Students on the Economics and Management BA programme must do at least two courses in Management. There are no coure Final courses in the Saïd Business School, so students may choose any options they like, but they must do at least two courses from those available.
The options change from year to year, but these are the currently available courses:
• Accounting
• Employment Relations OR Organizational Behaviour and Analysis
• Finance
• Marketing
• Strategic Management
• Technology and Operations Management
• A 15,000 word thesis
Note that students may take Either Employment Relations OR Organizational Behaviour and Analysis, but not both.
Accounting
Background
In the last several years, the International Financial reporting Standards, which adopt fair Value Accounting instead of traditional Historical Cost Accounting, have become the dominant accounting norm. The general perception of this “Global Accounting” is positive. However, to what extent, and in what ways, can we utilize this new accounting regime in today’s “financialised business society”? There are many causes of financial scandals and financial crises, but what were and are the role of accounting in them? We do not aim to be an accounting expert, yet some technical and institutional knowledge of accounting is essential to be a good manager.
Course summary
Nature and regulation of financial reporting, analysis of company accounts. Nature of management accounting, including: cost behaviour, budgetary planning and control, capital budgeting, divisional performance.
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Employment Relations
The structure and management of the employment relationship, including its environment, and economic and social consequences; human resource strategy and style; systems of collective representation; trade union objectives and organization; pay systems and performance appraisal; explicit and psychological contracts; the management of co-operation and conflict; employee involvement, participation and team working; technology, work design and work organization; job regulation; the utilisation of human resources; training and performance; contemporary and comparative approaches to the management of employees
Note. This course may NOT be taken in combination with Organizational Behaviour and Analysis.
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Organizational Behaviour and Analysis
The individual in the organization; motivation and job satisfaction; groups at work; decision making; gender; organizational strategy and structure; the organizational environment; managerial work and behaviour; leadership; culture; power, conflict and change; contemporary and comparative approaches.
Note. This course may NOT be taken in combination with Employment Relations.
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Finance
Investment appraisal under conditions of certainty/uncertainty. Portfolio theory and capital asset pricing model. Sources of finance, debt capacity, dividends, and cost of capital. Financial market efficiency. Emerging issues in finance. Takeovers and mergers.
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Strategic Management
Theoretical foundations of strategic management. Structural analysis of industries and industry dynamics. The resource and capability based view of the firm. Strategy and Organization. Nature and sources of competitive advantage and patterns of competition. Competitive and co-operative strategies. Corporate strategy and competitive advantage. International strategy. Strategic management in the public sector and not-for-profit organizations. Current issues in strategic management.
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Marketing
Exchange in a modern economy. The marketing concept; the marketing mix, its formulation and common components; the product life-cycle and new product development; segmentation and positioning. Buyer behaviour. Marketing information and the analysis of markets and competitors. Marketing planning and marketing strategies. Models for evaluating strategic marketing opportunities.
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Technology and Operations Management
Goods and service operations. Vertical integration, facilities location and capacity, volume/mix and process relationships, scale economies, automation. Goods/service design, facilities, process planning, aggregate capacity decisions, resource scheduling. Product/service quality assurance, facilities maintenance.
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Thesis
Students may, with the agreement of their college and the Standing Committee, submit a thesis of up to 15,000 words on any subject that falls within the scope of the Economics & Management Final Honour School.
The thesis must be the student’s own original work, giving the student the opportunity to develop an interest in a particular subject and extend their research skills. Students must have a supervisor for their thesis who can provide guidance on research methods and indicate relevant literature.
Some recent undergraduate thesis titles:
“Employment protection and its impact on training: a microeconomic analysis”
“The Russian financial crisis: a cross-model theoretical framework with a bubble component”
“An empirical analysis of online auction prices for computer memory”
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