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Accreditations


Course Summary

The Business Management and Administration Top-Up is designed to take holders of an HND, Foundation Degree or equivalent in the business area to a new level. Combining essential knowledge with academic skills development will give you the best chance of success at honours degree level and within the graduate employment market. 

This course is designed specifically to support the transition between your HND, Foundation Degree or equivalent studies to a final year honours level. You will receive extensive academic skills development and have access to specialist tutor support in order to give you the best opportunity to gain a great result for your degree award. 

Chester Business School has an excellent reputation for teaching and learning and is recognised for its work in the area of work-based learning. The course is taught by both academics and practitioners, ensuring you receive a good balance of theory and application. 

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Why you'll Love it


What you'llStudy

Module content:

This module is delivered in the context of the modern business environment, therefore, contemporary case studies and reports on companies and industries are integral to learning on the module.

Topics include:

  • The macro, industry and market environments,
  • The internationalisation process,
  • Strategic mergers, acquisitions and alliances,
  • Innovation and knowledge management,
  • Writing and delivering strategy,
  • Undertaking analysis on organisations and their strategic successes/failures.

Module aims:

As well as the subject knowledge and understanding set out in the module content, this module is designed to bring together and build on prior levels 4 and 5 knowledge, and current learning in the functional areas of business and/or tourism and events management (or suitable equivalent).

The seminars and assessments, both formative and summative, are designed to enhance the students' abilities in critical evaluation of sources and academic texts.  The module is designed to enhance critical faculties in balanced judgements within a context of imperfect information, risk and uncertainty, using both deductive logic and inductive lateral thinking while recognising the constraints of both. 

Module content:

Indicative Content: 

  • Leadership versus Management
  • Theories/Approaches to Leadership (eg Trait, Situational, Contingency, Transformational)
  • Leadership dilemmas: conflict management, power, influence and trust 
  • Responsible and ethical leadership
  • Leadership and management development
  • Group leadership
  • Leading in the 21st Century (e.g. cross-cultural contexts, communication technology)
  • Nature and process of change
  • Planned versus emergent change
  • Impact of technology on change (eg BPR)
  • Resistance to change
  • Managing change
  • Approaches for leading and embedding change
  • Leadership and change management skills (eg EI, project and event management)

Module aims:

The module focusses on the nature and significance of leadership in organisations,  evaluating contemporary and future contexts in the light of developments in theoretical approaches to leadership and change , providing critical insight into the challenges inherent in successfully leading change and the role of the future leader in doing so.

Module content:

This module will use a series of lectures, seminars and workshops to explore key themes and topics relating to self, team and organisational development.

These themes and topics will include, but are not limited to:

  • Developing Self:
    • Emotional intelligence and strengths assessment
    • Skills and and personal development audit and plan
    • Networking, communication and presentation skills
    • Problem solving and decision making 
    • Selling skills and developing a personal brand
  • Developing Teams:
    • Leadership skills and approaches
    • Team working and management
    • Project planning
    • Receiving and delivering feedback
    • Mentoring and coaching skills
    • Ensuring equality and embracing diversity in teams 
  • Developing organisations:
    • Skills needs analysis
    • Job design
    • Recruitment process
    • Competency framework
    • Application processes
    • Induction and employee engagement
    • Equal opportunities

Module aims:

This module aims to: 

  • Support students to evaluate management and leadership abilities and relationships in their personal and professional life
  • develop students self-reflection and emotional intelligence to leverage their strengths
  • support students in evaluating future career options and aspirations
  • develop professional skills, competencies and attributes
  • build upon students' knowledge of business, applying it to human resource practice
  • develop students’ strategic thinking and knowledge of human resource management practices and ethics
  • support an ongoing process of personal transformation through self-reflection

Module content:

Students will ideally have studied some finance or accounting prior to undertaking this module, for example BU4002, BU4010 or BU5016

  • The international financial environment: The nature, concept and financial structure of Multinational corporation
    (MNCs), the economic environment and the influence of the international flow of funds
  • The background of international financial markets
  • Currency Derivatives and Hedging (Hedging techniques for foreign currency risk and interest rate risk)
  • Exchange rate determinants and behaviour
  • Exchange rate risk measurement and management
  • Long term asset and liability management - Foreign Direct Investment / country risk analysis/Long term financing - multinational capital budgeting, cost of capital and capital structure
  • Short term asset and liability management –financing international trade, short term financing , international cash management

Module aims:

The purpose of this module is to :

  • critically evaluate the international financial environment of a multinational corporation, including financial institutions, financial markets and exchange rate systems.
  • critically examine and evaluate the principal concepts in the theory and practice of international financial management
  • analyse, apply and evaluate financial strategies through application of relevant analytical tools to examine and assess major issues and developments in international financial management
  • provide a critical understanding of the principles of risk exposures and the management of its international financial operations

Module content:

  • The drive for internationalisation/globalisation 
  • Standardisation versus adaptation- the globalisation versus localisation debate
  • International Marketing research
  • Understanding international cultures and their importance to a global marketing strategy
  • International Consumer Behaviour
  • International Communications
  • Analysis of foreign market potential - distribution systems and entry strategies
  • International Marketing Mix
  • Contemporary issues in International Marketing (e.g. ethical and societal)

Module aims:

  • To enable students to appraise and evaluate the special issues and problems faced by an organisation seeking to enter overseas markets
  • To ensure that students appreciate the cultural issues that effect an international marketing programme
  • To enable students to understand and develop appropriate strategies available to organisations when considering marketing on an international level

Who you'll Learn from

Dr Debbie Rowlett

Programme Leader, Business Management
Dr Debbie Rowlett

Dr Farid Ullah

Programme Leader for International Business MSc; Associate Professor
Dr Farid Ullah

Steph Hodge

Senior Lecturer
Steph Hodge

Keith Chandler

Senior Lecturer in Business and Management
Keith Chandler

Lisa Conway

Deputy Head of Department for the Department of Management
Lisa Conway

Karen Cregan

Senior Lecturer in Human Resources & Business Management
Karen Cregan

Andy Lewis

Visiting Lecturer
A dark grey silhouette on a light grey background

Ann Qian

Lecturer
Ann Qian

How you'll Learn

You will be working on practical projects and finding solutions to real challenges. Your learning will develop through lots of different activities. Assessments drive you towards becoming a professional manager – from reports, essays and exams.

Entry Requirements

General Entry Requirements 

A level 5 related qualification, HND or Foundation Degree 

Students from countries outside the UK are expected to have entry qualifications roughly equivalent to UK A Level for undergraduate study and British Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) for postgraduate study. To help you to interpret these equivalents, please click on your country of residence to see the corresponding entry qualifications, along with information about your local representatives, events, information and contacts.

We accept a wide range of qualifications and consider all applications individually on merit. We may also consider appropriate work experience.

English Language Requirements:

  • IELTS Academic: Undergraduate: 6.0 (minimum 5.5 in each band)
  • Postgraduate: 6.5 (minimum 5.5 in each band)

For those who do not have IELTS or an acceptable in-country English language qualification, the University of Chester has developed its own online English language test which applicants can take for just £50.

For more information on our English Language requirements, please visit .

Where you'll study Queen's Park, Chester

Fees and Funding

£9,250 per year (2024/25)

Our full-time undergraduate tuition fees for Home students entering University in 2024/25 are £9,250 a year, or £1,540 per 20-credit module for part-time study.

The University may increase these fees at the start of each subsequent year of your course in line with inflation at that time, as measured by the Retail Price Index. These fee levels and increases are subject to any necessary government, and other regulatory, approvals.

Students from the UK, Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey and the Republic of Ireland are treated as Home students for tuition fee purposes.

Students from countries in the European Economic Area and the EU starting in or after the 2021/22 academic year will pay International Tuition Fees.

Students who have been granted Settled Status may be eligible for Home Fee Status and if eligible will be able to apply for Tuition Fee Loans and Maintenance Loans.

Students who have been granted Pre-settled Status may be eligible for Home Fee Status and if eligible will be able to apply for Tuition Fee Loans.

Irish Nationals living in the UK or Republic of Ireland are treated as Home students for Tuition Fee Purposes.

£13,950 per year (2024/25)

The tuition fees for international students studying Undergraduate programmes in 2024/25 are £13,950. 

This fee is set for each year of study. All undergraduate students are eligible for international and merit-based scholarships which are applicable to each year of study.  

For more information, go to our International section.

Irish Nationals living in the UK or ROI are treated as Home students for Tuition Fee Purposes. 

Your course will involve additional costs not covered by your tuition fees. This may include books, printing, photocopying, educational stationery and related materials, specialist clothing, travel to placements, optional field trips and software. Compulsory field trips are covered by your tuition fees. 

If you are living away from home during your time at university, you will need to cover costs such as accommodation, food, travel and bills. 

 

The University of Chester supports fair access for students who may need additional support through a range of bursaries and scholarships. 

Full details, as well as terms and conditions for all bursaries and scholarships can be found on the section of our website.

 

Your future Career

Job Prospects

The broad nature of the Business Management and Administration course means that graduates have a range of career opportunities including roles in the areas of HR, Marketing, Operations and Management roles. 

The course is also good preparation for moving onto Master's-level study in a business-and-management-related course.

Careers service

The University has an award-winning Careers and Employability service which provides a variety of employability-enhancing experiences; through the curriculum, through employer contact, tailored group sessions, individual information, advice and guidance.

Careers and Employability aims to deliver a service which is inclusive, impartial, welcoming, informed and tailored to your personal goals and aspirations, to enable you to develop as an individual and contribute to the business and community in which you will live and work.

We are here to help you plan your future, make the most of your time at University and to enhance your employability. We provide access to part-time jobs, extra-curricular employability-enhancing workshops and offer practical one-to-one help with career planning, including help with CVs, applications and mock interviews. We also deliver group sessions on career planning within each course and we have a wide range of extensive information covering graduate jobs and postgraduate study.