| Unit name | Business Simulation |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MGRC30005 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Beckett |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
EFIM10030 Accounting and Finance for Managers OR ACFI10003 Fundamentals of Accounting and Finance |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Management - Business School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
This unit offers students an opportunity to draw their learning together using a business simulation. Based on a contemporary business simulation students integrate their knowledge from marketing, strategy and accounting as they guide a company through a series of business decisions. It provides students with an opportunity to experience the deep interconnectivity between these key knowledge areas as they dynamically interact over time. This will ‘bring-to-life’ your studies in a new and exciting way.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
The unit builds on a broad range of units including core units such as Strategy, Markets and Marketing and Accounting for Finance for Managers, as well as allowing students to draw on a range of other units which they may have studied, including Strategic Finance, Consumption and Consumer Behaviour and Management Accounting/Management Accounting for Strategy. It is particularly suited to those seeking to understand how the different areas of knowledge they have experienced interact in the management of an organisation. It will appeal to anyone aiming for (senior) management roles in the commercial, public or not for profit sectors and/or careers in consultancy. Ultimately, the unit aims to build analytical skills in the core domains of strategy, marketing and accounting, to help underpin future career success.
An overview of content
The unit is focused around a business simulation. Students are placed into ‘teams’ and each team oversee the operation of an organisation over a time series.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
This unit, in drawing together three separate areas of knowledge and asking students to integrate those knowledge areas as they navigate the leadership of a ‘business’ offers students a unique insight into general management and the development of skills in thinking and acting strategically. There are also invaluable team-work lessons to be drawn from the experience of working in teams.
Learning Outcomes
1. To understand the interconnections between different managerial functions;
2. To learn how to co-operate with others, work in teams and understand leadership challenges;
3. To conduct relevant analysis and make appropriate managerial decisions;
4. Develop analytical and operational skills and perspectives
Learning on the unit is focused around the online business simulation. The business simulation takes place over a series of eight weeks in three hour workshops. Working in teams you will experience the highs and lows of senior management as you guide an organisation through a series of challenges. To do this successfully you will need to draw on your learning experience from other units, most notably accounting & finance, marketing and strategy, and apply that learning to the management of your business. Working in teams will help you to develop communication, decision-making and leadership skills, as you experience managing the success or failure of the business.
Assessment is built around your experience of operating the business simulation. You are asked both as a team and individually to reflect on your experience of managing a business within the simulation and linking that experience to your prior learning in marketing, finance & accounting, and strategy.
Tasks which count towards your unit (summative assessment)
Assessment 1 (40% of final mark)
Group Presentation (ILO1-4) Members of each group will be required to make a 10minute presentation to a panel of judges.
Assessment 2 (60% of final mark)
Individual Assessment (ILO 1-4). This is an individual written submission of 2000 words
Tasks to help you learn (Formative assessment)
Formative feed-back will be given throughout the unit through whole class discussions and team discussions with members of the tutoring team.
When assessment does not go to plan
Re-assessment of units within the final year of undergraduate modular programmes is not normally permitted.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. MGRC30005).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
