International Business Management with Study Abroad BA

Core modules:

Accounting and Finance for Managers

The aim of this module is to provide students with an understanding of the basic concepts used in the preparation of financial information and to introduce them to the forms of financial statements that managers need to be familiar with. In addition, the module will introduce learners to appropriate forms of finance and the means of raising money to fund new enterprises, the financial planning this entails and forms of feedback and accountability to actual and potential fund providers. The module seeks to achieve all of the above in the context of start-up or growth firms. It is deliberately non-technical in nature, in other words it tries, as far as possible, to avoid unnecessary technical jargon or complexities.

20 credits

Futures First: Professional Self Management

This module is intended to provide a structured and supported process for students to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement, and to plan for their personal, educational and career development. It is designed to ensure students are fully prepared to gain the most from their academic studies and to be better placed to continue their development throughout and beyond their degree studies.

20 credits

Management Themes and Perspectives

The module introduces students to some of the key themes and perspectives within a number of different subject disciplines within management. Through a series of 4 two-week `packages' the module will introduce students to key issues within marketing, sustainable development, operations management and strategic management. The module is designed to help students to start to identify the interconnections between the different disciplines within management and to see how differing perspectives tackle key contemporary challenges. The module will be delivered through a series of 2-week subject `packages' by experts in the different disciplines. While the lectures will provide the foundation for student learning, this will be supplemented by guest speakers from within industry to apply concepts to actual business settings. Seminars will provide space for more detailed discussion of issues and topics covered during the module. Key skills sessions will also be interspersed between the different subject packages so that students will be able to develop these generic skills which they can utilise in the various assessments components and for which they will receive feedback.

20 credits

Business Economics in a Contemporary Society

This module is intended to provide students with a grounding in a range of business economics concepts that have immediate relevance to modern day businesses, society, and the economy. It will introduce theoretically diverse concepts that include and contend with mainstream business economics thought, so that students from disparate backgrounds are able to openly debate and engage with business economics topics. It is designed to challenge students’ understanding of the economic environment in which businesses are embedded so that they become more cognizant with diverse ways of thinking about and understanding real world business economic issues.

10 credits

Introduction to Behaviour at Work

This module is an introduction to psychological and behavioural approaches to the study of work and organisations. The major aim is to introduce students to some of the basic analytical tools and concepts from work psychology that encourage an understanding of the behaviour of individuals and groups in the workplace. The syllabus contains the following: Introduction to Organisational Behaviour, Individual Differences, Perception, Learning, Human Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Work Attitudes, Conformity and Obedience, Leadership, Groups at Work, the formal and informal organisation.

10 credits

Management Themes and Perspectives

The module introduces students to some of the key themes and perspectives within a number of different subject disciplines within management. Through a series of 4 two-week `packages' the module will introduce students to key issues within marketing, sustainable development, operations management and strategic management. The module is designed to help students to start to identify the interconnections between the different disciplines within management and to see how differing perspectives tackle key contemporary challenges. The module will be delivered through a series of 2-week subject `packages' by experts in the different disciplines. While the lectures will provide the foundation for student learning, this will be supplemented by guest speakers from within industry to apply concepts to actual business settings. Seminars will provide space for more detailed discussion of issues and topics covered during the module. Key skills sessions will also be interspersed between the different subject packages so that students will be able to develop these generic skills which they can utilise in the various assessments components and for which they will receive feedback.

20 credits

Optional modules

Analysis for Decision Making A

This unit will enable students to develop competencies in those quantitative techniques and tools which are essential for the collection, analysis and interpretation of data in a business context. Focusing on a variety of business problems, the unit will demonstrate how quantitative techniques can be used to support effective business decision making.

20 credits

Analysis for Decision Making B

This unit will enable students to develop competencies in those quantitative techniques and tools which are essential for the collection, analysis and interpretation of data in a business context. Focusing on a variety of business problems, the unit will demonstrate how quantitative techniques can be used to support effective business decision making. The teaching is aimed at those who have not taken mathematics beyond GCSE or its equivalent.

20 credits

Core modules:

Corporate Social Responsibility

The Johannesburg Earth Summit, the runaway success of No Logo, the corporate scandals and subsequent questioning of the regulatory structures within capitalism, all suggest that the relationship between business, the state and civil society is being debated with greater urgency than at any time since Milton Friedman declared the business of business is business. Again we are asking 'what is the role of the firm?. Much of the dialogue and debate surrounding this issue is being conducted under the rubric of the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Citizenship. The emergence of these concepts and the implementation of strategies to emphasise and improve the socially responsible practices of companies represents a significant development in the ongoing debates surrounding the role of business in modern society. Supporters suggest we are witnessing the emergence of a new breed of 'Corporate Citizen' as companies seek greater interaction with civil society, look to adopt more ethical business strategies and engagement about their practices through the provision of greater openness and access to information.This module seeks to provide an initial introduction to the key issues and themes that are emerging within the CSR field. It examines the pressures encouraging companies to adopt more ethical business strategies, the types of practices and strategies which different companies have sought to adopt in this field, and the potential advantages that are iden

20 credits

Students will take one module from the following

International Business

This unit introduces key theories of international business development - those concerning the rationales for international expansion, the choice of foreign market entry strategy and the impact on the economies of host countries. This theoretical understanding will then be illustrated and examined by reference to the way particular companies in contrasting industries have developed and implemented their international strategies. Particular attention will be devoted to the role played by the international business environment and its institutions, and to key strategic management issues such as global supply chain management, knowledge management, intellectual property protection and risk management,

20 credits

International Marketing

This module provides students with an understanding of international marketing. The module will prepare students for the challenge of global marketing and enable students to have sufficient knowledge to be able to take on international related work, if faced by this challenge in industry.

20 credits

Optional modules:

Critical Perspectives in Work and Organisational Psychology

In general terms, Work and Organisational Psychology is concerned with the application of psychological theories and techniques to the analysis and resolution of problems that confront the personnel or human resource function, in its endeavours to select, train, appraise and develop a competent workforce. Work and Organisational Psychology has traditionally positioned itself within the broad terrain of experimental social psychology, a discipline that emphasises the importance of the application of empirical scientific methods to the study of human behaviour. The aim of this unit is to critique this positioning and to present arguments that we need alternative knowledges to enable us to fully understand workplace behaviour.

20 credits

Digital Marketing

This module is intended to guide students on the applications of marketing theory to the Internet. Teaching will involve building upon existing marketing concepts while questioning the validity of existing theory in light of the differences between the Internet and other media, and differences between digital marketing and other forms of marketing communications. The module covers how organisations (both public and private sector) use digital media to connect, interact, establish and maintain productive dialogue with customers. The module explores the impact of the Internet on marketing and branding activities and the techniques employed to enable the development of meaningful customer relationships.

20 credits

Managing complex projects

Megaprojects are transformative for economies and can impact millions of people. Although some of the basic principles of project management may still apply, large-scale complex projects involve different managerial challenges that are related to their size, significance and uncertainty. The aim of this module is to provide students with the fundamental aspects of managing complex projects. It provides an encompassing view and understanding of the challenges and causes of risks in managing projects that is necessary to effectively drive change in organisations and the wider society.

20 credits

New Venture Creation

This unit aims to provide you with an introduction to new venture creation from the perspective of the 'one shot' or 'serial' entrepreneur - those individuals who start, manage and grow a single venture or who have only one active venture at any one time, even though through the course of their lives they may create a number of ventures. Emphasis is placed upon entrepreneurial personality, motivation and attitudes; skills of opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation; innovation; and developing entry and exit strategies. This simultaneously draws upon, and develops foundations necessary for, companion studies in strategic management, marketing, finance and organisational behaviour.

20 credits

Socially-Responsible Marketing and Consumption

The module provides students with a comprehensive understanding of socially responsible marketing and consumer behaviour and will demonstrate how marketing and consumer behaviour principles can be used to tackle social issues (such as smoking, unhealthy eating, etc), support non-profit organisations, aid sustainability, support government policy development and benefit consumer welfare. In doing so it will, both theoretically and practically, through current examples and case studies, examine social marketing, non-profit marketing management, health communications, charity marketing, sustainability marketing and transformative consumer research in a range of industry sectors including arts, education, healthcare, social entrepreneurship and the public sector.

20 credits

Work and Employment in the Twenty-First Century

This module is concerned with exploring the dimensions of work and employment in the twenty-first century. It will explore as its central motif notions of `decent work and `job quality within the contemporary political economy. We will examine the key dimensions of job quality focussing on issues relating to skill formation, employee autonomy and growing work pressures. As well as exploring changes in the quantity and quality of jobs on offer in the economy, the module will also explore the dimensions and dynamics of job quality for key occupational groups such as creative workers, knowledge workers, service workers and manual work. As a result questions such as `what makes a job have quality `why are bad jobs growing `are graduate jobs disappearing and `is knowledge work on the increase will be considered. The module will draw on a wide body of both empirical research as well as requiring a theoretical engagement with the subject.

20 credits

Creativity and Innovation

The module aims to develop in students both a theoretical critical understanding of, and practical guidance to enhance, creativity and innovation in organisations. Topics will include: different methodologies for studying creativity and innovation; cognitive, biological, personality and affective bases of individual creativity; explaining influences on team and organisational innovation; and social dimensions of innovation. A key practical feature of the module is that it will also train students in how to use the CLEAR IDEAS model to develop innovative solutions to real-life problems.

20 credits

Industrial Relations

Industrial Relations explores the nature of working relationships and the constraints within which they operate. The subject is multi-disciplinary in nature and the content of this particular unit focuses on aspects of industrial relations which practising managers may experience. The unit aims to establish a conceptual framework for understanding industrial relations based on academic theories and research data. A further aim is to develop analytical skills that look beyond symptoms and to encourage judgement founded on an understanding of likely outcomes/implications.

20 credits

Language and Organisation

This unit aims, first, to develop an in-depth understanding of communication processes in organisations and an awareness of why these often prove problematic. The unit explores meaning-making as a negotiated arena in which we, as human beings, draw on deep-rooted assumptions and expectations. Second, the unit aims to enable students to communicate more effectively in organisational contexts, in their future roles as managers, consultants or researchers. More broadly, the aim is to develop students' ability to learn and manage their own learning, and to encourage effective time management and personal resources planning. Having completed this unit students should be able to discuss current theoretical approaches to language use and meaning-making in organisations, apply this theory to their own experiences of organisation, critically evaluate the role of language in effective leadership, and in the management of change, and use the techniques and approaches introduced in this unit to communicate more effectively in their future work settings.

20 credits

International Business

This unit introduces key theories of international business development - those concerning the rationales for international expansion, the choice of foreign market entry strategy and the impact on the economies of host countries. This theoretical understanding will then be illustrated and examined by reference to the way particular companies in contrasting industries have developed and implemented their international strategies. Particular attention will be devoted to the role played by the international business environment and its institutions, and to key strategic management issues such as global supply chain management, knowledge management, intellectual property protection and risk management,

20 credits

International Marketing

This module provides students with an understanding of international marketing. The module will prepare students for the challenge of global marketing and enable students to have sufficient knowledge to be able to take on international related work, if faced by this challenge in industry.

20 credits