Business and Law (with Foundation Year)

Year 1

Compulsory modules

• Finance for Managers

  This module demonstrates the importance of accounting and finance in the context of new and small businesses. In this module you will learn how to prepare and analyse simple financial statements as well as how to apply management accounting techniques in the areas of planning, budgeting and short term decision making.

  In these sessions, you’ll learn financial principles and techniques for different business situations, and apply these to a combination of both in-class mini case examples and extended case examples.

• Exploring International Business

  In this module, you’ll be actively engaged with the study of Business and Management, through exploring essential characteristics of organisations in a global context, while assessing the role of management within this. You’ll explore the functions of business and the impact of the external environment on business choices. You’ll also use a variety of media including simulation and published accounts of decisions being enacted by businesses and managers today. 

  This will equip you with the core concepts required to analyse and research business and management issues. You’ll also develop your academic and employability skills, such as critical thinking, evidenced based decision-making and collaboration. 

• Business in Society

  This module is designed to provide an introduction to the ideas of personal corporate responsibility, sustainability, diversity and criticality that will underpin your professional career. You’ll also practise argument construction and debate in order to use wider thinking. 

  Upon successful completion of this module, you’ll be able to critically analyse evidence, demonstrate critical awareness to the complexity of diverse global perspectives and construct an argument to an audience.

• Legal Method

  In this module, you’ll gain invaluable legal skills for your degree. You’ll learn to think like a lawyer, and understand:

  • the sources of English law
  • the structures and functions of the UK Courts

  You’ll also learn:

  • how to critically read and assess statute and case-law
  • how to evaluate legal arguments
  • how to find and use online legal information.

  You’ll dive into the world of UK law. You’ll learn to find and understand legal information. And you’ll gain key skills in legal thought and argumentation.

• Business in Society

  This module is designed to provide an introduction to the ideas of personal corporate responsibility, sustainability, diversity and criticality that will underpin your professional career. You’ll also practise argument construction and debate in order to use wider thinking. 

  Upon successful completion of this module, you’ll be able to critically analyse evidence, demonstrate critical awareness to the complexity of diverse global perspectives and construct an argument to an audience.

• Contract Law

  In this module, you’ll get to grips with contract law. You’ll gain a detailed understanding of the formation, operation, and termination of contracts. You’ll understand the key ideas behind contract law. You’ll develop the critical skills in legal reasoning and analysis you gained from your Legal Method modules.

  You’ll enhance your legal skills, as you tackle case studies in contract law. You’ll explore:

  • The purpose of contract law
  • Formation of contract
  • Agreement problems (such as mistake or misrepresentation)
  • Terms of contract
  • Exclusion causes
  • Statutory control
  • Breach of contract and damages.

Optional modules

• Choose one module from those below:

• The Entrepreneur

  This module develops your entrepreneurial mindset and skills essential for success in the modern business world. You'll explore a full range of tools and techniques for innovation, creativity, and enterprise and learn to evaluate different components for success in diverse business landscapes. A multi-faceted approach to learning, combining classroom-based lectures with practical workshops, gives you the opportunity to apply behaviours, skills, and attributes associated with entrepreneurial success in a productive learning environment. This module also focuses on academic literacies, including critical thinking, analysis, and evaluation of contested knowledge.

  On successful completion of this module, you will have a strong foundation in the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to succeed in various business contexts.

• Communication Skills for Lawyers

  In this module, you’ll gain key communication skills for a successful legal career. You’ll gain excellent oral skills in advocacy. You’ll also develop valuable presentation techniques for a plea in mitigation, giving you the knowledge to succeed in your degree and work.

Year 2

Compulsory modules

• Organisational Behaviour and Management

  This module focuses on contemporary debates in the field of organisational studies, enhancing your ability to understand and apply organisational behaviour concepts to real-world problems. The module covers core topics, and you will distinguish between individual, group and organisational levels to analyse complex organisational issues. You will also develop an awareness of diverse perspectives, cultures, and values. Additionally, the module facilitates learning in adaptive and collaborative environments, helping you develop independent and self-motivated learning strategies.
   
  After completing the module, you will be well-equipped with the skills and knowledge required to analyse evidence critically and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in the field of organisational behaviour and management.

• Professional Practice 2

  This module will help you develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for making effective career decisions and managing your future career development, including transitions into graduate employment, self-employment or further study (including professional training courses) whether in the UK or overseas. In the context of the Business School commitment to responsible management education (PRME), this module will support you in taking an informed and critical view of the current and future world of work and consider your future role and responsibility, not only to yourself but also to others. This module will raise your awareness of the services and support offered by the Careers Service and OBBS WAVES (Work and Voluntary Employment) team. The aim is to encourage you to further develop your career by engaging in placements, internships, volunteering and other extracurricular activities offered by the University.

• International Business Law

  In this module, you’ll gain a strong understanding of International Business Law. You’ll gain key knowledge of the legal environment of business organisations throughout the world. You’ll gain excellent analytical skills as you compare and contrast these environments, and consider how they affect trading between states. 

• Employment Law

  In this module, you’ll get to grips with employment law. You’ll look at the difference between a self-employed person and an employee. You’ll analyse:

  • The contract of employment
  • Terms of employment
  • The flexibility of the relationship between employer and employee.

  You’ll then explore a wide range of employment rights, including: 

  • Protection against unfair dismissal
  • Redundancy rights
  • Discrimination protections.

• Company Law for Sustainability

  In this module, you’ll learn how sustainability relates to corporate law. You’ll gain excellent practical knowledge for your later module, Business Governance and Human rights. This module also gives you an alternative approach to running a business, if you’ve studied Tort Law for Business.

• Tort Law for Business

  You'll be introduced to issues of tort law in running a business. Also you'll look into the principles of how tort law is interwoven into the activities of running a business. Through this module you'll be able to identify the potential torts in their day to day running of a business and apply the relevant tortious principles. Also you'll be able to provide basic legal recommendations regarding the running of a business.

• Placement Search and Preparation (only compulsory for sandwich mode)

  This module is designed to provide practical guidance and support in undertaking a placement search, preparing for the placement experience, and succeeding in the modern workplace. Throughout the module, you will develop critical self-awareness and personal literacy skills, enabling you to self-reflect on your own strengths and weaknesses and target your placement search effectively. Additionally, you will also explore methods of effective and targeted placement search, increasing your chances of securing a placement.

  In summary, this module is an essential component of your employability journey. By integrating with co-curricular activities, the module provides a holistic approach to employability, ensuring that students have a broad range of skills and experiences to draw upon in their future careers.

Optional modules

• Choose one optional module from:

• International Business Strategy

  In this module, you’ll delve into the social issues and opportunities associated with international business, and the challenges associated with a dynamic business environment. To develop your understanding of globalisation, you’ll be provided with a thorough overview of current affairs. You’ll also explore international business, while considering issues of sustainability and equality. 

  By completing this module, you’ll be able to assess the management and operational environment in which international business operates, while also developing the ability to analyse specific international business, innovation and sustainability strategies pursued by firms (MNCs, SMEs, NGOs). 

• Environmentally Sustainable Business

  The module discusses key environmental issues such as global warming, pollution, biodiversity loss and freshwater depletion and the role of business in causing as well as responding to such issues. The module includes macro (economic, policy, governance) as well as micro (organisational and individual) perspectives. You will be introduced to a variety of stakeholder perspectives and frameworks for evaluating business responses.

  On successful completion of this module, you will be able to recognise and evaluate the extent of business impacts on the natural environment, explain the economic drivers behind the unsustainable business and consumer behaviour and use and interpret complex information using digital media.

• Introduction to People Management

  This module is designed to introduce you to the operational role and functions of people management and how it supports organisations to manage their diverse workforce in an international context. People management is an essential tool for all line managers as it provides them with the skills, knowledge and competencies that equip you to be effective in how you recruit, motivate and reward your staff. This module offers you an operational ‘toolbox’ that covers all the core, fundamental features of people management.

  On successful completion of this module, you will be able to identify the essential components of viable people management policies whilst also illustrating their effectiveness and engage in appropriate and accurate communications amongst different business contexts.

• Family and Society in Business

  Through this module you will build a comprehensive understanding of the impact of family businesses and social economy organisations (SEO’s) on the business landscape. 

  Firstly you will focus on family businesses and develop your insight into the unique challenges, dynamics, and advantages of family-owned enterprises, along with the strategies for effective governance and smooth transition across generations. You will delve into the study of cooperatives, including definitions, types, principles/values, governance structures, and the benefits and challenges associated with them. You will conclude the module by examining the role of SEOs in economic development and exploring the current state of SEOs in the business landscape. You will also look at the contribution of SEOs to sustainable economic growth and societal well-being.

• Choose one optional module from:

• European Union Law

  In this module, you’ll get to grips with the European Union (EU) and its foundations. You’ll dig into key areas of law, central to the EU system. And you’ll explore the political and social implications of EU Law. 
  You’ll examine the history of EU Law, and its key institutions:

  • the European Parliament
  • the Council of the European Union
  • the European Commission. 

  You’ll then focus on Union Law, and how it relates to national law. You’ll also consider the role of the Court of Justice of the EU. You’ll explore substantive law, as you understand the internal market of the EU, including:

  • free movement of people
  • citizenship.

• Environmental Law

  How do societies react to environmental crises? How do we address environmental problems in the law? In this module, you’ll look at the relevant regulations and laws around the environment. You’ll look beyond legal cases, and consider the historical, political, ethical and technological issues of law and the environment. You’ll examine:

  • anthropocentrism vs ecocentrism
  • environmental rights and environmental justice
  • ecology and conservation
  • climate change and risk
  • the ethics of environmental law.

  You’ll develop key critical skills as you consider the fascinating interaction between the law, society and one of the biggest issues facing humanity - the environment.

• Understanding Criminal Justice

  In this module, you’ll dive into the criminal justice system, and the main issues of criminal justice. You’ll understand  wider aspects of the criminal justice system and engage critically with the system’s flaws and shortcomings. You’ll gain key critical skills as you explore how well the system achieves its aims. You’ll explore specific areas such as:

  • punishment
  • sentencing
  • crime prevention
  • community safety
  • policing
  • youth crime
  • prisons
  • the criminal court system.

  You’ll observe the criminal justice system, first hand. You’ll then devise a social-science experiment to test your understanding of the system you’ve studied. This means you’ll devise a hypothesis on how the criminal justice system operates, and test to see if your hypothesis was right. You’ll conduct work in prisons, police stations and the streets of Oxford, allowing you to access the real world of the criminal justice system.

Optional Placement Year

Compulsory modules

• CHOOSE ONE MODULE FROM:

• Placement

  On this placement you will be able to access a 40-52 week work-based learning / placement opportunity to help develop your employability and enterprise skills. You will gain first-hand knowledge and experience of making applications to and working in a placement role. You will set your own work-based targets and reflect upon your progress in the role you have on your placement. Halfway through your placement you will make a presentation to your line manager and placement tutor which summarises your gained knowledge on your placement and the tasks you have/ will complete in your placement role.

• Full Year International Study Abroad

  This is your opportunity to study Business topics abroad in order to experience a different national, educational and business culture and to build on your knowledge, understanding, skills and competencies you’ve gained so far. You will undertake an international study exchange at a university outside the UK, arranged with the University’s exchanges office. This international study exchange lasts for one academic year and is taken after your second year of studies (Level 5).

• OR CHOOSE THESE TWO OPTIONS:

• Short Placement

  This 24-week placement is your opportunity to develop your employability and enterprise skills. In the UK or Europe you will gain first-hand knowledge and experience of making applications to and working in a placement role. You will set your work based targets and reflect upon your success in your placement role. At the end of the placement, you will make a presentation to your line manager and placement tutor which summarises the knowledge and skills you have developed on your placement

• Work-based Learning

  This module is also a 24-week work-based learning opportunity for you to develop your employability and enterprise skills. As on the other modules you will have the opportunity to obtain first-hand knowledge and experience of making applications to and working in a placement role. This could include employment, volunteer work experience or undertaking a consultancy type project. 

  You will agree a brief before your work-based role begins,set work based targets and reflect upon your success in your placement role. At the end of the placement, you will make a presentation to your line manager and placement tutor which summarises the knowledge and skills you have developed on your placement.

Final Year

Compulsory modules

• Business, Governance and Human Rights

  It is becoming increasingly accepted for businesses to be socially responsible. In light of this, our module provides you with the opportunity to understand current corporate structures and governance regimes, which are being used to hold businesses accountable for their activities. With a particular emphasis on human rights, you’ll explore issues such as human trafficking, child labour, discrimination, environmental degredation and abuses within global supply chains.

  You’ll be equipped to evaluate the ways in which businesses are meeting their social responsibilities internationally, the capacities for businesses to have possible impacts, and strategies for development and change. 

• Interdisciplinary Case Study Analysis

  This module provides you with an opportunity to critically evaluate a contemporary case from both business and legal perspectives, and you are expected to consult recent academic journals, news and business analysis reports, and contemporary legal research and practice. The module culminates with a debate, which enables you to develop and showcase your interdisciplinary thinking, develop key skills in communication, collaboration and critical self-evaluation, and focus on their future career.

  The module emphasises key academic skills of critical enquiry, analysis, evaluation and synthesis as well as the development of key employability skills, including communication, collaboration and self-reflection.

• Commercial Law

  In this module, you’ll get to grips with commercial law (law relating to trade and sales). You’ll dive into key topics, including: 

  • the nature and sources of commercial law 
  • how we classify transactions 
  • obligations of the buyer and seller
  • the passing of ownership 
  • the passing of property (risk)
  • the condition of goods
  • agency and remedies.

Optional modules

• Choose one optional module from:

• Social Enterprise and Social Innovation

  The module covers a multi-disciplinary approach to contemporary issues in entrepreneurship allowing you to develop a well-rounded skill set. Throughout the module, you will learn from experts in the field and gain practical insights into entrepreneurship. You will have the opportunity to engage in practical learning, including research and working within a community of like-minded individuals, enhancing your personal and professional growth. Moreover, emphasis is placed on interaction within a research community, providing you with valuable teamwork and communication skills.

  Overall, this module offers you a unique learning experience that combines academic rigour with practical insights, giving you a competitive edge in the job market while developing essential research and self-development skills.

• Business and Artificial Intelligence

  Gain and further a basic knowledge about Artificial Intelligence, with a focus on machine learning technologies (supervised and unsupervised learning), to highlight its role in disrupting business practices in both manufacturing and services sectors. You will also examine, tackle and learn about the ethical challenges posited by AI.

• Business Ethics

  This module is designed to address our changing world that is facing social and environmental challenges. You’ll develop the capacity to make ethically defensible decisions as members of business organisations and of society in general. You’ll analyse and evaluate the ethical propositions of others. And you’ll evaluate the ethics of different systemic models of production, distribution and exchange.Upon completing this module you will be able to evaluate and apply ethical reasoning to local and global business dilemmas and economic systems, and you’ll be able to evaluate the significance of a range of western and non-western ethical perspectives. 

• Contemporary Legal Issues in Business

  Through the active involvement in business and law research and community of practice, your understanding of contemporary legal issues in business will broaden.  You will learn essential research and self-development skills as well as insight into your understanding of career aspirations. 

  You will learn to explore issues more deeply through the lens of contemporary research and debates. Your ability to critically analyse a range of contemporary legal issues involved in business and its different legal context, sectors and societies will expand. 

• Responsible Leadership

  The module aims to develop critical thinking in evaluating the application of change management theory and normative practices to challenges taking place in organisations and wider society. The literature used in the module draws on a breadth of sources including the mainstream and contemporary literature on change management. It aims to increase personal reflexivity and self-awareness. 

  After completing this module, you will have an understanding of the nature of change and key theories, frameworks, principles and practices relevant for the management and leadership of change. You'll be able to evaluate critically the actions taken by those leading change. You will be better prepared to lead and manage change in your own managerial careers and have an increased awareness of your own potential for ongoing personal development in leading and managing change.

• Choose one optional module from:

• Equity Law

  How do we prevent discrimination against race and sexual orientation in the law? In this module, you’ll focus on the Equality Act 2010, and other legislation on:

  • sex
  • race
  • sexual orientation
  • religion
  • disability discrimination
  • equal pay. 

  You’ll explore how courts interpret the Equality Act, and how it impacts the workplace. You’ll look at how it interacts with the law of the European Commission (EC), and how we might extend equality law. You’ll gain valuable critical skills for your career, as you ask:

  • what difference the Equality Act has made
  • who benefits (and does not benefit) from the act
  • what we can do in the future to improve protection. 

• International Trade Law

  In this module, you’ll get to grips with international trade law, and its key elements. You’ll understand international sales transactions. You’ll gain valuable key critical skills as you analyse the key treaties of international law, such as:

  • the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
  • the World Trade Organisation 
  • international commercial terms
  • specific trade laws
  • case histories
  • dispute settlement procedures.

  You’ll also explore:

  • international rights in international trade
  • the relationship between domestic law and international rules
  • international trade agreements.

  You’ll discover how these rules can (or can’t) resolve certain problems in international trade. And you’ll develop the ability to advise on international trade practices, and other rights and obligations. 

• Crime and Society

  In this module, you’ll explore the ways we define and measure crime. You’ll develop core critical skills as you explore theories about the causes of crime. And you’ll consider some major crimes in detail. You’ll dive into the following topics:

  • crime and the media
  • criminal behaviour 
  • crimes in action - from violent crime to white-collar crime
  • critical criminology: race and gender.

  You’ll think about crimes and criminality in a wider sense than simply ‘innocence’ or ‘guilt’. You’ll look at the social contexts of crimes, and what causes people to commit them.

• Computer Law and Artificial Intelligence

  The internet rules society. In a vastly digital age, lawyers really need to understand technology and the legal challenges it presents. In this module, you’ll examine the legal issues of current internet technologies and hardware. You’ll gain key technical knowledge, as you evaluate the regulatory systems of these technologies, and how they affect society. You’ll explore how digital technologies challenge copyright law. And you’ll be introduced to some of the legal issues relating to the use of artificial intelligence.