Business Management with a Foundation Year - BA (Hons) *

This module will help you to develop the essential academic skills required to be successful in Higher Education.  Within a supportive class environment and your own individual study this module will help you to develop basic research skills, academic writing and reflection skills.  Acquiring these skills will aid your transition to undertake the higher levels of study associated with your chosen degree programme.   

During this module you will be required to maintain a learning diary to reflect upon the enhancement of your own academic skills development. The majority of taught sessions will involve interactive discussion and activities led by the module tutor.  Certain sessions will introduce you to services and resources available to you at Birmingham City University.

This module will equip you with the essential skills required to be successful in Higher Education.  Within a supportive class environment and your own individual study this module will help you to develop the professional presentation, time management and team working skills that will be needed in your subsequent study at Birmingham City University and in graduate employment.  Acquiring these skills will aid your transition to undertake the higher levels of study associated with your chosen degree programme and increase your self-awareness, confidence and assertiveness.   

Within the module there will be a combination of teamwork and self-directed study so as to foster a culture of innovation and collegiality that will significantly benefit your transition to degree studies and the learning and teaching philosophy of your chosen degree pathway. Through working with your peers and in addition to regular contact with the module tutor, the module enables you to enhance your ability and confidence to undertake academic study at degree level.  

This module will provide you with an introduction to the business environment, different business functions, and how they relate to each other. Considering how businesses operate within its context will allow you to develop a broad approach to understanding how businesses work and inform your future degree and career choice.

This module will use case studies to introduce and explore different issues and the assessment will require you to relate the topics covered in this module to a real world business that will be visited during this module.

An Introduction to Management and Leadership will provide an overview of the essential skills, attributes and actions of a successful manager in today’s business environment.

The Foundation Practice Project module is a practical piece of extended work related to your chosen degree. It will require you to apply the knowledge and skills developed throughout your current level of study and will enhance your ability to work individually and as part of a team. During the project you will be given the space, time and facilities to support deeper appreciation for your specialisation and you will be encouraged to demonstrate creativity in the design, planning and execution of a project.

Within the module there will be a combination of teamwork and self-directed study so as to foster a culture of innovation and collegiality that will significantly benefit your transition to degree studies and the learning and teaching philosophy of your chosen degree pathway. Through working with your peers and in addition to regular contact with an assigned supervisor, the module enables you to negotiate your learning and will directly contribute to your professional development and appreciation of how others work.  

This module will help you to develop the essential business skills required to be successful in a business context.  Within a supportive class environment and your own individual study this module will help you to develop your understanding and skills related to IT, data collection and analysis, project management, networking and leadership. Acquiring these skills will aid your transition to the higher levels of study associated with your chosen degree programme and enhance your employability.   

During this module you will be required to maintain a learning diary to reflect upon the enhancement of your own academic skills development.  The majority of taught sessions will involve interactive discussion and activities led by specialist tutors.  During this module there will be a field trip to explore how skills are utilised and developed within a business context.

You will learn to appreciate the current concerns among HR managers, and be aware of current and forthcoming UK and European legislation. 

You will propose opportunities for the creation of value for a range of stakeholders, through the application of marketing concepts and practices. You’ll also demonstrate transferable skills, which are essential to a career in marketing and business. 

You will undertake and report on activities in relation to skills and competencies essential for today’s graduates. 

You will prepare basic budgets based on standard cost calculations, as well as create basic extracts from financial statements.

You will gain an understanding of the main elements of organisational structures, as well as being able to recognise team-related employee behaviours exhibited within the workplace. 

This module will introduce you to the concept of entrepreneurship. You will study the basic concepts and theories in entrepreneurship, how entrepreneurs develop and grow individually and what it takes to launch an enterprise. In order to achieve this there will be a range of case studies of successful / unsuccessful entrepreneurs, understanding entrepreneurship across borders and explore to what extent success of entrepreneurs could be based on the traits, styles and behaviours of the entrepreneurs.

This module is intended to provide students with a broad understanding of what is meant by employee engagement, including how it can be linked to and yet be distinguished from other related concepts like employee involvement and employee participation. Enduring definitions like that of the Maslach Burnout Inventory or the Utrecht model which measure employee engagement through the three elements: vigour, dedication and absorption will be considered, as will the CIPD’s own work around the three dimensions of: intellectual engagement, effective engagement and social engagement.

The aim of this module is to allow you to understand how Operations Management is involved in all disciplines, sectors and areas of business and its management – not just the traditional view within supply chain management. You will gain an understanding of the management of resources for producing and delivering products or services in today’s increasingly global market. It aims to equip you with the knowledge and understanding of operations management in terms of its design, planning, control and improvement. Alongside this you will learn to apply the concepts and techniques to practical issues and live case studies of current issues.

You will gain an understanding of modern supply chain management principles and practice, including the evolution of modern supply chain management theory. You’ll understand apply appropriate management frameworks, which can be used for the planning and control of materials and services. You will also evaluate the range of tools and techniques available to aid efficient and effective supply chain managerial operations.

You will demonstrate a clear appreciation of the linkages between the roles of management consultants, as well as applying a range of theory, knowledge and skills to diagnose organisational issues. You will complete the module with a clear understanding if the skills needed for developing critical insights into organisational issues.

This module gives opportunities to develop your depth of understanding of issues in relation to the development of management competencies to prepare for the workplace, for placement activities and for modern working life.

You will gain an understanding in contemporary and technological management issues within HRM and digital marketing. You will also demonstrate an understanding of project management in the context of managing contemporary issues. 

In this module, you will apply relevant strategic concepts and techniques of competitive strategy to the analysis of strategic choice. You will enhance your ability to contribute effectively to discussions, presentations or debates. 

This Module enables you to explore the broader roles of managers as consultants as they seek to align organisational systems, processes and activities within an increasingly dynamic external environment. You’ll be working individually, and within a group, to integrate theory and practice to tackle ‘real world’ organisational problems, issues and situations, presented through a case study. In doing so you’ll develop valuable practice-based learning through the use of relevant tools and techniques of problem analysis.

In this module you will explore the role of entrepreneurship and small business management with the view of growth. You will investigate and explore how organisations firstly form, then how they begin to evolve. Students will examine how the organisations, their customers and key stakeholders may change as organisations grow to become long term sustainable businesses. Relevant content relating to new venture creation and small business growth theories will be delivered.

This module takes as its starting point the assumption that management of organisations, large and small, is now usually done across national boundaries, this is due to competitive forces as well as technological and political changes. These dynamic shifts have led to the need for managers to have more than a passing appreciation of the cultures that various stakeholders come from. The stakeholders include customers, employees and suppliers as well as governments and competitors and it is the relationship between these and the manager which this module seeks to explore.

This module, where a programme of study enables it, is open to BLSS students, who choose to undertake an international Study Abroad or Erasmus+ study outgoing mobility placement within their second year of study. The aim of this module is to enable individuals to explore their mobility experience through a cross-cultural lens that focusses on the key themes of their discipline in an international context, cross-cultural awareness, social construction, and the self. Informed by activities that draw on research enquiry, creativity, culture, employability, reflection and professional development.

Here, you will justify the significance of innovative thinking and idea generation to support responses to organisational challenges, threats and opportunities. 

This module provides an opportunity for you to articulate your potential as an aspiring manager and develop a critical appreciation of the complexities of being an executive manager, for example distinguishing between personal intervention and empowerment, and delegation.

On this module, you will identify the key traits of a global manager, analysing the relevance of adapting management styles in today’s rapidly-changing global environments. 

The module seeks to address key issues confronting managers in a rapidly globalising 21st century. The fast changing global business environment and the dynamics of international shifts in economic power have led to an increased interest in responsiveness of organisations. As you graduate from university with your business management degree you will need to demonstrate a clear appreciation of the key issues of the day and the theoretical work that has attempted to explain them. The module seeks to equip you with ability to critically analyse case material and to engage in meaningful debate both aurally and in writing.

The module will be delivered via lectures and seminars with opportunities for students to participate in discussions around selected issues of the day that have global significance, for example the position of women in senior management positions, regional groupings in a global economy, labour in an integrating world economy, and ethics and corporate social responsibility in international markets.

At the end of this module, you should be able to identify, determine and justify a disciplinary-relevant project, including its aims, scopes and objectives. You should also be able to self-manage research, including managing the supervisory process.