PLYMOUTH BUSINESS SCHOOL

1. Module Information

Core Modules

Module Name: Strategic Analysis and Research Methods
Module Code: STO302 / Core/Elective: C / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 1
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100%
Short description: The module seeks to develop students’ understanding of business research methods and strategic analysis. A purpose of the module is to prepare students for their Term 2 dissertation work. This is achieved through students developing a research plan and a strategic analysis report relevant to the topic of their dissertation.
Module Leader: Jonathan Lean
Module Name: Business Management
Module Code: STO312 / Core/Elective: C / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100% / Exam:
Short description: The module is largely student based and designed to enable student involvement with real business issues. Students work in small teams to produce a consultancy style report or equivalent. This module is only available to final year students on BA Business.
Module Leader: Sarah Keast

OR

Module Name: Individual Project
Module Code: STO310 / Core/Elective: C / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100% / Exam:
Short description: This module enables the student to integrate knowledge and skills to develop a specialist area of knowledge and, with supervision, conduct their own investigation and report their findings.
Module Leader: Mel Hudson-Smith

Semester 1 Elective Modules:

Module Name: Organisational Leadership
Module Code: HRL300 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 1
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100%
Short description: This module examines the role of leadership in relation to structural, social, political, cultural and psychological processes at individual, team, organisational and national levels, adopting multiple perspectives. The ethical and moral responsibilities of corporate leaders are critiqued as is the inter-relationship between leadership, governance, decision-making and change.
Module Leader: Smita Tripathi
Module Name: Managing Change
Module Code: HRL301 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 1
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 80% / Practical: 20%
Short description: This module considers the importance, nuances, intricacies and sustainability of organisational change and its management. It examines the interrelationships and interactions between employees as well as changes in strategic direction, systems, structure, processes and culture, constantly relating to organisational effectiveness.
Module Leader: Margaret Greenwood
Module Name: International Trade and International Finance
Module Code: ECN3013A / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 1
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 40% / Exam: 60%
Short description: This module explores the economic implications of globalisation by investigating current trends in international trade and international financial markets.
Module Leader: Fangya Xu
Module Name: Professional and Academic Communication
Module Code: ELC315 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 1
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100%
Short description: This module is designed to help students to further develop and refine their ability to use English appropriately and effectively in professional and academic contexts at stage 3. They will do this by reviewing their language development, and planning and carrying out an effective course of independent study; engaging in a small research project; and practising relevant professional and academic English skills in small class groups. This module requires consistent, steady work throughout the year.
Module Leader: Ricky Lowes
Module Name: Human Resource Management
Module Code: HRL305 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 1
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 50% / Exam: 50%
Short description: Consideration of HR strategy and current developments in the management of human resources in modern organisations operating within complex environments
Module Leader: Jasmine Kelland
Module Name: International HRM
Module Code: HRL313 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 1
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100%
Short description: Students are introduced to: the implications of globalisation for HRM and labour, the particular human resource management problems confronted by Multinational organisations; human resource management systems in a range of different national contexts; and the social dimension of the EU and its implications for HRM.
Module Leader: Rossanna Guttilla
Module Name: Leadership Practice
Module Code: HRL306 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 1
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100%
Short description: Through study, reflection and exercises, this module seeks to develop knowledge and embed the practice of doing leadership. The module will explore four different ‘practice’ realms essential to leading: 1) self-practices (understanding one’s self as a leader), 2) presentational practices, 3) relational practices and 4) strategic practices. Although theoretical perspectives will provide the substance of lectures, seminars will use arts-based methods to create spaces in which students can experiment with the significance of these ideas for their own enactment of leadership.
Module Leader: Donna Ladkin
Module Name: Marketing Management
Module Code: MKT315 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 1
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100%
Short description: To develop an awareness of how the selection and utilisation of an appropriate mix can ensure the attainment of organisational objectives. To provide an understanding of the inter-relationship between marketing and other functional processes associated with managing organisations.
Module Leader: Hugh Conway
Module Name: Enterprise Creation
Module Code: ENT300 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 1
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100%
Short description: The module offers the opportunity to develop the skills and understanding necessary to write a professional business plan and bid for venture capital funding.
Module Leader: Naveed Yasin

Semester 2 Elective Modules:

Module Name: Financial Management
Module Code: ACF312B / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 30% / Exam: 70%
Short description: A development of the finance topics covered in earlier accounting modules, and includes working capital management, investment approval under uncertainty, risk management, efficient markets, cost of capital, company valuation and restructuring.
Module Leader: Apinya Klinpratoom
Module Name: Current Issues in Information Technology
Module Code: STO308 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100% / Exam:
Short description: The module reviews the latest in IT practice and research and its relevance to the management discipline. It covers topics such as legislation, ethics, security, sustainability and corporate governance and the role IT plays in these.
Module Leader: Andy Phippen
Module Name: Operations Management for Competitive Advantage
Module Code: STO301 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 50% / Exam: 50%
Short description: This module brings a strategic and problem-focused view to operations management, concentrating on spheres key to operations based competitive advantage, both in goods and service based industries. Particular consideration is given to operations strategy, supply chain management, lean thinking, performance measurement, quality management, project management and topical developments.
Module Leader: Charles Thornton
Module Name: International Business Communication
Module Code: ELC314 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 60% / Practical: 40%
Short description: This module is designed to help students to develop and refine their ability to communicate effectively in the global business environment encompassing different national cultures, business practices and systems.
Module Leader: English Language Centre Staff
Module Name: Equality and Diversity in the Workplace
Module Code: HRL310 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100%
Short description: The module provides a broad understanding of equality and diversity in the workplace. The module considers the perspectives and paradigms which underpin organisational choices in managing diversity effectively, exploring organisational equality and diversity at the levels of strategy and operational practice, and how group and individual identities are constructed in the workplace.
Module Leader: Sue Kinsey
Module Name: Women in Business
Module Code: HRL308 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100%
Short description:
This module is for anyone who is interested in women in the World of business. It aims to address the ‘invisibility’ of women in the mainstream business course literature by exploring gender perspectives in specific work contexts (e.g. large corporate, SME, micro, self- employed, informal economy). The module tackles contemporary issues, debating topics that are simultaneously enlightening and inspiring, as well as disconcerting and raw.
Module Leader: Margaret Greenwood
Module Name: Charity Fundraising Management
Module Code: MKT314 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 60% / Test: 40%
Short description: The module will provide participants a detailed understanding of the principles and practice of fundraising. It is structured to mirror the process of fundraising management and by the end of the program participants will have developed a fundraising plan for a charity or non-profit organisation of their choice. We provide an introduction to both the non-profit sector and the concept of philanthropy before considering fundraising planning and each major form of fundraising in turn.
Module Leader: Adrian Sargeant
Module Name: Current Issues in Management
Module Code: STO306 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100% / Exam:
Short description: This module exposes students to current debates within the field of business and management. The content will be fluid as it will draw on contemporary case studies, technological innovation, government legislation and philosophical, ethical or environmental debates.
Module Leader: David Owen
Module Name: Commercial Law
Module Code: LAW3233 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / Semester: Semester 2
Assessment Weighting: / C/W: 100%
Short description: In outline this module covers elements of commercial law, trading, commercial relations and practice. It includes aspects of commercial transactions, agency, regulation enforcement and remedies.
Module Leader: Nigel Firth
Module Name: French ,German or Spanish Basic
Module Code: FREX01, GERX01 or SPNX01 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / All Year
Assessment Weighting: / Practice:100%
Short description: This module is designed for beginners in the language, or those whose previous qualification/experience is not equivalent to GCSE grade B. It develops communicative competence at a basic level, enabling students to establish and maintain adequate social relations with speakers of a foreign language, negotiate everyday needs in a foreign country, and communicate using spoken and simple written language in a limited social or work setting.
Module Leader: French: Danielle Bishop German: Jacquie Hope
Spanish: Blanca Del Cerro-Garcia
Module Name: French, German or Spanish Intermediate I
Module Code: FREX02, GERX02 or SPNX02 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / All Year
Assessment Weighting: / Practice: 100%
Short description: This module is designed for students whose previous qualification/experience in the language is at least equivalent to GCSE grade B, or as a progression from Basic. It develops communicative competence at an intermediate level, improving students’ ability to establish social and working relations with speakers of the language, to understand key aspects of the target culture, and to handle useful routine writing and reading tasks.
Module Leader: French: Charles Mansfield German: Jacquie Hope
Spanish: Philip Edwards
Module Name: French or Spanish Intermediate 2
Module Code: FREX03 or SPNX03 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / All Year
Assessment Weighting: / Practice: 100%
Short description: This module is aimed at students whose previous experience in the language is equivalent to AS level, or as a progression from Intermediate 1. It develops their ability to use both the spoken and written language effectively beyond routine situations, to establish and maintain effective social and working relations with speakers of the foreign language, and to understand key aspects of the target culture.
Module Leader: French: Simon Breus Spanish: Chelo De Andres Martinez
Module Name: French or Spanish Advanced I
Module Code: FREX400 or SPNX400 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / All Year
Assessment Weighting: / Practice: 100%
Short description: This module is aimed at students with A level or equivalent in the foreign language, or as a progression from French/Spanish 3. It aims to consolidate knowledge of grammar and vocabulary and to provide a firm base for future studies. At the same time the student’s communicative competence is developed through the study of materials of relevance to the foreign country today.
Module Leader: French: Philip Edwards Spanish: Philip Edwards
Module Name: French or Spanish Advanced 2
Module Code: FREX500 or SPNX500 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / All Year
Assessment Weighting: / Practice: 100%
Short description: This module is designed as a progression from Advanced 1, or for other students who have pursued their study of the foreign language beyond A level or its equivalent. It will further extend their ability to communicate in more complex situations and their understanding of the structures of the language. Particular attention is paid to developing skills of relevance to a study or work placement in the foreign country.
Module Leader: French: Danielle Bishop Spanish: Blanca Del Cerro-Garcia
Module Name: French or Spanish Advanced 3
Module Code: FREX600 or SPNX600 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / All Year
Assessment Weighting: / Practice: 100%
Short description: This module is designed as a progression from Advanced 2, and is normally aimed at final year advanced students of the foreign language who have not had an extended period of residence in the foreign country. It enables them to build on the advanced language skills that they have already acquired and apply these to more specialised and complex situations (such as presentation and translation).
Module Leader: French: Danielle Bishop Spanish: Chelo De Andres Martinez
Module Name: French or Spanish Advanced 4
Module Code: FREX700 or SPNX700 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / All Year
Assessment Weighting: / Practise: 100%
Short description: This module is normally taken by final year students of the foreign language who have completed an extended period of residence in the foreign country. It builds on their increased fluency and confidence, and their personal experience of the foreign culture, and enables them to develop the application of their skills in more sophisticated and demanding situations.
Module Leader: Danielle Bishop Spanish: Chelo De Andres Martinez
Module Name: Mandarin Chinese 1
Module Code: MANX100 / Core/Elective: E / Credits: 20 / All Year
Assessment Weighting: / Practice: 100%
Short description:
This module is designed for beginners in the language, or those whose previous qualification/experience is not equivalent to GCSE grade B. It develops communicative competence at a basic level, enabling students to establish and maintain adequate social relations with speakers of a foreign language, negotiate everyday needs in a foreign country, and communicate using spoken and simple written language in a limited social or work setting.
Module Leader: Danielle Bishop

1st February 2016