Year one core modules

• Economics for Business and Management

  The first part of this module focuses mainly on the internal environment of the individual business and the ways in which this can influence its operations. The business and economic principles which underpin the determination of price and output, of size and location of business activity and other business decisions are outlined in this module. Wherever possible business examples and up-to-date case study materials will be used to illustrate the application of these principles to real-world business decision making.

• International Business Law

  This module will provide students with an appreciation of the various ways in which law impacts on the business environment. The module is designed to provide a foundation for studying a broad range of legal issues which are often encountered in the course of international business. The module will focus on the nature and sources of domestic and international business law; on contract law with regard to both goods and services as well as the law regulating carriage of goods by air and sea, which constitutes a major element of the law on international trade and of socio-legal aspects concerning economic integration.

• Introduction to Accounting and Finance

  The module firstly aims to give students a sound grasp of the basics of financial reporting (context, purposes, regulatory framework). It introduces the principal concepts of financial accounting. The preparation of principal financial statements will also be explored. This module is also designed to introduce students to key management accounting skills necessary to support decision-making. It will emphasise the acquisition and application of skills and knowledge necessary to inform managers responsible for planning, decision-making and control and will provide the underpinning skills and knowledge required for more advanced study.

• Marketing Essentials

  It is important that students in the First Year gain knowledge of the integrated nature of business, and of how the various parts fit together to build a sound business knowledge, before they specialize in Years Two and Three. Students should understand that Marketing is a key functional area of business and management which, together with Human Resource Management, Accounting and Finance, and other activities involving resource allocation, can determine the success or failure of an organisation.

• Analysis of Business

  The module begins by reviewing various techniques for collecting and presenting data. Some important measures and techniques for making sense of raw data are then introduced which are widely used by businesses when analysing both their internal and external environments. This module builds on the introduction to spreadsheet packages previously encountered within the core Learning and Skills Development in Business module or its equivalent.

• Introduction to People, Organisations and Management

  The organisational context: This module allows students to explore the organisational context and will furnish students with tools to analyse the organisational environment and the degree of dynamism and complexity in which organisations operate. Students will be encouraged to examine organisational responses to environmental turbulence. The development and impact of organisational culture will also be assessed.

Year two core modules

• International Business

  The module introduces students to the important area of international business. It begins by identifying some important patterns and trends in international business activity. The factors influencing the firm's decision as to the degree of internationalisation and the methods adopted are considered, as is the theoretical and institutional framework within which international business must operate.

• Enterprise and Entrepreneurial Management

  This module will provide an introduction to the behaviours, skills and knowledge surrounding entrepreneurship. The core to this module will involve developing an understanding of the key elements of designing and running the entrepreneurial organisation, such as managing people and other stakeholders, raising finance and managing money, creating profile and generating awareness, selling, and taking either products or services to market.

• Effective Team and Performance Management

  This module introduces students to the important role of teams in organisations and their impact upon individual, team and organisational performance. Through experiential learning activities students will develop an understanding of group dynamics and how they as individuals can manage their own personal influence as a member of a team and how they can impact the contribution and behaviour of others in a group or team context. This module is designed to help students understand the value of building strong inter-personal and relationship skills, working with others one-to-one and in group and team environments.

• Improving Organisational Performance

  This module introduces the learner to how organisations can drive sustained organisation performance by creating a high-performance work organisation (HPWO) and involving line managers in the performance management process. The module assesses the different conceptual frameworks of high-performance working (HPW) and examines its impact on organisational performance, competitive advantage, employee engagement and employee wellbeing. It provides the learner with the business case for, and the barriers to, HPW as well as the role of people management in improving organisational performance.

• Human Resource Management in Context

  Human resources (HR) professionals need to understand key developments in the business and external contexts within which HR operates. This module enables learners to identify and review the business and external contextual factors affecting organisations and to assess the impacts of these factors on the HR function.

• Managing Human Resources

  The module introduces learners to human resources (HR) activity and to the role of the HR function in organisations in general terms. It focuses on the aims and objectives of HR departments in contemporary organisations and particularly on the ways that these are evolving. It considers the different ways of delivering HR objectives and emerging developments in the management of the employment relationship are explored.

• Developing Professional Practice and Using Information in HR

  This module is designed to enable the learner to develop a sound understanding of the knowledge, skills and behaviours required by human resources (HR) professionals, whether in a generalist or specialist role, and as described in the CIPD HR Profession Map (HRPM). The module embraces the 'thinking performer' perspective and covers the competencies needed by the HR professional in a personal capacity, when collaborating and working with others, and when functioning efficiently and effectively in an organisational context.

Year three core modules

• Employment Law

  Recent decades have seen a substantial increase in the extent to which the employment relationship in the UK, Eire and the EU is regulated through employment legislation. As a result, human resources (HR) professionals are now obliged to take account of legal requirements in different jurisdictions when carrying out many central aspects of their role. They are also obliged to take responsibility for the defence and settlement of claims lodged with employment tribunals by aggrieved employees or former employees.

• Reward Management

  Reward management provides the learner with a wide understanding of how the business context drives reward strategies and policies, including labour market, industrial and sector trends, regional differences and trends in pay and international comparisons; the financial drivers of the organisation, the balance sheet and the impact of reward costs.

• Strategic Management Analysis

  The module is designed to provide students with a holistic view of organisation's strategic position and thus the ability to appreciate the importance of strategic decisions at all levels of the business organisation. Its primary aim is to provide a vehicle for considering issues which cut across the functional boundaries of business organisations and which require multi-disciplinary skills in the solution.

• Undergraduate Major Project

  The Major Project module allows students to engage in a substantial piece of individual research and/or product development work on a selected topic within the broad business and management field, as appropriate to their interests and background. The project topic will be assessed for suitability to ensure sufficient academic challenge and satisfactory supervision by an academic member of staff.

• Employment Relations

  Human resource (HR) professionals need to understand key developments in the theory and practice of employment relations, both within and beyond the immediate organisational context. This allows learners to build on their knowledge and experience to develop the skills required to make informed and effective judgements about existing and emerging models, processes and practices of employment relations in local and international jurisdictions.

• International and Comparative HRM

  This module sets out to investigate how, and if, HRM operates in the international arena. This is done in two ways: by considering differences in national HRM policies and practices and by examining how businesses overcome the people problems associated with operating in more than one country. This will lead to a questioning of the extent to which HRM can be seen as a global phenomenon. In order to undertake this module effectively it is assumed that students will have some familiarity with HRM practices in at least one country and a desire to uncover similarities and differences in others.

• Organisational Transformation in Practice

  This module provides the opportunity for students to engage with the leadership and organisational challenges of major transformational change in organisations, communities and societies. This is presented through case examples to illustrate the nature of the attitude, values and behavioural change issues required for successful employee engagement in an organisation's change agenda.

Optional modules

• Managing Organisational Change

• Performance and Reward Management

• Management Development

• Managing Diversity

• International and Comparative HRM

• The Strategic Management of Human Resources

• Project Planning and Control