, enhancing productivity, agility and developing competitive advantage.

Dissertation enables you to produce a key piece of evidence that shows your development over the degree and how you are now equipped to apply graduate level skills. The module requires the design and implementation of a research project in an area of interest agreed with your supervisor via a research proposal and meeting. Support during the dissertation is given by a specified tutor although you will have overall responsibility for managing the process.

Extended Business Project provides an opportunity for you to undertake an in-depth research project for a sponsoring organisation on a topic of common interest. The nature of the project will be negotiated between you, your supervisor and the sponsoring company.

Strategic Financial Management introduces some of the techniques used in financial decision making. An understanding of the financial implications of decisions is vital for managers. The module provides an insight into the complex issues involved in the financial appraisal of long term projects and allows you to gain a deeper understanding of the theory and practice of strategic financial management.

Seeing the Future: The Next Decade of Commerce questions where the challenges of the next decade will come from and explores the changing face of commerce. Capitalism is an evolutionary process where new industries, new mechanisms and new ways of working continually emerge overturning the existing status quo. In this module, you will be asked to explore and decide for yourselves where the big changes of the next decade will come from and how it will impact upon the world you will graduate into.

Business Strategy and Digital Goods examines the implications of the internet and the rise of ubiquitous mobile devices that are changing business and society. Specifically, the module will explain how a new economy of creativity, opportunity, connectivity and content has been created. You will consider this ‘digital economy’, the key concepts underpinning commercial activities and investigate how the application of existing theories of competitive advantage and added value can be applied to, or are changed by, digital goods and services that have no physical form.

Global Logistics and International Trade examines, in a global context, the set of processes required to strategically manage materials and product flows from suppliers through to the final customer in order to achieve competitive advantage. The module looks at the theoretical background of logistics and considers the practical perspectives of logistics from an international trade perspective. You will consider how effective logistics and procurement systems can become key business enablers and contemplate how international supply chains must form a significant element of the strategy of any organisation operating on a global basis.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation considers how to turn a good idea into a successful market-leading product. Entrepreneurship and innovation go hand in hand and involve the development and release of a new product/service or the repacking of an existing one to provide competitive advantage or even create new markets. This module explores a variety of concepts around strategic entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. We will examine the difference between an idea, an invention and an innovation and provide you with a case-led understanding of the process in action, from creation to implementation. Moreover, it provides you with a number of tools and techniques to critically evaluate success and build on your previous experiences of work-based learning or enterprise education.

Sustainability and Business recognises that sustainability is increasingly shaping business practice and culture in the 21st century while acknowledging that business has a vitally important role to play in all our sustainable futures. The module will equip you with a comprehensive and holistic understanding of sustainability and the various business and societal contexts in which these can be applied. Exploring the broad and holistic concept of sustainability, as framed by the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), you will discover a range of ideas, concepts and theories of sustainability and gain insight how they are shaping the future business agenda. You will examine the inter-connectedness of different sustainability challenges facing humanity, such as climate change, energy and health, and consider the vital role that business has to play in addressing them. You will critically analyse specific approaches to climate action, as well as broader sustainability strategies, that are being devised by companies, business coalitions and partnerships between public and civil sector organisations.

BUS3048 Sustainability and Business (20 credits) added as an optional module in Year 3.

104-112 UCAS Tariff points are required to join this programme with effect from September 2021 entry.