Business and Human Resource Management with Foundation Year

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Do you have a passion for helping people achieve their full potential? Looking to create an inspiring work environment? Interested in matching people to their perfect job? Then a career in human resource management could be the perfect choice for you.

In the Foundation Year of this four-year course, you’ll build essential academic study skills. This year will help you gain confidence in your abilities. You’ll also identify your strengths and areas for development. Together, these will prepare you for progression to the undergraduate degree.

Why study this course at BNU?

• Professional accreditations: this course is accredited by leading professional body, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

• Industry insights and partnerships: our industry-experienced academics have developed this degree with the latest industry insights and are here to support you. You’ll study areas including financial decision-making, contemporary business issues, international marketing, and strategic agility. Brands previously involved in running interactive sessions have included Coca-Cola, Ryvita, and Yop, among others. Our close relationship with the CMI has also lead to them regularly visiting campus to run sessions for each year group.

• Work on live briefs for real clients: as part of the second year consultancy module, you will work in a team with fellow students and create a pitch which you deliver to real local businesses, competing against other student teams to win the contract for the work. You will then act as a real external team for the client, with the project culminating in an exhibition to showcase the work of all students on the course.

• Supportive tutors and alumni community: our lecturers are here to support you throughout the course and beyond. The Business School has a strong alumni community, and regular recruitment fairs frequently include alumni as employers. You'll have many opportunities to network during your time at BNU, with fellow students, staff, employers and graduates.

• Choose your specialism: Buckinghamshire New University gives you the opportunity to choose your specialism for your future career after your experience of the core curriculum in year one. Rather than having to make your big decision before you join us, we introduce you to various specialisms and offer you the flexibility to choose the specialism which leads to your chosen career area. You can choose between BA (Hons) Business and Human Resource Management or BA (Hons) Business Management.

What will I study?
You will cover diverse subject areas including managing and engaging people, strategic marketing and global business sustainability. Studying varied topics will help you understand the changing nature of how organisations need to adapt to engage more purposefully with the workforce. You will also have the opportunity to learn to apply practical and realistic solutions to complex business recruitment and management scenarios.

You'll cover topics including international human resource management and human resource strategy, talent planning, responsible enterprise, and ethical research. You will learn how to operate internationally and have a thorough grounding in cross-cultural management. In your final year, in addition to learning about macro and diverse business issues and human resource strategy, you will undertake an independent professional project.

What are my career prospects?
Once you have completed your degree, you will be fully equipped to begin a career in a range of industries, in general management, or to develop your own business. Working closely with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) means that you are well-placed to become a Chartered Manager once you start work.

Year one
Preparing for Success Knowledge and Creativity
Preparing for Success Self-development and Responsibility
Inquiry and Research Skills
Introduction to Business Studies

Year two
Global Business environment
Graduate Challenge
Introduction to People Management
Principles of Marketing
Financial Decision Making
Organisational Behaviour
Career Viewpoint
Data Insights for Business Decisions

Year three
Business Consulting
Project Management
Resourcing and Talent Planning
Managing and Engaging people
Consulting in practice
International HRM
Digital Business and New Technologies
Customer Experience

Year four
Research Methods
Strategic Agility
HR Strategy
Developing leadership and management skills
Managing & Developing Innovation & Creativity
Change Management and organisation Development
Dissertation (optional)
Consultancy Project (optional)

Our assessments reflect our employer-led course philosophy, they are real world centric with live briefs from businesses and cases that challenge students to produce a tangible result and not simply demonstrate knowledge of a subject.

We set a variety of assessments across the three years of the degree; these include: individual management reports; group business plans; people management strategies and presentation pitches; team based marketing campaigns; industry briefed digital advertising activities; individual presentations; timed assessments.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• Chartered Management Institute