BA (Hons) Business and Supply Chain Management

How will I learn during this Business and Supply Chain Management BA course?

The curriculum is based primarily on key aspects of operations and supply chain management studies; this ranges from specific subjects such as Operations Management, Inventory Management, Applied Logistics, Supply Chain Innovation, Strategic and Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Global Supply Network Management to more general business and management input such as financial decision making, business economy and society, digital business, project management, and business analysis, which will provide you with the necessary awareness and knowledge of general business.

You will begin your studies with an introduction to operations and supply chain management principles alongside a significant focus on building your wider business awareness and skills across subjects such as financial decision making and business analysis. As you progress through the degree, the course content will provide a more focused operations and supply chain management curriculum, interjected by modules in associated areas such as Business Research and Analysis Digital Business, and Human Resource Management. Your final year is then heavily operations and supply chain management focused, complemented by the space to develop your project management skills.

How will I be assessed?

There are a wide variety of assessments used across each year of the programme, including written assignments, reports, examinations, individual, and group presentations. In your final year, you will undertake a substantial piece of research work, either in the form of an individual dissertation, management enquiry or a group consultancy project. While assessments are usually individual work, there are various modules across the programme which include group work and thereby give you opportunity to develop skills in teamwork, negotiation, and leadership.

For assignments and portfolio work, you will be supported in your seminars, where tutors will share marking criteria prior to the assignment being handed in. This means that you will have a clear guidance on the expectations of the marker. Tutors will also provide feedback which will give clear guidance on areas of strength and weakness.

Who teaches this BA Business and Supply Chain Management course?

Newcastle Business School has a global reputation for delivering some of the UK’s best business education. We’re part of an elite group of business schools worldwide with double accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in business and accounting.

Modules will be delivered by a team of academic staff who possess a combination of academic qualifications and relevant professional practice. Our staff are engaged in various research, consultancy, and practice-based activities, which will impact your learning and be embedded into the teaching.

Key areas of research from the teaching staff include operations improvement, efficiency and optimisation, supply chain risk management, sustainability and resilience, and operations and supply chain innovation. 

How will I be supported during my time at Northumbia?

Academic staff will support you through taught sessions, as well as planning activities for you to engage with during independent study time. Our academics will be available for further support outside of formal scheduled teaching, such as through student-drop-in sessions. You will also be allocated a Personal Tutor, who has responsibility for your personal wellbeing.

You will have access to a range of university learning support services. These consist of sessions conducted by library staff on core academic skills such as referencing and academic writing. If you are an international student, there are specialist academic skills sessions built into your studies, which will help with the academic language in your modules of study.

In addition, you will also have access to the central Student Support and Wellbeing service, who offer a range of services including support with welfare and health, finances, international student support, disability and dyslexia, counselling and mental health, and chaplaincy and faith advice.

View all staff profiles.

Where will I learn during my degree?

At Newcastle Business School you’ll experience a first-class education in a world-class environment. From our social spaces and hub areas to lecture theatres and exhibition spaces, our facilities are exceptional. For example, the 24/7 university library achieves some of the highest levels of student satisfaction in the UK and has held the Cabinet Office accreditation for Customer Service Excellence since 2010. 

We’re also committed to helping you make the most of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) by embedding it throughout the course. Tools such as the ‘Blackboard’ eLearning Portal and electronic reading lists are there to help you efficiently and thoroughly prepare for seminars and independent research. Lecture capture software means you can revise previously lectured material online in your time, as well as at your speed. 

What’s more, there are plenty of opportunities to put your learning into practice through volunteering, internships, and placements. This includes the Business Clinic that provides student consultancy facilities to work with our clients in response to their business problem. Our clients are drawn from a range of organisations including multinationals, SMEs, not-for-profit charities, and social enterprises from across the region and nationally.

How is research applied to teaching throughout my degree?

Northumbria is leading the debate and responding to tomorrow’s challenges through our ground-breaking research. We use our academic research to enrich our teaching, with the Business and Supply Chain course focusing on research-tutored and enquiry-based learning.

Your technical ability to research is established over your time of study with you developing a strong underpinning in statistics across the first and second years of the degree alongside an understanding of qualitative research to help prepare you for a 40-credit dissertation/management enquiry or consultancy project in the final year. The alternative consultancy project will enable you to experience “real-world” learning through research and collaboration with a specific business via the Faculty Business Clinic. 

Our Operations and Supply Chain Competitiveness (GLOPSCO) Research Interest group (RIG) will give you opportunity to be part of the broader research and knowledge exchange community to learn more about the discipline outside your teaching and learning curriculum.  Engagement to this platform enables you developing your research-rich learning too. Invitations to this will be provided via the Subject Group Head for Operations and Supply Chain Management in the MOS department, your Programme Leader or any of the specialist teaching team on your programme.

How does this course set me up for my future career?

Making your career happen is at the heart of all our Business courses – with every module designed to reinforce the transferable skills you’ll need in the workplace. We have introduced two dedicated modules focusing on career-development skills: Supply Chain and Operations Study and Consultancy Skills, where you can experience live operations or supply chain management related projects; and Preparing for Professional Practice where you will practice and develop skills necessary to obtain a placement or graduate employment in a supportive environment.

Our programme is also supported by NOVUS, in  partnership with CILT who recognise the need to reinvent the way in which the supply chain profession finds and prepares its future leaders. NOVUS is a long-term, strategic answer to the serious skills gaps and shortfall of graduate talent that is becoming increasingly evident in the supply chain and operations profession today. Here at Northumbria, our researchers and support services are determined to help you develop and enhance your skills, to ensure our graduates are equipped to excel in the industry.

Beyond the classroom, you’ll have opportunities to develop your career through practical experience and wider learning. In your second year, you can spend a semester studying abroad, or take an extra year before your final year studying elsewhere in the EU, or further afield such as the USA, Australia or China. 

There’s also the option of a work placement year, where our Internship Programmes are on hand to help you gain hands-on Supply Chain Management experience. And there’s our Business Clinic, offering you the chance to work with real clients to help solve their business challenges.  

If you decide not to take a year/semester out on a work placement or study abroad, there are still plenty of opportunities available. Our extensive network of operations, logistics and supply chain management professionals (including many past graduates of the course) offer you extra opportunities to attend events and meet the associated professional bodies, allowing you to sculpt a truly distinctive CV to use in the graduate marketplace. This network involves working with the key professional bodies, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) and Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS).

After graduating, you may wish to embark on Postgraduate study. And there are a wide range of potential future career areas including Supply Chain or Process analyst, Scheduler, Material Planner, Purchasing Agent, Quality Improvement Consultant, Operations Manager or Analyst, and many more. Your progression into such employment after graduation is supported by our careers service, as well as the skills and knowledge developed throughout the programme.