BA (Hons) Business Management - WBL

Level 1

Accreditation of Prior Learning and Experience (AP(E)L)
General credit of 120 CATS points is awarded to students who meet the minimum entry criteria of an HND, Foundation Degree or equivalent.

Level 2

Accreditation of Prior Learning and Experience (AP(E)L)
General credit of 120 CATS points is awarded to students who meet the minimum entry criteria of an HND, Foundation Degree or equivalent and have proof of relevant/ current professional work experience.

Level 3

Study Skills for Distance Learners
The purpose of distance learning is to enable students to work at their own pace and in their own way at a time and place of their own choosing that together allow for work, study and a work life balance that meet individual needs. In addition, the ability to work independently and perhaps with limited resources is a key competence in the modern organizational world. This module therefore equips students both to respond to the requirements of study and to develop essential skills for work. The twin purposes of this module are to equip students with essential skills for study and organizational life and our intention is to help you make the most of the freedoms and disciplines involved. Essentially, this involves developing the ability to think independently yet logically and to release your innate creativity by finding the way in which your mind works best. At this level of study, learning moves beyond simply memorizing facts to also being able to develop ideas and to stimulate your thinking to support both your academic and practical development.

The module provides students with a structured framework within which to develop the essential skills for distance learning. Students will be encouraged to take personal control of learning and to balance the freedoms and disciplines inherent in a distance learning environment. Using models of theory and practice embellished by personal experience, students will develop their ability to self-motivate, manage their own learning and reflect on how they learn. This will enable students to evaluate theories and practical models to challenge and to expand on received wisdoms.

Integrating Professional Business Experience
This unit is designed to develop and assess student’s ability to reflect critically on their professional practice and experiences within a Business environment/workplace. Reflection as a technique for aiding and reinforcing learning is a powerful tool in professional development and a wide range of other learning situations and environments. At a personal level critical reflection is the basis for personal learning and change. It offers a way of making the most of changing circumstances and a good way of preparing for the future. Reflection is the basis of self-awareness and can also help identify unseen opportunities. It can make the difference between acting as a victim of circumstance and choosing a proactive response. Reflective practice is essentially about learning and developing, through examining what we think happened on any occasion and how we think others perceived the event. The manager must open their professional practice to the scrutiny of others and becoming a more effective learner and manager as a result. At an organisational level critical reflection is the basis for maintaining the appropriate alignment of an organisation with its environment and as such forms the basis for strategic planning and organisational change. It can, if used correctly act as a catalyst for the essential disciplines of communication and continual improvement in a rapidly changing Business managerial environment.

The Unit will provide students with a structured framework within which to reflect on learning experiences received during previous formal managerial training and also within past and present Business working environments. Students will be encouraged to develop their own abilities to practice reflection in the practical arena by critically evaluating their own ideas against academic theories and models. They will be expected, as a result to challenge and expand their own individual management skills. Students will facilitate this process through the production of a personal Learning Log, individual reading and study and face-to-face or on-line discussion with the Unit Tutor.

Management of Change
The aim of this unit is to enable students to develop their workplace skills in the management of change. Allowing students to investigate their own organisation in relation to change management from a number of perspectives. They begin by considering their organisations business and market position, how it is structured and how it operates, to provide an understanding of the context within which change happens. They consider how organisational structure and culture may support or inhibit change. They critically investigate and evaluate management of change theoretical models. They explore the impact of change on people and the skills needed by effective change agents and organisations. They use their learning to inform a study of change management in their organisation and to make recommendations about change strategies for the future.

Applied Problem Solving in the Business Workplace
This unit is designed to help students develop their problem-solving skills. Students look at some more unusual approaches to the solving of complex problems and at techniques used outside their own organisation and experience. At an early stage they select a complex problem in their workplace to work on throughout the unit and are able to develop, integrate and apply their new learning, ideas and techniques in a real practical context.

The unit's main aims are to provide students with:

• An understanding of the nature of complex problems which include problems with unknown/unpredictable features
• A range of advanced skills that will equip them to solve complex problems in the workplace
• Experience of applied complex problem solving in the workplace.

Dissertation
This unit provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their capacity to work independently on a major dissertation and to utilise and build on skills and subject expertise developed in the promotion of their professional and personal skills. It provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate the capacity for independent learning, the analysis of problems and the application of appropriate professional and self-developmental skills. Students will work with their tutor to research, develop and present their study for assessment following the agreed formats prescribed by the University.

Throughout the programme assessment methods are designed to enable you to develop your potential and permit a close working relationship between the learning experience and individual assessment. Assessment strategies will reflect the focus of the programme on independent self-managed learning.

Admission to the WBLD undergraduate programme is dependent on several criteria; however, your ability to complete the programme satisfactorily and benefit from it will be the main factor to be taken into account. The programme requires a high level of personal commitment and students will need to be well motivated.

Entry with Advanced Standing, APL:

Students will be accepted onto the course with advanced standing through credit awarded for prior certificated learning (APL). Credit for certificated learning will be awarded according to agreed tariffs for qualifications such as HND, Diploma of Higher Education, NEBS etc.

Employers are increasingly looking to recruit graduates who can demonstrate that they have the skills and abilities to succeed in the workplace. This degree has been devised to give you just that edge. Because all students will already be employed the benefit of the degree are:

For Individuals:

• Academic recognition for learning you have already achieved
• Programme delivery at a pace and place to suit you, the potential to work towards the degree when work and personal commitments allow and to break off from the programme when other pressures take over
• Individual learning programmes focused on job relevant learning
• Direct access to specialist expertise to support work based projects and extend the scope of your activities
• Immediate opportunities to apply theory in practice
• Improved performance and the ability to respond to change.

For Organisations:

• Improved performance and competitive edge
• Increased motivation, confidence and creativity of workforce
• Immediate benefits from availability of expertise and advice on work based projects
• Customised programmes to suit your organisation.

2011/12

2012/13