This module introduces you to the external context of business practice and understanding the impact of globalisation on business and an introduction to business law. You are also introduced to the basic management functions of planning, leading, organising and controlling. You can expect to learn about how key internal business functions are successfully integrated in business organisations and how this in turn positions organisations for external success. In addition, you can expect to be onboarded in the areas of academic research, writing and referencing skills.

This is designed to give a very generalised introduction to the wide area of accounting and finance. It is intended to concentrate on the use of financial data as opposed to the deep methodological basis of accounting practice.

This module introduces you to core marketing principles, theories, and practices. It is expected that you’ll gain a good understanding about the marketing process and the ability to make critical reflections upon contemporary marketing practices from this module. The module is intended to provide both an introduction to the topic as well as providing you with a basic grounding in the theory and practice of marketing as a business management discipline.

Foundations of Human Resource Management

This module provides you with a foundational introduction to Human Resource Management (HRM), showing you how to effectively manage, motivate, and support people within an organisation.

Through hands on analysis of workplace psychology, you will explore core HR functions alongside essential concepts in organisational behaviour. You will examine organisational dynamics such as company culture, power dynamics, conflict resolution, and change management. By understanding how individuals and groups behave at work, you will build the critical analytical skills needed to solve people management challenges and directly boost organisational performance.

Creative Personal Branding

This module introduces you to the essential strategies for developing a powerful personal brand and the core employability skills needed to thrive in a digitally driven market. You will embark on a reflective, self-exploratory journey to deepen your self-awareness, build confidence, and understand how narratives and storytelling shape audience perceptions. The curriculum also examines how emerging technologies such as AI, VR/AR, and automation are reshaping recruitment and professional identity.

With hands-on, practical outputs, you will utilise university career resources to build an authentic professional portfolio. This includes crafting a standout CV, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, and a personal brand pitch presentation, alongside a reflective summary tracing your growth, networking skills, and career readiness.

The module will introduce you to key concepts in corporate finance and valuation, including the time value of money, investment appraisal and the cost of capital, before looking into working capital management and financial decision-making. You’ll also explore the role of data and tech in finance, including the use of digital tools and financial technology in analysis and decision support, as well as ethical, regulatory and governance considerations. In the final part of the module, you’ll get to examine sustainable and responsible finance, ESG integration and climate-related financial risk.  

This module is an extended and practical introduction to the business research process, focusing on how organisations investigate and analyse real world problems to inform effective managerial decision making. You’ll be guided through the key stages of designing and undertaking small scale business research – you’ll develop the ability to locate and interpret literature efficiently, and use this evidence to refine your research focus and support the development of an informed and method-based approach. Alongside this, you’ll receive structured, hands-on training in applied data skills. You’ll learn how to handle real data sets, perform basic quantitative and qualitative analyses, and produce clear visual outputs that help uncover trends, relationships and actionable insights. 

In the third block of your second year, you will choose a specialist module from one of the below.

Human Resource Management in the workplace

This module focuses on the analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices in contemporary organisations. It enables you to critically examine HRM as both a body of theory and an area of professional practice. Through theoretical, experiential and case study material, you’ll explore key areas of HRM, including how it’s applied in the workplace and how workers, line managers and HR professionals are affected by and respond to HRM initiatives. The module also considers the impact of legal and ethical issues on HRM and you’ll explore how it’s applied in different organisations, including multinational corporations (MNCs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

Organisational behaviour

This module provides you with a critical understanding of organisational behaviour within international and culturally diverse business environments. It examines how individuals, groups and organisational systems interact, and how these interactions are shaped by psychological, cultural, structural and contextual factors. You’ll explore areas such as perception, motivation, teamwork, communication, conflict, organisational culture, diversity, wellbeing and change. Through case studies, comparative analysis and reflective activities, you’ll develop the analytical and interpersonal awareness needed to operate effectively in global organisational settings. 

In the final block of your second year, you will choose a specialist module from one of the below.

Employee relations in a digital workplace

This module introduces you to how advances in AI, digital technologies, and automation are reshaping work, job roles, and organisational expectations. It blends theory with practical skills, equipping you to understand and manage shifts in the employment relationship as the future of work evolves, including developments such as algorithmic management, digital surveillance, remote work and platform‑based labour. You’ll also get to examine workplace conflict, and how digitalisation transforms employee-relations institutions by shifting authority, altering participation structures and challenging traditional forms of representation. There’s a strong focus on applied learning – you’ll work directly with conflict‑resolution processes and develop the practical skills needed to manage disputes in a fast‑changing, technology‑driven work environment.   

Reward and performance management

This module is about important HR functions that sit at the heart of contemporary people management practice, and draws rom employment law, behavioural economics and HR analytics. In this era of digital transformation, AI and evolving employee expectations, the design and implementation of reward and performance systems have become far more complex and strategic for organisations to navigate. 

You’ll be equipped with the theoretical foundations, practical tools and critical perspectives necessary to understand, evaluate and design effective reward and performance management frameworks. It recognises that AI and HR analytics are rapidly reshaping how organisations set targets, monitor performance, allocate pay and deliver feedback. You’ll examine the design of performance management, and gain a critical understanding of the performance review process that combines challenge and support and places a focus on learning and accountability. You’ll also look at how reward and performance strategies interact with broader organisational goals, employment relations, workforce diversity and ethical obligations.

Managing equality, diversity and inclusion

This module is designed to explore and debate the concept of equality and inclusion in the workplace against a backdrop of diversity, and it begins with the nature and causes of discrimination and disadvantage in employment. You’ll explore both visible and non-visible dimensions of diversity including race, ethnicity, religion and belief, gender and gender identity, age, disability and sexual orientation. You’ll be encouraged to assess the measures put in place by organisations to manage equality and diversity, and to consider the merits of introducing an equal opportunities policy along with practices aimed at managing diversity. 

This module equips you with the advanced knowledge and skills to understand how organisations anticipate, absorb, respond to and recover from major disruptions. You’ll explore contemporary theories of organisational resilience and systemic risk, examining how global disruptions such as pandemics, economic shocks and geopolitical instability challenge organisational stability. Through a crisis simulation and a consultancy‑style resilience strategy assessment, you’ll get to evaluate vulnerabilities, assess preparedness and design strategic interventions. 

This module introduces you to managing change and innovation, which will be central to your survival, success and growth in your career. By the end of the module, you’ll have a full understanding of the managerial strategies that organisations use to manage different types of innovation, as well as how they seek to benefit from their innovations. 

In blocks 3 and 4 of your final year, you will complete the module "organisational development and consulting" followed by a second module of your choice.

Organisational development and consulting

This module explores, through a review of theories and models, the elements that contribute to organisation design. It also looks at the development of organisation insight that is crucial to building agile, adaptable organisations, with the healthy cultures needed to meet current and future challenges. It provides a good foundation of underpinning organisational development theory and knowledge, including its relationship to strategic human resource management, digital transformation and organisational change, and how effective organisational development interventions can increase business performance and productivity. This module introduces consulting principles and structures, to prepare potential future consultants or purchasers of consulting services.

Employment law

In this module you’ll analyse the role played by legal regulation in the management of Human Resources. It explores the purpose of regulation and how it is applied in practice. Analysis will include consideration of how UK employment law has developed and the principles that underpin legal regulation of the employment relationship, such as Case Law and ACAS. You’ll also explore the role of employment law in achieving social justice and tackling issues such as discrimination, dismissal, redundancy and employment status.  

International Human Resource Management

This module gives you a critical understanding of the policies, practices and challenges of managing people across international boundaries. It explores how multinational enterprises (MNEs) design and implement HR strategies across diverse national, institutional, and cultural contexts. You’ll evaluate how international HR professionals balance global integration with local responsiveness in areas such as employee relations and ethical governance. The module draws upon comparative frameworks and case studies to examine how varying political, legal, and social environments shape HR policy and practice in global organisations. Emphasis is placed on cross-cultural communication, leadership, international assignments and managing a diverse workforce in dynamic global environments.