BA (Hons) Business Management with International Year One

Key details

BA (HONS) BUSINESS MANAGEMENT WITH INTERNATIONAL YEAR ONE

Start Year

2023

Attendance

Full Time

Award

Degree of Bachelor of Arts

Duration (years)

Business is about numbers of course, but it’s even more about people. Our Business & Management degree will prepare you with the analytical tools that drive business strategy as well as the influencing and team building skills required in a successful business.   

It’s a highly flexible programme which, after a solid grounding in year one, allows you the freedom of choice to specialise in those areas of business that interest you most.   

There’s a great variety of subjects to focus on from marketing to talent development, from project management to law or entrepreneurship and many more.  

Our course will deepen your overall business understanding while allowing you to keep your options open, until you choose where to focus.

About

This course is designed for international students with an academic background from outside of the UK. The first year taught at INTO UEA is designed to improve your English language skills, increase your knowledge of academic theories, and develop key study and research skills for undergraduate study, before you transition to the Norwich Business School (NBS).

At Norwich Business School, we believe that excellent management is all about complementing hard and soft skills. That means understanding numbers, their use and how they can shape your view about an organisation. It also means focusing on people, how they behave and why they behave as they do. On our course, you’ll become adept at this difficult balancing act, a skill that is highly prized in the business world. We believe that anyone can become a great manager, no matter what their background is, so our course is inclusive and welcoming to all.  

You’ll have the opportunity to hone your qualitative and quantitative capabilities, while learning how to work with people, building your reflective skills, and developing your ability to look at yourself and your own work critically.  

At UEA, we aim for an evidence-based management, so you will learn to pose questions and challenge assumptions and use evidence to make your own decisions and back them up. Students will develop quantitative and qualitative skills, learning how to deal with numbers and accounts, and how to interpret statistics, as well as how to manage people and resources. You’ll also gain experience working with others and presenting your findings and ideas. This is an invaluable practice for your career when you’ll need to not only develop solutions to problems, but also persuade people of their validity.  

Norwich Business School is a friendly and supportive school, with a lively and international cohort. We are in a region that’s safe and welcoming, with a thriving business innovation and enterprise community. All our teaching is informed by our world-leading research and real-world business experience. That means you’ll gain knowledge of the latest issues and debates facing industry and employers.  

Our current research interests include finance, accounting, employment systems and institutions, responsible business regulation, marketing, entrepreneurship and business strategy, and innovation, technology and operations management.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

You’ll be assessed through a mix of essays, presentations, reports and online tests. Our assessment methods have been developed not just to measure your skills, but also to aid your learning. For example, when you’re writing an essay, you’ll receive feedback on a formative exercise first. You’ll then have a chance to make revisions and improvements before handing in a summative essay for assessment. This helps you identify and focus on areas for improvement. The English team also dedicate time in classes to provide support and assistance with content assessments, including providing support and feedback for essays and allocating class time to practice presentations, on which the English teachers will give feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Structure

The BA in Business Management with International Year One is designed to meet the specific needs of overseas students whose first language is not English, and who may be slightly short of matriculation qualifications for entry, or whose availability for first year study is out of phase with the university’s normal September entry date.  

The International Year One year consists of three terms focusing on academic knowledge and study skills, with additional English for specific academic purposes.  The programme ensures that international students, particularly those with a lower level of English language, are fully prepared to complete their undergraduate degree at the university. 

By the end of your first year, you won’t just have a firm foundation, you’ll understand all the key disciplines of business and economics. Throughout your future career, you’re likely to work closely with these disciplines, so this understanding is extremely valuable – being able to communicate with and understand other disciplines is a crucial part of management. 

Teaching and Learning

Teaching  

All our teaching is informed by the latest research and real-world business experience. That means that you’ll benefit from the latest thinking in the industry. Many of our lectures are interactive, and across all our teaching you’ll use a rich selection of source material, including textbooks, articles, academic research papers, videos, and business articles from publications such as the Financial Times and The Economist.

Business is ever-changing, so you won’t just learn to understand, evaluate, and utilise the current leading theories, you’ll also learn how to develop the critical skills needed to examine and put to use any new theories and methods that are established during your future career.

Independent study  

You’ll also learn through self-directed study – a skill that’s highly prized by employers. You will be set tasks to complete in your own time, working individually and in groups. You will also be encouraged to join one of our community engagement projects and have the opportunity to undertake the Duke of Edinburgh and UEA awards as well. 

Teamwork and communication  

Many of your first-year assignments are completed in groups to allow you to develop your communication and team working skills. Tutors will also facilitate group discussions in seminars and workshops, which can be very interesting and lively, especially since there is so much diversity in INTO students’ background and previous experiences.

Links to UEA 

During your first year at INTO UEA, you will have regular link ups with students and lecturers at UEA to aid your transition to year two on campus. These meetings and events will allow you to ask questions and gather information to fully prepare yourself for your progression.

Employability  

You can gain employment experience through one of our virtual internships which are offered in partnership with INTO Careers First. INTO staff will support you with your application and help you to apply what you learn through this valuable experience to your current and future studies. 

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Assessment for Year 2

There are numerous opportunities to take this further with engagement in our employability prizes, sponsored and judged by industry and business specialists. In previous years, Adnams, the famous Suffolk brewer, has sponsored a prize for students on the Marketing Communications module, and the Alan Boswell Group (independent insurance brokers and financial planners) have sponsored a first-year prize.

Structure

After a first year spent discovering the fundamentals of business, you will focus on core business management functions like managing people and managing information systems and will develop your strategic awareness and analysis. You’ll also have the flexibility to choose optional modules, allowing you to try different things, explore your interests, and discover where your talents and ambitions lie. 

For example, if you’re interested in marketing, you could take the Marketing Communications module, during which past students have visited BBC East to learn how to make TV ads. Or if you are interested in the legal side of business, you could study Practical Law for Management. There are options for the more creative among you with modules such as Employability, Creativity and Personal Development. And there is the opportunity to develop your awareness of the ethical dimension of decision-making through the Business Ethics module. 

Teaching and Learning

Teaching  

Throughout your degree, you will hone your skills and build your knowledge through a mix of lectures, seminars and workshops.  

All our teaching is informed by the latest research and real-world business experience. That means that you’ll benefit from the latest thinking in the industry. Many of our lectures are interactive, and across all our teaching you’ll use a rich selection of source material, including textbooks, articles, academic research papers, videos, and business articles from publications such as the Financial Times and The Economist.  

Business is ever-changing, so you won’t just learn to understand, evaluate and utilise the current leading theories, you’ll also develop the critical skills needed to examine and put to use any new theories and methods that come to the fore during your career.  
  
Independent study

You’ll also learn through self-directed study – a skill that’s highly prized by employers. Depending on the modules you choose, you might undertake IT lab work, using online resources to practice textbook questions. You’ll also do various projects, including a project in which you’ll solve a live marketing brief for a real company and present your work to that business. We’ve worked with organisations such as Adnams Brewery and the East Anglian Zoological Society on past projects. You can also choose to enhance your studies by getting involved in the student-led, extracurricular Accountancy Society and Business Society.  
  
Teamwork and communication

During your first year and some of your second and third-year modules you will work alongside students from other NBS degrees. You’ll also have the possibility to deepen your understanding of topics through discussion with your peers in seminars. This will develop your teamwork and communication skills, as well as helping you gain insight into other business disciplines. To be a successful manager you must be able to understand and work with the whole spectrum of business specialists. Working alongside other NBS students during your degree is a great way to develop this skill. We also attract students from the UK and all over the world, so the relationships you build here are also great practice if you aspire to an international career, or to working for a multinational company.

Guest speakers  

During your studies, you will be able to gain unique insights from leading industry figures. Previously, for example, Mark O'Hagan (Joint CEO of the East of England Co-Op) and Natasha Evans (Team Lead for Customer Success at LinkedIn) spoke to our second-year Human Resource Management class, and Professor Andy Wood (CEO of Adnams) spoke to first-year Organisational Behaviour students.  
  
Employability

Your career is our priority, and employability is embedded in our degrees in all sorts of innovative ways, from guest speakers from industry and projects with real businesses, to accreditations and exemptions from key professional bodies. During our flagship Employability Week each year, you can meet possible employers and speak to successful UEA alumni about how they got where they are now.

September 2023 opportunities. Discover more

Open Days

Assessment for Year 3

You’ll be assessed through a combination of essays, presentations, reports and online tests. Our assessment methods have been developed not just to measure your skills, but also to aid your learning. For example, when you’re writing an essay you’ll receive feedback on a formative exercise first. You’ll then have an opportunity to make revisions and improvements before handing in a summative essay for assessment. This helps you identify and focus on areas for improvement.  

There are many opportunities to take this further with engagement in our employability prizes, sponsored and judged by industry and business specialists. In previous years Adnams, the famous Suffolk brewer, has sponsored a prize for students on the Marketing Communications module, and the Alan Boswell Group (independent insurance brokers and financial planners) have sponsored a first-year prize.

Structure

In your third year, you’ll develop your understanding and strategic analysis with the Strategic Management module. You will also complete a Final Year Project, which can take the form of a dissertation or a work-based project.  

Beyond that there are no compulsory modules, giving you even more flexibility to build a degree that suits you. For example, if you’re interested in starting your own business you could take the Entrepreneurship and Small Business module, or if you’re interested in consultancy, either working for a consultancy firm or learning the skills of how to be an effective internal consultant, you could take the Management Consultancy module. The annual NBS Modules Fair will help you choose the right options for you. Some third-year options are only available if you’ve taken specific second year modules, but we can advise you on this.

Teaching and Learning

Teaching

Throughout your degree, you will hone your skills and build your knowledge through a mix of lectures, seminars and workshops.  

All our teaching is informed by the latest research and real-world business experience. That means that you’ll benefit from the latest thinking in the industry. Many of our lectures are interactive, and across all our teaching you’ll use a rich selection of source material, including textbooks, articles, academic research papers, videos, and business articles from publications such as the Financial Times and The Economist.  

During your first year and some of your second and third-year modules, you will work alongside students from other NBS degrees. You’ll also have the chance to deepen your understanding of topics through discussion with your peers in seminars. This will build your teamwork and communication skills, as well as helping you gain insight into other business disciplines. To be a successful manager you must be able to understand and work with the whole spectrum of business specialists. Working alongside other NBS students during your degree is a great way to develop this skill. We also attract students from the UK and all over the world, so the relationships you build here are also great practice if you aspire to an international career, or to working for a multinational company.  

Guest speakers  

During your time at UEA, you will be able to gain unique insights from leading industry figures. Previously, for example, Mark O'Hagan (Joint CEO of the East of England Co-Op) and Natasha Evans (Team Lead for Customer Success at LinkedIn) spoke to our second-year Human Resource Management class, and Professor Andy Wood (CEO of Adnams) spoke to first-year Organisational Behaviour students.  
  
Employability

Your career is our priority, and employability is embedded in our degrees in all sorts of innovative ways, from guest speakers from industry and projects with real businesses, to accreditations and exemptions from key professional bodies. During our flagship Employability Week each year, you can meet potential employers and speak to successful UEA alumni about how they got where they are now. 

September 2023 opportunities. Discover more

Open Days

Year 1

Compulsory Modules (120 Credits)

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS AND MARKETING

BD-01 (20 Credits)

This module provides a basic understanding of business and management for those students who will undertake an undergraduate degree involving the study of business. The module pursues the following themes: models of management, the business environment, managing people, leadership, corporate social responsibility, organisational culture, human resource management, managing change, corporate strategy, marketing, organisation structure, managing finance and budgets, managing operations, and managing information systems.

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

BD-03 (20 Credits)

The aim of this module is to develop an appreciation of the nature and historical development of organisational behaviour. The module introduces key concepts, theories and methodologies in organisational behaviour and develops an understanding of the linkages between research, theory, and practice.

INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING

BD-06 (20 Credits)

The aims of this module are to provide a firm foundation in the theory and practice of accounting for those students going on to study accounting at a more advanced level. The module assumes no previous studies of accounting and pursues the following themes: the balance sheet, the profit and loss account, the double entry system, adjustments of accounting, accounts of limited companies, costing, budgeting and variance analysis.

INTRODUCTION TO MICROECONOMICS

BD-07 (20 Credits)

Topics to be covered in this module include: what is economics, its scientific status; demand and supply analysis including elasticity concepts and tax incidence; costs and profit maximisation; perfect competition, monopoly and monopolistic competition; game theory and oligopoly; factor markets; an introduction to welfare economics – market failure, public goods and externalities. There will be some simple applications of calculus to problems in microeconomics such as profit maximisation etc.

INTRODUCTORY MACROECONOMICS

BD-08 (20 Credits)

Introductory Macroeconomics is a module designed as an introduction to university-level macroeconomic analysis. We start by considering national income accounting and the circular flow of income model. We then consider output and aggregate demand in an economy with a fixed price level: we analyse the expenditure multiplier model, the goods market and fiscal policy; the money market and monetary policy; the IS-LM model. We finally move on to an economy with a flexible price level and introduce aggregate supply factors into the analysis: we consider the Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand model; inflation, unemployment, and the Phillips’ curve; economic growth.

QUANTITATIVE METHODS

BD-09 (20 Credits)

This module is broadly divided into three parts. Firstly, students are trained in the transferable skills of spreadsheets, including their usage in a business context. Secondly, the module introduces basic mathematical techniques that are used in analysis, including a revision of basic maths, introductory statistics, and modelling. Thirdly, the module engages students in statistical analysis for a range of problems using SPSS or similar software. Considerable attention is placed on the interpretation of numbers.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND STUDY SKILLS FOR BUSINESS ECONOMICS

ESSBE (0 Credits)

The aims of this module are:

to improve students’ ability to deal with complex academic texts
to develop critical ability in relation to academic writing
to develop fluency and confidence in academic discussion and (iv) to enhance students’ ability to extract information from spoken texts

The module will include an investigative project involving research and investigation, data collection and analysis and a written and oral presentation of methods and results.
(Note from HC – this is not a credited module – students do not receive credits for this as they are just tested on English at the end).

Year 2

Please see the BA Business Managment page for information on the Year 2 modules.

Year 3

Please see the BA Business Managment page for information on the Year 3 modules.

Important Information:
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.

September 2023 opportunities. Discover more

Open Days

BA (Hons) BUSINESS MANAGEMENT WITH INTERNATIONAL YEAR ONE