Introduction to Accounting

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1

The aim of this module is to introduce you to the terminology, techniques and procedures of financial and management accounting currently in use in business entities. The module will equip you with the necessary skills, knowledge and insights to understand how and why financial accounts are created and how they have developed in the past and will likely develop in the future.

Central to the unit is the introduction of applied analytical skills that will give you the capability of analysing decision-making within business entities giving you greater insight into business behaviour. The module will also create a firm base for specialisation in appropriate accountancy courses in subsequent years. This module will involve the you in group, quantitative and communication exercises that will develop and enhance essential employment related skills and professional skill development.

Introduction to Business and Management

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1

The module provides an introduction to management and organisation. It will introduce you to concepts related to the practice and theory of management and organisation that will be explored and discussed further in other modules on the management and business studies course. 

The module includes discussion and analysis of the relationship between people, the organisation and training, and introduces concepts of ethics, innovation, enterprise and globalisation.

Introduction to Business Law

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1

This module equips those on business programmes with a structural and methodological appreciation of the basis elements of contract and tort law.

The module is divided into three parts:

1. the English legal system
2. contractual obligations; and
3. tortious liability.

Introduction to Economics

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1

This course provides an introduction to the fundamental principles of economics. The first half of the course deals with microeconomic issues including the behaviour of individuals and firms, their interaction in markets and the role of government. The second half of the course is devoted to macroeconomics and examines the determinants of aggregate economic variables, such as national income, inflation, and the balance of payments, and the relationships between them. This course also provides students with a basic introduction to mathematical economics, covering solving linear equations, differential calculus, and discounting.

 

Introduction to Mathematics for Finance and Economics

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1

This module introduces you to the basic mathematical methods and techniques used in economic analysis, and will enable you to use these skills independently and with confident. These skills also have a transferable content and are useful in other disciplines and applications.

Macroeconomics 1

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1

This module introduces core short-run and medium-run macroeconomics. First we study what determines demand for goods and services in the short run. We introduce financial markets and outline the links between financial markets and demand for goods. The Keynesian IS-LM model encapsulates these linkages.

Second, we switch to the medium-term supply-side. We bring together the market for labour to the price-setting decisions of firms in order to build an understanding of how inflation and unemployment are determined. Last, the supply side and the IS-LM model are combined to produce a full medium-term macroeconomic model.

Microeconomics 1

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1

This module develops consumer and producer theory, examining such topics as consumer surplus, labour supply, production and costs of the firm, alternative market structures and factor markets. It explores the application of these concepts to public policy, making use of real-world examples to illustrate the usefulness of the theory.

Principles of Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1

The broad aim of this module is to introduce you to the study of behaviour in organisational contexts, with a focus on individual and group processes and actions. The module will equip you with the knowledge, understanding and skills to function more effectively in organisations, and draws upon a broad and extensive theoretical and practical knowledge base to advance understanding of the complexities of human behaviour in organisations and to inform management thinking and activity.

Critical thinking skills are enhanced through the application of theory to current managerial issues and is supported through the exercise of teamwork, problem-solving and communication skills. You will also be given the opportunity to reflect upon your own capabilities and contribution to team performance.

Advanced Macroeconomics

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

The module completes the macroeconomics sequence, starting with a consideration of the policy implications of rational expectations. The macroeconomy is then opened up to international trade and capital movements: the operation of monetary and fiscal policies and the international transmission of disturbances under fixed and flexible exchange rates are contrasted, and the issues bearing on the choice of exchange-rate regime are explored. The major macroeconomic problems of hyperinflation, persistent unemployment and exchange-rate crises are examined. The module concludes by drawing together the implications of the analysis for the design and operation of macroeconomic policy.

 

Advanced Microeconomics

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

This module covers the topics of general equilibrium and welfare economics, including the important issue of market failure. General equilibrium is illustrated using Sen's entitlement approach to famines and also international trade. Welfare economics covers concepts of efficiency and their relationship to the market mechanism. Market failure includes issues such as adverse selection and moral hazard, and applications are drawn from health insurance, environmental economics and the second-hand car market.

 

Information Systems

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

The module introduces you to the application and management of information systems in an organisational environment. It adopts a management perspective to appreciate the identification, analysis, development, organisation and impact of appropriate information systems. Foundations of intra- and inter-organisational systems are examined along with their economic, social and organisational impacts.

Macroeconomics 2

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

This module is concerned with two main topics. 'The long run' is an introduction to how economies grow, gradually raising the standard of living, decade by decade. Once we have the basic analysis in place, we can begin to explain why there are such huge disparities in living standards around the world. 'Expectations' is a deepening of the behavioural background to modelling, saving and investment decisions, emphasising the intrinsically forward-looking nature of saving and investment decisions and analysing the financial markets which coordinate these decisions.

Management Accounting

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

This module expands upon the framework of Management Accounting in the first year N1086 module and whilst considering contemporary debates and controversies will eqip you with an advanced appreciation of the traditional management accounting techniques and consider their applicability, strengths and weaknesses.
Through an exploration of "new" techniques including those employing Information Technology, you will develop an undertsanding of current and future directions in the field.

Management of Innovation

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

This module aims to equip you with the knowledge to understand and the skills to manage innovation and change at the operational level. The management of innovation and change is inherently interdisciplinary and multi-functional, so we aim here to provide an integrative approach. Specifically, we aim to integrate the management of market, technological and organisational change to improve the competitiveness of firms and effectiveness of other organisations. We shall argue that the process of innovation management is essentially generic, although organisation, technological and market specific factors will constrain choices and actions. We present a number of processes that contribute to the successful management of innovation, which are based on internal knowledge and competencies, but at the same time fully exploit external sources of know-how.

Microeconomics 2

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2

This module develops the economics principles learned in Microeconomics 1. Alternative market structures such as oligopoly and monopolistic competition are studied and comparisons drawn with perfect competition and monopoly. Decision-making under uncertainty and over multiple time periods is introduced, relaxing some of the restrictive assumptions made in the level 1 module. The knowledge gained is applied to such issues as investment in human capital (eg education), saving and investment decisions, insurance and criminal deterrence.

Operations Management

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2

This module will provide you with an understanding of how the fundamental principles of operations management can support the improvement of management performance in both public and private organisations. During the module you will apply these principles to both manufacturing and service operations.

You will also examine the systemic and interactive nature of operations management problems and their relationship to the external environment. You will develop quantitative and qualitative analytical skills, through guided problem-based activities and case study analysis.

Statistics for Economics and Finance

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

This module introduces the statistical techniques used in economics, and involves computer-­based applications. Topics covered include: summarising and plotting data, basic probability theory, hypothesis testing, correlation analysis, and bivariate
and multiple regression analysis. You will be introduced in greater detail to the EXCEL
spreadsheet package, which you will use for your assessed coursework.

Statistics Project

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

This module provides an opportunity for you to make use of the statistical techniques you may have learnt on the Statistics for Economists module. You will be required to submit a project based on your own research, having gathered your own data (either from primary or secondary sources). You will be able to choose a topic of interest to yourselves and will receive supervision during the course of the term.

Strategy

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

This is a final-year integrative module in strategy, which develops your understanding and skills as a prospective future manager, specifically for formulating an organisation's overall strategic direction.

The module will help you to develop an understanding of the different approaches to strategy: how choices are made between different possible approaches; the content in which choices are made; and how strategies and structures are designed and implemented.

This module will complement and build on the various management skills already developed through earlier business and management modules.

Behavioural Economics

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

During this module you will examine the psychological underpinnings of economic behaviour and examine recent theories and empirical results in behavioural economics. This forms the starting point in core economics modules and the dominant model of choice in economics, in which agents maximize expected utility given the information they possess and the choice set they have.

A growing body of empirical evidence has sought to challenge the assumption of individuals as rational economic agents; you will analyse this recent empirical evidence across a range of fields of economics and examine the new theories of economic behaviour.

Climate Change Economics

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

This module will deal with the economics of anthropogenic climate change, which apart from being the international policy issue of the present time will be a vehicle for the illustration of a wide range of ideas and techniques from economic analysis.

Corporate Finance

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

The aim of the module is to provide an introduction to issues in corporate finance and for you to become competent at addressing quantitative questions relating to the subject. Topics include: corporate balance sheets, portfolio analysis, risk and return, capital structure, dividend policy, options, international finance issues.

Corporate Social Responsibility

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

Developing Leadership

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

Organisations have traditionally conceived of leadership as a heroic attribute, appointing the few 'real' leaders to high-level senior positions in order to get them through the hard times. Many observers within organisations are questioning this approach and are beginning to think about the need to recognise and utilise a wider range of leadership practices. Leadership, they argue, needs to be conceived of as something that happens across functions and levels, and that is closely connected with social, cognitive and communicative skills such as those employed in negotiation and decision-making. New concepts and frameworks are needed in order to embrace this more inclusive understanding. This module adopts a systems approach, which focuses on method, people, context, and need. As such, the module offers a perspective that links the two dimensions of people and situation with two additional dimensions of process and content (methods and outcomes).

Econometrics

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

This module studies the application of statistical methods to economic data. The focus is on regression analysis based on the ordinary least squares (OLS) principle. Topics covered include model specification and the analysis of regression disturbance problems (eg autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity).

Economics of European Integration

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

The aim of this module is to cover economic and institutional aspects of the European integration process, focusing on the economic and also legal aspects of the European Union, internally and in its relations with partners, including prospective members. Customs union theory, the theory of monetary union, fiscal federalism and regional economics will be covered. You will be expected to understand the basic economics of integration, and also the interrelationship between economics, law and politics, as well as knowing how to track down up to date policy materials on the web.

Entrepreneurship and Small Firms

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

The module provides you with a broad understanding of entrepreneurship and of small firms. Its central theme is that small firms are not simply scaled-down versions of larger firms. 

Please note, this module does not provide practical training in how to start or run a new firm.

Environmental Economics

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

International Human Resource Management

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

The purpose of this module is to introduce students to an analytical and critical approach to international aspects of HRM. Therefore, the module will examine inter alia: how power and politics are implicated in the internal dynamics of multinational corporations, how the "ideal worker" as construed by strategic IHRM practices informs the expectations from workers, and if corporate social responsibility can possibly suffice to ensure a fair employment relationship in the absence of a transnational regulator.

International Trade

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

This course develops the theory of international trade and explores contemporary developments in the international trading system. In particular, it examines the underlying causes and welfare effects of trade on countries and their residents, and the implications of these results for international trade policy and institutions.

Knowledge, work and organisations

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

This module looks at the pivotal role that knowledge workers play in the creation, application and diffusion of knowledge within and between firms.

You will consider new approaches to managing learning processes in the firm, including developments such as knowledge management and communities of practice, and the novel organisational structures that have emerged to coordinate knowledge-­work activity.

You will explore the diffusion of knowledge between firms through different types of knowledge-worker communities and networks, as well as the role of labour mobility. You will also consider how certain skills are emerging to play a critical role in the knowledge economy - for example, consulting services and knowledge brokering. Finally, you will consider how labour market institutions that impact careers, skills and training of knowledge workers, shape different approaches to knowledge generation. 

Labour Economics

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

The module explores how labour economics informs the discussion of many social issues such as the causes of unemployment; how technological change is shifting the distribution of jobs and wages; the impact of immigration on wages and employment; the impact of social security on the incentive to work; and the causes of gender and racial wage and employment gaps.

Monetary Theory and Policy

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

The module begins with Keynes' reformulation of monetary theory and the application of Keynes' ideas to economic depressions. The bulk of the module deals with monetary policy in practice: the role of medium-term macroeconomic targets in policy-making; how policy should respond to new information in the short term; money demand; the money supply process; and how financial market imperfections should affect policy-making. The last part of the module deals with banks, financial crises and financial regulation.

Public and Nonprofit Management and Organization

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

This module provides an introduction to organization and management in the public and nonprofit sectors. It combines perspectives from organization studies, management, economics, sociology, political science, and public policy. The first part of the module aims to develop insights into why public action is needed and how it is implemented including the governance of courses and projects, their budgeting and management, and the demonstration of their effectiveness. The second part of the module will examine the nonprofit sector. In addition to comparing the scope of activity, means of delivery and approaches to evaluation in this sector with the public sector, the second part of the module will examine the problems of mobilising support for nonprofit activities including fundraising, the enrolment of volunteers, and the role of professional staff. Seminars will develop more deeply the topics treated during the lectures by considering specific experience in both Anglo-American and more international contexts.

The Economics of Development

15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 3

This module addresses some of the major problems of economic development in low- and middle-income economies: the relationship between poverty, inequality and economic growth; long-run growth and structural change; microeconomic issues in agricultural development, including theories of peasant resource allocation and farm size and efficiency; market performance in the rural and informal sectors of less developed countries (LDCs); industrialisation and trade policy; the roles of monetary policy and foreign aid in resource mobilisation; stabilisation and structural adjustment; and investment in human capital.

Understanding Global Markets

15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 3

The aim of this module is to give you an understanding of key features of the newly emerging globalised world economy. The module therefore comprises four components. The first of these analyses the conceptual background to understanding global markets, as well as examining the underlying changes in technology which have transformed economic relations between regions and nation states. The subsequent components then use that background in order to focus on the key characteristics and changes in: trade in goods and services, capital flow, and movement of people.

This module will cover the context of global markets: such as the emergence/development of global markets and understanding what can be meant by globalisation. We will also examine the impact of technological change on global markets (information technology, transport costs) as well as goods and services.  Why do countries trade and why do countries integrate into regional blocs? We will study the evolution of patterns of trade: trade volumes, geographical patterns of trade (north-north, north-south, south-outh, regional groupings etc). We will look at vertical specialisation and value chains, outsourcing, offshoring, supply chaining. This module will also cover: the role of services in the global economy and the evolution of services trade; international capital flows; multinationals and foreign direct investment - theory and data; short run capital flows: global capital markets and origins of financial and exchange rate crises; labour migration, Why workers migrate: individual and family motives and the impact of migration on the home market and on the host market.