1. Appreciate the interdependence of various functional units in a typical business environment and how they impact upon the success of organisations.
Knowledge and Understanding
Enquiry

2. Identify and analyse winning strategies in a competitive business environment.
Analysis
Problem Solving

3. Making informed business decisions on the basis of business data generated from simulation games. Problem Solving
Reflection

Element 1: Group coursework of a 1,500-word written report, capturing reflection of the group’s experience at every stage of the game (weighting 75%) - All LO's
Peer assessment/reflection of what each group member contributed to the assessment (weighting 25%) - All LO's

PLEASE NOTE ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENTS FOR Semester 1 and 2 2020/21 DUE TO COVID-19 AS FOLLOWS:

Element 1: - Contribution to Wiki / Forum. LO2 20%
Element 2: - Individual 1500 word essay exploring one of the themes of the Business Simulation Package. All LOs - 80%

Business simulation games allow students to experience and test themselves in virtual situations before encountering them in real life. They permit students to experiment and test hypotheses. The subjects seem more real to them than when taught passively from the blackboard. They are also used extensively in the professional world to train workers in the financial industries.

Managing successful business in a virtual environment
- Introduction: understanding business environment
- PESTEL analysis
- PORTER’S Five Forces (Basic understanding)
- Virtual business environment
- Business functional units:
- Marketing
- Human Resources Management
- Accounting
- Information Technology
- Customer Service

Open Textbook Library (free online)

Stephen Skrikpak, Fundamentals of Business (2016). Virgina Tech Libraries (ISBN 13: 978-0-9979201-0-9

Other Text Books

Schaltegger, S. & Wagner, M. (2017). Managing the Business Case for Sustainability : The Integration of Social, Environmental and Economic Performance, Routledge (Available as eBook in the Library)
Needle, David (2015). Business in Context. 6th Edition, Cengage Learning EMEA (ISBN-10: 1408095218).

VLE learning support material to be provided for independent /self-directed learning.

SIM Venture Classic Software

Module handbooks

Open Textbook Library

Selected contemporary problem/practice based case examples

Using, SIM Venture Classic software you will learn how to run a business in a virtual environment. Areas to be looked at include Marketing, Human Resource Management, Accounting and Business Operations.

The learning strategy for this module is based around students committing a total of 300 hours of activities towards achieving the learning outcomes. These will be split between 78 hours of direct contact with a tutor and 222 hours of directed, guided and self-study, together with preparation for and completion of the assessment tasks. Learning support material will be provided for the module.
The module will draw upon a mixture of activities including lectures, web-based activities, case study analysis, relevant videos and in-class discussions, individual and group problem solving and self-directed learning.