Course overview
Our Business and Management Bachelors degree online enables you to develop your knowledge, skills and understanding of the strategic and international dimensions of business and management.
Studying BA (Hons) Business and Management prepares you for a wide range of careers as you develop knowledge of markets, customer behaviour, corporate strategy and project management.
Opportunities exist with employers in the private, public and voluntary sectors, not to mention the possibility of running your own business. If you are already working in your chosen field and looking to develop your career, the course includes flexible options that allow you to specialise in an area of business studies, for example, Marketing Communications or Business Finance.
Job outcomes
- Consultancy
- Human Resources Management
- Operations Management
- Marketing
- Finance and Accounting
- General Management
Study method
- Online
- Blended
- Christmas Deal
- In-class
Duration study load
- 48 months – part-time
Entry requirements
We have flexible entry requirements that look at both your academic and work-based experience. There are two entry routes onto our BA (Hons) Business and Management degree programme:
1. Academic Entry Route
In order to satisfy the Academic Entry Route requirements for our BA (Hons) Business and Management degree programme you must have the following qualifications as a minimum:
- Two A-levels, or equivalent; plus
- If English is not your first language, IELTS (academic) 6.0 or equivalent
- If you do not hold an IELTS or equivalent qualification, we require students to pass a free online English test
You are required to pass your initial assignment set during the first 21 days of the course in order to continue with your studies.
2. Work Experience Entry Route
To apply for the BA (Hons) Business and Management degree via our Work Experience Entry Route you must meet the following criteria:
- GCSE Maths and English at grade C or above, or equivalent;
- Three years’ relevant work experience; plus
- If English is not your first language, IELTS (academic) 6.0 or equivalent
- If you do not hold an IELTS or equivalent qualification, we require students to pass a free online English test
You are required to pass your initial assignment set during the first 21 days of the course in order to continue with your studies.
Course features
You are supported throughout your course by a dedicated student adviser and have the opportunity to regularly interact with fellow students and your tutor. To ensure you receive the support you need from your tutor, we cap our class sizes at 20 students.
Assessment
We adopt an assignment-based approach to assessment instead of exams. Business and Management assignments are based on real-life work experience and assessed by tutors on an ongoing basis.
You are always aware of your current provisional grade right from the start of the programme, allowing you to evaluate the success of your current study methods and clearly identify areas to improve.
We believe that this transparency gives you the information you need to make the most of your course. We achieve this by:
- Showing your marks clearly in your grade book, which can be viewed whenever you log onto the learning platform
- The rapid turnaround of work assessed to ensure that your grade book is always up to date
- Assessing your work throughout the module rather than waiting for the end of year exams
- Ensuring you have regular contact with your student adviser
- The simplicity and transparency in the design of our assessment criteria
We also have a policy of ensuring that the work submitted by students is authentic. As well as the fact that all work is frequently assessed, we use a well-established electronic monitoring system to check for plagiarism.
On successful completion of your Bachelor’s degree in Business and Management, you will be invited to attend a graduation ceremony at the University of Essex, Colchester campus.
Testimonials
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Matthew JonesBA (Hons) Business and Management"I’d had several good jobs in retail management and banking, yet there was something missing. I didn't want to give up work, as I was enjoying a reasonable salary, yet I longed for more. Online learning brings the classroom to you. Interactive lessons take place via online seminars that give both visual and audio dialogue with a real tutor and classmates at a convenient time of day. The lessons are truly global, with students and tutors participating from anywhere; Brazil, China, America, and the UK – all in real time. Also, the support available is unbelievable: the students, the tutors, the course materials and textbooks – it’s all fantastic. You even get your very own Student Adviser!"
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Serina JonesBA (Hons) Business and Management"I set out to earn a living instead of studying, but despite this choice, I always wanted to fulfil my ambition to have a qualification. In August 2007, I set about furthering my education, to advance my business understanding and enrich my life skills; all from the comfort of my home. My new-found knowledge and confidence have improved my career over the past four years, teaching me the ‘corporate speak’ and I feel qualified to belong to the corporate world. My final objective on my PDP was for my daughter to look up to me and see me as a good example of a working mother with a developing career. Having my family at my graduation filled me with pride."
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Melanie AdamsBA (Hons) Business and Management"I left school at 15 and started work in a clerical capacity. Over the next few years, I moved from job to job with little progression. One day I received an email that changed my life; it was the chance to apply for a scholarship to study online for a Foundation degree in Business and Management. I was encouraged along the way by course tutors, student advisers and regular online discussions with other students. In parallel, my increased confidence enabled me to progress in a management role in my organisation and the company decided to sponsor me for the final year of the degree. After years of study, I am very proud of what I have been able to achieve."
Delivery
As we are a 100% online university, we utilise a virtual learning environment instead of a traditional campus. The system tracks and manages the learning process in real-time and provides you with immediate access to your learning materials.
This learning platform allows both students and tutors to actively take part in real-time conversations and you can listen to, and view, live lectures and seminars over the internet. All courses are delivered in English only.
Subjects
The Bachelor’s degree in Business and Management is made up of the following modules and, upon completion, is equal to a total of 360 credits.
- Student online learning orientation
- Technical & personal requirements/preparation
- Learning platform organisation and navigation
- Communication in eLearning – Synchronous and Asynchronous
- Online assessments
- Collaborative learning tools – ‘Module resources’
- Intrapersonal development
- Self-awareness, lifelong learning and capability
- Learning styles and personal values
- Managing stress, uncertainty, transition and time
- Project planning, problem-solving and creativity
- Awareness of the world of work and society
- Understanding of citizenship
- Interpersonal development
- Verbal communication, including effective presentations
- Written communication, including effective report-writing
- Study skills
- Apply basic critical reading, writing, and reasoning skills
- Use a variety of personnel management tools and strategies to enhance learning
- Use problem-solving skills to increase academic and professional proficiency
- The role of the middle manager in understanding leadership and management
- Establish effective working teams
- Effective communication and communication process
- Effective feedback and the feedback cycle
- Delegation in the workplace
- Conflict management
- Motivation in the workplace
- The importance of performance management
- Rewarding performance
- Business planning techniques
- Integrating key functional areas of management in business planning
- Financial planning
- Risk analysis and the impact of risk on management
- Preparing a business plan
- Role of a sales manager in an organisation
- Personal selling processes
- Customer relationship management
- Specialisation and centralisation of the Salesforce function
- Sales forecasting
- Recruiting and staffing a sales force
- Salesforce training and development
- Reward systems
- Salesforce evaluation methods
- Introduction to international trade & international economic trade theories
- Recent trends in international trade & business, international institutions
- Management issues in global businesses
- Globalisation versus regionalisation
- European integration
- Political and legal forces in the international business environment
- Socio-cultural forces in the international business environment
- Issues in International Human Resource Management
- Issues in International Marketing
- International competition and strategy
- Introduction to strategy
- The environment
- Strategic capability
- Expectations and purposes
- Business level strategy
- Corporate level and international strategy
- Directions and methods of development
- Organising for success
- Enabling success
- Managing strategic change
About University of Essex Online
Online learning is a cost-effective, convenient and flexible way to enhance your career. Our quality-assured distance learning courses allow you to work towards your qualification in a unique virtual learning environment and still have access to all the support and facilities you would expect to receive on campus.
University of Essex Online courses are delivered by Kaplan Open Learning, an experienced online learning provider, part of Kaplan International Pathways. The University and Kaplan have developed their partnership since 2007 in order to offer high-quality online courses.
