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. The second part of the module focuses mainly on the external environment and its impacts on business behaviour. The main macroeconomic variables are reviewed and analysed and their impacts assessed at local, national and global levels of business activity.

• 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.

• Introduction to Tourism

  This module introduces students to the major issues and themes underpinning tourism studies today. The tourism industry has undergone a series of profound changes in recent decades, leading to a proliferation of tourism types and products. Challenging the conventional foundations of modern mass tourism, the travel market has expanded its demands to reflect growing concerns about the overall performance of the tourism sector. What are the long-term effects of uncontrolled tourism development in different geographical and temporal zones? On the environments, cultures and economies of the places being visited? What and where are the new growth areas and how are these being developed, modelled and managed? These are just a few of the important questions that are being asked today. The theory of tourism study considers both the destination (tourism) and market (tourist) characteristics of the sector.

• Personal Development and Careers

  This module aims to equip the student to function effectively as an independent self-learner within the higher education learning environment, with specific reference to the area of business and management. Students will be introduced to the learning context and the responsibilities of the individual learner. They will be encouraged to develop practical skills identified as being central to undergraduate business degree programmes. These will include time management, reading and note-taking, essay and report writing, referencing, the use of information technology and associated software packages, presentational skills and problem solving, both singly and in groups.

• 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. Organisation structures and approaches to management: Approaches to management from scientific management to postmodern organisations will be evaluated and the way groups and teams are formed and structured. Motivation will also be examined as a motivated workforce can be a sign of a successful organisation and students will be encouraged to reflect critically on theories of motivation and apply them to real life situations and case study scenarios. Management processes: Intensified competition, technological innovation and increased knowledge intensity has resulted in a pattern of 'repeat change'. The results of change programmes are often disappointing and students will examine the triggers for change, why change is resisted and organisations' approaches to change management. Individuals in the organisation: This part of the module focuses on individual differences. The ability to learn, and to continue learning, for individuals and organisations, is crucial in the 21st century. Students will be introduced to a number of learning theories which affect management practices and will have an overview of the learning organisation. Students will examine the role that personality and perception play in shaping and directing our own and other people's behavior.

• Tourism Geographies

  Tourism is often claimed to be the biggest industry in the world, yet tourism is not really an industry, more a gathering together of disparate forms of production and consumptive activities. The distribution of this tourism is highly unequal geographically in terms of where tourists come from and where they travel to, though this is changing with new markets opening in Asia, south America, and Africa. As such, tourism is growing to the extent that it now involves nearly all parts of the world and is increasingly seen as an important tool for development. Yet tourism is not just about economics, as it has all kinds of cultural, social and environmental consequences - not all of these being positive, indeed many tensions and disputes can occur around different forms of tourism. Tourism geographies will examine tourism as a global and local phenomenon.

• Worldwide Tourist Destinations

  This module considers the development of tourist destinations and the changes that have been effected over time in relation to political realities and tourism trends. It considers the distinctiveness of different destinations at international, regional, national and local levels and their competitive advantage in relation to different forms of tourism activity. In this context, the module views tourism as a component of broader development strategies rather than in isolation, centring on linkages between tourism and other economic sectors. The module is primarily case study based, focusing upon particular destinations and their historical and political perspectives on change and change management. The module also introduces students to the theme of competition and the ways in which policy makers respond to the range of internal and external pressures exerted upon destinations across time and space.

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. External challenges to the international firm are examined, such as those in the economic, political, cultural, ethical and legal fields. Possible internal responses to these challenges are evaluated, including strategic, human resource, marketing, accounting and logistical responses. The importance of a multi-disciplinary perspective for purposes of analysis will be emphasised throughout, as will the use of up-to-date case study and applied materials.

• International Tourism Management

  This module provides students with the opportunity to apply management studies within the specific context of international tourism. Tourism management can be divided into two specific classes relating to business management and visitor management, reflecting both supply- and demand- led foci. This module enables students to link these two key areas and requires them to devise integrated management strategies that relate both to the management of people and of resources. To achieve this, students will be expected to develop their thinking in disciplines including attraction management, HR, finance and environmental monitoring and to apply this to a given tourism situation. This may be a specific sector, business or destination within the international tourism market.

• Ecotourism

  The term ecotourism has emerged strongly in recent decades to describe an increasingly dominant sector of international tourism activity centred upon the natural environment. Employing an expanded set of aims and objectives, the theoretical underpinnings of ecotourism emphasise notions of responsibility, contribution and education. Typified by a series of small- scale, low-impact and locally beneficial development models, ecotourism has been widely portrayed as an ideal means by which to pursue the protection of natural resources and the support of traditional lifestyles. This fusion of natural and cultural heritage provides the basis for defining ecotourism, a task that has generated a considerable volume of debate in recent years. As ecotourism has developed, a range of new destinations have been added to the traditional tourism mix, centred upon sites that were previously viewed as remote, inaccessible andlargely unsuited to mainstream visitation. Examples of this trend include increasing demands to visit tropical rainforests, the majority of which are located in the developing world.

• Tourism and Sustainability Fieldwork

  In response to a range of factors that threaten the social and physical environments upon which tourism relies sustainable tourism is gradually being seen as the most important direction tourism must take in the next few decades. Sustainable tourism is gradually being engaged by governments, businesses (such as TUI), global organizations such as the UN World Tourism Organization, UNEP, and also numerous NGOs. But what is sustainable tourism? How can it be implemented? What kinds of indicators work for managing sustainability in tourism? Is the desire for sustainable tourism too focused on environmental considerations, or is it a mask for improving economic situations and redeveloping tourism? How can social issues be integrated in to sustainable forms of tourism? Through in depth case studies and fieldwork we examine attempts to make forms of tourism more sustainable and the consequences of these attempts.

• Tourism marketing

  The aim of this module is to develop the important role of marketing within the tourism industry. Tourism differs from the majority of conventional business sectors in that destinations are identified and developed and the market is then taken to the product. This spatial distance between product and consumer introduces a range of problems and opportunities in the marketing of responsible tourism. Problems include the extent to which marketing is 'accurate', or encourages a more responsible or sustainable form of tourism. This situation has prompted legislation in Europe to combat unreliable advertising, creating a parallel focus upon responsible marketing and the comparative advantage this may convey upon operators in the global market place. This module will consider these issues and debates in depth and use the medium of travel brochures to investigate tourism marketing in an international context.

• Environmental Issues and Policies

  The module investigates the theoretical and practical considerations facing policy makers over a range of environmental problems, using a multidisciplinary and applied approach. The early part of the module discusses a variety of concepts, principles and techniques which are then applied to issue-based topic areas of contemporary environmental concern, such as sustainable development, climate change, energy sources, pollution control, transport, rural economy and developing economies. Particular attention is paid to an anthropogenic (human related) approach to the environment including demographic, health and related issues in both developed and developing economies.

• 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. The module places a particular emphasis on engaging with and facilitating via others interpersonal effectiveness, problem solving, maintaining team cohesion and personal reflective practice. The module will focus upon the relationship between team task and team purpose. The module aims to provide students with a personal understanding of the underlying processes that cause good and bad relationships and successful and unsuccessful team dynamics.

Year three core modules

• Sustainable Tourism Practice and Planning

  Tourism cannot be examined as an activity on its own - it is part of an increasingly globalised economy. In any case what makes up Tourism is hugely varied: Airlines, Hotels, Oil companies, Cruise ships, food production, souvenirs, travel brochures, travel writing, newspaper supplements, etc. So what we might narrowly call tourism cannot be seen to be separate from such activities as agriculture, the mass media, other services and industries. As such, when we hear that tourism is the biggest industry in the world today, we should take this with a 'pinch of salt' - analyzing it more as group of diverse activities and practices. Tourism is becoming a very attractive form of development for many countries, though in many cases there is an undue focus on international tourism, often to the detriment of a focus on domestic tourism. Yet, all tourism has negative and positive aspects to it. Tourism involves not only inflows of foreign financial resources but also outflows, some of these can be referred to as "leakages". When they exceed specific levels, these outflows can significantly neutralize the positive financial effects of international tourism. In this module we will revisit the social and economic consequences of certain forms of tourism in examining differing practices and planning of sustainable tourism using case studies. We will focus on how new tourism development approaches are seeking to bring more widespread social, economic and environmental benefits to local people, including the poorest groups of people in Tourism Destinations. The module therefore examines the regional, national, and international frameworks in which the tourism industry operates.

• 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. The module is concerned with the strategic analysis of organisations with regard to their competitive positioning, their strategic fit with their environment and their management style and culture. This analysis will form the platform for reviewing strategic options in response to the competitive environment and for considering aspects involved in implementing such strategic options.

• Heritage Tourism in Cities

  Many industrial and post-industrial cities are undergoing profound changes in their economic, social, demographic and environmental structures as well as in their physical fabric. This module considers both the supply of, and demand for, tourism and leisure in cities and towns in particular, and the consequences for economies, urban people, and their environments that result from heritage based tourist developments. Students are introduced to different heritage tourism sectors, flows and clusters, and how notions of culture and heritage are made, interpreted, managed and used. New trends in urban heritage tourism - such as dark tourism - are examined in terms of the form they take and the concerns raised by such forms of heritage tourism.

• 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. The chosen topic will require the student to identify /formulate problems and issues, conduct literature reviews, evaluate information, investigate and adopt suitable development methodologies, determine solutions, develop hardware, software and/or media artefacts as appropriate, process data, critically appraise and present their finding using a variety of media. One of the main focuses for the design of this module has been the further development of relevant employability and professional skills.

• Events & Conference Management

  The module introduces the students to this key sector of the tourism industry and will dedicate equal attention to business and leisure events. The specific characteristics of the Meetings, Incentive, Conference, Events sector (MICE) will be discussed, including impacts for tourism development, conference marketing, management of meetings and conferences and trends in the industry. Subsequently, the leisure events sector will be introduced and the growing importance of event tourism will be discussed. The module will examine the roles of both public sector and corporate events management and will invite the students to critically reflect on the use of events by local and national governments as a development tool. The sessions will have a practical approach, in order to equip students with some of the skills required to design and manage event. This will be achieved through the use of case studies and by inviting a number of guest speakers from the industry. However, the module will also provide a solid theoretical basis, aimed at stimulating intellectual reflection and analytical skills.

• Wildlife and Tourism

  From souvenir hunting in Eastern Africa by European colonialists in the 19th century, to urban zoological parks, coarse fishing in urban canals or fly fishing on sporting estates in Scotland, wildlife has been of major importance in tourism and leisure for some considerable amount of time. In this module we will examine changes in people-wildlife interactions in terms of tourism and leisure. Part of this involves asking whether we are seeing demands for new experiences of adventure that brings people closer in proximity to animals. We will also examine the rise of community wildlife management and how the 'use' of wildlife has emerged in recent years as a legitimate right of local communities in order to promote tourism and seek social development. We will also look at the problems that tourism may help bring about, as well as the ways tourism may aid conservation in different parts of the world.

• Sustainable Management Futures

  This module is a core module on all of AIBS Pathways. It is a capstone module that takes a futures perspective on management, organisations and the changing nature of business and enterprise models. It is both a forward looking and integrative module that aims to bring together our students understanding of the evolving context of sustainable management. The module takes a dimensions based view of the notion of sustainable management futures by introducing the 'people, planet and profit lenses' for understanding sustainable management. Our aim is to introduce students to the idea and value of developing a 'futures mindset' from a number of perspectives including ethical and entrepreneurial; tolerant and innovative; and responsible and responsive.

Optional modules

• Cross-cultural Issues in International Management

• Dark Tourism

• Information Systems

• Learning & Development

• Marketing Research

• Wildlife & Tourism