Undergraduate

BSc Business Administration

Syllabus

This information serves as a guide only and is not binding. All syllabuses are subject to confirmation in the current Regulations for this degree. The Regulations also contain full details of the rules that govern the choice of any unit.

Compulsory Foundation Units

Management and the Modern Corporation [BBA0010]

This course serves as an introduction to Management. In order to gain an appreciation of the subject and its dimensions, students are introduced to a broad range of topics. There are three major objectives: to explore the practice of management in today’s context; to examine the logic and workings of organisations and firms; and, finally, to investigate how firms develop and maintain competitive advantage within a changing business environment influenced by economic, political, social, and cultural factors. 

Accounting for Management [BBA0020]

The course offers a foundation in financial and managerial accounting. It will explain the accounting function, and the means of communicating information decision makers, both within and outside the organisation. In doing so it examines the relationship between theory and practice and considers the methods of using accounting information for decision-making purposes.

Business Analysis and Decision-Making [BBA0030]

An understanding of key economic concepts is essential for those who manage business enterprise. This course analyses the real-life problems facing actual businesses, and evaluates the effectiveness and limitations of different management attempts to solve them.

Business Statistics [BBA0040]

Statistics is the craft of extracting information from the numerical data. Examples are taken from business situations – numbers appear in all aspects of business. The emphasis is on understanding the principles and on assessing the results of the statistical calculations which in most cases are carried out using a computer package.

Business Study Skills and Methods [BBA0050]

The course offers a foundation in the study skills required to excel on a university degree course. It explains the aspects of on-line tutorials, note taking and essay writing you will need to master in order to complete the programme. Additionally the course will introduce you to the various research methods used by business academics, guide you in managing your time more effectively and aid you in your revision of topics covered.

Management and Communication Skills [BBA0060]

This course is concerned will the theory and practice of effective communication within organisations. The main purpose is to improve the communication of potential managers through a variety of practical activities. Tutorial sessions are devoted to such issues as report writing, meetings, interviewing, negotiating and making a presentation, and the development of leadership, team and inter-personal skills.

Advanced Units

Strategic Management [BBA0070]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Management and the modern corporation' [BBA0010]
Strategic management is concerned with the processes by which management plans and co-ordinates the use of business resources with the general objective of securing or maintaining competitive advantage. This course provides the student with a general insight into the historical development of management practices and international business policy. In particular this course reviews the developments and literature on corporate strategy and critically reviews the possibilities and limitations of management action in highly contested international markets.

Management Information Systems [BBA0110]
Prerequisite: a pass in Management and the modern corporation [BBA0010]
This course is concerned with one of the most rapidly developing fields of management. The management and development of information systems has emerged as one of the most important functional specialisms in the modern business world. This course introduces students to strategic issues in information systems; the techniques, tools and methodologies of the analysis and design process; and the broad field of information resource management.

Production and Operations Management [BBA0100]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Management and the modern corporation' [BBA0010]
Production and operations management is concerned with the design, planning and control of operating systems for the provision of goods and services. This course provides students with knowledge and understanding of the nature and characteristics of operating systems in both the manufacturing and service sectors. This will enable students to identify the key issues involved in the management of operating systems and the relationship between strategic objectives and operational objectives. The course also highlights the interaction between operations management and the finance, marketing and manpower functions.

Management Accounting [BBA0120]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Accounting for management' [BBA0020]
The course regards managerial accounting as part of the overall information and decision support system of the organisation. It adopts the view that managers, in their decision making, must understand when managerial accounting information is needed, what techniques are available to provide that information and which benefits will accrue. It views managerial accounting as a context for dialogue among the functional areas of business accounting, marketing and operations.

Marketing Management [BBA0080]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Management and the modern corporation' [BBA0010]
This course takes account of recent developments in the area of marketing and emphasises the importance of the marketing orientation in the present competitive environment. The relationships between marketing and business development and strategy will be stressed. Becoming familiar with the ways in which a marketing plan should be approached is an important objective of the course.

Human Resource Management [BBA0090]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Management and the modern corporation' [BBA0010]
This course is concerned with the policies and procedures which affect the recruitment, development and deployment of the human resources of firms. The course will address the significant changes which have taken place in this area of management in response to economic and political pressure and will consider policies and practices in other countries.

Specialist Units

Modern Business in Comparative Perspective [BBA0130]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Strategic management' [BBA0070]
Through the explicit use of comparative techniques, this course explores the origins of national economic success and failure. It looks, therefore, at the competitiveness and organizational capabilities of each comparator country’s companies and asks which national factors encourage commercial success. Particular attention is paid to the G7 countries and East Asia. The meaning and impact of economic growth and the global economy are key themes, as is the influence of governments and national cultures on business performance studies.

International Human Resource Management  [BBA0180]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Human resource management' [BBA0090]
This course provides an understanding of the implications of changes in the global organisation of firms and the international workforce for human resource management policy choices. Students following this course will be able to demonstrate a detailed understanding of the major analytical concepts and models in international human resource management. International Human Resource Management will also distinguish trends in international human resource management policies and practices. Students will be able to assess the problems associated with the design and implementation of international HRM policies and practices, as well as their impact on employees and be able to distinguish between different types of human resource management and employee relations systems in the global economy.

Managing Organisational Change [BBA0190]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Strategic management' [BBA0070]
Managing organisational change is one of the core challenges facing modern managers. This course develops conceptual and theoretical frameworks for understanding the process of organisational change. Students evaluate, critically, research in and theories of organisational change and change management with a view to exploring and evaluating different theories and practices of managing the change process. Students develop diagnostic and analytical skills with which to explain complex organisational situations.

The Individual at Work [BBA0200]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Strategic management' [BBA0070]
This course develops conceptual and theoretical frameworks for understanding the behaviour of individuals and groups within work organisations. We explore and critically evaluate research in and theories of individual and group behaviour at work, to develop diagnostic and analytical skills for dealing with various kinds of individual and group problems within the work setting, and present a reflective understanding of this body of knowledge in written and spoken forms.

Marketing Research [BBA0150]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Marketing management' [BBA0080]
Marketing Research focuses on providing students with the skills to enable them to practise in the field of marketing research. Topics include problem definition, secondary and syndicated data sources, measurement concepts, questionnaire design, sampling, and experimentation. The course is designed to help managers recognise the role of systematic information gathering and analysis in making marketing decisions.

Advertising and promotion in brand marketing [BBA0165]
(previously known as 'The marketing industry and modern society')
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Strategic management' [BBA0070]
This course gives students a critical understanding of the marketing media industry and its structure. The course articulates the changing nature of the relationship the media industry has with its clients in profit and non-profit sector(s). The Marketing Industry and Modern Society will allow students to analyse the strategic motivations of profit and non-profit organisations and how marketing media support these strategic objectives. The course aids students in analysing, explaining and communicating effectively how the connections between the various actors in the industry can be used to understand the variable and changing relationship between marketing media, client relations and the products and services provided to consumers and households.

Consumer Behaviour [BBA0170]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Marketing management' [BBA0080]
This course introduces students to the increasingly important area of consumer behaviour. It deals with the decision making process that results in the choice and the purchase of goods and services and therefore has a large influence on the strategy of firms and on the economy and the culture of countries. The course builds naturally on the second year elective in marketing management and will complement the study of core courses.

European Business [BBA0210]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Strategic management' [BBA0070]
This course examines the management and organisation of business enterprise in Europe. It is concerned with the competitiveness, and with the contextual elements which enhance European competitiveness and those which might impede it. Its primary focus is the European Union (EU), but consideration is also given to the EU’s relationships with other nations, and in particular the emergent market economies of Eastern Europe.

Multinational Enterprise [BBA0220]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Strategic management' [BBA0070]
According to United Nations figures, international investments by multinational enterprises (MNEs) have now displaced trade as the most important mechanism for global economic integration. This course provides an overview of the development and contemporary vicissitudes of these key players on the international economic stage: their geographical dispersal, organisation, management and relations with governments and inter-governmental agencies.

Accounting for Strategy [BBA0230]
Prerequisites: passes in 'Accounting for management' [BBA0020] and 'Strategic management' [BBA0070]
This course provides students with a critical understanding of the variable relation between product markets, internal organisation cost structures and capital market expectations and their impact on strategy formulation. Students will be able to deconstruct the return on capital employed and gain an appreciation of how accounting numbers reflect complex market, organisational and institutional relations. The course also seeks to demonstrate that the outcomes of strategy, whilst shaped by accounting calculation, are often subject to vagaries that limit management control. After following this course students will be able to apply interpretive and analytical skills to explain the performance of companies and will be able to employ analysis and numbers to construct well-argued presentations and reports.
 

International Finance and Accounting [BBA0240]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Management accounting' [BBA0120]
This course develops the student’s understanding of the key issues that arise in international accounting. It develops an ability to understand and evaluate the basis on which a set of financial statements for a multinational enterprise is prepared. Students following this course will also develop analytical skills for situations of complex financial reporting. The course will improve cognitive skills, effective problem solving, effective communication, and numerical and quantitative skills. Students will be able to detail and evaluate the moves to harmonise financial reporting across the world, with particular reference to the IASB and the EU. Evaluate the issues that arise with the application of particular IAS e.g. group accounting and segmental reporting within an international context.

Innovation Management [BBA0250]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Strategic management' [BBA0070]
This course utilises a multidisciplinary approach and draws on insights from three main subject areas: economics, production operations and strategic management. The student will consider the environmental context of technological change. Students analyse the development, introduction and exploitation of new products and processes at the firm level and consider mechanisms for the management of change. Students will improve cognitive skills and consider the need for effective problem solving, effective communication, numerical and quantitative skills. Students learn effective use of CIT, effective self-management, learning to learn, and self-awareness and research skills.

Japanese Business in Europe [BBA0260]
Prerequisite: a pass in 'Strategic management' [BBA0070]
Students following this course will be able to evaluate the factors that led to the internationalization of Japanese businesses and their objectives in the European economy. The course will also enhance understanding of a number of industries, their product markets, and competitive characteristics in Europe. Students will compare the operations of numerous Japanese multinationals and their competitors in Europe, and describe the development of a number of key Japanese businesses in Europe. They will also critically evaluate the relevant literature and case study evidence and gain the skills to discover information on multinational business in Europe.

A Dissertation is not currently required for graduation with the BSc in Business Administration. The syllabus has however been maintained here for general information.

Dissertation  [BBA0140]
Prerequisites: passes in 'Business study skills and methods' [BBA0050] and 'Strategic management' [BBA0070]

This course unit will allow students to apply the problem solving skills and techniques acquired during their degree by initiating and undertaking a substantial piece of independent work on a topic of particular interest. The project will normally draw on any relevant business, management or commercial experience the student possesses, as well as the core of the degree programme. It will be expected that the project will be based on field work carried out within an organisation and not only on library research.