International Business, _MA

15 Credit Points

This course uses four interrelated topics as foci to study 0perations in international business and management. It starts addressing the value chain then it covers energy security and sustainability, the knowledge economy and the underpinnings of big data analyses.

15 Credit Points

This course will provide an introduction to data analytics and machine learning (often summarised as Big Data) and its applications in international business. The course will explore recent trends in green finance and FINTECH, which are based on data analytics and recent advances in machine learning.

This course, which is designed for level 2 students and above, is studied entirely online. Topics include career planning, finding work experience and articulating your skills and experiences in applications and interviews. Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’. The course takes approximately 5-6 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks.

15 Credit Points

This course extends the operational tools and techniques introduced in level 1 Accountancy courses. It develops more complex problem-solving techniques in the planning, control and decision-making process. It shows how quantitative methods and analytical techniques can be applied in management accounting solutions to management problems. It also emphasises the diverse industrial, commercial and not-for-profit settings in which management accountants work. It seeks to develop in students an understanding of the organisational context as well as the nature of management accounting information. The focus is to enhance students' problem-solving and communication skills, and develop their ability to select and apply appropriate techniques in specific contexts.

15 Credit Points

The main aim of this course is to develop a sound understanding of fundamental principles underlying the theory and practice of finance, thereby providing a strong basis for further study of advanced finance theory and cognate disciplines. The course introduces students to important concepts in finance: principles of assets pricing, concept of risk and return, theory of interest rates and pricing fixed income securities, evaluation of investment project with a focus on embedded real options. It equips students with good analytical skills in order to understand the implications of financial decisions by understanding the fundamentals that govern them.

15 Credit Points

The objective of FA2 is to build upon material introduced in first year in order to develop students' technical skills in financial statement preparation. Students will gain an appreciation of the regulatory framework for financial reporting. They will examine the usefulness of financial statement information, by looking at the form and content of accounts produced by public limited companies. Students will explore how to account for basic transactions through the implementation of current accounting standards and apply their knowledge in both the manual and the computerised environment, the latter through the SAGE accounting package.

15 Credit Points

This course aims to provide students with an understanding of statistical concepts and methods relevant to accounting, management, finance, real estate and economics. The course is intended to enable students

i) To understand the principles of descriptive statistics, index construction, statistical inference, correlation, regression and time series analysis

ii) To apply statistical techniques to the analysis of accounting, business and economic issues and interpret findings

iii) To identify important sources of data in accounting, business and economics

30 Credit Points

This course builds on and is a natural extension of EC 1006. By examining in a more rigorous way concepts introduced in EC 1006 students will develop further their analytical skills and they will obtain a better understanding of consumers and producers behaviour, market structure as well as the effectiveness of economic policy. The course is designed to appeal to all students interested in economics. This includes students who may wish not to enter into any further studies of economics, as well as students who may wish to continue studying economics at the honours level.

30 Credit Points

This course focuses on macroeconomic policy in a global economy. The first part builds an open-economy Keynesian model to investigate what determines the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies, and how exchange rate regimes and capital mobility impact on policy effectiveness. The second part investigates what determines the level of macroeconomic activity and its growth over time. The final part looks at what determines inflation and unemployment. This intermediate level course uses live lectures to develop your analytical skills evaluating economic policy in a rigorous and technical way to equip you with the skills needed for honours level study.

15 Credit Points

This course provides students with an understanding of the financial system, primarily from a UK perspective, introducing students to the reasons for, and nature of, financial markets and institutions before moving on to explore the need and importance of financial regulation, and investigating the causes and consequences of the recent global financial crisis. The course will introduce students to a variety of topics including the role of wholesale and retail banks, non-bank financial institutions, the debt and equity markets, and the derivative markets; market efficiency, UK and international regulation, consumer protection and market abuse.

15 Credit Points

The course will facilitate greater understanding of real estate and land markets and of the linkages between supply, demand and price. It will provide explanations of market behaviour and discuss activity patterns and outcomes with reference to specific property markets. Students will gain an understanding of the institutions that govern land use and real estate transactions and will develop skills to identify and interpret property market data in order to analyze market sectors and property types. Students will also make critical economic assessments of land use and planning policy and the methods of policy delivery.

15 Credit Points

This course deals with the detail of why property requires to be valued and how the valuation process operates by way of the implementation of the RICS “Red Book”. The five property valuation methods are discussed via a series of lectures supplemented by tutorials/workshops in which valuation problem-solving tasks are discussed, with a focus on the investment method and the critique of traditional approaches. Practical valuation exercises are undertaken, which include the inspection and measurement of property and the analysis of comparable evidence.

15 Credit Points

This course considers the different legal relationships which can exist with regard to rights in land and to outline the implications of these relationships. This course is intended to enable participants:

• To understand the place of land tenure in society.
• To explain the concept of ownership and its implications.
• To describe the principal forms of subordinate right that can be carved out of land ownership.
• To identify and explain the principal restrictions on land ownership, including planning law and land reform.

15 Credit Points

This course provides the theoretical structure to bring together the learning of 1st and 2nd year courses placing the students as International Manager. Being an International Manager I looks in depth into the theoretical concepts of international business and prepares them to the more experiential subsequent course entitled Being an International Manager II.

15 Credit Points

This course uses four interrelated topics to illustrate how to be an International Manager. The course integrates the concepts covered in Being an International Manager I from the viewpoint of the manager and the challenge she/he faces as well as the implication for the manager, taking a more applied and embodied viewpoint. In other words, while Being an International Manager I addresses what is international business, Being an International Manager II responds to how to be an International Manager.

15 Credit Points

This course builds upon AC2530 Financial Accounting 2. The aim is to further develop practical and analytical accounting skills through the knowledge and understanding of controversial financial accounting and reporting issues, facilitating the ability to critically appraise current financial and non-financial reporting practice.

15 Credit Points

Building upon the material in Management Accounting 2, the course examines in greater detail behavioural, managerial, and strategic aspects of management accounting and management control. The course content includes management accounting issues pertaining to:

• Strategic management accounting
• Operational management issues including quality management
• Performance evaluation and management systems
• Management control systems, and
• Advance decision making techniques such as decision-trees, learning curves and project evaluation and review techniques

15 Credit Points

This course aims to develop the students’ knowledge, understanding and critical awareness of the audit techniques, judgements and practical skills associated with a financial statement audit. The context of the course reflects both the UK and International legal, regulatory and ethical framework.

The course forms an introduction to the 4th year Audit Theory and Evolution course which goes on to explore the historical context and current professional, regulatory, ethical and societal challenges and developments facing the audit and assurance profession.

15 Credit Points

The aim of this course is to provide knowledge and understanding of the UK tax system and its administration. Students will gain an appreciation of direct taxes payable on income, profits, and other gains by both individuals and by corporations, and indirect taxes on spending. Knowledge application of the different taxes within the UK taxation system will be achieved by solving tax problems and computing tax liabilities.

30 Credit Points

This course applies the principles of valuation taught at level 2 to more complex real world examples. Topics covered include rent reviews, compulsory purchase, property investment, property development and national and local taxation. Numeracy and analytical skills are further developed along with expertise in the use of Excel. In addition, the course also covers professional surveying practice, including ethics, and stimulates students to consider their career path by requiring students to prepare a CV and prepare for a mock interview.

30 Credit Points

The course covers two key aspects of real estate, namely development and international investment. While development is an intrinsically local activity, the drivers of demand to occupy and invest in real estate are increasingly global. Thus, the course first deals with the process of development and then provides the context of globalisation of economies and real estate markets, which underlies the demand for real estate occupation and investment. The course involves a UK field trip.

30 Credit Points

This course introduces students to what is involved in undertaking research into business phenomena. It introduces philosophical issues in the theory of knowledge, ethical issues in research conduct, and considers quantitative and qualitative methods in turn, addressing issues in sampling and design, details of specific approaches, and considerations in data analysis. The course is taught through weekly lectures and an extended two hour tutorial every fortnight, with two pieces of coursework. The emphasis throughout is on understanding the conceptual underpinning of different methods, and their strengths and limitations in research.

15 Credit Points

This course uses student led learning where the lecturer will act as a guide and students will take the lead developing research projects. Below, there is a range of contemporary topics offered in the course from which students will need to choose, develop the topic and present their findings to the rest of the cohort. For example, lecture session could be used for presentations and tutorial session could be used to coach the students in their research. This course is complementary to Contemporary Issues in International Business II and it may be the case that a topic used in this course is expanded subsequently.

15 Credit Points

This course uses student led learning where the lecturer will act as a guide and students will take the lead developing research projects. Based on a range of contemporary topics students will need to choose, develop the topic and present their findings to the rest of the cohort. For example, lecture session could be used for presentations and tutorial session could be used to coach the students in their research. This course is complementary to Contemporary Issues in International Business I and it may be the case that a topic used in this course is expanded subsequently.

30 Credit Points

All Accountancy and Finance students must undertake a dissertation. Students taking a joint degree may undertake the dissertation in either discipline, but not both. It is designed to show that you are able to:

Carry out a substantial piece of research on a chosen subject without close supervision

Critically analyse and evaluate work carried out by others

Reach your own conclusions based upon your analysis and evaluation of relevant evidence, whether this is prior research only or prior research coupled with your own research.

Write-up the results of your work in a clear, coherent and logical way.

30 Credit Points

The dissertation presents students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and research skills of Economics to an individual piece of research, focusing on a topic which has been chosen by the student and approved by the Dissertation coordinator and Dissertation supervisor. Over the course of the Dissertation, with guidance from the supervisor, the student will study a particular topic, conduct a literature review of relevant material, select appropriate theoretical and/or empirical methods to address the topic and write a final analysis in the form of the Dissertation of up to 10,000 words.

30 Credit Points

All Accountancy and Finance students must undertake a dissertation. Students taking a joint degree may undertake the dissertation in either discipline, but not both. It is designed to show that you are able to:

Carry out a substantial piece of research on a chosen subject without close supervision

Critically analyse and evaluate work carried out by others

Reach your own conclusions based upon your analysis and evaluation of relevant evidence, whether this is prior research only or prior research coupled with your own research.

Write-up the results of your work in a clear, coherent and logical way.

30 Credit Points

The course introduces students to concepts of portfolio management and recent developments regarding real estate investment vehicles. The course takes a financial economics viewpoint and places real estate investments within this context. The course covers such important aspects as securitization of initially illiquid real estate assets, the management of building portfolios and the use of index swap contracts for risk management purposes. The course discusses also real option theory and applies it to land development and the pricing of lease contracts.

30 Credit Points

The dissertation can be a rewarding, interesting and challenging exercise, with a process that differs from taught courses. With self-directed study, you are introduced to the process of independent research starting with finding a topic that is both academically interesting and can be covered in the given time frame. In addition to utilising skills acquired during previous years of study, it is an opportunity to develop new skills useful for future employment, such as writing reports. Your dissertation will be judged on evidence of competence in independent research. The greater the degree of competence, the higher the mark awarded.

30 Credit Points

This course takes an experiential learning approach to develop knowledge and experience gained in previous real estate courses. The course is structured primarily around workshops, in which students will critically evaluate typical problems encountered when managing a real estate portfolio and make decisions which will feed forward into their portfolio. Managing responsibly – considering the social, environmental and economic impact of your actions - is at the heart of this course.

30 Credit Points

Students in this course conduct independent research under the guidance of a supervisor. They can select their own dissertation topic or choose one of a range of topics offered by staff within Business Management. Students undertake a qualitative and/or quantitative piece of empirical research and produce a dissertation at the end of the process. This course provides them with an opportunity to develop a range of generic and research-specific skills including critical thinking, argumentation, writing, time management, review of literature, research design, and data analysis.