BSc (Hons) Business Management

This module will introduce you to key theories, insights and methods within Organisational Studies. In particular, it will critically examine different organisational forms, processes and contexts.

The module places an important emphasis on the meaning and content of organisational strategies. It will help you develop the tools you need to analyse an organisation’s positioning within the marketplace, and think/plan strategically in order to make it more competitive.

You'll gain an understanding of strategic management and appreciate the interrelated dynamics of both strategic and organisational research and practice.

This module will introduce you to the key concepts and topics of microeconomics and macroeconomics.

The first part of the module will focus on microeconomics. Specifically, the module will analyse how markets work and what determines the prices and quantities of goods traded in the market. You'll discuss how consumers and firms behave in the market and concepts such as market structure, firm performance, strategic rivalry, and growth strategies will be introduced.

The second part of the module will introduce you to the core of macroeconomic topics. You'll explore concepts such as national income accounting, unemployment; inflation; international trade.

The explanation of microeconomic and macroeconomic topics will be supported by insights from recent history, key economic thinkers, and real-world examples.

This module aims to allow you to explain economic issues through the application of microeconomic and macroeconomic theories, and wherever possible will focus on current public debates and controversies.  

Specifically, the topics explored in this module aim to raise your understanding of the complexity of the economic environment in which individuals, financial institutions, firms and governments operate 

We will analyse some specific case studies in order to connect economic theories to contemporary social and business life. The case studies you examine will relate to a number of important economic and social issues such as business regulation, strategic decision-making by firms and other agents, informational problems and international trade.

The objective of this module is to introduce you to key concepts and theories in the field of entrepreneurship, and to different kinds of entrepreneurial processes, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial businesses. It also examines how context and culture shape entrepreneurial activity.

This module is an introduction to marketing. By the end of the module you will have a knowledge of the role of marketing within organisations and within society, and of the principles of marketing management.

Conceptually, the module is divided in two sections. The focus of the first section is to understand what marketing and its role within society. In the first five weeks, you will be introduced to the definition of marketing, the role of marketing within organisations, the value of marketing within organisations and society, the history of marketing, the role of marketing in constructing the consumer society, and the relationship that marketing has with society (i.e. marketing ethics, and sustainability).

We will study both traditional and critical/interpretativist theories of marketing.

In the second half of the module, you will be introduced to foundational topics in marketing management. You will also be introduced to marketing strategy through an brief overview of the 4Ps of marketing - Product, Place, Promotion and Price.

This module covers the core concepts of both finance and accounting. It will introduce students to the important financial and managerial accounting principles that are necessary when running any type of organisation- whether it is manufacturing, merchandising, service, non-profit, or government. It will give students an understanding of how management accounting information is used by managers in their planning and control activities and, is designed to prepare graduates for a variety of professional managerial roles in both the public and private sectors. It covers topics such as financial accounting and reporting, foundation and tools for management accounting, strategy development and using costs in decision making, costing systems and activity-based costing, managing customers, processes and life cycle costs, and using budgets for planning, coordination and control. In the financial component of the module, students will look at the three traditional accounting statements, balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. The module has two distinct elements: managerial finance with a focus on understanding financial statements, and management accounting with an emphasis on costing, budget and control. The lectures in the module will be supplemented by several assignments designed to develop and enhance practical skills.

In this module, subtitled ‘Everything is a Text’, you will consider the value of different types of texts and ways of imparting knowledge and ideas. You will reflect upon your identities as learners and future professionals in the world, considering a range of contexts: the academic/educational context, personal settings and the eco-systems that you live and work in. These reflections will be used to inform your practices as academic learners.

You will explore academic literacies, different ways of knowing and consider what counts as ‘legitimate’ knowledge. You will engage with critical thinking, making arguments and establishing criteria to defend intellectual positions and these skills will be acknowledged as social practices that produce and reinforce meaning and frameworks of understanding and knowledge.

Furthermore, you will engage with a wide range of academic and non-academic material, individuals and environments in order to contribute to discussions regarding attitudes and assumptions about ideas and experience, including within labour markets, cultural hegemonies, distributions of power and the relationship between the individual and society. In this way, the social interactions, relationships and contexts that underpin academic literacies in higher education will be made explicit.

You will discuss these ideas with students and tutors from the different subjects at Goldsmiths, and learn to be part of the wider university community. You will also be able to submit an assignment which could be a written, graphically designed, audio, video, or negotiated project. You will get to choose the assessment that best shows what you can do.

This module, subtitled ‘Researching Our World & Lives’, builds on the conceptual and contextual foundations of Identity, Agency and Environment 1.

You will learn how to conduct academic research and will be offered the opportunity to broaden and deepen your understanding of the relationship between your own interests, skills, values, career and non-career aspirations, the concepts, theories and contexts of your discipline, and the world.

You will reflect upon your identities as researchers, and learn how the research skills you’ve acquired both within your studies and the world more generally can be related to problem-solving in a wide range of contexts. You will consider your agency as researchers, what you can and cannot research, the ethical issues involved, and think reflexively about your position as a researcher in a range of environments and eco-systems.

Formal conventions of academic research and writing will be integrated into your individualised contexts and goals, enabling the expression of ideas and perspectives that may challenge the status quo. The module will encourage creativity, activism, decision-making and the formation of judgements leading to action-planning in relation to research topics and types of evidence, and professional planning.

You will learn to critique your own subject disciplines. Interdisciplinary sharing of knowledge will ensure that assessment and learning practices provide you with the opportunity to develop new lines of thinking and knowing, within formative collaborative learning and research communities.

This module will provide you with the tools you need to conduct both qualitative and quantitative market research and to translate this research into consumer insight.

After reviewing well known data collection methods and distributions, the module will be divided into three sections. The focus of the first section is quantitative data analysis. Specifically, the module will look into inferential statistics such as hypothesis testing, correlations, T-Test, ANOVA, regression, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. You will learn how to use SPSS to conduct inferential statistics.

In the second part, you will learn qualitative data analyses. Specifically, you will learn different coding techniques used in the market research industry, and how to use qualitative data to extrapolate broader insights into your markets.

Finally, you will learn how to translate both qualitative and quantitative market research outputs into consumer insights. The overall aim is to enable you to evaluate different types of market research, and be able to understand and use research output for solving marketing problems such as segmentation, targeting, positioning, marketing strategy and consumer behaviour.

This module will help students to develop a career plan and prepare for their employment search. It will cover practical aspects such as writing a CV, a cover letter and application forms and developing an internet presence through websites such as Linkedin. It will give students the tools to prepare for interviews, including case interviews, assessment centres, and psychometric tests. It will cover the development of soft skills such as leadership and networking skills as well as the development of commercial awareness through business case studies. The students will also be introduced to current theories of career development and employability.

This module gives you a thorough understanding of the Digital Economy business environment and strategies firms employ to take advantage and counter forces present in that environment. Specifically, the module examines how digital technology helps reduce a variety of costs; explains different phenomena (e.g. network effects) present in the digital economy; emphasises the importance of platforms and ecosystems and analyses digitally enabled business models. Using theoretical advancements and practical cases the module builds critical skills necessary to manage businesses in the digital economy. 

Our academic departments are developing exciting elective ideas to allow you to broaden your education, either to develop vocationally orientated experiences or to learn more about contemporary society, culture and politics. You’ll be able to choose safe in the knowledge that these modules have been designed for non-subject specialists and to bring students from different disciplines together. For example, you may want to take introductions to areas such as Law, Education, the digital industries, the creative industries,think like a designer or understand the history and politics behind our current affairs.

This module will define operations and supply chain management and how they function within different industries and contexts. It will equip you with a critical understanding of the models, processes and competencies required in effective operations and supply chain management. Throughout the module, you will be introduced to different aspects of business operations from design, to strategy, planning, quality and control, and seek to evaluate the alternatives in each case and identify potential problems and solutions.

You will examine the key processes involved in supply chain management, from sourcing to procurement, inventory management and logistics. You will become acquainted with and in a position to analyse contemporary issues relating to operations and supply chain management, including disruptions, advances in information technology, and calls for greater transparency and ethics. Lectures will include case studies on the key topics discussed.

This module introduces students to the basic issues of modern finance with an emphasis on practical applications for corporate managers. It will equip you with the analytical skills necessary for making corporate investments (financial decisions, risk analysis) by examining firms' investment and financing decisions, and their interactions with the capital markets.

The course will examine the fundamental principles of financial valuation and analysis (concept of present value, the opportunity cost of capital, discounted cash flow analysis, valuation techniques, issues between short & long-term financial management, risk and return, corporate capital structure and financing decisions, dividend policy, and issues of corporate governance and control). 

The lectures in the module will be supplemented by a case assignment designed to develop and enhance practical skills. 

This module is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of leadership and talent in organisations. Moreover, students will learn about methods for assessing leadership potential and talent, along with approaches to enhancing leadership ability and talent. The module will also cover use of technology in leadership development and talent management. By using case material and practical examples, students are introduced to the importance of theory and research-based practice in these fields.

• Understand key concepts relating to international business, describe the key players in international business, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of globalization 
• Examine the international business environment and the different dimensions (political, legal, technological and cultural) that affect the operations of international businesses
• Understand the international monetary and financial environment
• Examine different strategies for entering in to foreign markets and analyse organizational design, control and structure in international business contexts

This module will introduce you to the psychological theories and research on how organisational, team-level and individual characteristics affect productivity and mental health. This module will also consider the limitations of our understanding of these issues and how occupational psychology theory and research is trying to overcome them. 

This module will introduce you to the arguments that address the social and environmental context of management and its responsibilities to the organisation’s stakeholders.

Through examination of misdemeanour and irresponsibility, the module will focus on the key structural and individual drivers of social responsibility and sustainability and its manifestations. Addressing the instrumental and moral debates, it will employ both normative and descriptive perspectives, that are applied across workplaces in the public, private and third sectors.

Teaching and learning comprise a balance of theory and practice: we explore the purpose of business, applying ethical frameworks and stakeholder theory, plus, we examine the role of discretion and values. The module will expose you to regulatory/legal issues, the role of board directors and contemporary debates concerning sustainability.    

Your confidence will be developed using formative weekly discussions and learning from guest speakers. This will help you work towards the summative assessment.

This module aims to inspire and develop key skills related to your creative social and environmental entrepreneurship, or intrapreneurship, thereby enhancing your career prospects and employability.

The digital economy has created new opportunities and innovations across the economy disrupting existing business models of many established industries.

This course covers business modelling and analysis techniques: the development, implementation, and utilisation of business models for managerial decision making.

The module will cover various techniques for analytical modelling. These could include trend curves, multiple regressions, forecasting and classification. Students will develop business-orientated models for decision making covering applications such as marketing, sales, financial management and operations/project management.

The Case Studies lectures set the stage for each week of teaching and encourage student exposure to and interaction with the theory, culture, economics, and emerging technologies of the theory and practices of innovation. The case study format encourages active learning and allows the application of theoretical concepts to be demonstrated, thus bridging the gap between theory and practice. Each week features a different topic so students gain in-depth knowledge of 10 innovation topics through weekly case study demonstration and critical analysis. Each case study features an academic lecture followed by a case study presentation from a top-tier industry guest speaker at the executive level discussing challenges and opportunities related to a realworld implementation of the particular case study topic.

The research project is a major part of the final year of study (30 credits) and requires you to independently conceptualise, plan, execute, and document an original empirical research investigation, culminating in an authored research report (undergraduate dissertation). The research project starts with the submission of a proposal form, where you briefly outline your proposed research projects. The research focus can be on any area of their degree programme, use a number of different research methodologies, and employ a specific population (e.g., salespersons, general or middle managers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses).

The research project is conducted under the guidance of an academic supervisor and it allows you to make an original intellectual contribution to your discipline.

Although the research project is a challenging part of the programme, many students find they benefit greatly from the experience. By the submission deadline, you will not only have developed your skills as a researcher, but also gained experience applying theory and research to areas of concern in your discipline, specifically Management, Marketing, and/or Entrepreneurship.