BSc Business Management

Businesses need effective managers now more than ever in a post Covid-19 world. But what makes an effective manager? And how can studying management theory create better managers for people and the planet?

On this course, you learn what's involved in managing organisations in an increasingly complex world. We look at the enduring patterns in how people, groups, organisations, economies and societies function and interact. By understanding these behaviours, you can manage them effectively in times of significant change.

With BSc Business Management, you gain a rich understanding of how organisations operate – what they do, how they develop strategies and why.

Study areas include:

• management, innovation and new technologies
• the international business environment
• organisational behaviour
• operations and supply chain management
• leadership
• human resource management
• ethical business management

The first year of your business management degree also introduces you to the core principles of accounting, finance and marketing to provide you with the essential business knowledge needed for a successful career.

In your final year, you have the opportunity to put your knowledge into practice by completing an in-depth, independent research project or dissertation. This will give you the chance to further develop vital employability skills in areas of research, time management and critical thinking.

This course is taught at Essex Business School. We champion responsible management and ethical business practices; you join a school not just committed to excellence in business education and social science research, but an intellectual community working to make business better. We don't just prepare you for a successful career; we'll help you shape the kind of world you want to live in.

Study abroad

The four-year version of this course enables you to study abroad during your third year. In all other areas, this version of the course remains identical to the standard three-year variant.

You can study abroad with one of our exchange partners in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, the Middle East, Hong Kong and Japan. In doing so, you experience other cultures and languages, meet new people, and gain intercultural skills that are sought-after by employers.

Placement year

Alternatively, you may prefer to take on a placement during your third year to gain relevant work experience within an external organisation. A placement can provide you with valuable experience to add to your CV.

The Student Development Team can offer bespoke support throughout the process of researching, applying and interviewing for placements. However, it is your responsibility to apply, prepare for and secure your own role. In recent years, our students have gained placements with organisations such as BMW, Samsung and Cummins.

Our expert staff

You are taught by a highly qualified, enthusiastic team of academics and experienced business practitioners with wide-ranging research interests. Their research is used in your lectures and seminars so you learn about the latest issues impacting business today.

Our staff specialise in areas including:

• Organisational behaviour
• Business ethics
• Corporate governance
• Historical aspects of management
• Gender and LGBT inequality in the workplace
• Cultural production
• Corporate marketing and corporate communication
• The role of bBusiness model innovation
• Intersectionality

Essex Business School is home to practising academics who are active and influential in their field, such as Dr Jordon Lazell. Jordon is a Lecturer in Marketing and Director of Student Recruitment here at Essex Business School. Jordon currently delivers the Introduction to Management module, Capstone: Management Report and the Operations and Supply Chain Management module. His research explores the issue of food waste and he focuses on the factors shaping consumer food waste behaviours as well as the operational and retail practices of businesses and voluntary sector organisations. He also has a keen interest in surplus food supply chains and their role in supporting community organisations fight food poverty.

Specialist facilities

Our BSc Business Management is based at our Colchester Campus.

In our landmark Essex Business School building - the first zero carbon business school in the UK - you'll see our sustainable approach to business first-hand. Set around a lush winter garden, are a wealth of inspiring teaching and study zones.

Our custom designed building provides you with superb facilities:

• a state-of-the-art trading floor with Bloomberg Financial Market Labs, where you'll gain hands-on experience and learn how to utilise live business data
• modern lecture theatres with ‘listen again' recording to aid your study
• study pods and innovation booths for group working
• networking opportunities with visiting businesses
• a café and adjacent foyer to enjoy on-site fresh food and drink
• study skills workshops and advice

Our business school is located on the University's Knowledge Gateway, where you may be able to take advantage of networking and work experience opportunities with businesses located on site.

Your future

Business management skills are as highly valued as your degree by many graduate employers, therefore, we embed a series of core and specific skills into our undergraduate curriculum for BSc Business Management to ensure that our graduates are suited to careers in business management and leadership roles.

All of our taught modules embed elements of our skills map which emulate the skills which are required by employers of business graduates, these generally include:

• Academic and cognitive skills
• Research skills
• Technology skills
• Communication skills
• Data analysis skills
• Soft skills

We embed a structured approach to student development and skills support throughout the curriculum and through additional support from the Essex Business School Learning Team.

Our students have gone on to become business analysts, successful entrepreneurs, account managers and management trainees, with recent graduate destinations including:

• CEO and Founders of WYSPR – a ‘Friendvertising' social media start-up
• Business Development Manager at Footprint Digital – a fast-growing digital marketing agency
• Sales and Marketing Manager at Chrysodalia – a Cyprus based food manufacturing company
• Digital Marketing Executive at Premier Labellers - a machinery manufacturer based in Essex
• Delivery Consultant at RED - The Global SAP Solutions Provider - a specialist recruitment firm
• iX Business Consultant at IBM – the multifunctional information technology conglomerate

Our management graduates enjoy successful careers in their fields.

Additional to the skills development offered by Essex Business School, BSc Business Management students can also take advantage of the University of Essex Careers Service which focuses in particular on supporting the development of undergraduate employability, including careers fairs, career mentoring, skills development, careers advice and guidance, placement year support, job opportunities, start-up support and more.

We have studied some really insightful case studies in my business management modules and our assignments have involved a lot of practical work, including: market research; writing a marketing plan: ethnographic research; strategy and analysis - which altogether has given me a sound understanding of how the concepts and models taught in the lectures are applied in a real-life setting.

Karolina Hausman, BSc Business Management

Clearing entry requirements

We currently have places available in Clearing across a range of our courses with most offers at BBC-CCD (112 – 88 UCAS tariff points) or equivalent. We consider each application individually and requirements may be lower for some of our courses, so please get in touch if your grades are below those outlined here.

English language requirements

English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English: IELTS 6.0 overall, or specified score in another equivalent test that we accept.

Details of English language requirements, including component scores, and the tests we accept for applicants who require a Student visa (excluding Nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries) can be found here

If we accept the English component of an international qualification it will be included in the academic levels listed above for the relevant countries.

English language shelf-life

If you require a Student visa to study in the UK please see our immigration webpages for the latest Home Office guidance on English language qualifications.

Pre-sessional English courses

If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.

Pending English language qualifications

You don’t need to achieve the required level before making your application, but it will be one of the conditions of your offer.

If you cannot find the qualification that you have achieved or are pending, then please email ugquery@essex.ac.uk .

Requirements for second and final year entry

Different requirements apply for second and final year entry, and specified component grades are also required for applicants who require a visa to study in the UK. Details of English language requirements, including UK Visas and Immigration minimum component scores, and the tests we accept for applicants who require a Student visa (excluding Nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries) can be found here

Additional Notes

If you’re an international student, but do not meet the English language or academic requirements for direct admission to this degree, you could prepare and gain entry through a pathway course. Find out more about opportunities available to you at the University of Essex International College

Course structure

This course is designed to provide you with a broad overview of all the main areas of business management, whilst also allowing you to be flexible to study your own areas of interest.

In the first year our current students cover the fundamentals that every business manager needs to know. However, we are planning some changes to our first year and we'll be tailoring it more closely to your chosen course. Then in second and final year you will have a mixture of compulsory and optional modules.

We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists. Please be aware that we are planning changes to our first year to make it more relevant to your chosen course.

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The following modules are based on the current course structure and may change in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.

We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We'll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website and in line with your contract with us. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, we'll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.

Placement

On a placement year you gain relevant work experience within an external business or organisation, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.

Year abroad

On your year abroad, you have the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.

Teaching

• Undergraduate students at the Department of Essex Business School typically have 12 hours of teaching time per week.
• Teaching includes a combination of lectures, seminars and computer-based lab sessions
• Modules delivered by experts in the field as well as guest speakers
• Contribute and interact in lectures through the use of smart technology
• Lecture presentations and notes are uploaded online beforehand to help you prepare in advance
• Complete your final-year project in consultation with a personal supervisor

Assessment

• Assessed through traditional methods of end-of-year exams and multiple-choice questions, in-class tests and essays
• Plus more innovative and creative assessments include poster presentations, real-business case problems and group presentations
• Your first-year marks do not count towards your final degree