Business and Management BSc | Brunel Business School

Overview

About the course

Brunel's Business and Management degree will equip you with a broad knowledge and appreciation of business and management as well as the analytical, technical and interpersonal skills required to understand, analyse and address the problems that today’s companies face.

The general Business and Management pathway covers all the fundamental elements of Business and Management with a range of optional modules to choose from.

The course offers:

• Highly innovative programme with quantitative content.

• Emphasis on globalisation issues generated by multi-national enterprises (MNEs).

• Teaching that focusses on real life data analysis skills.

• Management study that offers a wide choice of job opportunities after graduation.

The Business and Management general pathway will cover all the fundamental elements of Business and Management with a range of optional modules to choose from. The core components of this degree will offer you the widest range of skills in business and management (see Course Content) including: fundamentals of marketing economies; theoretical and practical characteristics of organisations; various business models and frameworks; the challenges of coping with future uncertainty, and managing change.

Emphasis in this pathway is on globalisation issues generated by multinational enterprises (MNEs) that account for over fifty percent of global output. A deeper understanding of the commercial power of MNEs will help students to position themselves strategically in a competitive job market.

This pathway will broaden your knowledge of business concepts as you work on real business issues and live case studies, to develop managerial skills and enhance career opportunities. You will also learn valuable technical skills along the way: numerical methods and statistical software packages such as SPSS and EXCEL without the need for 'A' level maths or the overseas equivalent.

Aims

You will learn about the world of business and management and develop the skills to get a good job when you graduate. You will enhance your ability to communicate your ideas and to take responsibility for your learning The general pathway would be most suitable for those who would like to develop a general business and management perspective.

Course Content

The BSc consists of both compulsory and optional modules, a typical selection can be found below. Modules can vary from year to year, but these offer a good idea of what we teach.

Level 1

Compulsory

• Introduction to Management Enquiry
• Managing Information with Technology
• Organisational Behaviour and Analysis
• Introduction to Accounting
• International Business Environment
• Principles and Practice of Marketing

Level 2

Compulsory

• Marketing Communications
• Critical Perspectives in Management
• Managing Change and Creativity in Organisations
• Project Management
• Human Resource Management and its International Dimensions
• Operations Management

Level 3

Compulsory

• Strategic Management
• Business Ethics, Environmental Sustainability and Governance
• Issues and Controversies in Management Project

Optional

• Entrepreneurship and Small Business Ventures
• Gender and Organisations
• International Marketing
• Innovation and Knowledge Management

Read more about the structure of undergraduate degrees at Brunel and what you will learn on the course.

Employability

Professional Development Centre (PDC)

Brunel’s award-winning Professional Development Centre (PDC) is your one-stop-shop when it comes to employment and career planning and is based at the heart of the university on the first floor of the Bannerman Centre. Business School students are supported by dedicated Placement Officers and Careers Consultants that work with you from the day you start until two years after you graduate.

Within the PDC is the Job Shop, which is visited by most students on arrival at the University. The Job Shop helps students find temporary or part-time work whilst studying for their degree which enables you to develop the transferable skills sought after by employers.

The Work Placement Year

One of Brunel’s most distinctive features is a commitment to include periods of work experience within ‘sandwich’ degrees – degree study that includes a year’s paid work placement as part of the course. Four-year sandwich degrees help students to develop the practical knowledge and skills required to succeed in the competitive graduate job market.

Placements are on offer at different sized organisations across the public and private sector, providing the opportunity to choose the type of experience most suited to you. In addition to providing a valuable opportunity to put what you have learnt in your degree into practice and to earn some much appreciated money, students find their work placement experience significantly enhances their employability when they come to graduate. In fact many students are offered employment with their work placement company upon graduation.

How the Placement Scheme Works

Students undertaking a work placement spend at least 44 weeks in an organisation working for a particular department, performing a role relevant to their studies. Work placements are carried out at the end of a student’s second year at Brunel.

Whilst a student is out on placement, an academic member of Brunel Business School keeps in touch and all placement students and their employers are invited to attend a tutorial day at Brunel.

Most work placements are organised with companies based in the UK, but where a student has contacts overseas, it is possible to organise a placement outside the UK, subject to certain conditions being met.

Features

• A sandwich placement is totally different from the kind of work experience you may have had whilst at school.
• A work placement is a proper job with a proper organisation – quite often the organisation is a household name.
• Work placement students earn proper salaries: currently students are generally being paid between £13,000 and £17,000 per annum, depending on the market sector and location – some have been known to earn considerably more than this.

Employers of placement students from Brunel have included:

• IBM
• Adidas
• Lloyds TSB
• British Airways
• Orange
• Microsoft
• Warner Bros
• Morgan Stanley
• Air France
• Walt Disney
• PricewaterhouseCoopers
• United Biscuits
• Nissan

Entry Criteria 2018/19

• GCE A-level BBB.

• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma DDD in Business,  or Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.

• BTEC Level 3 Diploma DD in Business with A-level at grade B. (Other combinations may be considered on a case-by-case basis).

• BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma D in Business with A-levels grade BB. (Other combinations may be considered on a case-by-case basis).

• International Baccalaureate Diploma 30 points.

• Access to Higher Education Diploma Complete and pass Access to Business or related subject course with 45 credits at Level 3 Distinction. Applicants must also have 2 years work experience.

All BTEC combinations must include an A-level.

A minimum of five GCSEs are required, including GCSE Mathematics grade C or grade 4 and GCSE English Language grade C or grade 4.

Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants within our grade range as well as our full GCSE requirements and accepted equivalencies in place of GCSEs.

Entry criteria are subject to review and change each academic year.

International and EU Entry Requirements

Teaching and Assessment

Teaching

Staff expertise

Many of our lecturers are:

• Internationally or nationally recognised for their innovative work and research.
• Work as consultants for major companies worldwide.
• Have practical and personal experience in business or have run their own companies.

Lectures

These provide a broad overview of key concepts and ideas. They provide a framework from which to carry out more in-depth study.

Seminars

Small seminar groups allow students to make individual contributions. You will undertake in-depth analysis of issues as you exchange and explore ideas with other students.

Workshops

Workshops in the Business School labs give students the opportunity to obtain valuable hands-on experience of industry software, computing equipment, business design and multi-media packages.

One-to-one Sessions with Tutors

In your first year you will be assigned a tutor who will be available to help with academic or personal issues. In your second year this support will be continued through the Business School’s Pastoral Care programme – BBS Student Support – a team of specially chosen personal tutors who are available throughout the working week. Additionally, if you choose a four-year sandwich course, you will also be allocated an industrial tutor who will provide support during your work placement. In your final year you will receive one‑to‑one supervision for your major project.

Availability of Tutors

Academic staff are available for a number of hours each week for students who need to get advice. Their availability will be displayed on their office doors so that students can make an appointment or drop by to see them if they have any concerns about their studies.

Web-learning and Support

eLearning and knowledge management are now standard ways in which companies communicate with their employees. Students will be expected to participate in email discussion groups and engage with online material using the university’s web‑based learning facility, Blackboard.

Other

There will be email discussion groups, research talks on key management issues and presentations by outside speakers. Throughout the course, you will also be expected to undertake group work and individual projects and presentations.

Assessment

Each subject is assessed either by a combination of continuous appraisal and examination or by coursework or examination alone. As a rough guide, the split is approximately 50:50 exam to coursework but the exact ratio varies depending on the modules you select.

Your results from Level 1 do not count towards your final degree classification, but you have to pass the first year to continue with the degree. Level 2 is worth a third of your final mark and Level 3 the rest. In your final year, you will undertake an assessed project of around 8,000 words worth a third of your Level 3 marks.

Special Features

• Enjoy our Business Life programme and develop core skills, knowledge and graduate attributes in preparation for the world of work
• Includes a module on Management Enquiry to  help you adapt to university study through active learning sessions on topics such as working in groups, report writing and time management
• High quality teaching from lecturers with 'hands-on' experience in consultancy and training
• Tutors that are active researchers in business, management and marketing
• Brunel Business School is accredited by the AACSB (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), less than 5% of the world's business schools carry this accreditation

For those who undertake a work placement

• The opportunity to gain paid professional experience working in prominent companies or organisations. These are high-quality placements with graduate-like responsibilities. Many students get offered full-time graduate posts at the companies where they carried out their work placements.