Business & Entrepreneurship BSc(Hons)

Developing your foundational knowledge, you’ll investigate the key elements of business, the landscape’s challenges, and future trends. You’ll get an insight into finance, marketing, and how to understand and influence people - while exploring data, information and intelligence. And you’ll improve your relationship-building and decision making skills by pitching and presenting ideas as a team.

Modules

Market Intelligence

In this module, you’ll develop a working knowledge of market research methods, learning how to interpret examples of market research from the real world. You’ll be introduced to primary and secondary modes of market research and gain an understanding of how to segment markets and analyse trends using different analytic methods. 

You’ll also get a crash course in Big Data, learn how to present information for different audiences and explore how market intelligence is essential in market sensing, back-casting and futurecasting. 

Present and Future of Entrepreneurship

In this module, you’ll be introduced to the key concepts and theories in business and enterprise, with a focus on the practical and operational components of start-ups in particular. To support your understanding of entrepreneurial thinking, you’ll explore contemporary ideas about organisational behaviour, markets, customers, suppliers and key partners. You’ll be assessed on a policy submission based on a key issue that has significance for the future of enterprise.  

The Art of Strategy

In this module, you’ll learn how to think strategically about business objectives by engaging with a variety of case studies spanning different sectors. You’ll also explore different perspectives and theories on strategy, critically considering source and cultural context.

Wellbeing in Business

Here, you’ll learn about how feelings of wellbeing are fundamental to our mental, emotional and physical health and how wellbeing is intimately connected to both organisational management and customer satisfaction. You’ll also discover ways to develop wellbeing as a customer offer, addressing the importance of wellbeing for business success. Through a micro-placement, you’ll also have the opportunity to explore the importance of wellbeing for your own personal and professional development.  

Design Thinking

In this module, you’ll explore design thinking methodology as a problem-solving framework used across multiple sectors from business to international relations. Looking at contemporary issues such as – but not limited to – poverty, gender inequality, healthcare and cybersecurity, you’ll work in groups to collaborate on a design-centric problem-solving process.  

Navigating Uncertainty

You’ll learn to operate in always-uncertain contexts, where traditional modes of practice (predictability, commitment, linear planning) are replaced with skills of agility, resilience and systems thinking. You’ll also look at uncertainty as opportunity, where change often indicates the emergence of new questions and consumer needs, as well as providing new tools for addressing these. 

Along with your team, you'll put your business plan into action and pitch your product or services to your target market. You'll also develop your expertise and skills in managerial and team roles, thinking and expressing yourself in terms of data and business.

Modules

Complex Problem-Solving

In this module, you’ll practice multiple methods of complex problem-solving and explore outcomes through simulation. You’ll be introduced to systems thinking, an absolute necessity for contemporary business leaders who will be working in environments of densely layered interdependencies and networks. Systems thinking and systems approaches to problem-solving will provide a framework for understanding and managing complex situations in business. 

Critical and Social Innovation

In this module, you’ll gain a critical perspective on wicked problems such as falling productivity, investment and living standards, widening inequality and the growing threat of climate change. Along with developing your critical thinking skills to engage with these problems, you’ll also be encouraged to explore areas of innovation such as new technologies and emerging business practices. You’ll be assessed on your ability to propose, develop and illustrate an approach to solving an aspect of a wicked problem.  

Intelligent Brand Building

You’ll gain an understanding of the key elements of branding and brand identity, exploring product identity and sub-brands in relation to company and corporate branding. Your learning will be underpinned and driven by theory and research in branding psychology and the importance of emotion and you’ll learn multiple ways you can use consumer data to make branding decisions and enhance a brand’s evolution over time. 

Demonstrating Sustainability

In this module, you’ll explore the sustainability opportunities and practices within experience activities, as well as the devastating effects of unsustainable practice. You’ll select a particular sustainability-related issue that you are passionate about and discuss this within a blog format. You’ll also utilise examples of best practice to inform and justify proposals designed to address the issue that you have identified. 

Financial Insights

Here, you’ll explore the basic principles of finance across a range of business sectors and build integrated knowledge of how finance impacts business operations. You’ll acquire an understanding of financial terminology to the level whereby you can confidently debate the financial health of a business or sector. 

Collaborative Project: Growth Challenge

Here, you’ll work collaboratively to create a disruptive solution to a challenge provided to you. For example, your solution could be in the form of a start-up or innovative business concept. To develop your solution, you’ll carry out research and develop an informed approach to an evidenced market gap. You’ll also be expected to provide an analysis of costs and return on investment, encouraging you to project value of investment over time. You’ll be working collaboratively, either with an organisation, student colleagues from other courses, or members of your own cohort.  

By the end of the module, you’ll produce a portfolio of materials to illustrate your solution and outline and justify your decision-making process. 

You can choose to take an optional placement year after your second year on a three-year programme. 

You’ll be responsible for finding your own placement, with support from the RealWORKS employability team. 

Choosing this option will enhance your industry experience and skills while studying. 

How you’ll study during your placement year 

You’ll spend time working in a professional context, as part of a business or organisation. This can be in one role, or up to three, and must be for a minimum of 24 weeks. 

You’ll develop in-demand workplace skills, deepen your insight into industry and grow your network of contacts, all of which could help you get ahead in your career after graduation. 

Throughout this year, you’ll develop a portfolio of work that includes critical self-reflection on what has been learned from the experience. You’ll be required to evidence your experiences, the skills you’ve learned and your professional growth. 

Finalising your Business and Entrepreneurship degree, you'll present a leadership project in an interview and showcase, build a portfolio showing your professional standing, take on team challenges around your business, and develop a strategy for your company. You'll also choose between completing an applied project, work placement or dissertation.

Modules

Creative & Ethical Leadership

Here, you’ll further develop your industry experience through the completion of a micro-placement opportunity, where you’ll participate in a 360-degree appraisal. You’ll also increase your understanding of creative and ethical leadership and build a portfolio to showcase the range of experiences and attributes that you have developed throughout your degree. 

Global Economies and International Markets

In this module, you’ll explore the ever-changing environment of international trading and your learning may vary to reflect contemporary factors. You’ll primarily examine the economic, political, social, cultural and environmental drivers that impact on trade and the different modes of entry into international markets. Choosing a preferred international market, you’ll explore the practical issues of corporate expansion into this market and critique the support and guidance available to businesses and entrepreneurs when entering new markets.  

DataLab: Generation, Analysis, Iteration

In this module, you’ll build skills in analysing data in the pursuit of business goals. You’ll examine the effects of data on business models, product development and customer engagement and consider this from the perspective of managers, marketers and entrepreneurs. You’ll look at data in relation to project parameters and you’ll explore how data can help us effectively futurecast in many scenarios. 

Crafting Your Future: Professional Practice and Research

In this module, you’ll put together a professional portfolio with the aim of showcasing your best work, skills and core interests. Your portfolio will be made up of three components: a digital showcase of professional practice, a personal development plan and an industry analysis essay focusing on the sector you wish to enter. Your portfolio will enable you to reflect on everything learnt during your degree and help you establish yourself as a professional within your preferred sector. You’ll be supported by weekly lectures, seminars and one-to-one supervisions. 

Social Action Project

In this module, you’ll be tasked with developing a social enterprise concept in response to a ‘wicked problem’ posed at the start of the module. You’ll work in groups to co-develop your concept and you’ll consider challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and a range of societal challenges. You’ll be expected to produce and share research on relevant audiences and markets and you’ll be assessed based on a critical journal and presentation.