Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business Management

at Birmingham City University - City Centre Campus United Kingdom

Digital business is all about the adoption of new technologies to transform businesses and gain competitive advantages in a continuously changing global environment. It is transforming business by integrating digital technologies and business processes in a digital economy.

Businesses are now adopting new technologies, for example the Internet of Things (IOT), Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain to gain competitive advantages in the fourth industrial revolution (industry 4.0), which builds on the preceding three but uses new digital technologies.

In essence, businesses will require people who have the capability to work in the roles, but not limited to Digital Business Transformation, Technology & Innovation Management, Business Data Analytics & Intelligence, Business and Technical Sales, Business Risk and Change Management or Project Management. By the time you complete BSc (Hons) Digital Business you’ll be well prepared for these varied roles, with the relevant knowledge and skills.

This course is designed to develop your digital capabilities, theoretical background and business skills which are required to pursue a career in the digital transformation of business. Hence, the course will equip you with the professional skills that are specifically aligned to the increasing job opportunities in business as it is digitally transformed and changed.

Through the skilful manipulation of materials, processes and ideas artists are able to offer creative insights which shape who we are and how we exist in the world around us. These are valuable skills in the fast-changing and interconnected web of ecological, political and socio-economic and philosophical contexts.

Our BA (Hons) Fine Art course embraces important traditional making skills such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, installation, digital media and performance, and places an emphasis on the fusion with new developments in creative practice framed within a professional working context to improve employability. This hybrid approach, coupled with discipline-specific studios and specialist workshops, will equip you to navigate the growing and changing face of the Creative Industries into the future.

This cutting-edge new BA (Hons) Film and Screenwriting degree course will develop your skills across key film studies and screenwriting debates and conventions. You will be taught by noted film scholars and established practitioners, who will provide their knowledge of international film and screenwriting perspectives.

The course is part of Birmingham City University’s Film Futures suite, designed to develop graduates with the theory, practice and industry trends that will enable them to succeed in a rapidly changing film environment.

What's covered in this course?

The course considers a wide range of script to screen traditions from theory, practice and industry perspectives.

Not only will you gain an understanding of Hollywood cinema conventions (from silent cinema to modern blockbuster spectaculars), but you will apply these storytelling techniques to a variety of production scenarios. As well as looking at American film and screenwriting genres (such as rom-com, thriller, science fiction and horror case-studies), you will also be introduced to other international traditions of cinema that range from European cinema, documentary to smartphone filmmaking and beyond.

A key focus of the course will be on the aesthetic and creative aspects of film and screenwriting, with consideration being given to techniques of storytelling, narratology and screen adaptation. You will have ample opportunity to collaborate with Filmmaking and Film Studies students on the production of short film projects, while modules on film festival programming and film entrepreneurship provide core skills relevant to the film industry.

Digital Transformation is an innovative MSc degree course designed for those who want to pursue careers as managers and leaders in implementing technology-based information systems solutions and managing technological transformation within organisations.

What's covered in this course?

Digital Transformation Specialists must understand the complex relationships between people, information, processes and technology in order to support business with digital development. The course will equip you with the requisite multi-dimensional skillset necessary to help organisations unleash their potential to thrive in an inclusive digital society aligned with the innovative application of digital technology to transform organisations, industries and societies.

You will learn:

• Strategic IS Planning: How to develop a strategic IS/IT plan that is aligned to the strategic information needs of the business.
• Enterprise Systems: How to manage the business processes to support the organisation to gain competitive advantage, improve performance, reduce operational cost, implement efficient business processes, and improve real-time decision-making capabilities via Enterprise Systems (ES), which incorporates ERP, CRM, SCM, and so forth.
• Technology Optimisation and Integration: How to analyse the current business IT status, plan technology solutions and develop a roadmap for legacy systems migration.
• Digital Change Management: How to address the socio-technology challenges of leveraging value from the IS/IT in the digital society using agile methods. This involves making sense of the business requirements in order to ensure the end products will solve the business problem.
• Business Intelligence and Technology Entrepreneurship: How to manage and apply a range of visualisation tools to analyse and make business sense of data lakes, and to exploit data to construct informed business decisions.
• Principles of Project Management: How to deliver strategic value within an organisation and ensure the project (or business solution) is completed on time, within budget, within scope and at the desired performance level.
• Individual Master’s Project: A practice-based module working in collaboration with an organization or research-based project within the Socio-Technical Systems Research group to apply multi-disciplinary skills to design innovative solutions to the challenges of digital transformation.

The Business Management with Enterprise course will offer you a practical based degree applicable to a wide range of sectors.

You will be able to contribute to critical debates on industry related contemporary issues and understand the dynamic needs of business managers in the 21st century to reflect current knowledge and best practices.

You will gain specialist knowledge on a number of core functions of management, building your self-confidence to prepare you for a progressive and successful career in management. Exciting opportunities including integrated work projects and business placements in the UK or abroad are all featured in your course, therefore your career can start whilst achieving your qualification. You will have the benefit of renowned industry speakers and live projects to inspire and help you to develop.

The course provides a route for those interested in development and sustainability of new enterprises, offering a route for launching their own enterprise or being entrepreneurial within an organisation. Whether you have an idea in mind or like the idea of launching something new and different, taking the enterprise route maybe for you.

You will be exposed to key enterprise modules which will help you get from idea to launch underpinned by academic theory. This route which will be embedded throughout your programme will look to develop your entrepreneurial skills, abilities and behaviours, provide you with the tools you need to become a future entrepreneur. Similarly, the Business Management course embeds the UN Sustainable Development Goals as an integral part of the course.

Our BSc (Hons) Financial Economics degree prepares you for a career in the financial sector as a financial economist, analyst, planner, investment analyst, or in a similar role.

Our degree provides both sound theoretical knowledge and technical skills which are highly sought-after by employers. This degree is built on core principles of economics, which are then applied to financial markets and institutions.

The course uses a unique pluralist approach that will empower you to understand competing economic ideas, think critically and apply your knowledge in your daily life and in your future workplace. Our degree is highly flexible, and apart from studying core economics subjects, you will be able to select optional modules which are most suitable for your own learning needs and career goals.

You will be able to benefit from unique set of modules, for example: Date Intelligence, Financial Modelling, Investment and Portfolio Management, Real Estate Economics and Financial Bubbles, as well as a capstone Business Advice or Economics Research Project. Moreover, you will learn advanced methods of quantitative analysis, econometrics, and IT skills using relevant industry-specific software to assist you to become a job-ready graduate.

You will be taught by industry-experienced academics who bring real world practical knowledge to the classroom. You will be able to work on life client projects with our Business Advice Centre that will give your exposure to challenges and issues faced by businesses and a chance to develop successful solutions. You will be right in the hub of the vibrant city and be surrounded by other likeminded students on a variety of economics, business, finance and accounting degrees.

During your studies you will benefit from international exposure on different levels. All modules delivered within this course contains teaching material based on international data; thus, your knowledge and expertise will not be limited by the UK alone. Our course is delivered by a multinational team of experts.

Our BSc (Hons) Financial Economics degree is highly applied and we pay special attention to developing your transferable skills that will prepare you for a wide range of careers both in public and private sector, providing you with a range of options depending on your career aspirations.

The MSc International Sport Management course will provide the academic expertise and contacts to help students develop an exciting professional future in this growing industry.

KPMG states that the entire global sports market – including infrastructure, events, training and sports goods – is estimated to be worth between $600-700 billion a year, and the industry growth outpaces most countries yearly GDP. Over the past decade there has been a huge increase of career opportunities in the global sport sector that require graduates with the skills, attributes and experience to thrive in such a dynamic industry.

According to Deloitte, sport business-related activity will significantly outpace the average rate of growth in the wider economy well into the next decade. In terms of industries, sport now ranks among the top 15 mainstream activities in the UK economy including telecommunications, legal services and utilities.

Combining theory and practical application this course will draw heavily from executive international sport leaders, such as Manchester City Football group, Edgbaston, Birmingham City FC and ESL to name a few, to cover multiple aspects such as crisis and risk management, technology and digital innovation, marketing, events, operations and analytics.

Given the aforementioned, and input from industry, this course is designed with the scientific (MSc) nature to enhance you with the necessary numeracy and analytic skills to see you excel and progress in the global sports industry.

Professional Placement option

For our MSc International Sport Management degree, you will have the opportunity to take the Professional Placement version of the course, which is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability and transferable skills. The placement experience will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.

The world of finance is rapidly changing, with new innovative financial products being developed on a constant basis. The present times have also witnessed an unprecedented number of companies failing because of poor financial management. All these challenges call for dynamic and brilliant people who can design financial solutions and make the world a better place.

The degree is designed to equip you with wider business and Finance environment knowledge. Offering you the opportunity to acquire key business and financial skills, explore innovative practices and entrepreneurial skills. The course is accredited by Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments (CISI). The course also aligns with various other professional bodies courses such as Association of Corporate Treasures (ACT), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), and many others.

Delivery of the course is flexible and includes a blend of lectures, workshops, field trips and online learning. The modules, which feed into the course, are widespread, broad, covers key current topics such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help you to appreciate finance from a range of perspectives. Ultimately, decision making in finance, calls for one to exercise their judgement and intuition and this course helps you to strengthen that judgement.

The course team has, between it, years of industrial experience in the finance field as well in academia. Therefore, students with little or no background in finance are assured of getting all the help they need in order to excel in the course. You will learn a lot from course team’s knowledge and experience, as you will be regularly engaging in inquiry based and experiential learning, which has been designed to assimilate work-based scenarios.

In order to enhance your employability, extra-curricular activities such as trading trainings, conferences and field trips will be arranged throughout the academic years. Outside speakers from industry will also be invited to give presentations on how best to improve your employability. Moreover, you’ll also have the opportunity to gain industry experience by going on a professional placement, or to travel overseas to study abroad at one of our partner universities. In a nutshell, the knowledge attained from the course will help you to seek a variety of employment in the sector nationally and internationally.

The global luxury sector continues to grow, with increasing profits for both well-established and new brands.

The MA Luxury Jewellery Management course addresses the specific challenges and opportunities of the luxury jewellery industry and is the perfect choice for you if you see your future career with premium, high-end and luxury jewellery brands.

What's covered in this course?

You will learn global business strategy and leadership supported by ethical, responsible and sustainable practices. In developing skills to adopt appropriate codes of conduct to improve global operations, you will learn how to promote intercultural communication to enhance business culture and preserve cultural heritage in the luxury jewellery industry. These emerging and significantly important skills are key for managers of luxury jewellery business all over the world.

You will investigate the DNA of brands; designing and creating marketing plans and effective campaigns, with regard to the multicultural aspects of the audience. You will integrate innovations of new technologies, such as additive manufacturing, to embrace the change, meanwhile preserving and enhancing the artisanship’s heritage of the luxury jewellery industry.

The course is global in its outlook and reflects business systems, standards and practices from around the world, drawing upon international case studies and fostering intercultural fluency amongst students. These aims will develop your confidence and ambitions to explore a breadth of careers within a global luxury jewellery industry. Where possible, your learning will be supported by an international field trip, factory visits, exhibitions visits, guest speakers, live projects and simulated practice requiring actual problem-solving.

MA Luxury Jewellery Management is based on the philosophy that management education should provide a thorough grounding in the disciplines related to the functional aspects of management, and the interaction with contextual forces that impact on organisations. This knowledge and understanding is then further contextualised to provide integrative strategic themes. The impact of globalization on business in all disciplines is a coherent theme throughout the course.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

Our MA in English Literature is taught by a team of distinguished critics, scholars and creative writers, all working at the cutting edge of their disciplines. As well as developing your skills as a critical thinker, you will join a thriving intellectual community, and benefit from a range of guest seminars and masterclasses, many of which are organized through our Institute of Creative and Critical Writing.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.