STAGE 1 MODULES
Introduction to Accounting and Finance
To teach students the role of accounting and its development and the nature and significance of accounting information. Students will be introduced to record keeping and data processing.
Financial statements, performance and asset management. Accounting concepts and conventions, accounts of limited companies. Basic interpretation of accounts, relevant costs, cost behaviour, break-even analysis, cost-profit-volume analysis, marginal costing, full costing, overhead absorption and job costing. Introduction to variance analysis and budgeting. Financial corporate objectives and financial arithmetic, sources of finance, functioning of stock markets and investment appraisal.
Business Economics
To introduce students to key economic concepts, principles and policy instruments in the context of the business environment. Theory of demand; Markets – Supply and Demand; Competition; Monopoly; Oligopoly; Economic issues related to labour markets and boundaries of the firm; Market failure and government intervention.
Quantitative Methods in Information Management
To teach students the skills of analysis and the use of mathematical / statistical techniques to tackle business problems. Descriptive statistics, Concepts of probability and probability distributions; Confidence intervals and Hypothesis testing; Linear regression; Normal and T-Distribution.
Foundations of Marketing
To introduce students to the concepts and principles of marketing and their application. Marketing environment; Consumer and organisational buying behaviour; Market segmentation, targeting and positioning; Marketing planning and control; Product and pricing strategies; Marketing channels and supply chain; Marketing communication strategy.
Student Self Development
To enable students to identify their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for further development throughout their university career, and to improve their ability to cope with academic life at the university.
People, Work and Organisations
To develop an understanding of some of the key factors that impact upon and influence human behaviour in organisations and the workplace and address ethical and corporate social responsibility issues associated with these factors whilst doing so.
Students will develop an awareness of the assumptions and approaches which underpin the differing theoretical perspectives employed for studying people in organisations and the workplace. Specifically, the disciplines of Organisational Behaviour (OB), Organisational Psychology (OP), Work Sociology (WS), Employee Relations (ER), Organisational Analysis (OA) and Human Resource Management (HRM).
It will also enable students to understand their own and others’ roles in organisations and the workplace more effectively.
Operations and Information Systems Management
To appreciate the real life applicability and use of Operations Management and Information Systems in contemporary operations, both manufacturing and services.
Students become aware of key themes within Operations and Information Systems with which they can identify. It will enhance their understanding of the role played by information systems in the production of manufactured goods and service good production and delivery.
STAGE 2 MODULES
Marketing Management and Strategy
To gain an understanding of a full range of marketing management and strategy frameworks. Strategic marketing; Consumer behaviour; Organisational buying behaviour; Competitive macro environment; Strategic marketing analysis; Marketing strategy formulation; Relationship marketing strategies; E-Marketing strategy; Marketing strategy for mass-mediated services.
Consumer Behaviour
To create awareness and understanding of the influences on consumer behaviour and the process of decision-making. To put these concepts into the context of marketing management. Nature of consumer behaviour; Individual and environment influences on the consumer; Decision-making and consumption process; Attitude formation and change; Consumer behaviour and marketing.
Management of Service Operations
This course aims to improve the understanding of course members of: (i) the characteristics of organisations (or parts of organisations) which produce services instead of goods; (ii) the problems which arise because of the nature of services; and (iii) to look at ways in which these problems may be dealt with. The sessions focus on issues which are of extreme importance in the service context and which are not necessarily relevant in a manufacturing setting. All the above are taught within a framework that acknowledges corporate and social responsibility.
Business Law
To provide an understanding of the main legal structures in business with particular reference to Law of Contract, Tort and an introduction to Agency, Partnership and Company law. Formation of contract; Terms of a contract; Vitiating factors; Discharge of contracts; Remedies for breach of contract; Sale and supply of goods and services; Law of agency; Law of partnership; Law of torts; Company law.
Marketing Research
Marketing Research is a function that sits at the very heart of the marketing philosophy. If businesses aim to understand their customers, competitors and environments in order to create and maintain a competitive advantage, then using relevant and timely Marketing Research is essential.
This module is designed to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to enable them to design, implement, analyse and use good quality and effective research. It will cover a range of research techniques as well as an understanding of the process of Marketing Research.
Integrated Marketing Communications
To understand the role and tools of integrated marketing communications. Overview of integrated marketing communications; Advertising and promotion; Media planning and strategy; The communication process; Below-the-line promotion; Public Relations; Business-to-Business communications.
Economics of Industry
To provide students with an awareness of the organisational structure of industry, with an emphasis on interactions among firms in an industry. Students will gain a better understanding of how firms compete and organise themselves. Market and competitive analysis; Boundaries of the firm; Position and dynamics; Economies of vertical integration; Diversification; Market and industrial analysis; Strategic positioning; Competitive advantage; Internal organisation.
Financial Management
An introduction to the key aspects of financial management to boost the profitability of a business entity as well as create and improve shareholder value. To develop an understanding of how businesses are financed and how methods of financing can affect decision-making. Investment appraisal; Risk and return; Bond valuation; Valuation of shares and firm; Cost of capital; Basic capital budgeting decisions; Dividend policy and share repurchase; Basic capital structure theory; Working capital management.
Employability and Enterprise Skills
To provide students a critical understanding of what it takes to be successful in securing and developing a career in a competitive employment market. Students will gain knowledge and understanding of the skills and professional behaviour required.
It will also develop effective tools to enable students to audit skills for employment. This will enable students to create immediate and long-term personal and career development plans, and have opportunities to put these skills into practice.
Econometrics and Business Forecasting
To develop analytical skills and a quantitative approach to decision-taking and prediction. Students will explore the application of forecasting and econometric modelling procedures in the practice of business decision-taking and corporate (strategic) planning.
Organisational Analysis
To develop an understanding of organisations as continuous, fluid and emergent processes. It will provide students with the concepts and vocabulary to identify, understand and analyse these very organisational processes, in particular with a view to being able to explain the 'tacit' and 'implicit' contexts within which work organisations exist.
STAGE 3 MODULES
International Marketing
To provide an understanding of the concepts of direct marketing, the different direct marketing database techniques and its role within the business environment. To be able to plan and evaluate direct marketing campaigns. Scope and strategic role of direct marketing; Customer acquisition and retention strategies; Agencies and direct marketing specialists; Interactive direct marketing; Production and fulfillment.
Retail Marketing
To introduce the changing nature of the retail marketing environment. To familiarise students with marketing principles and theories that can be specifically applied to retail organisations. To provide students with a practical application of retail marketing and concepts.
The outline syllabus includes distinctive aspects of retail marketing, methods and approaches to retail strategy and marketing planning. Consumer behaviour and retail operations. The management of service and quality in retailing. The retail marketing mix and the retail product. Merchandise management, retail pricing, retail communications and promotions. Retail distribution and supply chain management. Retail location strategies and decisions. Management of the retail brand. Application of IT to retail marketing. Consumerism and ethics in retailing.
Marketing and Entrepreneurship
To stimulate interest in, and understanding of, research into entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship and marketing. To examine the interaction between entrepreneurship and other disciplines, especially marketing. Personal characteristics of entrepreneurs; Marketing and entrepreneurship interface; Market opportunity recognition; New business formation; Entrepreneurial firm growth; Entrepreneurial succession.
Services Marketing
To provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the key issue in the marketing of services, to demonstrate practical applications of the services principles across a broad range of industries and the growing importance of relationship marketing within services.
The outline syllabus includes an introduction to services marketing and the important differences with product marketing, key principles of relationship marketing and how to make relationship marketing work within services. The role of customers and building customer relationships in service businesses. Strategic issues in services marketing and how demand affects the marketing of services. The marketing mix and the relationship of marketing implications – service product, distribution, people, communications and service quality.
Corporate Marketing
To understand and evaluate corporate identities and corporate brands in a business context. Overview of branding and design; Brand proliferation; Corporate identity management, Organisational and visual identity; Corporate communications; Corporate image and corporate reputation; Corporate brands; Corporate level marketing.
Understanding Strategic Management
To develop an understanding of, and ability in, the theory and practice of Strategic Management. Students will be exposed to the concepts and frameworks for the analysis of the external and internal environments of organisations, generations of strategic alternatives, as well as implementations and evaluations of strategies. Environment scanning and industry analysis; Internal scanning and organisational analysis; Strategic formulation; Strategic choice; Strategy Implementation; Evaluation and control strategic audit.
Applied Strategic Management
To develop the relevant knowledge, understanding and analytical abilities to undertake an in-depth strategic analysis of business organisations. Strategic implementation; Strategy andstructure; Portfolio management; Corporate parenting; Managing strategic change; Measuring company performance.
International Business Strategy
To develop an understanding of the theories and concepts that underpin the strategic moves of organisations in their internationalisation process. Addressing strategic issues in the context of regional and global competitive factors. International trade theory; Modes of foreign market servicing; Strategy, structure and control; Functional strategies.
Global Business Environment
Establish a firm foundation in the practice of international business through an in-depth understanding of the key environmental factors that impact on the global competitive moves of companies. lobalisation; Political, economic and cultural environment; International apital flows and financial volatility; Regionalisation of world economy; egulation of international business.
Brand Management
To develop knowledge and understanding of key issues associated with brand management, eg brand equity, brand positioning, brand image, brand identify, branding strategies, and branding at the cross-cultural level. Students develop skills in researching and analysing branding strategies, as well as independent study, team working and presentation skills.
Ethics in Business and Society
To provide a basic understanding of the philosophical and sociological context of business ethics and to introduce students to some of the most prominent ethical frameworks that can be used to analyse policy and practice in contemporary business organisations.
Strategic Information Systems
To have a strategic understanding of business information systems in organisations, Students will develop skills in analysing and planning the uses of business information systems in organisations to yield better efficiency, effectiveness and value.
