Course summary

Success in business is partly born out of great commercial ideas, but far more from having a detailed grasp of administration—knowing how to marshal the forces of marketing, production, talent, and finance—to realise them. This foundation degree explores the important disciplines of business. It will increase your general appreciation of the role of each in commercial environments and will help you define your own career path in business. A distinctive feature of the FdA Business is that its module assessments relate business disciplines such as human resource management, finance and marketing to real business case studies and situations. The finance module introduces important aspects of accounting for decision-making purposes. Its aim is to ensure you understand financial management and how that influences business performance. Closely related to finance, corporate strategy explores the theory and practice of strategic planning for business. You will consider how different planning models can be applied to different commercial contexts to achieve a range of outcomes. In the economics module you will look at wider external influences on commercial operations, including the national and European business environment and the many economic factors that affect decision making. A module on enterprise looks at ways of developing initial business ideas, researching markets, projecting financial requirements and the legal aspects of starting a business. In the marketing module you will investigate the principles that underpin the marketing process and how they apply in a business. The principles and theories of human resource management are also examined in a module focusing on the employer need for a flexible and talented workforce and the importance of training and staff development. And in a related module on organisational behaviour, you will use a range of theories and managerial approaches to analyse and explain human behaviour at work and how it can help achieve business outcomes. The course is as broad in scope as business itself, but also embeds key skills, such as researching and establishing conclusions, presenting ideas, and decision-making, all needed for higher education and essential in any business context.