BSC (HONS) GLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT (SRI LANKA)

In this module, you will learn about the role of a project and project manager in organisations and the concepts and techniques required to manage the core aspects of a project.

The main topics covered include the core knowledge areas outlined in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) published by Project Management Institute (PMI) as well as essential fundamental theories, knowledge, and techniques required to manage a project in contemporary business settings.

These topics include:
• Defining project characteristics, lifecycle, and activities.
• Understanding how projects drive change and achieve strategic goals in organisations.
• Realising the role of the project and project manager in various organisational structures and cultures.
• Managing core project aspects, such as stakeholder relationships, scope, cost, schedule, and risk.
• Distinguishing traditional, agile, and extreme project management approaches.

Drawing on contemporary project management research and business case studies, this module will develop your knowledge, skills, and confidence in managing projects and your learning with take place though lectures and practical IT workshops. Your learning will expose you to a wide range of project management examples (successful and unsuccessful) and project management approaches (classic and contemporary) to broaden your understanding of project management in a dynamic business setting. You will be given opportunities to work as a team and develop essential project management documents for a chosen project.

On completing this module, you will be able to utilise appropriate project management techniques and technical skills to effectively and efficiently manage different projects and you will be able to critically challenge the assumptions and existing practices in project management.

Successive global and national crises and organisational failures have demonstrated that conventional approaches to understanding and managing organisations and their people are less than effective.
Transforming Self and Organisations will support you in developing alternative approaches to analysing organisations, people and work practices. Building upon the multiple perspectives that you have been introduced to in the second year of your programme and upon your understanding from the module “People, Management and Organisations”, a research-rich curriculum will enable you to develop your appreciation and application of Critical Management tools and perspectives which challenge conventional approaches to understanding organisations. Drawing upon tools from, for example, identity, aesthetics, power and culture, you will develop your capabilities for questioning the neoliberal status-quo and the politics of managerialist and performance-driven agendas. You will examine the practices of large corporates through to SMEs, NFPs and social enterprises, interrogating, challenging, questioning what is typically taken-for-granted, seen as usual and appropriate, to recognise the inherent power and control that exists, to propose far-reaching change within organisations and society that prioritises fairness, justice, equality, diversity and sustainability. Your learning will place you in good stead to bring about future transformation within organisations. In adopting these alternative Critical perspectives on organisations so this may also challenge your own assumptions, values and beliefs transforming yourself. This learning will be invaluable to your future employment, enterprise/entrepreneurial activity.

This module is designed to develop your skills in understanding how one-to-one forms of marketing communications, across offline and online channels, can be combined into an overall campaign to generate new customers and enhance existing relationships. To do this, the module is broken into three distinct themes:

• Principles of Direct and Digital Marketing: In this part of the module you will cover the fundamental practices in the direct marketing field, which will include acquisition and retention strategies, customer profiling and segmentation, database marketing, permission marketing and personalisation, relevant legislation and campaign testing.
• Digital Media: In this section you will explore the range of communications media available, ranging from traditional offline channels (such as direct mail and telemarketing) through to the ever-growing range of digital media options (including social media, email, web design and mobile commerce).
• Campaign Planning: Here you will be introduced to the principles of campaign design, from initial context analysis and goal setting through to campaign implementation and evaluation. You will be encouraged to combine different marketing communications tools as part of an integrated campaign and consider campsign budgeting and measurement.

The dissertation module aims to equip you with the necessary intellectual and practical skills for undertaking an individual student-led, ethical investigation into an applied business (or the named degree) problem or issue. In addition, the dissertation aims to equip you with key transferable, employability skills, including: time management, project management, communication (written and verbal), negotiation, persuasion and influence, discovery, initiative, creativity and innovation in problem-solving, analysis.

The module is student-led but you are supported by, initially, weekly lectures and seminar-workshops which provide an introduction to undertaking Business-Management research followed by one-to-one or small-group supervision meetings.
The lectures and seminar-workshops will cover the following topics:
1. Developing a research aim/question (focusing and scoping the research)
2. Developing a literature review
3. Writing a research proposal
4. Researching ethically
5. Quantitative research techniques
6. Qualitative research techniques
7. Quantitative analysis techniques
8. Qualitative analysis techniques

Upon completion of the module you will be able to:
1. Conduct independent and ethical academic research involving the application and critical evaluation of appropriate theories and models,
2. Engage critically with relevant literature to establish a framework in which to analyse and synthesise the results of your primary or secondary research
3. Generate / collect relevant primary or secondary data using an appropriate and justified method
4. Analyse your data using an appropriate and justified method of analysis
5. Recognise the ethical implications of your work
6. Critically evaluate the source of your data and the method you adopted

In this module you will learn about the context of responsible strategic thinking, how to identify and explore sustainable business opportunities as a source of competitive advantage. You will gain an appreciation of the overarching principles of setting and executing a responsible and sustainable organisational strategy. Within the setting of these strategic objectives, you will understand how the associated responsible decision making will impact on both internal and external stakeholders. Your learning will span across private and public sector organisations, MNEs and SMEs and how each of different organisations and industries interact with the responsible and sustainable business opportunities and challenges.