Business Management and Geography

Applied Financial Skills

Building on from first year accounting study, this module allows you to critically evaluate the financial results of strategic and financial decisions as reported by different companies. You’ll develop desirable skills of financial analysis and management accounting to support the needs of future managers and marketing professionals. 

This module will also allow you to develop the confidence to use financial information both independently, and collaboratively with financial specialists. 

Cities: Geographies of the Urban Experience

In Cities: Geographies of the Urban Experience, you will be introduced to urban geography. Throughout the module, you will explore a range of ways in which cities shape, and are shaped by people. From the modern architectural movement, to protest and public space, you will learn about the central role that cities play in politics and everyday life. Central to the module is understanding the ways in which inequality is built into urban life, and what we can do to challenge it.

Environmentally Sustainable Business

The module discusses key environmental issues such as global warming, pollution, biodiversity loss, 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.
 

International Markets & Competition

In this module, you’ll consider the different exchange rate regimes, both in theory and in practice. You’ll also explore theory of international trade, the costs and benefits of protectionism, national and international measures to encourage competition. You’ll also be able to understand how to prevent anti-competitive behaviour and their rationale, and study the international organisations that control and regulate free trade.

You’ll be able to analyse international data from a variety of sources, and explain international trade patterns including trading blocks and the role of MNCs and FDI. 

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.
 

Environmental Hazard Management

In this module you will develop an understanding of the way that environmental processes can become potential hazards. You will study how hazards sometimes become disasters and the measures used to manage disasters and mitigate risk. You will explore contemporary approaches to environmental hazard / disaster management including: the efficacy of Aid; the role of the military in disaster relief; whether forecasting really saves lives; and the role of the mass media and new technology in disaster management. You will get to investigate real case studies and present your work individually and as part of a team.

Earth Systems

In this module, you’ll gain an understanding of The Earth as a global system. You’ll consider it in terms of spheres: the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, each interacting in different scales of time and space.

You’ll gain core information you need to succeed in physical geography, as you understand how these spheres underpin the character and behaviour of the global system that we observe. You’ll explore each of these spheres in detail, gaining a whole picture of the global system. To do this you will engage with a range of disciplines, including:

• geology
• hydrology
• micro and macro ecology
• atmospheric chemistry
• physics
• computer modelling.

Political Geography: Place and Power

What are the connections between place and power? This module introduces you to political geography and geopolitics. You’ll look at both historical and ongoing debates to enable you to understand the spatial and material relations of political power, including territory, borders, mobility, security, nations, nationalism, sovereignty and environmental politics. You’ll interrogate and challenge common assumptions about geopolitics and explore geographical ideas in the light of current events, emphasising the relevance and real-world application of political geographical thought.

Independent Study in Business

This is your opportunity for independent study on an approved topic. It will relate to your programme learning outcomes. You’ll select and discuss a relevant topic area with your Programme Lead/Subject Co-ordinator. Your independent study is self-directed and may involve:

• action based learning 
• be based solely on desk research 
• limited primary research
• group work.

Through any group work you may have a specific role and responsibilities.

Independent Study: Work and Community Related learning

In this module, you’ll have the chance to do some work experience closely linked to Geography. You might be an intern with a company, or working as a volunteer in the local community, or you might have a role in the university, for example as a student ambassador. Your tutors will advise you, but you’ll be in charge of the direction you take and the learning opportunity involved. 

With careful thinking about what you want to achieve and how the work you do will support your learning, you’ll gain a better understanding of the world of work. You may also develop a stronger sense of the career you’d like after Oxford Brookes. Whatever the focus of your independent study, you’ll notice the benefits, whether it’s the satisfaction gained from volunteering, the new knowledge you’ve gained or the skills you’ve improved.

Business Management

You can spend your third year on a work placement. You will gain commercial and practical experience, and many students are offered graduate positions by their placement employer. Our students have enjoyed exciting and challenging positions at Microsoft, IBM, Aldi, BMW, Dyson, Ernst & Young, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestlé, PayPal and a host of other global organisations. We encourage you to study abroad for a semester during the course at our partner institutions in North America, Europe, Asia or Australia. During your placement there is a fee which is paid to the university. It covers the cost of your placement tutor, and the support we provide whilst looking for a placement position and during your placement role. Whilst on your placement you will still be classed as a student. You will be paid a financially sustainable salary which will vary depending on your role, company and location. Learn more about how Oxford Brookes Business School supports students secure a work placement.

Geography

Geographers have undertaken work placements at a variety of NGOs, sometimes as part of their own research projects. These include management support roles with Oxfordshire's Wychwood Volunteers and participation in the International Citizenship Service programme with Operation Raleigh on a community project in India. The module Independent Study: Work and Community Related Learning provides opportunities for students to develop an academic programme of study alongside work experience, community work or volunteering.

Business Ethics

How do we do business in an ethical way? In this module, you’ll discover how to make moral decisions, both as a member of a business organisation, and as a human being. You’ll gain key analytical skills in business, as you understand, analyse and evaluate the ethical choices of others. You’ll also gain core critical skills as you evaluate the ethics of different systems of production, distribution and exchange.

Leading and Managing Change

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.
 

Perspectives on International Management

This module aims to equip you with the skills and knowledge necessary to manage effectively in a globalised business environment. You’ll analyse a wide range of management practices, while also evaluating theoretical frameworks and conducting research on national cultures. You will evaluate the strategic implications of culture on business operations and HRM practices, while also developing the aptitude required to manage effectively across cultures.
 
Benefits to you include gaining a competitive edge in the job market by expanding knowledge about managing in a globalised world and navigating cross-cultural communication challenges. You will also broaden your horizons and increase your cultural awareness and sensitivity, enhancing your ability to work effectively with individuals from different backgrounds.

Arid Zone Environments

What is the nature and extent of arid environments and how do they interact with the global climate system? In this module you’ll gain knowledge of:

• long-term and short-term variations in climate
• the nature and extent of drylands
• the rates and types of processes operating in these environments.

You’ll also look at human impacts on drylands, including desertification, salinization (increasing salt content in soils) and deforestation, and consider the impact that future climate change may have on arid systems.

Future Cities

What will cities look like in fifty years? What did thinkers from the mid-nineteenth century to today propose about how to reconstruct and manage urban life? From global warming to ageing populations, you'll examine the trends that are shaping the cities of the future, and gain key analytical skills as you consider how cities might best adapt to these challenges. As with the Year 2 Cities module, we’ll focus on urban society as much as on city form, regarding people and place as inseparable.

Sustainable Futures

On this module, you will look at current and future global challenges that face geographers. 

You will draw on academic research expertise. You will look at physical, human and environmental geographical issues related to a sustainable future. 

You will explore what geographers can contribute using your geographical skills:

• the geographical imagination
• ethical subject-hood
• integrative thinking
• spatial thinking 
• and a structured exploration of place

Disasters, Development and Society

Why are some people and places more vulnerable to disasters than others? What are the origins of this inequity, and what can we do about it?

You'll explore the relationship between disasters, environment and society. And learn why disasters are not ‘natural’, but are rather produced by their development context. You'll learn why uneven development breeds uneven vulnerability to risk, and vice versa.

You'll gain knowledge of development geography and political ecology. And examine why a physical hazard-focused approach to disaster risk management is problematic and the need for alternatives that address systemic root causes of risk.

We will look at the workings of power and politics at all stages of disaster (before, during and after) at a range of scales. You'll assess current practice in disaster risk reduction throughout the module. Along with examining the role of climate change in shifting geographies of vulnerability.

Oceans and the Marine Environment

In this module you’ll explore the physical nature of oceans, from their chemical composition and circulation to the influence of oceans on the global climate system. By understanding the way in which oceans behave, we can comprehend how all of the components of the Earth’s systems fit together. You’ll explore topics ranging from the physics and biology of oceans to records of past ocean change, from marine pollution to ocean policy and governance of our marine environment.

Geography dissertation OR Interdisciplinary Dissertation (Double)

This module gives you the chance to do an independent investigation on a topic that fascinates you. Whether you’re creating a field-based, computer-based, laboratory-based or library-based topic, you’ll gain core skills for your future career and shape your project around your passions.