International Business BA (Hons)

You’ll explore topics ranging from financial principles and reporting standards through to budgeting, costing and analytical problem-solving.

You'll gain an understanding of accounting’s indispensable role in informing strategy and operations for organisations, and finish this module with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to guide organisations towards financial control.

By exploring key concepts, principles and decision frameworks, you'll understand the vital role of operations management across all aspects of business — including process design, capacity planning, supply chain optimisation, lean methodology, quality control, and project execution.

When you finish this module you'll have the expertise to optimise workflows, resources, technologies and partnerships, and be ready to drive operational excellence, performance improvement, and sustainability within business.

Students delve into the realms of debate and critical thinking in the context of marketing and International Business studies.

In this module, students engage in a collaborative virtual project with peers from partnering international universities. This experience allows students to enhance their virtual collaboration skills, cultivate cross-cultural awareness and hone their interpersonal communication abilities — essential for their future in business.

The module tutors act as personal tutors, supporting students in their progress and welfare requirements. The skills and knowledge gained in this module directly complement other core modules studied in the first year along with fostering important employability and career management expertise.

Students will develop a deep understanding of ethical and cultural challenges in international business while gaining the skills to navigate diverse cultural landscapes effectively.

A weekly lecture will be supported be a weekly group seminar which are designed to enable students to explore concepts raised in the lectures and have opportunity to apply them both individually and in small groups, through a variety of real world scenarios and case studies.

Completion of the year abroad helps achieve all learning outcomes of this module. The student will be required to submit evidence of learning, cross-referenced to the agreed learning outcomes as set out in the Learning Agreement. This will include a Transcript of Record from a host university to be submitted at the end of the study abroad placement . Students will need to have obtained 70% of credits taken in order to pass (LOs 1, 2, 3). In borderline cases of pass/fail for study abroad an assessment of 2000 words will also need to be submitted and considered. This applies to all courses where the year Abroad is taken in the second year of study. The BA International Business students will also need to submit a compulsory ePortfolio under the form of a Google Site at the end of their year abroad even if they have passed everything the their prospective institution(s) and have obtained all their credits.

In this module, students will be encouraged to think like strategy practitioners in today's real life international environment. Consequently, they will develop the skills and competencies needed to be a good strategist, including the ability to diagnose strategic issues, analyse the industry a company is competing in as well as a firm's capabilities, and synthesizing ideas into creative strategy insights, strategic issue selling, and reflecting upon their practice as strategists. That reflection will involve critically examining the wider strategy-as-practice literature in terms of the insights it provides for the development of strategy. Students will also develop an appreciation of the global and international context within which strategists operate and the ethical nature of strategic decision making.

It bridges international business, business ethics and sustainable development, exploring classic and contemporary theory and practice, whilst providing an overall picture of what it means to be a sustainable business in today's global economy. It aims to develop critical appreciation of the interconnected nature of relationships between global economic processes, business activities and sustainability; the role of corporations in the global economy from a sustainable development perspective and the range of strategies and practices that companies can use to contribute to the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals. The main Hallmark this module seeks to adress is for students to be informed citizens, with a sense of responsibility allied to a commitment to ethical practice and social justice issues, such as equality, respect and sustainability. Additionally, it will seek to address several other Hallmarks: a) To support students having a critical and reflective knowledge and understanding of global business responsibility, with both the ability and readiness to question its principles, practices and boundaries; b) By bridging international business, ethics and sustainability, it will support students think independently, analytically and creatively, and engage imaginatively with new areas of investigation within and across discipline boundaries; c) By addressing how business strategies can be applied to progress UN Sustainable Development Goals it will contribute to students able to synthesise new and existing knowledge to generate ideas and develop creative solutions of benefit to the economy and society; d) By stimulating critical evaluation of the dynamics of globalization and sustainability, students will be intellectually curious, embrace challenges and seize opportunities for development; e) Through participation, debate and groupwork in the seminars, in addition to writing assignments, students will learn to communicate clearly and effectively, in a range of forms and to different audiences.

These key skills include:

• Research and critical analysis skills
• A range of communication skills (written & oral)
• Problem solving (quantitative and qualitative) skills

The module addresses UoP Hallmarks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8.

It requires critical engagement with appropriate literature, sound choice of research methods and carrying the planned approach into practice to produce a piece of independent research.

Students will be supported through a mix of large group sessions, workshops and individual appointments to support them to develop a research idea and to realise it as a piece of written work. Individual appointments will be arranged between supervisor and student.

It requires critical engagement with appropriate literature, sound choice of research methods and carrying the planned approach into practice to produce a piece of independent research.

Students will be supported through a mix of large group sessions, workshops and individual appointments to support them to develop a research idea and to realise it as a piece of written work. Individual appointments will be arranged between supervisor and student.

This empowering module develops your analytical abilities as you investigate a topic linked to industry trends or academic interests. With workshops and 1:1 support, you'll formulate intriguing questions, engage with literature, select robust methods and collect insightful data. We cultivate an enterprising spirit, applying knowledge in innovative ways. The highlight is conceiving and executing your own ethical study. You'll reflect critically on the research process, ultimately producing a dissertation demonstrating intellectual curiosity.

Examples of past projects are: developing options for a bank for use of their banking halls for community financial education; creating a strategy for a facilities management firm to improve their marketing; helping a social enterprise to find ways to grow their user base with new service offerings. You'll develop skills in teamwork, project management, design thinking and consultancy, and learn to practically apply business concepts from across your degree studies. After an introduction to the organisation, your client will provide ongoing direction and guidance, and you'll be giving them regular progress updates. For most of the time, you'll be part of an independent, diverse team, managing priorities to achieve the project aims. You'll be supported throughout the module by your seminar tutor. Much of your learning will be off-campus, meeting key stakeholders and conducting tasks such as customer surveys and interviews. We encourage an experimental and entrepreneurial approach, and you'll learn key skills in the seminars and online lectures. The coursework is a mix of 60% group work and 40% individual assessment.

Completion of this module will allow students to reach an informed opinion on the basis of the empirical findings of their independent business research.

It examines how data from enterprise resource planning systems can be extracted, in order to model and analyse business data using visualisation and analytics tools.

Theory covered includes Extract Transform & Load (ETL) techniques; query design to retrieve information; choosing suitable data warehousing software; data mining and visualisation and dashboarding, text mining and sentiment analysis; machine learning and big data analytics. 

Exploring the models and best practices related to ideation, development and launch, you’ll understand the processes that bring ideas to market. 

Analysing factors from sustainability to globalisation, you’ll tackle the contemporary issues impacting development in the modern landscape. This module will equip you with understanding to give you a cutting edge in the jobs market.

With assessments focused on addressing real-world cases, you'll boost your strategic skills to manage initiatives smoothly from vision to rollout, leaving you prepared to champion disruption responsibly across industries ahead.

You’ll critically evaluate traditional and contemporary leadership models, analysing debates around topics like management versus leadership.

By blending theory and practice, you'll use leadership activities to strengthen your awareness of your own abilities and identify your development areas.

You’ll compare approaches and learn how to apply ideas contextually with real-world cases. And with assessments that build your personal leadership plans, you’ll leave well-equipped to motivate, empower others and handle modern challenges.

Build on your prior knowledge by exploring how macro and micro cultural forces shape workplace behaviour, competence needs and communication approaches.

You'll use both creativity and critical thinking to actively apply perspectives from sociology and psychology to real-world case studies. From this, you'll learn to identify nuances across diverse settings and to make effective workplace recommendations.

By the end of this module you’ll have essential skills in cross-cultural analysis that are crucial for thriving in our increasingly interconnected world of business.

You’ll learn how a strategic approach to information systems can achieve competitive advantage through informed decision-making.

You’ll discover how leading companies leverage technology to build organisational knowledge and respond to market changes.

By the end of this module, you’ll understand the management issues associated with digital transformation. As technology continues to evolve, this module prepares you with timely knowledge to support your future career.

You'll explore configuration considerations, relationship dynamics and ethical imperatives to discover how aligned flows of information, goods and finances enable organisational success. By evaluating real chains that span multiple geographies, you'll assess decision trade-offs to boost productivity, agility and sustainability. You'll finish this module ready to lead enterprises to new heights and lead on value creation.

Explore how brands, communications and incentives can alter behaviours from sustainability to social justice. With a focus on ethical issues, you'll evaluate tactics to encourage conscious consumption and civic action, and learn to develop hard-hitting campaigns that confront to some of society's most pressing challenges. This module empowers you to pursue purpose as well as profit, and prepares you to use your marketing skills as a force for good.

The Module makes use of case examples to review applicable theory and frameworks to illustrate the combined roles of Continuous Improvement (CI), Organisational Learning (OL), Change Management, and the importance of a Creative Environment (CE) as a springboard for innovation.

This module will develop your knowledge and understanding in the application of ideas, methodologies, processes, and techniques for improving and sustaining organisational performance. The module emphasises the operationalising of business and functional strategy and focuses on how to facilitate and sustain successful change.

The module evaluates the cultural, behavioural and human elements, and considers the role ¿people¿ have in leading and being part of successful and sustainable improvement.

You'll explore core concepts and tools as well as the ethical issues and digital dynamics shaping modern B2B strategy. Through guest lecturers and case studies, you'll discover how leading B2B brands engage networked partners and buyers. You'll evaluate marketing tactics across the end-to-end customer journey, and formulate data-driven solutions tailored specifically to B2B marketing. You'll finish this module with specialist knowledge to thrive in B2B marketing careers across tech, manufacturing and professional services.

You'll be introduced to key theories and models for valuing major financial markets, and learn to apply these essential frameworks to different contexts. Through assessments, you'll grow your analytical and critial skills. You'll examine corporate investment strategies and the impact of global developments, compare the theories underpinning exchange rates and multinationals, and finish this module with an informed perspective of global finance.

You'll critically examine the factors driving discrimination while evaluating methods to reduce imbalance.

With social justice as a cornerstone, you'll actively apply perspectives from psychology and sociology to examine workplace cultures and identify meaningful change opportunities.

Using real-world cases, you'll explore nuances in power dynamics and discuss the barriers facing disadvantaged groups.

You'll finish this module with a heightened awareness of inclusion issues, both systemically and interpersonally, and be prepared to positively shape your future organisation and drive towards equitable participation and belonging.

It covers situations ranging from buying a house, salary negotiations and corporate take-overs to agreeing commercial contractual conditions. This course covers basic negotiation concepts such as distributive and integrative bargaining, two-party and multi-party situations as well as more advanced topics such as the impact of culture and psychology on judgement and decision making. There is an emphasis on practical skills and there will be extensive use of role playing and group based simulations.

. This module follows on from HRMP (U23765) and aims to build on and develop further students' knowledge and understanding of Human Resource Management (HRM). PR explores and analyses the range of techniques and methodologies available to enable the organisation to be effectively resourced with the right people, at the right time, in the right place at the right cost. This module incorporates HR Planning, Talent Acquisition and Talent Management within a legal, ethical and business focused framework. This Level 6 module is to run for 2020/2021 only for progressing Level 5/placement students. The Module reflects the following Hallmarks of a UoP Graduate (at Level 6 in full or in part) : 1. A critical and reflective knowledge and understanding of their subject, with both the ability and readiness to question its principles, practices and boundaries (All Learning Outcomes). 2. Think independently, analytically and creatively (All Learning Outcomes). 3. Be able to synthesise new and existing knowledge to generate ideas and develop creative solutions of benefit to the economy and society (LO6).

Use flexible project management tools that meet industry standards, and learn to differentiate between transformative initiatives and business-as-usual processes.

By evaluating real-world cases, you’ll analyse the contextual factors and stakeholder dynamics that position certain projects as strategic investments. With an outcome-oriented mindset, you’ll appreciate how disciplined planning, communication and risk mitigation leads teams to mobilise resources for impactful delivery.

This module equips you with a versatile project management toolkit and a strategic perspective that is highly valued across sectors.

Students will be required to apply economic models to a range of issues in public economics and public finance.

After your second or third year, you can do an optional work placement year to get valuable longer-term work experience in the industry.

We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your aspirations, and you’ll get mentoring and support throughout your year of work.

When you graduate after successfully completing a placement year, your degree transcript and degree certificate will state that your degree is `in the sandwich mode'.