BUSINESS, LAW AND FINANCE: MODULE SUMMARIES. Foundation Certificate. Economics in an International Context

Transcription

1 BUSINESS, LAW AND FINANCE: MODULE SUMMARIES Foundation Certificate Economics in an International Context This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Certificate in Business, Law and Social Sciences, the Foundation Certificate in Business, Law and Finance and the Foundation Certificate in Tourism and Hospitality Management. It is designed to develop foundational knowledge and understanding of the theory and practice of how markets operate and the factors influencing international trade and investment. As part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills, this module will prepare students effectively to study undergraduate business, law and social sciences in UK higher education. This module aims to introduce the key theories and concepts that allow students to broadly understand how markets operate and the factors influencing international trade and investment. The module begins by examining the core areas of study for the discipline of economics. The module then introduces the demand and supply model which deals with price and how the role of price allocates scarce resources. Further consideration is given to the supply side of the market as the module looks at the key decisions taken by firms. From the microeconomic perspective of decision making by individual firms and consumers, the module then addresses the macroeconomic issues of international trade, currency and financial markets. Business and the Business Environment This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Certificates in Business, Law and Social Sciences, Business, Law and Finance, Media and Communications, Computing and Tourism and Hospitality Management. As part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills, this module provides a solid foundation for the further study of business, media and communications or computing. This module aims to help students understand the importance of the general business environment in which national and international business activity takes place. The module begins by reviewing the various types of business organisations and the different objectives they might pursue. Consideration is also given to the reasons and methods by which organisations seek to grow in size. The module then addresses the general business environment in which these organisations must operate including the market structure,

2 international markets and the role of government in markets. The SWOT and PESTLE frameworks for analysing the external environment are introduced with an analysis of their relevance for formulating an organisation s strategy. The relevance of globalisation to business activity is also considered. The module concludes with a detailed examination of how a firm communicates with its customers in terms of its marketing research and marketing strategies. Business Enterprise This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Certificates in Business, Law and Social Sciences, Business Law and Finance and Tourism and Hospitality Management. As part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills, this module complements other business and economics modules to provide a solid foundation to prepare students effectively to study business at undergraduate level. This module aims to enable students to understand the concept of business enterprise and allow them to study the fundamental elements that comprise it. Particular emphasis is given to value and value creation as factors that determine competitive advantage in the market. The module begins by describing how and why economic activity develops. It then illustrates the basic variables that constitute organisations and analyses the role that culture, structure, and operative systems exert on businesses. The module brings together all the main activities and processes that make up the business enterprise and highlights their impact on the creation of value. Statistics This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Certificate Programmes. Statistics is a core component of the Foundation Certificate in Business, Law and Social Sciences, Business, Law and Finance and Tourism and Hospitality Management and is designed to develop students knowledge and understanding of, and the ability to apply, statistical applications in the social sciences. The module forms part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills. This module aims to equip students with the tools essential to engage with the application and analysis of statistics in a range of social science disciplines. The module begins by reviewing basic algebra and operations. Students then proceed to look in depth at describing data graphically and summarising measures of spread and averages in the data. The remainder of

3 the module introduces, at a foundation level, a number of data analysis models such as correlation and regression, time-series and probability. Social Science This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Certificate in Business, Law and Finance. As part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills, this module will fully prepare students to study undergraduate Business, Law and Finance in UK higher education. This module aims to provide students with an introduction to the socio-political environment of modern Britain through reflection on current social issues. Law This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Certificate in Business, Law and Finance. As part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills, this module will fully prepare students to study undergraduate Business, Law and Finance in UK higher education. This module aims to provide students with an introduction to the legal world of modern Britain and to develop students understanding of the British legal system through an examination of current legal issues. Accountancy This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Certificate in Business, Law and Finance Programme. Accountancy develops students understanding of the fundamental principles of accounting and allows them to perceive accountancy in the broader context of corporate policy and responsibility to society. The module provides a broad introduction to accountancy both to students who intend to specialise in this area and to those who would benefit from an awareness of essential accounting principles. Using accounting principles, students will learn how to construct final accounts for a business and how to interpret financial accounts. Students will learn how to interpret accounting ratios and variances. The module also gives students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the use of the industry standard Sage Instant Accounts computer software.

4 Language for Study 2 This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Certificate Programmes. The module enhances students linguistic ability and knowledge of the academic language underpinning key academic skills in order to help them to handle the academic requirements of their future undergraduate level study. This module draws on language from the Skills for Study 2 module and further enhances and develops lexical, grammatical and phonological awareness and builds up students' strategies to use their lexical, grammatical and phonological resources to understand spoken and written discourse and use information appropriately in spoken and written academic contexts. The range of task requirements will develop and assess students' understanding of language for academic study from a CEFR B2 to a B2+ level. On completion of this module, students are expected to have a language ability approximating to CEF B2+ level. Language for Study 3 This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Certificate Programmes. The module enhances students linguistic ability and knowledge of the academic language underpinning key academic skills in order to help them to handle the academic requirements of undergraduate level study. This module is used for progression purposes to indicate the students readiness to cope with the linguistic demands of studying in their pathway programme at the university, as well as for the KIC award completion requirements. This module draws language from the Skills for Study 3 module and further enhances and develops lexical, grammatical and phonological awareness and builds up students' strategies to use their lexical, grammatical and phonological resources to understand spoken and written discourse and use information appropriately in spoken and written academic contexts. The range of task requirements will develop and assess students' understanding and use of language for academic study from a CEFR B2+ to a C1 level. Students are required to achieve a minimum language level of CEF C1 in the module in order to gain the KIC award. Progression requirements to the partner university may vary within the CEF C1 level. An opportunity for reassessment may be granted to students taking this module if they fail to achieve the target mark to gain the KIC award, or if they fail to achieve the required progression requirement.

5 Skills for Study 1 This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Programmes as an introductory module that provides a broad range of basic academic skills and knowledge to help them adjust to the study environment at a British University. These core academic skills for all students are developed through cross disciplinary academic related themes. The main aim of module is to help students to develop effective study skills for lifelong learning and help them to develop confidence as autonomous learners. Students will be encouraged to participate actively in class activities to help them become more confident orally, encourage co-operative learning, raise awareness of basic critical thinking by encouraging them to ask questions, give opinions, agree and disagree and actively use their note-taking skills. They will begin to develop skills through understanding spoken and written information, investigating information and then reporting the information orally and in writing. It is a requirement that students demonstrate within the module a level of competence in basic IT skills (Power point or similar for presentations and word processing for all written work) and a very basic awareness of plagiarism and ability to begin applying referencing norms. Skills for Study 2 This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Programmes and helps to further develop a range of key academic skills and knowledge for study at a British University. These skills are developed through cross disciplinary academic related themes that are tailored to students specific fields of interest/study through the choice of text types/materials, extension activities, and assessment tasks. The main aim of the module is to help students to develop effective study skills for lifelong learning and help them to develop confidence as autonomous learners. Students will be encouraged to participate actively in class activities to help them become more confident orally, encourage co-operative learning and teamwork skills, begin to build up their critical thinking skills by encouraging them to engage in evaluative tasks requiring judgment and justification and by refining their active note-taking skills. They will develop skills through understanding spoken and written information, investigating information and then reporting the information orally and in writing. It is a requirement that students demonstrate within the module a level of competence in IT skills (Power point or similar for seminars and word processing/excel for all written work and data) and awareness of plagiarism and ability to apply referencing norms with control.

6 Skills for Study 3 This module has been designed for students undertaking the Foundation Programmes to develop students critical thinking and analysis skills and knowledge for study at a British University. These skills are developed through cross disciplinary academic related themes that are tailored to students specific fields of interest/study through the choice of text types/materials, extension activities, and assessment tasks. This module runs in the final term of all Foundation Certificate programmes. The main aim of module is to help students to develop effective study skills for lifelong learning and help them to develop confidence as autonomous learners. Students will be encouraged to participate actively in class activities to help them become more confident orally, encourage co-operative learning and teamwork skills, enhance their critical thinking, critical reading skills and their active note-taking skills. They will develop their ability to think critically and listen and read critically through understanding extended spoken and written information, investigating information/points of view and then developing an oral and written researched argument in an extended essay and presentation. It is a requirement that students demonstrate within the module a level of competence in IT skills, using power point or similar for presentations, developing posters for presentations in the Science and Engineering fields and word processing for all written work. Students will be expected to apply referencing norms accurately.

7 International Year One IYO in Business Quantitative Methods for Business This module has been designed for students undertaking the International Year One in Business. It provides an introduction to a range of quantitative techniques relevant to business and includes an application of skills through the use of software. This module aims to develop students' confidence, awareness and proficiency with quantitative techniques. Students will, by the end of this module, be able to apply quantitative techniques through computer software and interpret them in a business environment. In particular, this module aims to provide a sound introduction to a variety of quantitative techniques relevant to business, including descriptive and inferential statistics. The module will enable students to apply these techniques through the use of both specialist statistical and standard office software. They will develop awareness of, and proficiency with, quantitative techniques along with a familiarity with the use of quantitative techniques as an indicator of qualitative values in finance. This module encourages a confident, positive attitude towards numerical aspects of students' future studies and careers. Business Development and Entrepreneurship This module has been designed for students undertaking the International Year One in Business. Business Development and Entrepreneurship is a project-based, integrated module that incorporates academic and IT skills with the various areas of business. Students will be placed into teams and required to develop a plan for a new business, and then conduct a formal pitch of their proposal. The module aims to provide an integrating vehicle for other modules on the programmes where theory can be put into practice. It aims to help students develop knowledge and understanding of business, strategy and management issues within a practical setting, and to develop practical business skills necessary to be effective in a business organisation, including teamwork, planning, communication, presentation, project management, decision making, IT, research and analytical skills. A further goal is to develop students as reflective learners. Economics This module has been designed for students undertaking the International Year One in Business. Within Economics, students will study two general areas of economics:

8 microeconomics (the behaviour of individual decision-making units) and macroeconomics (the analysis of broader economic aggregates). This module aims to provide an introduction to basic concepts in economics, including how market economies operate at microeconomic and macroeconomic levels, the outcome of market processes and the functions of government in a market economy, and financial markets. Introduction to Marketing Principles This module has been designed for students undertaking the International Year One in Business and International Year One in Tourism and Hospitality Management Programmes. It provides an introduction to the subject specific vocabulary of marketing and the foundation marketing principles as part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills. This module provides a broad introduction to the role of marketing in organizations. Students are introduced to the basic theories of marketing which allow them to analyze marketing situations using these theories. Throughout the module students are exposed to real world applications of marketing concepts and apply these to their own experience and observations as consumers to their develop understanding of marketing. Financial Accounting This module has been designed for students undertaking the International Year One in Business. Financial Accounting provides an introduction to the basic principles of financial accounting, to develop an understanding of the principles of double entry and the application of GAAP in the preparation of the primary accounting statements. The module provides an introduction to the nature and roles of financial accounting in organisations. Specifically, students are exposed to professional standard accounting conventions and generally accepted accounting principles. From this, students will develop their ability, using commonly used techniques, to analyse financial statements. The module begins the preparation process for entering the world of work by equipping students with the necessary skills to record business transactions, make period end adjustments and compile a set of final accounts for a business entity.

9 Business Law This module has been designed for students undertaking the International Year One in Business. As part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills, this module will fully prepare students to study undergraduate business related disciplines in UK higher education. This module aims to introduce students to the legal principles relevant to careers in commerce and demonstrate how various basic doctrines of substantive law might impinge upon business activities. The students will gain an insight into how a lawyer would approach a technical problem and receive foundational knowledge in the law of contract and company law. Management Accounting and Financial Management This module has been designed for students undertaking the International Year One in Business programme. Management Accounting and Financial Management explains the key concepts of management accounting and, through the use of worked examples, demonstrates their application to the practice of financial management. The module aims to introduce the roles of management accounting and financial management in organisations which will enable students to appreciate the broader organisational impact of management accounting and financial management practices. The module begins the preparation process for entering the world of work by equipping students with the standard tools and techniques for business decision making and processes of financial and managerial control. Skills for Study 2 This module has been designed to further develop a range of key academic skills and knowledge for study at a British University. These skills are developed through cross disciplinary academic related themes that are tailored to students specific fields of interest/study through the choice of text types/materials, extension activities, and assessment tasks. The main aim of module is to help students to develop effective study skills for lifelong learning and help them to develop confidence as autonomous learners. Students will be encouraged to participate actively in class activities to help them become more confident orally, encourage co-operative learning and teamwork skills, further enhance their critical thinking skills by encouraging them to engage in evaluative tasks requiring judgment and justification and by refining their active note-taking skills. They will develop skills through understanding spoken

10 and written information, investigating information and then reporting the information orally and in writing in an extended essay/report and seminar discussion. It is a requirement that students demonstrate within the module a level of competence in IT skills (Power point or similar for seminars and word processing/excel for all written work and data) and awareness of plagiarism and ability to apply referencing norms with control. Language for Study 3 This module has been designed for students undertaking the International Year One Programmes. The module enhances students linguistic ability and knowledge of the academic language underpinning key academic skills in order to help them to handle the academic requirements of university study. This module is used for progression purposes to indicate the students readiness to cope with the linguistic demands of studying in their pathway programme at the university, as well as for the KIC award completion requirements. This module draws language from the Skills for Study modules and further enhances and develops lexical, grammatical and phonological awareness and builds up students' strategies to use their lexical, grammatical and phonological resources to understand spoken and written discourse and use information appropriately in spoken and written academic contexts. The range of task requirements will develop and assess students' understanding and use of language for academic study from a CEFR B2+ to a C1 level. Students are required to achieve a minimum language level of CEF C1 in the module in order to gain the KIC award. Progression requirements to the partner university may vary within the CEF C1 level. An opportunity for reassessment may be granted to students taking this module if they fail to achieve the target mark to gain the KIC award, or if they fail to achieve the required progression requirement.

11 Pre-masters in Business, Law and Finance Social Science Principles This module has been designed for students undertaking a Pre-Master s Programme in Business, Law & Social Sciences or Business, Law and Finance. As part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills, this module introduces students to the main philosophical traditions that have shaped our understanding and study of social phenomena in the West. This module aims a) to examine the differences between the study of natural and social phenomena; b) to debate the validity and credibility of assertions made by different schools of thought in social science with regard to the nature of the social world; and c) to discuss what implications the adoption of different epistemological and methodological traditions might have for social science research. Research Design and Critique This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s Programmes in Business, Law & Social Sciences, the Pre-Master s Programmes in Business, Law & Finance and the Pre-Master s in Tourism and Hospitality Management. Research Design & Critique develops students understanding of the process of designing a rigorous and feasible research project, and how to critique research. As part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills, this module provides a solid foundation to prepare students to plan and undertake the research project, and to study postgraduate business, law and social sciences in UK higher education. This module aims to develop students knowledge and skill in defining a research problem, and designing a rigorous and feasible research project capable of producing trustworthy research. Students also develop skills in research planning and management, and the ability to critique social science research Global Corporate Marketing Strategies This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s Programmes in Business, Law and Social Sciences, Business, Law and Finance and Media and Communications. As part of an integrated programme combining subject knowledge with English language and academic skills, this module provides a bridge from the generic, core modules underpinning the study of business, law, social sciences, finance and media providing

12 contextual knowledge of corporate and marketing strategy to prepare students to study management at postgraduate level. This module aims to provide grounding in global corporate and marketing strategy. An appreciation of the issues relating to developing the marketing mix in a global environment is explored. Consideration will be given to the impact of political, economic, social and technological systems on business priorities. Introduction to English, European and International Law This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s Programmes in Business, Law and Social Sciences and in Business, Law and Finance. It provides subject knowledge to underpin the specialist project and to prepare students for entry to Master s level study of law at a UK university. This module aims to give students a solid grounding in legal principles and research techniques specific to law, enabling them to make the best use of postgraduate studies. This requires knowledge in the areas of commercial law, European law (both the legal framework of the EU and selected areas of substantive law) and international law (both legal framework and areas of law making). Economics and Finance This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s in Business Law and Finance. Economics and Finance is designed to build and enhance students familiarity with the meaning, nature, concepts and scope of a variety of economic and fiscal theories and models. This module aims to help students to become familiar with various economic, fiscal and management theories and models and to support students so that they be able to judiciously apply these to a firms strategic direction. The Theory and Practice of Strategic Management This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s Programmes in Business, Law and Social Sciences, Business, Law and Finance and Tourism and Hospitality Management. This module is intended to familiarise students with the fundamentals of business strategy. The module focuses on organisations from multinationals to entrepreneurial start-ups, government agencies and more.

13 This module aims to equip students with key management theories and provide an understanding of strategy techniques, allowing them to study an extensive range of issues and enabling deeper analysis through discussion. Language for Study 2 This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s Programmes. The module enhances students linguistic ability and knowledge of the academic language underpinning key academic skills in order to help them to handle the academic requirements of their future Masters level study. This module draws on language from the Skills for Study 2 module and further enhances and develops lexical, grammatical and phonological awareness and builds up students' strategies to use their lexical, grammatical and phonological resources to understand spoken and written discourse and to use information appropriately in spoken and written academic contexts. The range of task requirements will develop and assess students' understanding of language for academic study from a CEFR B2 to a B2+ level. On completion of this module, students are expected to have a language ability approximating to CEF B2+ level. Language for Study 3 This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s Programmes. The module enhances students linguistic ability and knowledge of the academic language underpinning key academic skills in order to help them to cope with the academic requirements of Masters level study. This module is used for progression purposes to indicate the students readiness to cope with the linguistic demands of studying in their pathway programme at the university, as well as for the KIC award completion requirements. This module draws language from the Skills for Study 3 module and further enhances and develops lexical, grammatical and phonological awareness and builds up students' strategies to use their lexical, grammatical and phonological resources to understand spoken and written discourse and use information appropriately in spoken and written academic contexts. The range of task requirements will develop and assess students' understanding and use of language for academic study from a CEFR B2+ to a C1 level. Students are required to achieve a minimum language level of CEF C1 in the module in order to gain the KIC award. Progression requirements to the partner university may vary within the CEF C1 level. An opportunity for reassessment may be granted to students taking this module if they fail to achieve the target mark to gain the KIC award, or if they fail to achieve the required progression requirement.

14 Skills for Study 1 This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s Programmes as an introductory module that provides a broad range of basic academic skills and knowledge to help them adjust to the study environment in a UK University. These core academic skills for all students are developed through cross disciplinary academic-related themes. The main aim of the module is to help students to develop effective study skills for lifelong learning and help them to develop confidence as autonomous learners. Students will be encouraged to participate actively in class activities to help them become more confident orally, encourage co-operative learning, raise awareness of basic critical thinking by encouraging them to ask questions, give opinions, agree and disagree and actively use their note-taking skills. They will begin to develop skills through understanding spoken and written information, investigating information and then reporting the information orally and in writing. It is a requirement that students demonstrate within the module a level of competence in basic IT skills (Power point or similar for presentations and word processing for all written work) and a very basic awareness of plagiarism and ability to begin applying referencing norms. Skills for Study 2 This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s Programmes and helps to further develop a range of key academic skills and knowledge for study at a British University. These skills are developed through cross-disciplinary, academic-related themes that are tailored to students specific fields of interest/study through the choice of text types/materials, extension activities, and assessment tasks. The main aim of module is to help students to develop effective study skills for lifelong learning and help them to develop confidence as autonomous learners. Students will be encouraged to participate actively in class activities to help them become more confident orally, encourage co-operative learning and teamwork skills, further enhance their critical thinking skills by encouraging them to engage in evaluative tasks requiring judgment and justification and by refining their active note-taking skills. They will develop skills through understanding spoken and written information, investigating information and then reporting the information orally and in writing. It is a requirement that students demonstrate within the module a level of competence in IT skills (Power point or similar for seminars and word processing/excel for all written work and data) and an awareness of plagiarism and ability to apply referencing norms accurately.

15 Skills for Study 3 This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s Programmes and further develops students critical thinking and analysis skills and knowledge for study at a British University. These skills are developed through cross disciplinary academic related themes that are tailored to students specific fields of interest/study through the choice of text types/materials, extension activities, and assessment tasks. This module runs in the final term of all Pre-Master s programmes. The main aim of module is to help students to develop effective study skills for lifelong learning and help them to develop confidence as autonomous learners. Students will be encouraged to participate actively in class activities to help them become more confident orally, encourage co-operative learning and teamwork skills, expand and hone their critical thinking, critical reading skills and their active note-taking skills. They will develop their ability to think critically and listen and read critically through understanding extended and fairly complex spoken and written information, investigating information/points of view and then developing an oral and written researched argument. It is a requirement that students demonstrate within the module a level of competence in IT skills, using power point or similar for presentations, developing posters for presentations in the Science and Engineering fields and word processing/excel for all written work. Students will be expected to apply referencing norms accurately. Research Project This module has been designed for students undertaking the Pre-Master s Programme in Business, Law and Social Sciences, the Pre-Master s Programme in Business, Law and Finance and the Pre-Master s in Tourism and Hospitality Management to give them the opportunity to plan and manage their own research, and produce a research project report. The module draws on the skills developed in the Skills for Study 1, 2, and 3 modules and builds upon the ideas developed in the PM002 research proposal. This module runs in the final term of a student s programme. This module aims to equip students with the knowledge and the ability to carry out a piece of independent, well-considered research appropriate to their specific discipline with characteristics that make it useful and usable: i.e. clearly specified, well-articulated, wellstructured and well-presented. The outcomes from the project should demonstrate the ability to utilize existing undergraduate knowledge and skills to achieve research work that is technically competent. Students develop the ability to undertake a literature review, primary research on research topic, compare and contrast ideas and critically evaluate research

16 outcomes. The project will be presented in a written report and a written evaluative reflection of the process.