International Business Management (France) BSc Hons - 2021 Entry

Course Structure

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and others which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism. We divide academic study into two sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). For most programmes Part 1 requires you to study 120 credits spread over at least three modules which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects. A higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster please visit our Teaching and Learning section.

The following courses do not offer modules outside of the subject area due to the structured nature of the programmes: Architecture, Law, Physics, Engineering, Medicine, Sports and Exercise Science, Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedicine and Biomedical Science.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research.

Year 1

Core

• Introduction to Business Analytics

  Business analytics focuses on developing new insights and understanding of business performance based on data analysis.

  Designed to give you the kind of skills that are sought after in many organisations, this module introduces you to a range of quantitative techniques for collecting, analysing and interpreting data and develops your understanding of how to apply these techniques to management problems to draw practical conclusions. The module provides the foundations for statistical methods in follow-up modules.

  The computing side of the module introduces the use of word processing, spreadsheet software for statistical calculations, and writing of management reports.

  You will learn not only the fundamental analytical techniques, but also when and how to apply them to management problems and how to interpret the results. This module also involves you working as a junior business analyst on a simple but realistic case study and reporting results and conclusions to a fictional boss.

• Introduction to Financial Accounting for Managers

  This module provides an introduction to the analysis and use of published financial statements and concepts underlying financial reporting by companies. It also considers the perspectives of various users and opportunities for creative accounting. The concepts and use of financial statements are placed within the current commercial context, so that you acquire an appreciation of the role of financial accounting.

• Introduction to Management

  This module introduces a variety of traditional and non-traditional ideas about management, followed by the theory and practice of team working and capability for management. Other themes include quality and entrepreneurship. The aim is to provide you with an essential understanding of the basic theories relevant to the management of work organisation and to enable you to identify and understand the limitations inherent within these theories.

• Management, Organisations and Work: Key Issues and Debates

  This module aims to provide you with a broad introduction to management covering a wide range of topics that are relevant to work, business and organisations. The module begins by locating organizations, work and technology in a broad historical context. It considers the meaning of work and different debates regarding alienation and technology. It then introduces different metaphors through which we can understand and analyse organisations. Finally, it considers the changing nature of employment relations by considering the shift from industrial relations to Human Resource Management (HRM). The module is constructed to encourage you to think critically and to reflect upon taken-for-granted assumptions about the world of work and management’s role in relation to it. As a means to achieve this, the second part of the course explores the contemporary issue of human resource management and development which fundamentally contributes to the development of employee-engaged and productive organisations. The final part of the module continues the theme of encouraging critical reflection and explores key issues and debates related to gig employment, globalization, sustainability and business ethics that are intimately related to management. Many of these debates and issues will be explored in greater depth in subsequent OWT modules (e.g. OWT.223 Human Resource Management, OWT.226 Management and Information Technology, and OWT.229 Business Ethics).

• Part I French Studies (Advanced/CEFR: B1)

  This module is designed for students who have already completed an A-level in French or whose French is of a broadly similar standard. The language element aims to enable students both to consolidate and improve their skills in spoken and written French. A further aim is to provide students with an introduction to the historical and cultural development of France in the past, and also to contemporary institutions and society.

  There are three language classes per week, each week, we aim for one of these to be conducted by a French native speaker. In tutorials the emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of French grammatical structures. You will have the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills usually under the guidance of French native speakers using audio and video materials.

  To explore French culture, you are given the chance to examine how key moments in French history have shaped contemporary French culture, we will look at examples including films, plays, and novels

  Advanced modules usually have three classes per week.

• Part I French Studies (Beginners to CEFR: A2)

  This module is designed for students having little or no knowledge of the French language. Consequently, a substantial part of the module is devoted to intensive language teaching aimed at making the student proficient in both written and spoken French. At the same time, students will be introduced to aspects of French history, culture and society in the twentieth century.

  There are four language classes per week, of which at least one is normally conducted by a French native speaker. Tutorials are based on a textbook, and emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of French grammatical structures. Listening and speaking skills are developed under the guidance of French native speakers using audio and video materials.

  The culture programme consists of a combination of lectures and seminars over 20 weeks. The module looks at how key moments in French history have shaped contemporary French culture (films, plays, novels etc.).

• Preparation for Placement

  During this Preparation for Placement module, you will learn about the skills and expertise employers expect you to evidence; how to produce excellent CVs and cover letters; how to make an impact on application forms, what to expect at interviews and assessment centres. You will get to hear from final year students about their placement experience and a chance for you to learn about the placement opportunities on offer meeting graduate employers.

Optional

• Introduction to Marketing

  This year-long module is designed to give students a broad and critical introduction to the subject of marketing through a series of lectures and seminars. A comprehensive range of topics are taught at foundational level which you will then explore further in your second and final years. Subject areas that you will study include Understanding Markets, which examines how markets are created and sustained, Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Communications, Marketing Research and Innovation.

  Throughout the year, you will be asked to consider how theory works in practice, by examining your own experience of marketing as well as current stories from the press and marketing media. Assessment consists of coursework including an individual essay and a group-based business report, and a Summer exam which is largely essay-based. As part of your studies on this module, we will help you to develop all of the necessary academic skills to succeed in your first year at University and throughout your degree.

  In addition to your marketing studies, you will study two further subjects from across the University (subject to availability and timetabling). These may include other subjects in the Management School such as Organisation Work and Technology, or Entrepreneurship, but there are many others including marketing related subjects such as Design, Media and Cultural Studies and English Language that you can choose from. This flexibility allows you then to continue with one or more of these subjects in your second and final years, or you can choose to focus exclusively on marketing modules.

• Principles of Economics B

  Providing a thorough introduction to the discipline of Economics, this module is divided into two parts. The first part covers microeconomic analysis, including the theory of demand, costs and pricing under various forms of industrial organisation, and welfare economics. Many applications of theoretical models are examined. The second part focuses on macroeconomic analysis, including national income analysis, monetary theory, business cycles, inflation, unemployment, and the great macroeconomic debates.

Year 2

Core

• French Language: Oral Skills (CEFR: B2)

  This module comprises of both oral and aural skills and must be taken alongside the Written Skills module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

  This module aims to enhance students’ linguistic proficiency in spoken French in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

  This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern French-speaking society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

  By the end of this module, students should have enhanced their comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that they may encounter in Spanish-speaking countries.

• French Language: Written Skills (CEFR: B2)

  This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

  This module aims to consolidate skills gained by students in the first year of study, and enable them to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise themselves with the culture and society of countries where French is spoken.

  The module aims to enhance students’ proficiency in the writing of French (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into French; and the systematic study of French lexis, grammar and syntax.

  You will have the opportunity to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

• Introduction to Finance

  This module offers an introduction to finance. It covers the financial environment, including assets, markets and intermediaries, capital investment appraisal, an overview of the risk/return trade-off, and the cost of capital.

• Management Accounting for Business Decisions

  This module provides an introduction to the use of management accounting information for management purposes. This includes an examination of cost-volume profit analysis, the concepts of direct and indirect costs, and various costing methods. The importance of budgets to organisations and their impact on performance are also discussed.

• Management and Consulting Practice and Critique

  This module aims to develop your understanding of contemporary management practice through the window of consultancy. It looks at who consultants are and at the major themes in consultancy before critiquing the industry. It examines the analytical skills needed and used by consultants and how consultancy interventions take place. This is tackled theoretically and through a series of practical activities, culminating in a major client project that provides a unifying perspective.

Optional

• Data Analysis for Management

  This module gives you an introduction to statistical techniques and their applications in the context of business and management problems. In addition, it is designed to develop your ability to make effective use of computer software for data analysis.

  The following topics are covered:

  • descriptive statistics
  • probability
  • probability distributions
  • sampling
  • estimation
  • hypothesis testing
  • regression analysis
• Further Topics in Economics for Managers

  The module further develops microeconomic issues relating to labour, organisations and markets, together with macroeconomic issues relating to employment and aggregate demand management.

  It examines the essential features of a money economy:

  • banking
  • the national debt, interest rates, inflation, seigniorage
  • the balance of international payments
  • fixed and flexible currency exchange rates
  • monetary policy
  • money and business cycles
• Introduction to Economics for Managers

  Looking at microeconomic issues relating to markets and firms, and macroeconomic issues relating to money, banking and monetary policy, this module helps you to analyse economic issues from a business perspective. It demonstrates why economic concepts and principles are relevant to business issues by applying introductory economic theory to a range of issues that affect economic aspects of the business environment. Particular emphasis is given to interpreting the economic behaviour of individuals and firms, using theory to interpret events and evaluate policies.

• Marketing Fundamentals

  This module forms a self-contained introduction to marketing. It examines components of the marketing system, concepts of buying behaviour, analysis of market opportunities, market segmentation, the marketing mix and marketing strategy. Consideration is also given to a number of special topics, including services marketing, retailing and international marketing. It aims to develop your appreciation and understanding of the conceptual and descriptive language of marketing and how it is used within a business and management context.

• Marketing Management Essentials

  This module provides you with the opportunity to further develop your knowledge of marketing management and its conceptual frameworks and techniques as well as to apply and adapt your knowledge of these frameworks to a diverse range of marketing management contexts. Going to market will be examined in terms of business buyer behaviour, consumer buyer behaviour, brands and brand management, channel selection and management, and international markets.

Year 3

Core

• Management European year 1 abroad

  You will spend year 3 taking Business and Management modules at one of our partner universities. You will be taught in the language of that country.

Year 4

Core

• Management European year 2 abroad

  You will spend year 4 taking Business and Management modules at one of our partner universities. You will be taught in the language of that country.