International Business Management and Digital Strategy

Global Strategic Management

Strategic management is the process by which managers formulate and implement strategies to generate high performance. In this module you will develop your understanding of the managerial strategic challenge; how to deliver sustainable competitive advantage. You will engage in critical evaluation of the key strategic issues. You will consider the wider economic environment and explore why strategy is important, how organisations make strategic decisions through the processes of analysis, choice and responsible and ethical management and leadership.

Innovation, Change and Organisations

The aim of this module is to provide insight into a series of topics that represent key issues around innovation and change and the organisational context in modern general management.  The module is forward looking from the contemporary organisation towards future developments.  A key perspective is the development to date of entrepreneurship, innovation, change and organisational practices making students aware of long-term patterns and cycles, and the way and extent to which the past can shape the present.

Introduction to the Principles of Responsible Marketing

In this module you will be introduced to the key principles of marketing. You will explore the roles of buyers, the marketing environment, and the ways marketers plan, manage, and monitor marketing programmes in an international environment.

Developing Skills for Business Leadership

Successful leaders have different approaches to their work, sharing a range of diverse personality traits. A key purpose of this module is to encourage you to develop a strong sense of self-awareness of your own strengths and weaknesses as a manager and colleague. In addition, you will develop a range of transferrable skills which are pivotal to successful management practice. These include decision-making skills, team-working and interpersonal skills and others associated with developing personal effectiveness.

Digital Business Strategy

It is no overstatement to say that digital technologies are having pervasive and disruptive effects on organisational life. Few industries and areas of work have been untouched by their ever-deeper penetration into products, services and business processes. The 21st century has seen the rise of new industries and business models unthinkable without the availability of fast, affordable and flexible digital devices – together with their associated networked infrastructures. This module aims to help students appreciate and address the organisational challenges and opportunities bound up with digital innovation and transformation. It looks in particular at the strategic and leadership issues managers are likely to confront, and the concepts, theories and frameworks they need to understand and apply in response to these.

Information Systems in Organisations

Digital technologies, as diverse as accounting and sales software, internet and mobile technology, artificial intelligence and robotics, have wide-ranging roles and impacts in organisations that need to be understood and managed. This module aims to equip students with knowledge and skills for understanding, analysing and evaluating the use of digital technologies in organisations, taking an information perspective. This will be grounded in systems theory, and focus on the role of data and information in management decision making and business processes.

Operations Management

In this module you will develop your understanding of an organisation's ability to deliver goods and services of the quality, quantity and cost that will satisfy customers' needs, while making efficient use of resources. The key principles introduced in this module can be applied to any business sector and function. Issues covered include ethics, environmental sustainability, global business, complexity and uncertainty, and continuing professional development.

Finance and Accounting for Business

In this module you will develop your critical assessment of corporate financial information from the users' perspective. You will study both financial and management accounting covering three areas: basics (terminology, purposes, users), rules and regulations, and business entities.

• Financial accounting - key financial statements, published accounts and analysis and interpretation through ratios.
• Management accounting - costing, budgeting and forecasting, budget management and pricing.

Research Methods

This module will prepare you to undertake effective research drawing upon a range of secondary and primary data sources in preparation for your coursework. You will be introduced to a range of tools required for research including methodological issues, data collection techniques and study skills. This module prepares you for completing high quality, systematic business and management research.

Consultancy Project OR Virtual Global Study Trip

You can choose between:

Consultancy Project: you will gain practical international project experience by working in a team on a real problem for a client organisation. You will develop problem-solving and communication skills as well as the ability to work in cross-cultural teams.

Strategic Planning in Practice: you will apply and extend your knowledge gained within the first semester of the programme to a complex, integrative, international case study company using Strategic Planning software. You will demonstrate a systematic understanding of current business and management issues and the ability to synthesise understandings drawn from a number of key knowledge areas.

Virtual Global Study Trip: this module gives you a hands-on, intensive experience of current business ideas and practices through visiting multinational enterprises and international organisations. This includes presentations from local and international executives, managers and academics.