BA (Hons) Business Studies

Teaching & Learning

Independent study is a crucial part of learning at university and you will be required to undertake many hours of self-directed research and reading, and preparation and writing of assessments. Your course is delivered through several modules, which will help you to plan your time and establish a study routine. Outside of your lectures, workshops and tutorials, a range of support is available to assist with your independent study. Our subject-specific librarians will be on hand to direct you to specialist learning and study-skill resources. You’ll also be assigned an academic advisor to give you tailored feedback and support.

Year 1

What you'll learn

Data Decisions & Understanding AI

The bond and evolution of data, analytics, and commercial applications have rapidly changed how businesses operate. This includes the way they make money, sell services and products, measure success, invest in sustainable people and business practices and the ethical impact decisions have on society. This module will introduce you to the technical terminology needed to understand and confidently explore business data, analytics, and tools. You'll explore the wider context of business information, data types and characteristics, the role of the Internet of Things (IoT), big data and the impact on individuals and society. You'll also understand how to use digital tools practically to produce an accurate narrative of findings.

Global Business Environment

Gain an awareness of the economic environment that modern businesses operate in. This module will give you an understanding of the principle economic perspectives and theories relating to the operation of the global economy. You'll study important worldwide macroeconomic issues as you investigate key global markets, economies, and challenges.

Managing Organisations & People

Learn about the people side of business. This module is structured into four main themes: motivation, management, leadership and teams. You will look at these within the context of culture, political environment, global working and intercultural competence.

Business Venture Creation

Work as part of a group to plan a new entrepreneurial venture. You will analyse other entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial ventures by discussing cases and listening to video presentations, such as TED Talks. Within your group, you will evaluate the viability of a business concept, focusing particularly on using primary and/or secondary research your group has conducted regarding market demand. The supervision process during tutorials will provide feedback on the groups' business ideas and planning.

Accounting & Finance for Managers

Examine how managers can understand and use different financial information. You will consider how shareholders can use financial statements as a means of evaluating a firm's performance.

Understanding Markets & Customers

Become familiar with key marketing principles and appreciate how contemporary marketing concepts are used by organisations. You will gain an insight into marketing challenges and the consequences for organisations that fail to become customer-orientated.

Year 2

What you'll learn

Operations & Supply Chain Management

Examine complex businesses and organisations to determine how their operations and supply chain produce competitive advantage and improve performance. You will use a range of real-life scenarios along with qualitative and quantitative data to understand, apply and analyse concepts and principles from the field.

Responsible Management

Study the key concepts necessary for practising responsible management in business. You will use a range of authentic scenarios to practise making decisions and to learn through the context, values and critical reflection of your practice. You will apply your learning to key areas of the business environment.

Management of Human Resources

Gain HR skills relevant to anybody working in a role with line management responsibility through a range of hands-on individual and group activities.

Managing a Small & Sustainable Business

Build creative solutions to the sustainability challenges facing contemporary new business enterprises. You'll work collaboratively to develop a proposed ethical small business venture. This could be articulated through several contexts, for example, a product or service, process, paradigm, position or business. You'll then attempt to raise crowdfunding finance by presenting your proposal to an ethical investment bank.

Entrepreneurial Marketing

Examine and evaluate the role of marketing within an entrepreneurial setting and its contribution to the achievement of business goals together with the development and implementation of entrepreneurial marketing actions.

Corporate Finance & Law

Develop an understanding of key aspects of corporate finance and investigate the legal and governance framework within which businesses operate.

Dissertation

Demonstrate a full range of skills, knowledge, and competencies developed over three years of study. Choose and explore a field of study that has particularly engaged your interest.

Business Start-up Incubator

Apply academic knowledge and professional experience by creating and managing a new business, individually or as part of a team. Collaborate with professional mentors and investors to add real-life value to your CV.

Reward Management

Study the theory and application of reward management. Explore and evaluate various solutions to reward issues within the broader contexts of HRM and corporate strategy.

Contemporary Brand Management

Understand branding, consumer relationships with brands, and the brand management process in a dynamic, highly competitive, and global operating environment.

Entrepreneurship in a Challenging Global Economy

Explore the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship in the context of a complex global economy.

Corruption in Business

Uncover the workings of tax havens and their disruptive impact on the global economy. Investigate financial crimes and their implications.

Work Placement

Undertake a period of paid employment to develop business contacts and gain an understanding of the job market, enhancing your skills and CV.

Strategic Human Resource Management for Leaders

Evaluate the role of leadership in implementing strategic human resource management practices. Consider its impact on managed individuals and organisational outcomes.

Global Marketing

Gain a theoretical understanding of global and international marketing concepts and apply them practically through case studies and exercises featuring live companies and current developments.

Procurement & Supplier Management

Focus on supplier development in procurement. Identify key factors impacting procurement, explore theoretical models of supplier relationship management, and plan for supplier development activities to enhance supply network competitiveness.

Global Responsibility & Sustainability

Explore corporate responsibility and sustainability as global phenomena and societal discourses in political and economic contexts.

Sandwich Year (Optional)

Take a year of paid employment in the industry between the second and third year of your degree. Build skills, experience, confidence, and contacts while enhancing your CV.

Year 3

What you'll learn

Consultancy Project

Apply your learning to a strategic organisational issue of your choice. You will develop and manage a client-consultant relationship, and work in a group supported by a member of staff to deliver outcomes for the client using the relevant academic knowledge, skills, and critical thinking.

Project Management

Gain insights into effective project management practices. Learn to plan, execute, and monitor projects effectively to achieve desired outcomes within scope, time, and budget constraints.

Business Strategy

Gain a critical understanding of organisations as a whole. Develop the skills, knowledge, and understanding to critically contribute to the strategies of any organisation by working with complex real-life business problems.

Leading Innovation & Change

Study a range of key contemporary issues related to the significance of innovation, the implications for organisational structure and processes, leadership, strategic management, and change management. This module will build on and extend your understanding of strategic management issues.

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. Work collaboratively in making responsible business decisions, taking into account the needs of a range of internal and external stakeholders, behaving sustainably and making effective use of a range of appropriate technologies.
2. Critically reflect, analyse and synthesise complex problems and through informed problem solving derive realistic solutions.
3. Critically reflect on the theory of practice via synthesis and application as part of the educationally transformational process into an intelligent practitioner.
4. Professionally deliver outcomes taking into account the values, cultures and behaviours of self and others.

Employability will be at the heart of your degree. We will support you in planning your personal development to help prepare you for the job market and the steps you will need to take should you want to set up your venture. Our graduates have gone on to rewarding management careers across a variety of sectors, including business, HR, marketing and accounting, both in the UK and overseas.

• Entrepreneur
• Business Consultant
• Administration manager
• Research Analyst