Keele University Prospectus Undergraduate | 2016 | Page 64

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Business Management
Overview

Our highly popular Business Management
programme is strongly grounded in the social
sciences. Management is a multi-disciplinary subject,
combining insights from a broad range of subject
areas. You will study many ideas from history and
politics, mathematics and philosophy, psychology
and law in the context of business. Unlike the study
of administration which concentrates on techniques
already in use in business, our programme offers
a distinctive critical approach. We believe that it is
important to think about more than just technical
issues of everyday management, but to understand
national and international social trends in their
historical, cultural and philosophical contexts. You will
have the opportunity to develop the analytical skills
to apply theory to everyday practice and recognise
the advantages and limitations of how businesses
currently operate.
This programme is ideal for students who want to
combine a specific topic of interest with a broader
understanding of management, or who wish to
specialise in several specific areas of business.

Course content

This programme is designed to be combined
with another subject inside or outside of Keele
Management School. The programme of study listed
below indicates what modules you will study as part
of the Business Management programme.
First year
During the first year you will study our introductory
module Management in Context, which introduces
the concepts of management and organisations,
and places them in a historical, political and
economic context.
You will then choose from the following:
Global Business Environment focuses on exploring
the operations of international businesses and the
global market framework in which they operate or;
Marketing Principles, which provides a general
understanding of the key concepts, tools and
theories of relevance to marketers today, in a variety
of contexts such as services, business-to-business,
social and not-for-profit marketing or;
Foundations of Human Resource Management,
which explores the nature of the employment
relationship from an historical perspective and
identifies the principal theoretical bases for
understanding the development of Human
Resource Management.

Modules can also be taken from a range
of electives including:
• Markets and Hierarchies
• Business Law
• British and Global Economy
• Quantitative Methods 1 and 2
• Accounting Principles
• Financial and Management Accounting
• Global Business Environments
Second year
The second year builds on your core knowledge
and develops your expertise in further depth across
a range of subjects.
Organisational Behaviour explores theoretical
insights as they have developed in relation to
organisations and management. It examines the way
in which people behave and interact as members
of a business or other organisation.
Operations and Quality Management encourages
the exploration of key quality concepts and
techniques within specific organisational contexts
and the consideration of why quality is crucial to
organisational success.
Modules can also be taken from a range of
electives, including:
• Social Theory at Work
• Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility
• Critical Perspectives on Management Research
Third year
There are four modules, two core modules
and two electives. The two core modules are:
Business Strategy examines the formation of
organisation strategies, placing emphasis on the idea
of ‘thinking strategically’ at the industry level.
Contemporary Issues in Management builds on
knowledge and insights gained from organisational
theory and sociological approaches to human
behaviour to focus on key debates unfolding in
management theory.
The range of electives currently includes:
• Comparative Business Cultures
• Identity, Culture and Organisation
• International Business Strategies
• International Human Resource Management
• Leading, Change and Entrepreneurship
• Management, Organisation and the Media
• Gender Work and Organisation
• Independent Study Project: New Business Plan

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