Course overview

Every facet of business life requires a degree of human input and management. For contemporary organisations, the management of people is a critical success factor. For such businesses, it is not just about practical issues. This degree offers a valuable grounding in both academic theory and critical business thinking, which allows graduates to grow into a business role faster and with more confidence.

If you are interested in gaining a degree that incorporates the opportunity to understand more about managing people at work as well as enhancing your job prospects and earning potential, this course is definitely a way forward.

The University of Portsmouth is an Approved Centre for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The CIPD is the professional body for HR specialists and is the world’s largest Chartered HR professional body. BA (Hons) Business and Human Resource Management meets the knowledge required for the CIPD HR Professional Map at Intermediate Level. On completion, you will be eligible to seek Associate membership of the CIPD providing you have the relevant work experience.

We understand that students can find it difficult to choose which particular degree to study and so we have designed a common first year programme that is shared across a number of different courses. This gives you a broad-based understanding of a range of business subjects. It also allows you to transfer on to one of the other courses with the shared common first year should you find you develop an interest and career ambition in a particular subject area (see Course content Year one for further details).

Your skills will be enhanced during your placement year, which is the most involving type of work experience you can undertake during your studies.

Course content

Year one

This common first year provides you with a broad understanding of how business operates. At the end of Year one you can, should you wish (and in consultation with the Head of Undergraduate Programmes), transfer on to any of the other courses which share the same common first year (although transfer to BA (Hons) European Business is subject to the language competence you will need for the overseas study elements).

The common first year is made up of the following subject areas:

• Business Accounting
• Business Environment
• Quantitative Methods and Data Analysis
• Marketing Principles and Practice
• Managing People in Organisations
• Operations and Systems

Courses sharing the common first year:

• BA (Hons) Business and Management
• BA (Hons) Business Enterprise Development
• BA (Hons) Economics and Management
• BA (Hons) European Business
• BA (Hons) Finance and Management
• BA (Hons) International Business
• BA (Hons) Marketing

Year two

The second year is designed to develop your understanding of human resource management. You will study various units where the degree of specialisation increases, alongside other business units that will help you understand better the role of an HR practitioner. These include:

• Human Resource Development
• Contemporary Employment Relations
• Managing Business Relationships
• Business and Employment Law
• Research and Quantitative Methods for Business
• Organisational Analysis and Leadership (option)
• Developing Team and Individual Creativity (option)
• Responsible Business Management and Sustainability (option)

Placement year

This degree includes the opportunity to undertake a one-year placement working in a paid full-time role which offers progression and a suitable level of responsibility. You will return to your studies with contemporary business experience which will improve your ability to engage in debate and develop your strategic thinking. Our experience has shown that not only does relevant experience help you to obtain graduate employment (often within your placement company), it also improves academic achievement.

With employers now requiring graduates to have the key business competencies and experience alongside a good degree, work experience is more vital than ever. Due to its very nature a placement year is the best and most involving type of work experience you can do during your time at university. As such, a placement will help ensure you are as employable as possible upon graduation.

The Placements Office will support you during your placement search, the subsequent recruitment processes and when you have secured your placement and are working away from the University. If you’d like to know more about where our placement students are working, please click through to what our students say.

Final year

The final year offers the opportunity to concentrate on key areas together with further specialised units. You will study major units including:

• Strategic and Comparative Human Resource Management
• People Resourcing

Along with a major piece of independent research in an aspect of HR that particularly interests you in the form of a dissertation, work-based learning project or business research project, you will also have a choice of studying further HR and business-related options such as:

• Cross Cultural Awareness for Business
• Managing Equality and Diversity
• Discrimination and Conflict in Employment Law
• Business Ethics
• Business Enterprise
• Business Improvement and Creativity

Throughout your course you will have the opportunity to study a modern foreign language through our Institute Wide Language Programme. This can be taken as credits in some instances, but all students are encouraged to study an language for interest and their own personal development.

Teaching and assessment

Here at Portsmouth we place a lot of emphasis on student support. At the start of each academic year, you will be assigned a personal tutor who will be available for regular meetings to discuss your progress, as well as help resolve any problems or questions that you may encounter along the way.

Innovative methods of teaching and assessment are also part of life here. They include traditional lectures, workshops, seminars and, where relevant, presentations. In addition, some units include computer-based interactive learning. You will also be involved in learning on both an individual and team basis.

We have a very experienced group of lecturers who have substantial relevant experience. Many of our staff have held senior managerial positions in industry and you will therefore be able to learn from lecturers who have both theoretical and applied knowledge and experience.

A variety of assessment methods are used such as exams, coursework, presentations, group-based projects, formative tests and on occasion IT-based work. The assessment is generally based on taught and learned material. However, particularly in the final year, independent learning opportunities are also offered. Course work and assessed presentations can take place throughout the teaching year, but exams only take place in our assessment period following the Easter vacation.

Career prospects

Rates of employability among Portsmouth graduates have been considerably above the national average and our excellent employment record bears testimony to the quality of our courses and most importantly our students.

This degree is specialist by nature and so has a career-specific HRM focus. As people form the essential part of any business, small or large, the nature of the degree also allows you to consider a wide variety of opportunities, from setting up your own business through to working as part of a small business team or working in a major business or international business operations.

Since people are integral in every aspect of business, this degree will offer career opportunities in many fields, from event management and service sector management to multinational operations.

Facilities and features

The University of Portsmouth is an Accredited Centre for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and your degree can pave the way towards CIPD recognition through our postgraduate CIPD Certificate and Diploma courses. We are also in the process of seeking accreditation for our undergraduate programme from the CIPD and anticipate that this will be granted for the 2012 intake. Both the initial joining fee and annual membership during year two, the work placement and year three are funded. This level of membership gives significant access to CIPD resources not normally available to students.

You will attend lectures in the purpose-built Richmond Building, where the Business School is located. It offers a computer drop-in and resource centre containing a wireless network access area, as well as printing and photocopying facilities.

The University Library is at the centre of academic life and is only a short walk away from Richmond Building. Open from 8am until midnight every day during term-time, it provides a variety of information to help with study and research.

The Library has also invested heavily in the purchase of electronic resources. There are thousands of electronic journals and ebooks that can be accessed across campus, from home or wherever there is an internet connection.

For international students we have a dedicated team of advisors to support you as you settle into life in Portsmouth and at the University. One of the team almost certainly has direct experience of your culture and may even speak your language.

Entry requirements

View all the entry requirements for BA (Hons) Business and Human Resource Management for the academic year 2013/14 (opens in new window).