Program Overview

BA (Hons) International Hospitality Business Management (Top-Up degree)

Course Description

This International Hospitality Business Management BA (Hons) Top-Up will provide you with a range of opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge essential to the contemporary hospitality industry, as well as expertise in specific areas of management.

Intake

• January
• May
• September

EQF / MQF Level

• Level 6

Mode of Delivery

• Online

Duration of Course

• 1-2 Academic Years – Part-Time

Operational End Date

• N/A

ECTS Credits

• 120 UK Credits (equivalent to 60 ECTS)

Programme Qualifies for

• Get Qualified Scheme

Certificate after completing

• Student Success Rate: 100

Course Information

What you will study

• The learning outcomes you will acquire from the programme are dependent on which modules you choose. The information below represents what you should achieve regardless of module choice.

Knowledge and Understanding

• You will obtain knowledge and understanding of:
  • the strategic operation and management of human and technical resources;
  • the importance of diverse customers and articulate strategies to meet and respond to their needs;
  • current affairs related to the global hospitality workforce and techniques to develop your skills;
  • the moral, ethical and legal issues underpinning good management practice;
  • the nature and parameters of research in an academic piece of work.

Intellectual Skills

• You will acquire and develop the intellectual skills which will enable you to:
  • critically assess and evaluate phenomena in the hospitality business context;
  • critically interpret data and text in the analysis of the business problems;
  • analyse information and present a flexible and reflective response to problem solving within the hospitality context;
  • articulate your idea in a structured manner using electronic means of communication.

Subject Specific Skills

• You will acquire and develop the subject specific skills which will enable you to:
  • demonstrate a critical understanding of the forces influencing the development of the international hospitality industry;
  • analyse and evaluate food, beverage and/or accommodation service systems, their implementation and operation;
  • develop strategic plans that respond to the diversity that prevails in the international hospitality industry; giving consideration to stakeholders as well as moral, ethical and legal issues;
  • Evaluate the role of core management functions as they apply to the contemporary hospitality industry and their contribution to quality and performance.

Transferable Skills

• You will acquire and develop the transferable skills that will enable you to:
  • express ideas you have obtained through written and audio/visual work in effective and confident manners;
  • work effectively both individually and as a part of group;
  • apply a range of statistical and numerical skills to management information;
  • effectively use a range of Information Technology e.g. Web and Internet, databases, spread sheets and word processing;
  • manage your time successfully, setting appropriate and achievable goals;
  • engage in personal and professional development

Target Group

• This course is suitable for people already working in the industry who want to advance.

Target Audience

• 18+

Course Language

• English

Where you will learn

• Domain Building, 102/104, Constitution Street, Mosta

What you will study

Year 3

• Leadership and Management in Context
  • Core Module
  • 250 Learning Hours
  • 10 ECTS Credits
  • 20 UK Credits
  • This module will study the concepts of leadership and management within the modern organisation with the context of the current business environment, modern employment law and a more savvy employee base.
  • Module learning outcomes:
    • Critically evaluate effective leadership in modern organisations
    • Reflect on and evaluate your own leadership skills
    • Build on, or commence, your own personal development plan for leadership skills to enhance your future employability
  • Module content:
    • Critical evaluation of leadership and management terminology and roles (distinctions and similarities)
    • Analysis of the importance of leadership in modern organisations
    • Leadership roles and responsibilities (appointed, emergent and shared leadership)
    • Trait, behaviour and power based approaches to understanding effective leadership
    • Leadership styles and the contingency approach to leadership
    • Charismatic and transformational leadership
    • Managing and leading through change
    • A critical evaluation of new leadership techniques including coaching and mentoring
    • Followership and the influence of followers
    • Leadership within a team based environment
    • Managing and leading in an international context
    • Leading in a diverse organisation
    • Practical leadership skills
• Management Research Project
  • Core Module
  • 250 Learning Hours
  • 10 ECTS Credits
  • 20 UK Credits
  • This module aims to provide an opportunity for you to engage in a small scale business research project.
  • Module learning outcomes:
    • Identify the appropriate and feasible management research topic within the hospitality industry context
    • Design a research project that critically evaluates a problem or issue to a professional standard
    • Identify and employ appropriate research methods to collect data, analyse, and draw conclusions, providing recommendations where appropriate
    • Present the outcomes of the research project in the appropriate methods to the stakeholders
  • Module content:
    • Researching and analysing academic work
    • Specifying research questions and testing hypotheses
    • Research styles and traditions: quantitative and qualitative and combining methods
    • Building up a feasible research design, including ethical, sampling and reliability evaluation
    • Primary research methods covering a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, such as interviewing, focus groups, observation and questionnaires
    • Analysing and presenting data
    • Ethical issues in research approach and design and recognition of University research ethics policy guidelines (University of Derby Code of Practice on Research Ethics)
• Managing Cultural Issues in Service Delivery
  • Core Module
  • 250 Learning Hours
  • 10 ECTS Credits
  • 20 UK Credits
  • This module examines how cultural differences impact on organisational performance within service sectors and seeks the ways to investigate ways of delivering quality service that meets expectations of international clientele.
  • Module learning outcomes:
    • Effectively communicate personal values with awareness of and considerations on different cultural values
    • Critically evaluate the theories and concepts associated with culture and cultural diversity
    • Relate theoretical concepts to the current practices in the service sector workplace
    • Formulate an organisational policy to manage cultural diversity in order to achieve business goals
    • Effectively communicate organisational values, policies and procedures to internal and external audiences
  • Module content:
    • Culture and cultural diversity: cultural dimensions, impacts of culture within workplace and upon consumer behaviour, diversity and equal opportunities.
    • Cross-cultural communication: personal presentation, cross-cultural business negotiation, ethics, impacts of culture on motivation and group effectiveness.
    • Managing multicultural workforces: role of managers, recruitment, cross-cultural training, performance management, employee welfare and benefit, international human resource development.
    • Managing the multicultural organisation: the organisational context, organisational cultures, strategies for changing organisational culture, host-guest relationships, policies, practices and procedures and their application in different organisational contexts, cross cultural business ethics and international sustainability.
    • Managing the diverse market: globalisation/glocalisation of markets, international competition, corporate social responsibilities, achieving customer satisfaction and loyalty in the international marketplace.
• Strategic Hospitality Operation Management
  • Core Module
  • 250 Learning Hours
  • 10 ECTS Credits
  • 20 UK Credits
  • This module examines the parameters of operations within a hospitality context which have to be managed in order to achieve the business goals of the hospitality organisation.
  • Module learning outcomes:
    • Discuss the interdependence of business strategies and operational functions within the hospitality organisations
    • Critically evaluate the theories, concepts and practice of operations management in the context of international hospitality management
    • Identify the appropriate methods of collection and analysis of operational information to monitor operational efficiency
    • Provide a diagnosis of the existing organisational issues within a parameter of operations management
    • Formulate and justify strategies to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness to achieve business goals, deploying the available resources
  • Module content:
    • Hospitality operations: characteristics of hospitality services; food production and service; accommodation management; revenue management; departmental communication; integration of front-of-house and back-of-house functions
    • Resource planning and deployment: planning human, physical and financial resource requirements; managing processes; risk management; contingency planning; ensuring the effective control of human, physical and cash resources, evaluating actual operational performance against standards
    • Hospitality operations management: location and layout design; managing queue and customer traffic; stock control; supply chain and logistics; performance monitoring; Health and Safety; managing demand fluctuation; establishing and managing quality standards nationally and internationally
    • Customer experience: balanced scorecard; understanding needs and expectations of international clientele; managing the achievement of customer satisfaction; comparative service quality management systems
• Consumer Behaviour
  • Optional Module
  • 250 Learning Hours
  • 10 ECTS Credits
  • 20 UK Credits
  • This module will introduce you to key topics about psychology in the workplace such as leadership, corporate crime, and workplace motivation.
  • Module learning outcomes:
    • Critically evaluate the theory and concepts of Customer Buying Behaviour
    • Evaluate the range of models and research methods used to explain consumer behaviour
    • Select, justify and apply relevant theory and models to successful decision making
  • Module content:
    • Consumers and consumption in a changing world
    • Consumer motives, goals and involvement
    • Consumer responses 1: exposure, attention and perception
    • Consumer responses 2: learning, attitudes and decisions
    • The meaning and nature of culture
    • Values and culture – Country-of-origin effect
    • Self and consumption
    • Life styles and loyalty
    • Group influences
    • Data-based consumer behaviour and digital marketing responses
    • Convergence or divergence in consumer behaviour?
• Business Psychology
  • Optional Module
  • 250 Learning Hours
  • 10 ECTS Credits
  • 20 UK Credits
  • This module will focus on fundamental applications of psychology, as a science, for understanding important business, work, and workforce problems.
  • Module learning outcomes:
    • Critically evaluate key psychological concepts and theories on their role to solve workplace problems
    • Investigate contemporary developments in business psychology as a science, in understanding key organisational and business issues
    • Demonstrate a deep understanding of how human behaviour is influenced by organisations, their behaviour, their systems and their structure
  • Module content:
    • Social scientific research methods to study people, workplaces and organisations
    • Historical and current perspectives, practices and principles of business psychology
    • Concepts of the person in psychology and the individual difference approach
    • Personnel selection and assessment
    • Work satisfaction, job satisfaction and organisational commitment
    • Ergonomics and consumer psychology
    • Organisational development
    • Leadership development
    • Talent management
    • Culture
    • Health and wellbeing at work
    • Employee engagement
• Global Business Environment
  • Optional Module
  • 250 Learning Hours
  • 10 ECTS Credits
  • 20 UK Credits
  • The analysis of financial statements can tell us a great deal about the health of a company and its ability to deal with future challenges.
  • Module learning outcomes:
    • Analyse financial statements to make decisions on the strength, sustainability and adaptability of a business
    • Evaluate the influence of internal and external factors on the company’s future prospects
  • Module content:
    • Interpretation and analysis of company financial reports
    • Forecasting techniques
    • Factors affecting share prices
    • Evaluation of company’s place within the industry sector
    • Vulnerability to external events
    • Prediction of likely success or failure based upon extensive research

How will you learn

• Our range of innovative teaching materials gives you a varied and enjoyable learning experience and our expert online tutors will support you all the way.
• Studying online gives you the flexibility to study at the most convenient time and place for you.
• Course modules still operate within a fixed trimester but you can choose to study during the day, in the evenings or at the weekend rather than having to attend fixed lectures.

Assessment

• Assessments will be designed according to the guidelines of each module specification.
• In general, the assessments will enable learners to demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes across the individual elements of the programme.
• The range of assessments utilised will normally include: essays, reports, presentations and other structured assignments and examinations.

Structure of Programme

• With a mix of core and optional modules, you can tailor your studies to match your particular interests and career aspirations.
• We will advise you of your study plan – the running order and availability of the modules – when you are invited to enrol.
• To complete this top-up degree you will need to complete a total of 120 credits.
• This will be made up from two core modules and three of the optional 20 UK credit modules in your preferred area of Hospitality.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment Procedures

• The development of the autonomous and independent learner is further enhanced by a range of technology enhanced learning tools and activities.
• Students will have access to a range of tools and activities, providing support for research activities, personal diagnostics, additional content, online discussion and self-directed study techniques.
• Different methods will be used to take account of different learning preferences and include, for example, face to face or virtual lectures, case studies, role play, debates, student presentations, formative and summative enquiry based learning, and problem solving activities.
• The programme encourages students to apply learning to the work place and this is a central feature of the teaching and learning strategy.
• This will be achieved through a variety of means with the aim being to encourage and develop critical evaluation and the ability to synthesise and apply solutions to complex real life hospitality problems.
• Teaching and learning approaches will be appropriately applied to each cohort in order that the same learning outcomes are achieved, but at times through different methods, whilst facilitating the development of effective peer support networks and learning sets.

Grading System

• 90-100% Excellent – Distinction
• 80-89% Excellent – Distinction
• 70-79% Excellent – Distinction
• 60-69% Very good – Merit
• 50-59% Good/Satisfactory – Pass
• 40-49% Unsatisfactory – Marginal Fail
• 5-39% Very Poor – Fail

Entry Requirement

• An HND or Foundation degree in a relevant subject; and
• A minimum of 6 months working in the hospitality industry on a full-time basis.
• If you have extensive industry experience at supervisory or management level but do not meet the academic entry criteria above, your application may still be considered.
• If English is not your first language, you will need: IELTS 6.0 or equivalent

Fees & Funding

• Get Qualified Scheme
• MFHEA Licence Nº: 2011 – TC – 01
• Further and Higher Education Institution