If you already have an HND or a foundation degree in a business-related subject, Kent’s top-up programme offers you the chance to gain an honours degree in just one year of university study.
Kent Business School (KBS) is a top UK business school for academic teaching, student satisfaction and graduate employment prospects. Within this community, you can learn how to challenge assumptions and think creatively.
We provide a friendly, student-focused environment, which helps you to make the most of your studies. With students and staff from a variety of backgrounds and nationalities, you learn in an international environment and this helps you to develop a global business perspective.
Your studies begin in early September with a two-week Study Skills module. Following this, you choose modules that extend your knowledge from a wide range available. Our modules cover all aspects of business including human resource management, innovation and enterprise, leadership and business ethics.
Kent Business School has excellent links with business schools globally, including in China, USA, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Italy. Our wide array of exchange partners give you the opportunity to gain international experience. Our partners are committed to enhancing their international outlook while providing excellent teaching. You will gain invaluable work experience, develop your understanding of a new culture and improve your language skills.
Our exchange partners include these top ranked institutions amongst others:
Alongside your studies, you can discover how to turn your idea into a successful business at our ASPIRE centre, which provides practical advice and support, and runs our Business Start-up Journey initiative.
You also have many opportunities to interact directly with the business community. Special events and schemes have previously included:
You can also get involved with the student-run Kent Business and Kent Enterprise societies; in previous years they have organised regular events with guest speakers from industry and supported budding entrepreneurs with their ventures.
Kent Business School has long-established links with business schools in China, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Finland. We also have excellent links with local, national and international businesses.
Kent Business School is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). We are committed to excellence by providing world-class, thought-provoking programmes. We champion sustainable innovation through high-quality research and education, impacting business and society and are committed to developing employable, ethical graduates who can make a positive difference.
All of our programmes at Kent Business School address the challenges of modern global business and we aim to meet industry demands of producing quality graduates by ensuring we unlock our students’ potential, expand their thinking and nurture their talent.
The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications. Typical requirements are listed below. Students offering alternative qualifications should contact us for further advice.
Please note that meeting this typical offer/minimum requirement does not guarantee an offer being made.Please also see our general entry requirements.
If you’ve taken exams under the new GCSE grading system, please see our conversion table to convert your GCSE grades.
N/A. The only qualifications accepted for this programme are:
Mathematics and English grade C
N/A
N/A
The University welcomes applications from international students. Our international recruitment team can guide you on entry requirements. See our International Student website for further information about entry requirements for your country.
However, please note that international fee-paying students cannot undertake a part-time programme due to visa restrictions.
If you need to increase your level of qualification ready for undergraduate study, we offer a number of International Foundation Programmes.
For more advice about applying to Kent, you can meet our staff at a range of international events.
Please see our English language entry requirements web page.
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of 'pre-sessional' courses in English for Academic Purposes. You attend these courses before starting your degree programme.
Duration: 1 year full-time
The course structure provides a sample of the modules available for this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take ‘elective’ modules from other programmes offered by the University in order that you may explore other subject areas of interest to you or that may further enhance your employability.
Based on sector research and curriculum developments, we intend to offer the following innovative new modules on this programme from 2018/19, subject to availability:
CB738 - Buyer Behaviour
CB759 - Strategic Management
The following modules are offered to our current students. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation:
This module facilitates the development of an entrepreneurial mind-set, and equips students with necessary cutting-edge knowledge and skills vital for generating value in a knowledge based economy. The curriculum will include the following areas of study:
• Broader application of entrepreneurship
• Co-creation as a new form of generating value in an innovation ecosystem.
• Managing innovation entrepreneurially
• Entrepreneurial opportunity
• Entrepreneurial Motivation
• Entrepreneurial Marketing
• Entrepreneurial Finance – Finance fuels entrepreneurship.
The module provides a broad, basic understanding of strategy and strategic management, on which further strategic analysis and exploration of strategic issues can be built. It introduces students to the key vocabulary, concepts and frameworks of strategic management and establishes criteria for assessing whether or not a strategy can be successful. It introduces students to frameworks for analysing the external and internal environments and to different theories of how these relate and of their impact on strategy formulation and implementation.
Students will learn how to identify strategic issues, develop strategic options to address them and decide which option(s) to recommend. Through theoretical readings and case studies, students will develop an appreciation of strategy in different contexts and from different perspectives and of the complexity of strategic decision-making. Students will enhance their ability to read business articles from a strategic perspective and to present strategic arguments in a structured manner
This module will introduce students to the key concepts of managing people, involving an examination of organisational, human resource management and industrial relations theory. This will be achieved through relating relevant theory to practical people and organisational management issues.
Topics of study are:
The theory of strategic HRM; Strategic HRM and Business Strategy;
Strategic HRM and Organisational Performance;
Strategic employee involvement and participation;
HRM in the public sector;
HRM in Small and Medium Enterprises;
HRM in the voluntary sector;
Strategic HRM in the international context.
Students will be expected to develop the ability to use appropriate techniques of analysis and enquiry within Operations Management and to learn how to evaluate alternatives and make recommendations. Topics are likely to include:
• Strategic role of operations and operations strategy
• Design of processes and the implications for layout and flow
• Design and management of supply networks in national and international contexts
• Resource planning and management
• Lean systems
• Quality planning and managing improvement
Students will be expected to develop the ability to use appropriate techniques of analysis and enquiry within Operations and Service Management and to learn how to evaluate the alternatives and make recommendations. Topics include:
• The nature of services and service strategy
• Service development and technology
• Service quality and the service encounter
• Project/Event management and control
• Managing capacity and demand in services
• Managing inventories
This module will introduce students to the key concepts, theories and issues involved in international marketing. In doing so it will enable students to understand how to identify and evaluate opportunities in international markets and assess the different market entry modes available to companies. In addition students will consider the need to adapt marketing mix elements for different international markets. Indicative topics of study are as follows:
• Introduction to international marketing: Definitions, theories, approaches and motives.
• International Marketing Research
• Assessing international markets: The political and economic environment
• Assessing international markets: The Sociocultural environment
• Theories and frameworks for International market evaluation and selection
• Market entry modes: export, intermediate and hierarchical
• International marketing plans and strategy: Segmentation, targeting and positioning
• Designing the global marketing mix: Product, pricing, communication and distribution decisions
The module will provide students with the tools of marketing communications. Specifically students taking this module will be able to evaluate strengths and weakness of marketing communications channels. Over the course of a term the module will provide students with an understanding of the principles, methods and strategies of marketing communications. The main tools of marketing communications will be discussed as well as their suitability and effectiveness:
Topics may cover:
• The communications process
• Advertising
• Strategy and media planning
• Image, brand management and packaging
• Direct marketing
• Digital and interactive media
• Sales promotion, merchandising and point of sale
• Public relations and corporate identity
• Exhibitions, trade shows, product placement and sponsorship
• Personal selling
The module looks at how digital marketing applications can be used by modern organisations. The module considers the fundamental technologies that support digital marketing along with the regulatory and societal challenges that must be taken into account, for example, privacy and data protection. The methods available to attract customers through digital marketing are covered making a distinction between paid methods, such as sponsored search, and non-paid methods, such as an organisation's own social media assets. Issues around loyalty are considered especially in the context of falling search costs which enable customers to switch providers.
The unique nature of digital products, for example music downloads or video streaming, are outlined with the marketing challenges and opportunities this presents. The module stresses the importance of implementation, using applied examples, and the uncertainty involved.
Indicative topics are: The digital marketing environment; Enabling technologies for digital marketing; Website design, implementation and analysis; Social media; Social commerce; Customers in the Internet age: knowing, reaching & retaining the customer; Network effects and versioning; Loyalty, Customer Relationship Management and Data Mining; E-Marketing campaigns; Brands in the Internet age; Data protection, privacy and legal issues; Digital marketing and globalisation
This module presents an overview of what workforce diversity is and its relevance and usefulness in improving our understanding and management of people (including ourselves) at work. The demographics of the population and the workplace are changing drastically because of a number of factors, such as an increasing number of ethnic minorities and women in the workforce and in management. Accordingly, there is a need to effectively understand and manage workforce diversity not only to increase organisational business outcomes but also to create an inclusive workplace in a socially responsible manner.
The module will examine issues confronting managers of a diverse workforce. In particular issues such as ethnicity, race, language, ageing, disability, gender, and intersectional identities will be discussed. Two key approaches towards managing diversity will be explained, i.e. the social equity case of managing diversity, and the business benefits case of managing diversity. The module will explore a range of diversity related concepts and topics, such as social identity, stereotyping, discrimination, intergroup conflict, structural integration, and organisational change.
Indicative topics are:
• Origins of diversity and equal opportunity in the workplace context;
• Social and psychological perspectives on workplace diversity;
• The UK and European diversity contexts;
• Business benefits case and social equity case of managing diversity;
• The legal framework for diversity;
• Organisational approaches to diversity;
• Contemporary issues central to the experiences of diverse individuals in the UK and in organisations across a range of diversity dimensions;
• Diversity management in an international context
This module will explore more advanced management and organisational theory to facilitate students' examination of the challenges that face managers in contemporary organisations. As well as considering these challenges from a mainstream managerial perspective, the module will also draw on the perspective of critical management studies as a means of providing an alternative viewpoint on contemporary management issues. Indicative areas to be covered may include:
• Identity in organisations and how the construction and performance of it requires managers to cope with existential challenges around anxiety and freedom.
• The uses and abuses of managerial power and the inequality and insecurity that comes with it.
• Neoliberal capitalism and its various consequences for organisational life.
• Pressures to make organisations more sustainable, socially responsible, equal, diverse, and fair.
• Organisational cultures based on entrepreneurialism.
• The performance of gender in organisations.
• New organisational forms and their emphasis on Speed.
• The intensification of the control of Bodies, Spaces, and Time in contemporary organisations.
Making decisions is one of the most important things any manager or business must do. Making smart decisions, however, can be extremely difficult due the complexity and uncertainty involved. Decision Analysis (DA) provides a structured and coherent approach to decision making. It involves a wide range of quantitative and graphical methods for identifying, representing, and assessing alternatives in order to determine a best course of action. DA is regularly employed by many leading companies in the pharmaceutical, oil and gas, utilities, automotive, and financial services sectors. In this module, you learn about the basic concepts of DA and how to apply it in a variety of practical business planning situations.
This module offers a comprehensive introduction to the area of cross-cultural management research. Based on a critical analysis of the assumptions underlying various approaches to studying national cultures, frameworks are applied to understand cross-cultural issues managers in international organisations may face. Indicative topics are:
• Management and culture
• Different approaches to cross-cultural management
• Cultural-frameworks and its application
• Roles of the global manager
• Global management challenges
This module presents an overview of what work psychology is and its relevance and usefulness in improving our understanding and management of people (including ourselves) at work. Many work places operate sophisticated and expensive systems for assessing the costs and benefits of various workplace elements but often do not extend this to the management of employees. This module aims to demonstrate the benefits of having a comprehensive understanding of the role psychology can play in the management of people in contemporary organizations. Indicative content includes:
• Work psychology
• Individual differences and psychometrics
• Best practice personnel selection
• Stress and well-being
• Motivation
• Stereotypes and group behaviour
• Leadership and diversity
• The dark side of personality
• Political behaviour in the workplace
• The psychology of entrepreneurs
• Using work psychology to enhance employability
This module will allow students to work on a substantive piece of research which will allow them to frame and prioritise real business problems using well known fields and frameworks within academic business and management disciplines.
• Developing important research questions in the area of business and management
• Literature search and review
• Understanding different research designs used in business and management research projects
• Collection, use and analysis of secondary and primary data
• Developing Analytical and Critical Thinking in using theory and data to frame and address business and management problems
• Preparing and structuring the Business/Consultancy Project
• Referencing, Citations and Developing writing skills
• Communication and Presentation skills
The aim of this module is to provide students with (1) a systematic understanding of how information technology is driving business innovation, (2) the methods and approaches used by managers to exploit new digital opportunities, and (3) an appreciation of the knowledge and skills needed to manage the business innovation. By the end of this module, students will be equipped with the necessary knowledge and tools to deal with current business issues including digital transformation and emerging business models via technological innovations.
The 2020/21 annual tuition fees for this programme are:
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
Full-time tuition fees for Home and EU undergraduates are £9,250.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
In a typical week, you spend eight to ten hours in lectures and seminars, and have regular access to an academic adviser for advice on matters concerning your studies. Modules also involve individual study and sessions in the computer laboratories. Modules are assessed by a combination of coursework and exams.
For a student studying full time, each academic year of the programme will comprise 1200 learning hours which include both direct contact hours and private study hours. The precise breakdown of hours will be subject dependent and will vary according to modules. Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.
Methods of assessment will vary according to subject specialism and individual modules. Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.
The programme aims to:
You gain knowledge and understanding of:
You gain the following intellectual abilities:
You gain subject-specific skills in the following:
You gain transferable skills in the following:
Business and Management Studies at Kent scored 93% overall in The Complete University Guide 2021.
Of Business Studies graduates who responded to the most recent national survey of graduate destinations, over 94% were in work or further study within six months (DLHE, 2017).
Our graduates find work in public and private sector management and consultancy, both overseas and in the UK. Recent graduates have gone on to take up positions at a wide range of companies and organisations, including:
Kent Business School has an excellent international reputation and good links with businesses globally. This network is very useful to students when looking for work in industry. We also offer career and skills development events.
The University’s friendly Careers and Employability Service can also give you advice on how to:
The Backpack to Briefcase scheme provides bespoke career and skills development events and activities for all Kent Business School students. Available from first year through to graduation, Backpack to Briefcase is designed to prepare you for a successful career after university.
You graduate with a solid grounding in core business management concepts, theories and skills, with a particular focus on global business.
To help you appeal to employers, you also learn key transferable skills that are essential for all graduates. These include the ability to:
You can also gain extra skills by signing up for one of our Kent Extra activities, such as learning a language, volunteering, or developing analytical skills via Kent’s Q-Step Centre.
This course page is for the 2020/21 academic year. Please visit the current online prospectus for a list of undergraduate courses we offer.
T: +44 (0)1227 823254
E: internationalstudent@kent.ac.uk
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