BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Digital marketing channels are revolutionising the way all businesses operate and market their business activities. Everyone is looking for opportunities to enhance and support their core marketing communications objectives in this customer-centric multi-channel environment. You will be learning digital marketing principles, the role of social media and how to apply them to create a successful strategy.

In a volatile and challenging business environment, strong leadership and effective human resource management is vital to business success. To become adept in such uncertain times, with such a diverse workforce, individuals need to develop agile leadership and interpersonal competencies. Initially, this module introduces contemporary theories and models underpinning leadership and inclusive employee engagement. It later moves onto the importance of strong values, culture, followership and transparency in leadership approaches. Furthermore, the module aims to help you appreciate the international context of human resource issues that impact on business performance. It is also structured to highlight the importance of good leadership and the role of the line manager in engaging and developing creativity in their people. The module is also designed to develop your understanding of the contribution of effective leader development to sustainable team and business performance.

This module focuses on the development of strategic priorities to deliver business at speed in an environment where digital technology has reshaped traditional revenue and business models. It includes an exploration of innovation and digital technologies and their impact on organisations, and how their application can inform organisational improvement and development. Critiquing innovation and digital technology’s impact on data and knowledge management for analysing business decision making will be incorporated, as well as developing an awareness of interpersonal skills of effective listening, influencing techniques, negotiation and persuasion.

Business managers are required to have an understanding of key financial concepts that are critical to business success. There are constant reminders of the national budget and business budgets. In this module you will begin with the budgeting process and learning how to prepare cash budgets for a business entity. From here the module examines financial statements for a sole trader and a company. Business managers need to make decisions based on the financial performance of a business – the analysis of financial statements is a key requirement to make decisions and monitor growth. You will also learn about the different form of a business entity and the various sources and providers of finance available to the different types of organisations.

An organisation has a variety of stakeholders and networks which need to be engaged with and managed either as a business owner, manager or an employee. In this module, you will explore how to approach various stakeholders, learn how to develop relationships, build rapport, negotiate and overcome conflicts with a range of internal and external stakeholders and networks from various backgrounds, as well as holistically developing your own personal effectiveness. Knowing how to maintain personal presence in a collaborative setting and investigating the power of networking to develop powerful partnerships will be a key feature. Evidence will be generated throughout the academic year which will culminate in developing a portfolio to demonstrate increased personal effectiveness and relationship building.

Given that brand reputation is now the biggest risk facing businesses today, you will explore how digital brands are viewed, built, managed and measured to ensure firms' superiority and sustainability in profits. This module focuses on the development of industry-based knowledge and practical skills required to succeed in management. The importance of digital media will be analysed in the communication of brands to key stakeholders.

E-commerce has revolutionised the way in which customers interact with businesses. More than ever, it is important for brands to build a powerful online presence. This module will furnish you with the theoretical and practical knowledge required to build your own e-commerce platform and design optimised customer journeys which delight customers and keep them coming back to your website again and again.

The aim of this module is to develop a practical understanding of the role of social enterprise. Social enterprises are more commonly referred to as the Third Sector, which is a move away from the terms ‘not-for-profit’, no longer used by social enterprises. Indeed, social enterprises are very much for profit and the profit is a joint primary focus with social impact. There is a recognition of the need to generate profit to create the impact. First and foremost, social enterprises are set up for social good and to trade to fulfil that impact – businesses that trade for people and the planet, not personal profit of shareholders. The emergence of the nascent Fourth Sector which combines private, public and non-profit sectors (Third sectors) will also be incorporated.

Managing change and dealing with the shifting demands of external market forces, particularly those that have developed through the effective exploitation of digital technologies and ever-increasing competitor activity, requires a systematic, well-managed and robust ‘project managed’ response. This module introduces a template for just such a response which may be required when an organisation must go beyond ‘business-as-usual’ to directly face both the external and internal challenges.

You will learn the concepts involved in managing sales and salespeople, getting a clear understanding of selling within a marketing organisation, the different types of buyers and how to sell to them. In light of the ever-increasing 'internationalisation' of business, you will also be looking at sales on an international scope.

You will gain valuable work experience on a 48-week work placement. This is an exciting opportunity to put what you have learned into practice, broaden your experience and demonstrate your abilities to potential employers.

Change is inevitable in an increasingly competitive global environment. This compels firms to proactively design strategies to deal with the resulting turbulence. This module develops an understanding of the role of leadership in conceptualising, designing and instituting effective change within organisations. The module content comprises two complementary components: the first involves the understanding and learning of the main strategic management concepts and theories, while the second implies its application in organisations. The practical orientation of the module enables you to experience the stages and activities underpinning the strategic change process.

This module is about making decisions which ensure the most effective and efficient use of organisational resources. It discusses the techniques used by performance managers in planning, control, decision making and overall performance evaluation of organisational activities. It focuses on information needs, technologies and systems necessary for efficient and effective performance management of organisations. A key aim of performance management is to measure costs and revenues relating to specific operations divisions and products. Information gathered in this way is used to plan and control activities in order to ensure that key organisational objectives are achieved.

You will have the opportunity to engage in an independent research project of your choice. You will have support with preparing your proposal and understanding the competent characteristics of good research. An appointed tutor will help guide you through this important and rewarding process.

A new way of doing business, freelancing is emerging as a vessel for modern, busy people to thrive as entrepreneurs. It gives them freedom to manage multiple careers in a way that works for their life and commitments. In this module, you will develop your creativity skills and learn to 'think outside the box' and create and critically assess your own opportunities to identify tangible market potential and sustainability. In addition, you will have the opportunity to learn a range of skills including creating an online presence and social media, as well as traditional marketing, on and offline networking, project management, influencing and negotiating skills and strategic career planning.

This module will build upon both practical and theoretical financial concepts and methods developed through earlier modules. The intention of this module is to provide an in-depth knowledge of concepts previously studied and to develop new concepts relevant to the financial operations of business. This module will be particularly useful if you wish to develop a career within a financial role and/or want to examine further how finance influences the short-term and long-term strategies of businesses.

We live in an interconnected world, so it's important to examine how organisations explore new market opportunities beyond national boundaries. As a result, you will become more aware of the technological, communication and transportation challenges businesses face and the options they consider when seeking a foothold in a new country.

In order to offer meaningful career pathways, what sort of strategies should a business consider? How can it meet the challenges it faces while creating an environment that retains talented employees? You will be exploring contemporary strategies in HR that shape benchmark employers in the industry.