Business and Management
with a Foundation Year
At Canterbury, you’ll gain the skills to aspire, grow and lead.
At Canterbury, you’ll gain the skills to aspire, grow and lead.
Do you want to be the kind of leader who can make decisions that look at the big picture?
Our BSc Business and Management course is designed to support those who want to learn to lead and manage responsibly. Whether you see yourself starting your own business or leading teams to help create a sustainable future, this course is for you.
You’ll gain essential transferrable skills that serve you well across a wide variety of business areas including data analysis techniques and how to communicate with confidence. Business and Management also gives you a broad view of how businesses operate. You’ll cover topics including management theories, marketing, economics, accounting, human resource management.
The Foundation Year is for students whose school-leaving qualifications are below the level required. It offers one year of full-time study prior to the start of your BSc course. As you progress, you’ll be introduced to the advanced concepts of many business and management disciplines with the flexibility to tailor your course to suit your interests. Once you graduate you’ll have the skills and confidence to lead and inspire others, be innovative, and manage sustainably.
We have a supportive community, where you’ll work closely with your academic adviser and other academic staff. They are experts in all areas of business who will expose you to the right mix of detailed theory and hands-on experience.
Love the sound of this course, but want to be closer to London on a smaller close-knit campus? Our course at Medway might be for you.
Gain work experience with a paid year in industry.
Study at a ‘Triple Crown’ business school accredited by AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS.
Take a ‘selfie year’ and bring your business ideas to life at our aspire centre.
in the UK for Business and Management (The Guardian University Guide 2024).
Our expert teaching staff appear in the top 2% of researchers worldwide.
Our typical offer levels are listed below and include indicative contextual offers. If you hold alternative qualifications just get in touch and we'll be glad to discuss these with you.
If you don't meet the academic requirements for direct entry, our Business and Management with a Foundation Year course offers one year of full-time study prior to the start of the BSc degree.
CDD
MMP
80 Tariff points from your IB Diploma, Typically H5, H4, H4 or equivalent
Mathematics grade 4 / C and English grade 4 / C
N/A
The University will consider applicants holding T level qualifications in subjects closely aligned to the course.
Access to HE Diploma in (subject being taken) with a minimum of 45 Credits at level 3 with 9 credits at Distinction and 12 credits at Merit
The Foundation Year aims to extend access to university education to students from a wide variety of educational backgrounds and age groups and prepares these students for our three or four-year degrees.
After successful completion of the foundation year, you can transfer on to the three or four-year Business and Management programmes. Please refer to the BSc Business and Management, BSc Business and Management with a Year Abroad or BSc Business and Management with a Year in Industry programme for more information about specific modules.
In your first year, you’ll build a strong foundation in key business areas. You’ll explore a range of topics like marketing, learn more about management theory and practice, and develop a deeper appreciation for some of the big-picture challenges faced by organisations today. You’ll hone key skills, like the ability to work with data, by studying accounting, economics, and statistics and you’ll finish this year with the confidence to explore more specialised areas in the next.
Every lecturer we had was an expert in their field – we had some of the best people teaching us.Zaid Mahmood
In the second year, you’ll expand your knowledge of key areas of business activity like managing supply chains and projects. You’ll become a confident and effective communicator, exploring in greater detail the management of human resources and the creation of new businesses. In line with KBS’s commitment to sustainable futures, you’ll also learn about how businesses can make more ethical and sustainable decisions.
The law affects the commercial world in many ways. This module focuses on how businesses fulfil their legal obligations to customers, suppliers and their workforce. As well as exploring how businesses are structured and the duties on directors and partners it also considers the legal obligations individuals and organisations have over those to whom they have a duty of care. The module further covers the main laws governing the employment of staff and contractors. By applying the law to real-world business situations students are able to fine-tune their problem solving skills, and their ability to construct well-reasoned and persuasive arguments.
Indicative topics are:
The English Legal System, Legal Process, Dispute Resolution and the impact of European Union Law in the UK;
Law of Negligence – including general principles and negligent misstatement;
Law of Business Organisations - classification of business organisations; main principles applying to general and limited liability partnerships and registered companies, and directors' duties;
Employment Law - the general scope of the legal obligations owed by employers to employees, including the employment contract, discrimination and dismissal.
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 aims to provide students with understanding and experience of the theory and practice of marketing research. During the module students design and implement a marketing research plan, design a questionnaire, collect and analyse data, prepare an oral presentation and write a marketing research report.
The main topics of study are as follows:
• Introduction to marketing research: Defining and designing marketing research projects
• Understanding data: Secondary data and databases
• Primary data collection techniques.
• Questionnaire design
• Measurement and measurement scales and error.
• Sampling and sample design and error
• Entering and coding data with SPSS
• Data analysis techniques
• Communicating the results of marketing research.
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
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 introduces students to core concepts and theories about consumer behaviour, including individual and organisational perspectives. It is based around understanding the critical application of sociological, economic, socio-psychological and psychological concepts to and theories to consumption.
Indicative topics are:
• Consumer Research Philosophies: What is a consumer?
• Culture: Components of Culture, myths and rituals
• Marketplace cultures
• Dark Consumption and Ethical Consumption
• Personality, Identity and the Self
• Motivational Theories
• Learning Theories
• Organisational Buying Behaviour
Your third year is where you’ll develop even more your expertise in a range of business contexts. You’ll learn to critically evaluate problems in global contexts on modules in leadership, strategy, and innovation, with a focus on how businesses can take their social responsibilities into account.
Optional modules mean that you’ll make choices to tailor your course to your aspirations and you’ll grow your employability skills with our specially designed modules and extensive support.
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 focusses on performance management activities undertaken by both line managers and functional HR managers in organisations in a variety of contexts (such as private, public and voluntary sector) and geographical settings (domestic and international). The aim of the module is to analyse organisational processes and practices pertaining to the optimisation of employee performance and managing related aspects of the employment relationship. Underpinning theories/principles related to this module arise mainly from psychology and organisational behaviour origins, and will include critiques from a variety of appropriate perspectives such as ethical, unitarist, pluralist, and labour process perspectives. A key aspect of the module is to develop students' conceptual and practical skills in managing employee performance.
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.
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.
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.
The module aims to provide a critical understanding of the challenges of managing creativity and innovation within contemporary organisations. The experience of work and employment, management practices are affected by rapid technological change, intensifying global competition and changing demographic profiles and values of the work force. Contemporary organisations are pressurised to tackle these developments through creativity, innovation and new organisational forms. This module examines the nature, antecedents, processes and consequences of creativity and innovation and their complex links with organisation, while also exploring major social and technological changes relating these to organisational creativity and innovation. Students will be introduced to the main concepts and theories on creativity, innovation and organisation through readings and discussions of the main themes and debates in the field. Case studies will be used to illustrate how these concepts are connected together and how they could impact upon management decision making within contemporary organisations. Students will be encouraged to explore some of the most notable historical and contemporary shifts in media and technology and discover how new organisational forms and methods have been devised to exploit them. They will develop awareness for the cross-fertilisation between disciplines in analyzing the dynamics of creativity, innovation and organisation and their complex relationships.
Topics include:
• Conceptual foundations of creativity, innovation and organisation
• Personality and individual creativity
• Organisational creativity and innovation
• Cognition, knowledge and creativity
• Models and processes of innovation
• Organisational culture and systems for supporting creativity and innovation
• Leadership and entrepreneurship
• Creative organisations across fields/ industries
• Socio-technological change and new forms of organisation.
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 equip students with basic knowledge of analytics tools to analyse and interpret data, forecast future trends and optimise decisions in many areas of business, including operations, marketing and finance.
The module covers two indicative themes as follows:
1. Predictive analytics. In this part of the module, students will learn approaches to extract information from existing data sets in order to determine patterns and predict future outcomes and trends. Approaches include regression analysis, forecasting techniques, simulation and data mining.
2. Prescriptive analytics. In this part of the module, students will learn how to develop optimisation models to support business decision making. Students will be guided through demonstrations involving a variety of business problems, including transportation, assignment, product mix and scheduling problems.
The aim of this hands-on and highly practical module is to introduce students to the power of data intelligence in transforming the way businesses operate. Students will learn how to develop a successful big data strategy and deliver organisational performance improvements through the use of data analytics. Students will have hands-on exercises primarily based on spreadsheet tools such as Excel and will gain a basic knowledge of coding tools such as Python.
Indicative topics covered in the module include: business intelligence principles, data visualisation and dashboards, data warehouse and integration, artificial intelligence in business applications, big data, social network analysis, text mining, and participatory approaches for problem structuring.
Students will be exposed to a variety of case studies which demonstrate how pervasive data intelligence and analytics have become in every industry and sector, including examples from supply chain management, transport, marketing, finance, healthcare, and human resources. By the end of the module, students will have an understanding of how specific companies use big data and a grasp of the actionable steps and resources required to utilise data effectively.
We use a variety of teaching methods, including;
Classroom-based learning is supported by the latest online technologies and learning platforms.
Your progress is assessed through coursework and exams. Coursework takes a variety of forms and includes;
Exams are individual written assessments tested under time-controlled conditions.
As part of your studies it is also possible to take a foreign language module in stage 1 and for students going on a Year Abroad in year 1 and 2 subject to programme requirements. Alternatively, our university also offers language courses.
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.
For programme aims and learning outcomes please see the programme specification.
Our graduates look to make their mark on the organisations they join, whether they are large multinational companies or small local firms in Kent.
Kent Business School students make their ambitions known, working at companies like:
The 2024/25 annual tuition fees for this course are:
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
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.
Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. See our funding page for more details.
We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.
We welcome applications from students all around the world with a wide range of international qualifications.
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