Year 1
This introduces the study of key business topics.
Students start to develop business, investigation and project skills in a further module devoted to a range of business-related activities such as developing a business plan for a new start-up. There are five core modules and a choice of a further business, economics or language optional module. The modules work together to build your knowledge and develop key skills and techniques.
- People, Management and Organisations
- Marketing Principles
- The Changing World of Business
- Financial Information for Managers
- Introduction to Business Research
A further optional module is chosen from a range which in the past has included:
- Economics and Psychology of Decision-Making
- New Venture Creation
- A foreign language.
Year 2
The second year sees the Business and Marketing degrees separate and students build towards their specialist areas, though half of the modules remain common. Investigative and key business skills are developed further and integrated across the entire second year as well as forming a basis for the third year. The importance of international aspects of business is highlighted. The Business and Management degrees focus on the management of operations and information systems and offer optional modules in areas such as marketing, entrepreneurship and business law.
The second year consists of four compulsory modules:
- Research Methods and Statistics
- Managing in a Global Environment
- Information Systems
- Human Resource Management.
A further two optional modules are chosen from a range which in the past have included:
- Consulting in the Public Sector
- Operations Management
- Principles of Business Law
- Integrated Marketing Communications
- Entrepreneurship
- Consumer Psychology
- Strategic Brand Management
- A foreign language.
Year 3
In an increasingly globalised world, a period of international study is a major benefit and can help you to stand out in a crowded job market. All of our business degrees offer you the option of spending your third year studying abroad at one of our international partner universities. This is an opportunity to develop foreign language skills, experience another country and learn about its culture as well as adding an international dimension to your overall employability.
You may decide to study at one of our exchange universities for a full-year study placement period in your third year of study and this then becomes the third year of a four year degree.
Opportunities for study abroad have in the past included Australia, Canada, Chile, China/Hong Kong, Columbia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Spain, South Korea, Sweden and USA Funding may be available through scholarships offered by the host institution, the British Council and/or other funding bodies. For up-to-date information on locations and funding, please go to: www.durham.ac.uk/international/studyabroad
The Study Abroad year fees are set annually by the University. For the definitive amount of the Study Abroad year fees payable please contact our Study Abroad Team.
The offer of a place on a ‘study abroad’ degree does not imply that Durham University Business School guarantees to place the student with one of its partner institutions, nor a partner of the student’s choice. All study abroad programmes are subject to approval by the Business School. Some partner relationships have restricted access and so are not available to all students. The Business School, in association with the University, will assist students in applying for a study abroad place, but it is the responsibility of the student to apply for such a place, and the right of the Business School/University to allocate students to available places as it deems best. In the event that a student is unable to obtain a study abroad place, transfer to the equivalent ‘non-study abroad’ programme is guaranteed provided the student is eligible to transfer on academic grounds. In line with Home Office rules, students from outside the EU will transfer onto the ‘with study abroad’ programme only once they have successfully secured a placement (normally at the end of their second year of study). Therefore due to visa requirements, we recommend that international students interested in the study abroad year as part of their degree apply for this course when making their application to us via UCAS.
Year 4
Central to Year 4 is the Dissertation. The other core module is Strategic Management which brings together student knowledge, experience and skills from all three years to look at how organisations develop their strategy. The Dissertation and three optional modules allow you considerable opportunities to focus your studies on areas of special interest and to engage more closely with the School’s research groups through seminars and guest speaker programmes.
Your final modules are chosen from a range which have previously included:
- Global Marketing
- Corporate Governance
- Social Marketing
- Leadership
- Contemporary Issues in Management
- Corporate Responsibility
- Corporate Entrepreneurship
- Either Retail and Services Marketing or Service Operations Management
- Design Thinking
- Work, Organisation and Society
- Asia and the Pacific Rim
- A Foreign Language