Diploma in Business Administration

Rationale and Philosophy

A business administration award allows graduates to find employment in almost any industry – organisations and businesses need staff with a broad understanding of business issues to help improve their performance. The programme is designed to provide its graduates with an in-depth knowledge of business administration and therefore will open up various career paths and opportunities in both private and public organisations. The practical aspect of the programme will ensure that graduates are well equipped for roles that required a strong attitude to problem solving and applied leadership.

Programme Outline

The programme consists of the following six Level 5 modules, each worth 20 credits:

Organisational Behaviour

Services Marketing

Culture and International Business Systems

Corporate Social Responsibility in Practice

Global Economics

Operations Management

Module Descriptions

There are no average courses within our Diploma programme. We are bound to provide an exceptional learning experience, and there is no better way to achieve this aim than with outstanding courses. They have been carefully crafted by experienced professors and are all meant to make you a more successful and efficient manager.

There are no old-fashioned exams. Instead you are given real-life case studies and essays, which allow you to think critically about your company and your own career. All this might seem too glossy but there is one catch: we do not accept average candidates. Only individuals as outstanding as our values can find their way toward admission at the Robert Kennedy College.

Induction

Not-for-credit module

A not-for-credit induction module will be the starting point of the programme. The induction process is designed to familiarise you with the programme design, requirements and resources, as well as with the way online interaction, learning and grading will take place. After the induction you should be familiar with academic life, including academic writing, library services and library access, OnlineCampus access, and academic support services.

Organisational Behaviour

The module aims to provide an introduction to the core concepts of people management in organisations and the organisational factors at play in the workplace. To that end it will offer opportunities for study by prospective as well as experienced managers, through a review of contemporary perspectives on organisational theory and organisational behaviour, while using modern ideas to assess and evaluate their own personal experiences of organisations and the associated dynamics. The module gives ample consideration to the history and development of management thinking and theory and their impact on the development of organisational strategies and goals and the implications of organisational design and activities for managing human behaviour and contributing to organisational effectiveness. The introduction to the module will act as the bedrock upon which other managerial ideas and processes can be developed later in the course.

Services Marketing

In today’s increasingly digital age, and widespread use of social media, marketing services have become relevant to almost all businesses, anywhere in the world. The module aims to develop an understanding of the distinctive characteristics of services and how these affect marketing strategies employed by businesses. The module considers management of service processes, management of service encounters, customer behaviour and satisfaction in a service setting, communication and aspects of service quality, as well as service failure, recovery and retention strategies.

Culture and International Business Systems

The module aims to provide an understanding of international business systems and allows for the unpacking of current misconceptions of cultural and business practices, concentrating on the cultural context of the organisation and its impact on performace, innovation and change, while exploring notions and ideas of national, international and organisational culture, concepts from institutional theory and the connection between culture and leadership in organisations.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Practice

The module aims to develop an understanding and command of the connections between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental and socio- economic sustainability challenges, in a global business environment, as well as enable an examination of sustainability prospects and risks for organisations of all types and sizes in both modern industrial and industrialising economies, including an appreciation of the ethical dilemmas and responses in contemporary organisations.

Global Economics

The module aims to develop an understanding of the core concepts of economics, how an economy can be shaped by global forces and how these factors can be controlled by international organisations or businesses, by exploring the current major debates around the contemporary global economic context, main trends and the phenomenon of globalisation in today’s more and more inter-reliant world.

Operations Management

This module aims to develop an understanding of the values, nature and purpose of the operations purposes in organisations, as their core activity. It will investigate the factors which affect the smooth running of operations and the achievement of quality, while providing a critical understanding of the scope and vital significance of operations management and developing an appreciation of the worth of information and quantitative approaches to support operations decisions.

Aims and Outcomes

By the end of this programme learners will be able to:

1. Create awareness of the broader contexts and sphere of influence within which international business operates. (120 credits)

2. Study and practise international business and management drawing on a range of perspectives in the fields of international marketing, strategic management, entrepreneurship, international human resource management, and international business. (120 credits)

3. Develop your critical thinking, conceptual thinking and reasoning skills relating to international business and management. (120 credits)

4. Enhance your employability, career potential and personal effectiveness. (120 credits)

5. Develop your ability to carry out independent research in the field of business and management. (120 credits)

6. Augment your intellectual and transferable skills especially as they relate to management and business. (120 credits)

7. Benefit from a programme of study which offers you a grounding in the disciplines and methodologies of international business management and to stimulate a critical awareness of the factors associated with the changing focus of contemporary international business practice. (120 credits)