English Language Foundation

This unit focuses on your ability to understand and use the English language accurately when you read, speak, listen and write. We will concentrate on the English you need for undergraduate level study in your chosen subject area, covering grammar, subject area vocabulary and the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

A key element of the unit is the grammar of the language, and particularly the verb tense system in English, because your ability to use the verb tense system accurately will be extremely important when you come to write essays and reports. This unit will focus in particular on the grammar of the language.

We will also focus on reading, listening and speaking skills in the context of your chosen subject area. Beginning with short texts, we will practise each skill and practise it again, so that gradually you will see, hear and feel that your command of the language is improving. 

A recurring focus of the unit will be your acquisition of 'learner autonomy'. This means your ability to acquire the language yourself, without needing a teacher's help. This is important because from next year you will not have an English teacher to help you. So we will consider and practise strategies to help you gain confidence in your own ability to increase your knowledge of and ability to use the language, including for instance guessing meaning of difficult words, deciding which words are important in a text, recognising differences between formal and informal language, and other strategies, so that as the first semester continues, you begin to feel more confident in your use and experience with the English Language.

Academic Skills Foundation

When you begin your undergraduate level studies, you will be expected to have knowledge of and ability to use a large range of 'study skills'. You will also be expected to have some knowledge of the subject area you will  be studying. This unit deals with both of these aspects of your preparation for undergraduate level study. 

All of the academic skills are practised in English, so you will use your developing acquisition of the language from the partner unit 'English Language Foundation' to practise and gain mastery of these skills. You will also use your language and study skills as you learn the foundation of your subject area, putting the skills into practice as you learn.

Developing English Language Skills

This unit builds on the progress you made during its partner semester 1 unit 'English Language Foundation' and increasing your level from that which you had achieved by the end of semester 1. 

We will recycle the tense system in English and other elements of the grammar system, but you will  now learn how to use other aspects of the grammar, including the passive voice, as well as linking words and phrases and devices which enable you to write longer sentences but retain grammatical accuracy. 

You will notice that we gradually introduce more specialist language that you need in preparation for your degree and we will expect you to use and develop the skills that you gained in the previous units so that you are able to work more independently.

Academic Skills Development

This unit builds on the skills learnt and practised in its partner semester 1 unit 'Foundation Academic Skills'. We will add more skills to the list, including summarizing and synthesising, argumentation, critical thinking and referencing and citation skills, as well as several others and practise and test them in the same way as with the semester 1 unit.

We will also investigate the research skill and you will learn how to prepare a research proposal and conduct a literature review, and how to plan a research project, learning about the research tools available and how they can be used to conduct research in your chosen field. 

You will continue to broaden your knowledge of key current issues and theory in your chosen subject area, and apply the critical thinking and argumentation skills you acquire in this unit to argue for and against propositions you have studied in the form of in both essays and presentations and in seminar situations, ensuring that you are ready to step up to your chosen undergraduate course with a base level of subject area knowledge from which to continue your academic development as you progress to level 4 study.

Applied Numeracy For Business

This unit is part of a core spine of units that all Business students will encounter as part of their learning journey. This journey takes you through the begin stage at Level 4, to the thrive stage at level 5, to succeed stage at level 6.  
This unit is designed to support your Begin stage at level 4, it develops the numeracy skills and abilities you need to succeed in your studies and in the business world. The unit is designed to support you and develop your confidence in essential mathematics and statistics techniques, it applies these techniques in business context to give you an understanding of how they are used to solve problems and make decision in business organisations.

The connected core spine of units also enables you to network with peers from across the faculty just as you will be expected to work with colleagues throughout the organisation in the world of business.¿¿¿ 

The unit aims to achieve 

• provide students with the fundamental knowledge and understanding of numeracy in business.   
• develop student confidence in a range of numerical and statistical techniques.
• enable students apply a range of numerical and statistical techniques to practical business problems.   

Beginning Your Professional Business Journey

This unit is part of a core spine of units that all Business students will encounter as part of their learning journey. This journey takes you from the Begin stage at Level 4, to the Thrive stage at Level 5 through to the Succeed stage at Level 6. This unit is designed to support the Begin/Thrive/Succeed stage by introducing you to the skills that you will require in order to develop your professional practice.

The connected core spine of units also enables you to network with peers from across the faculty just as you will be expected to work with colleagues throughout the organisation in the world of business.  

This unit will help you to begin your journey in Business and provide you with the support you will need to develop your professional practice.

In this unit you will be presented with Business challenges which will allow you to collaborate with peers, and provide an insight in to a professional Business environment. 

Human Resource Management Foundations

Success as a Human Resource professional depends on understanding the issues within organisations relating to staff and management and developing the skills, behaviour and knowledge that are required by HR professionals.

This unit aims to give you an insight into the role of Human Resource Management and the key areas that underpin the CIPD HR professional standards.  

The Role Of Hr In The Digital Age

As technology continues to shape society, including, the way people work and interact with organization and businesses, there is a need for HR to embrace digitisation.

This unit aims to give students an insight into the role of how Human Resource Management has evolved and is developing in line with changes in technology.

Hr And Work In Organisations

From both a theoretical and practical perspective this unit aims to provide an introductory examination of the internal nature of organisations in relation to work and HR practices. The unit is designed to enable students to identify, understand and evaluate both the behaviour of people in organisations and the interrelationship between the organisation, individuals, and groups. The unit provides a basis for further study in the specialist areas of Business, Human Resource Management, and organisations. This unit aims to introduce students to the field of human resource management and the role it plays in organizations. It will cover key concepts, theories, and practices of HRM, such as recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management, and employee relations. It provides an understanding of the importance of effective HRM in the success of an organization. It will also help students develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to be effective managers of human resources in the future. Additionally, this unit provides students with an understanding of the practical and professional issues related to human resource management, as well as the impact of HRM on the field

Planning Careers And Employability

Employability a key feature of the University of Bedfordshire Business School. You have these special units in each year of your course. In your second year, the unit topics focus on choosing and managing your future applications; particularly for graduate schemes and for professional roles. Within this unit you will consider current developments in recruitment and practise preparing applications in various forms. This will include preparation for interview situations; whether by telephone, video, assessment centre or one to one interview. With the involvement of local employers, you will gain real insight into your own employability, develop into a business-ready graduate and be able to get that important first job.

Employment Law

This unit is designed to provide students with an opportunity for the advanced study of the law governing the employment relationship and the regulation of working life.
In addition to gaining a detailed knowledge of the principles and norms of employment law, throughout the unit students will be encouraged to develop an understanding of the political, economic and social issues that have shaped the development of this area of law.

The influence of European law will be considered throughout the unit, which will also discuss and develop broader theoretical issues, such as the balance between regulating the employment relationship and leaving discretion to the contracting parties to exercise their own judgements in specific cases.

Intercultural Management In Business

Aims: The aims of this unit are to :

• To conceptualise intercultural interaction and produce frameworks for comparing cultures in international business and develop rapport management competencies in business interactions
• To undertake a detailed investigation of the changing face of management across cultures

Relevance: In this unit you will explore the application of intercultural communication theories in an international business environment. Emphasis is placed on developing intercultural interactive competence and introducing key aspects of managing behaviour and expectations across cultures. You will explore working relationships and different communication preferences with people from different cultural backgrounds, preparing you to work in an increasingly global environment.

Innovative Practice In Hrm And Hrd

Contemporary work organisations are concerned with excellent performance, competitive advantage and added value and how this might be sustained in the global context. From the perspective of HRM and HRD we are concerned with how high performance working might support organisational performance in this highly competitive environment.

Knowledge, learning, creativity, innovation and employee engagement are increasingly recognised as central to innovative practice. The role of HR practitioners is to understand how to manage and share knowledge, and how to create knowledge through learning and the generation of new ideas.

This unit provides an introduction to the concepts and skills necessary to support your learning, personal and professional development as a competent practitioner in innovative practice. This unit combines theoretical knowledge to support your understanding of these important concepts with skill development that builds your self-confidence and competence. You will encounter a variety of approaches to learning including practical experiences, workshop activities and independent learning. In this way this unit will equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary for innovative practice so that you can apply these to your learning in other units to understand how these contribute to high performance working that is sustainable.

This unit aims to:

• Develop a critical understanding of how organisations can create a high-performance work organisation
• Evaluate the contribution of high-performance working on organisational performance, competitive advantage and employee engagement
• Develop operational and strategic insights into how learning and knowledge can be leveraged to achieve maximum impact on individual and group behaviour and support organisational performance
• Evaluate the contribution of creativity and innovation to organisational performance, competitive advantage and employee engagement
• Develop an understanding of how to enhance creative thinking in yourself and colleagues through analysis of practical, cognitive or emotional blocks to creative idea generation and how these might be overcome using structured techniques.
• Develop a critical understanding of how to build a high-performance culture supportive of creativity, innovation, learning and knowledge creation.

People Resourcing And Development

A fundamental part of the human resource management (HRM) role is concerned with resourcing and developing people. To drive sustained performance, the organisation must be able to access the skills it needs at the time and in the places that it needs them. This unit will provide you with an overview of the way different organisations are managing resourcing and development activities and which practices are the most effective in a variety of different organisational and environmental contexts. To achieve these, organisation requires insight-driven strategic and operational activity. Organisations are obliged to compete with one another to secure the services of a workforce in labour markets that are continually evolving Consequently, In particular, the unit aims to:

• Introduce the strategic approaches that organisations take to position themselves as employers in the labour market
• Introduce the key operational tools, techniques and practices that organisations use to resource their organisations effectively
• Build a broad understanding of the factors to be considered when implementing and evaluating inclusive learning and development activities within varying contexts.

Overall, the main concern of this unit is to provide an overview of the way organisations are managing the different HR activities and to identify thew most effective and efficient way to do so within diverse context.

The Strategic Context Of Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management (HRM) is a dynamic area, changing constantly, to deal with the ever changing needs of business management. Human Resources (HR) professionals need to understand key strategic issues in the organisational and external environments within which HR operates. This unit has been designed to give you an understanding of strategic HRM approaches in different business contexts both from an academic and practical perspective.

This unit aims to:

Introduce the role of the HR function in traditional and contemporary organisational contexts.

Introduce major theoretical perspectives and contemporary debates in the field of strategic HRM and how these inform HR practice.

Build a sound understanding of the business and external factors affecting organisations and to assess the impacts of these factors on the HR function.

Develop a critical perspective of the key developments in the business and external context within which HR operates.

Enable recognition of the different HR approaches evolving in different settings, and to understand the changing employment relationship.

Employment Relations

A fundamental part of the human resource management (HRM) role is an understanding of and an ability to manage the employment relationship. The employment relationship could be a complex one. This can be a social relationship as well as an economic one which operates in a wide variety of contexts, industrial sectors, labour markets and economic conditions both within and beyond local and national boundaries. In the UK and EU, it is also a heavily regulated relationship. HR professionals must be equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that allows them to contribute towards successful management of this relationship.
This unit will allow you to develop the understanding and skills you will require to make informed and effective judgements about existing and emerging models, processes and practices of employment relations and employee reward in local and international jurisdictions.
The unit aims to:

• Build on your knowledge and experience to develop the skills required to make informed and effective judgements about existing and emerging models, processes and practices of employment relations in a variety of contexts.
• Encourage you to assess and understand broader developments which influence the effective management of the employment relationship.
• Introduce perspectives, principles and policies of employee reward from a theoretical and strategic focus and how to implement them in practice.
• Encourage you to assess the contribution of reward strategies and practices to sustained organisational performance and advise on the appropriateness of policies and practices to line managers to promote employee performance.
• Introduce the major areas of employment legislation and the employment law system, focusing in particular on ways in which day-to-day HR activities are subjected to some form of regulation.

Academic Skills For Business

This module introduces students to the fundamental skills to be successful in their studies at university and in future employment. The transition into higher education as well as into organisations requires students to understand quantitative information that is presented to them and be able to analyse and effectively present such information themselves. It also requires a set of core communications skills which can be further developed throughout their academic studies and subsequent careers.

In this module, students will be given an understanding of the underlying principles of data presentation, statistical analysis and an appreciation of the situations in which such techniques may be helpful. Students will also be provided with the core skills to communicate effectively. All of these skills are highly sought after by employers and will be of great value to students who graduates with a business related degree. 

Developing Professional Human Resource Management Practice

The purpose of this unit is to prepare you for an organisational role within the HR profession. It is designed to help you gain a better understanding of the role of the HR professional and what skills are required to work within the sector; learn about conflict resolution and how to create your own personal development plan.

The unit has three areas of emphasis: personal and professional development; understanding the practicalities of the HR profession; and personal and professional effectiveness. The unit will enable you to plan, and reflect on, your own personal and professional development as you enter the final year of the course and take the first steps towards becoming an HR professional. You will develop a sound understanding of the knowledge, skills and behaviours required by HR professionals (as described in the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development HR Profession Map) as you also put them into practice in this and other units. You will develop your knowledge and understanding of the role and management of the HR function with particular emphasis on the practical side of contributing to sustained organisational performance through effective change management as well as by ensuring an ethical and professional approach to HRM and HRD. Finally, you will gain and develop practical skills which will enhance your personal and professional effectiveness and ready you for a career in the HR profession.

Dissertation In Human Resource Management

The purpose of the Dissertation in HRM unit is to give you the opportunity to carry out an in-depth study of an applied nature, synthesising your learning from other units, yet pursuing one area of interest in depth.  The dissertation ensures that you identify, call upon and combine knowledge and skills from other units (and where appropriate, from work experience) to produce an independent work of practical relevance, yet with academic depth and rigour. The optional work placement in year 3 (sandwich year) provides a possible context for the research project, to be completed in year 4. For all other students the research project should be completed in year 3.

The dissertation, perhaps more than any other part of your course, allows greater scope for expression of skills, knowledge and abilities and offers the chance for you to develop, in an original and creative way, an area of particular interest.  It also performs the important integrative function of bringing together different elements from your course and demonstrating your ability and discipline in producing a relatively long and detailed study. This dissertation contributes significantly to the final degree. A sound dissertation is also a valuable job seeking aid in providing evidence of your ability to successfully undertake project work.

The unit aims:

To deepen your learning through a detailed and comparative study of an area of HRM of particular interest

To enable you to critically evaluate the core knowledge at the forefront of your area of interest in informing your investigation, demonstrating an awareness of the provisional nature of knowledge.

To enable you to independently select, plan, manage and execute an in-depth research investigation of your own choice with potential for useful or unique outcomes

To enable you to critically review evidence, including reliability, validity and significance, and interpret with reference to the core knowledge in the area, identifying contradictions and inconsistencies and exploring possible reasons, leading to reasoned conclusions and recommendations

To develop an awareness of your personal responsibility and professional ethical codes of conduct, particularly in relation to confidentiality and informed consent.
 

Management And Leadership

This unit aims to provide students with a critical perspective on the theories and practices associated with contemporary management and leadership. The unit encompasses some of the main theories, frameworks and practices of management and leadership as well as key factors in persuasive communication and the enthusing of other people.  Through case studies and exercises on contemporary organisational issues, students will be encouraged to solve problems by applying management and leadership principles and models and by adopting a critical stance to the commonly accepted pre-suppositions and practices in management and leadership theories.

Contemporary Issues In The Workplace

This unit looks at contemporary issues in managing organisations and the people within them.  As the world of work changes, so does the HR landscape and this unit addresses some of these trends and challenges.

It also examines how HR functions should respond to these issues and the implications for policy making and practice within people management.

Never has there been a more critical time for those engaged in best practice in business and organisations.  Students entering the HR arena need to develop a greater awareness of these issues and how they impact the role of HR and how practitioners can best serve organisations.

Hr Analytics And Data

In the digital economy businesses can create value through data and analytics therefore, it is crucial that HR professionals play a key role in demonstrating people value through data. 

This unit aims to help students  understand and use the fundamentals of HR Analytics, how data is utilised in the HR environment as well as ethical issues and limitations when using HR/people information. 

Learning And Talent Development

Learning and development and its central contribution to talent management is recognised and acknowledged to be a significant lever in achieving economic, social and cultural aspirations, ambitions and objectives of governments, work organisations and individuals. Perhaps less recognised, but of equal importance, is the potential role of learning and development in formulating and agreeing aspirations, ambitions and objectives.

 This unit aims to develop a critical understanding of the potential and limitations of the contribution of learning and talent development policies and strategies to formulating and achieving objectives at national, organisational, group and individual levels.

 The question key to this unit is: what is the role of learning and development in: a) promoting economic growth at a macro level and b) organisational and individual performance through a range of approaches applied to learning and talent development? 

Performance And Reward Management

The foundations for pay and benefits management in modern organisations in the private, public and third sectors is still being debated heatedly in organisations today. The unit examines how these traditions are integrated into appropriate strategic designs that provide considerations of relative value and worth through an exploration of the individual and collective contribution and labour markets.

 This unit aims to examine total rewards in an organisational and international context and provides you with the knowledge and understanding of environments in which reward professionals plan, implement and evaluate employee reward policies to support strategic organisational goals.

 The question key to this unit is: what diverse approaches exist to performance and reward management and what are the strengths and limitations of these approaches in promoting individual and organisational performance in a fair, reasonable and equitable way

Business Research In People Practice

Key elements of professional competence are strategic awareness, a business orientation and a concern with adding value through human resource (HR) practice. Qualified HR professionals should be able to research relevant topics and write reports that can persuade key stakeholders in the organisation to change or adopt a particular policy and practice.

This unit aims to provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate the ability to diagnose and investigate a live, complex business issue from an HR perspective, to locate the work within the body of contemporary knowledge, to collect and analyse data, to derive supportable conclusions and to make practical and actionable recommendations for change, improvement or enhancement of current practice.

The question key to this unit is: how do I investigate an HR issue that has relevance to my organisation and demonstrate that my findings, analysis and recommendations suggested for action will contribute and add value to the organisation’s well-being?

Personal Effectiveness, Ethics And Business Acumen

Successful human resource (HR) professionals have different approaches to their work, sharing a range of diverse personality traits, attributes and beliefs. These underpin skills proficiency, but cannot in themselves be described as ‘skills’. Yet often they are central determinants of an individual manager’s effectiveness and are developed consciously over time and with an awareness of differing cultural contexts and operating environments.

Through the use of critical reflection, sense-making and competent practice the unit aims to encourage you to develop a strong sense of self-awareness and of your own strengths and weaknesses as managers and colleagues.   Covering skills that are vital for HR professionals such as critical thinking, and decision-making, communication, team working and self-management, the unit seeks to go beyond mere skill building to help you to integrate newly developed skills into your work and career.

The question key to this unit is: What are the strategies that can be utilised to develop further and more specialised skills that are of particular significance to effective higher-level people management whilst also providing opportunities for applied learning and continuous professional?

Professional Practice Year

Provide appropriate work based learning and experience in the responsibilities of the work place at an appropriate level and including examination of professional behaviors.