Module overview
- The process of globalisation and international competition looking at the role of companies and markets in the United States, Germany, Japan, the Tiger economies and China. This provides context for developing an analysis of the response from British institutions.
- The organisational challenge – from the firm level to governmental response – within the British economy to increasing globalisation and associated restructuring associated with technological change.
- The evolution and conceptualisation of business models by business and the associated policy approaches.
- This module will also use archival documents to illustrate the decision making process associated with restructuring, financial analysis and strategy.
Linked modules
Prerequisites: MANG1044 or MANG1001 or MANG1025
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- how to apply a variety of concepts and techniques to the understanding business and governmental decision making. This will include, but is not limited to, accounting, economics and marketing;
- how to interpret evidence from a variety of sources – documentary, film, biography and journalism.
- the processes of change within the global economy;
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- understand the processes of change within the global economy;
- understand how to make management theory ‘practical’ by informing the interrogation of archival evidence.
- understand how to interpret evidence from a variety of sources – documentary, film, biography and journalism;
- understand how to apply a variety of concepts and techniques to the understanding business and governmental decision making. This will include, but is not limited to, accounting, economics and marketing;
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- apply a variety of concepts and techniques to the understanding business and governmental decision making. This will include, but is not limited to, accounting, economics and marketing;
- interpret evidence from a variety of sources – documentary, film, biography and journalism;
- make management theory ‘practical’ by informing the interrogation of archival evidence.
Syllabus
Context: Globalisation and International Business: USA Germany & Japan. British de-industrialisation and decline?
Approaches to continuity and change: Understanding Business Models, Policy Models and firm ‘ecology;’ within industrial districts. Restructuring British Business in response to global challenges:
The following case evidence will be explored
Materials and Aerospace
Approaches to restructuring mature industry: example the steel industry – nationalisation to privatisation, competition policy and merger activity.
Project management capabilities and the restructuring of aviation: Concorde and the early satellite industry. Managing manufacturing processes and project based businesses
Trade Services and the City of London: Industrial Policy and the Bank of England. Managing service enterprise: insurance, shipping, etc. The evolution of banking and financial services. British trade and investment in the international economy; Management control of banking organisations. De-regulation and the ‘Big Bang’.
Decisions for Restructuring: Competition, merger and acquisition policy; From the firm to the market: shifting organisational solutions, from nationalisation to privatisation. ‘Financialisation’ of decision making.
The evolution of managerial capabilities: accounting and economic measurement. Understanding technical performance through business and management methods. History as an approach to understanding business change.: Comparing British and American management capabilities as ‘best practice’.
Alongside the above core content, the case evidence will use Annual Reports, the trade press and where relevant, internal documents from government/business enterprise.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Lectures will set out the background and key questions arising from globalisation and the difficulties in adjusting to change.
It is proposed to invite two guest lecturers who are archivists to present on document interpretation. This approach is at the heart of the module: how to use primary documentary evidence to understand how individuals in organisations ‘made’ decisions.
Evidence from the National Archives will be used to demonstrate how financial and economic information informed decision making and policy in the British economy. This will be used as an exemplar of an economy seeking to restructure from manufacturing to services.
Classes will be informed by journal articles and case study material including documents from the relevant archives.
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Lecture | 24 |
Preparation for scheduled sessions | 116 |
Seminar | 10 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
L. Hannah (1983). The Rise of the Corporate Economy. Methuen.
D. Hague & G. Wilkinson (1983). The IRC-An Experiment in Industrial Intervention: A History of the Industrial Reorganization Corporation. Unwin.
Steve Tolliday (1987). Business, Banking, and Politics: The Case of British Steel, 1918-1939. Harvard Studies in Business History.
K. Middlemas (1983). Industry, Unions and Government: Twenty-One Years of the National Economic Development Office.
D. C. Kramer (1988). State Capital and Private Enterprise: The Case of the Uk National Enterprise Board. Routledge.
M.Furner B. & Supple (1990). The State and Economic Knowledge: The American and British Experiences. Woodrow Wilson Center Press.
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Coursework
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback: Examination grade, exam report and written feedback on coursework and personal meetings where required
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: No
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Exam | 70% |
Coursework | 30% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Individual Coursework | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Individual Coursework | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External