Business Management and Information Systems

This course, which is prescribed for level 1 undergraduate students (and articulating students who are in their first year at the University), is studied entirely online, takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across the first 4 weeks of term.

Topics include University orientation overview, equality & diversity, MySkills, health, safety and cyber security, and academic integrity.

Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

View detailed information about the Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen course

Introductory course focusing on developing academic practice skills.

View detailed information about the Academic Practice for Study course

This course will introduce students to techniques that support problem solving and modelling with computers, and concepts and methods that are fundamental to computing science. The techniques and concepts will be illustrated with numerous computing examples.

View detailed information about the Modelling and Problem Solving for Computing course

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of management, the internal structure and processes of organisations. Students will understand the main functions of management, what management is, what managers do and the factors that influence behaviour and performance of managers and other employees within an organisation.

The course will introduce a range of theories, research and real-life illustrations of a diverse range of management practices and organisational behaviour.  The course will cover areas of: Staffing, Groups and Teams, Leadership and Management, Human Resource Management, Organisational Structure, Culture and Change, Communication, Marketing, Branding and Organisational Processes.

View detailed information about the Managing Organisations course

The course provides an understanding of how organisations, particularly small businesses, capture, create and use accounting information both to guide their own activities and to communicate their financial performance and financial position to parties external to themselves. It develops knowledge and understanding of accounting, accounting techniques and accounting information, so that students become informed users of accounting data and information, not creators of that data and information.

View detailed information about the Accounting and Entrepreneurship course

This course will build on the basic programming skills acquired in the first half-session and equip the students with advanced object oriented programming knowledge, implementation of data structure and algorithms, and basic software engineering techniques. The students will be challenged with more complicated programming problems through a series of continuous assessments.

View detailed information about the Object Oriented Programming course

This course will be delivered in two halves. The first half will provide a self-contained introduction to computer programming. It will be accessible to all undergraduates. Students will be exposed to the basic principles of computer programming, e.g. fundamental programming techniques, concepts, algorithms and data structures. The course contains lectures where the principles are systematically developed. As the course does not presuppose knowledge of these principles, we start from basic intuitions. The second half will be particularly of use to those studying Science and Engineering subjects, broadly interpreted, as well as Computing and IT specialists. It will include a gentle introduction to professional issues and security concepts.

View detailed information about the Programming 1 course

Students will learn to develop modern web applications using a variety of languages and frameworks as part of their degree, and prepare them for whatever they do after graduation. A key focus will be on the integration of HTML with CSS and Javascript with other backing frameworks to develop dynamic applications. The course is open to all undergraduates, and is accessible to those with no previous experience.

View detailed information about the Web Development course

The aim of this course is to provide an introduction and overview of contemporary business issues. Contemporary business issues are cultural, economic, political or technological factors in the business environment which have emerged as having an important impact on contemporary organisations. These may vary, over time, as new business issues emerge and become important.
Currently the course will focus on two contemporary issues: (1) environmental sustainability and climate change, and (2) the impact of new information and communication technologies such as mobile technologies (smartphones, computers etc) and artificial intelligence (algorithms, AI) technologies on work.

View detailed information about the Contemporary Issues in Business course

This course provides students with an overview of the underpinning concepts of marketing, and the requirements for the development of a market oriented organisation. Specifically introduces the basic concepts of buyer behaviour, market research, the marketing mix and the strategic context of marketing. The linkages between marketing and other key functional areas of management, notably operations and human resource management are highlighted by this course, encouraging the adoption of a systems perspective.

View detailed information about the Marketing course

This course is concerned with tools and techniques for scalable and dependable software programming. It focusses primarily on the Java programming language and related technologies. The course gives extensive programming practice in Java. It covers in depth features of the language and how best to use them, the execution model of the language, memory management, design principles underpinning the language, and comparisons with other languages. Tools for collaboration, productivity, and versioning will also be discussed.

View detailed information about the Software Programming course

Databases are an important part of traditional information systems (offline /online) as well as modern data science pipelines. This course will be of interest to anyone who wishes to learn to design and query databases using major database technologies. The course aims to teach the material using case studies from real-world applications, both in lectures and lab classes.

In addition, the course covers topics including management of different kinds of data such as spatial data and data warehousing. The course provides more hands-on training that develops skills useful in practice.

View detailed information about the Databases and Data Management course

This course provides an introduction to key theories and concepts in Human Resource Management (HRM). Key themes to be covered include core HRM topics such as the link between strategy and HRM, reward and performance management, training and development, equality and diversity management.

View detailed information about the Human Resource Management course

This course looks at why a computer system that interacts with human beings needs to be usable. It covers a set of techniques that allow usability to be taken into account when a system is designed and implemented, and also a set of techniques to assess whether usability has been achieved. Weekly practical sessions allow students to practice these techniques. The assessed coursework (which is normally carried out by groups of students) gives an opportunity to go through the design process for a concrete computer system, with a particular focus on ensuring usability.

View detailed information about the Human-Computer Interaction course

This course provides the knowledge needed to understand, design and compare algorithms.  By the end of the course, a student should be able to create or adapt algorithms to solve problems, determine an algorithm's efficiency, and be able to implement it. The course also introduces the student to a variety of widely used algorithms and algorithm creation techniques, applicable to a range of domains. The course will introduce students to concepts such as pseudo-code and computational complexity, and make use of proof techniques. The practical component of the course will build on and enhance students' programming skills.

View detailed information about the Algorithms and Data Structures course

What is Business Ethics and why should we care? There is an impression amongst many that Business and Ethics are opposed ideas. This course seeks to address these issues. Exploring Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility, tracing its historical origins through to current practice within organizations and the impact on the wider world. The course covers the fundamental question of what ethics is, granting a context for wider discussion. It looks at why ethics is relevant in the business world today and does so through traditional lectures and interactive learning such as the debates that have proven popular with students.

View detailed information about the Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility course

The course provides an introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI). It discusses fundamental problems of AI and their computational solution via key concepts.

View detailed information about the Artificial Intelligence course

Students will develop large commercial and industrial software systems as a team-based effort that puts technical quality at centre stage. The module will focus on the early stage of software development, encompassing team building, requirements specification, architectural and detailed design, and software construction. Group work (where each team of students will develop a system selected using a business planning exercise) will guide the software engineering learning process. Teams will be encouraged to have an active, agile approach to problem solving through the guided study, evaluation and integration of practically relevant software engineering concepts, methods, and tools.

View detailed information about the Principles of Software Engineering course

This course introduces students to what is involved in undertaking research into business phenomena. It introduces philosophical issues in the theory of knowledge, ethical issues in research conduct, and considers quantitative and qualitative methods in turn, addressing issues in sampling and design, details of specific approaches, and considerations in data analysis. The course is taught through weekly lectures and an extended two hour tutorial every fortnight, with two pieces of coursework and a two hour written exam. The emphasis throughout is on understanding the conceptual underpinning of different methods, and their strengths and limitations in research.

View detailed information about the Understanding the Consumer course

In this module, which is the follow-up of CS3028, students will focus on the team-based development of a previously specified, designed, and concept-proofed software system. Each team will build their product to industrial-strength quality standards following an agile process and applying the software engineering concepts, methods, and tools introduced in CS3028. The course includes a series of mandatory participatory seminars on professional and management issues in IT and IT projects. Students will be expected to relate their engineering work to these issues.

View detailed information about the Software Engineering and Professional Practice course

This course introduces the theory and practice of change management, a key area in consultancy. You will explore how individuals and organisations navigate transformation, gaining practical skills through case studies, group work, and presentations. Designed to build your consultancy competencies, the course helps you understand how to diagnose problems, develop strategies, and support change in today’s fast-paced and evolving business environment.

View detailed information about the Understanding and Managing Change course

The course provides a solid foundation in computer and information security. It will cover topics of Information and Risk, Threats and Attacks, Cybersecurity Architecture and Operations, Secure Systems and Products, Cybersecurity Management and Trustworthy Software.

View detailed information about the Security course

In this course, you will conduct an individual research project into the behaviour of a computing system. You will develop knowledge and understanding of rigorous methods to: explore computing system behaviour; identify questions about behaviour; design experiments to answer those questions; analyse experimental results; and report on the outcomes of your research. You will develop your understanding of research ethics and how this relates to professional behaviour.

View detailed information about the Research Methods course

Consists of a supervised project which provides experience of investigating a real problem in computing science, or a computing application/technology. Learner will apply knowledge and skills gained earlier in their degree programme, and seek to go even further. Managing the project and presenting the results obtained are an integral part of the investigation.

View detailed information about the Joint Honours Computer Project course

This course is about business strategy and covers a broad range of topics that come under the general heading of “Business Strategy” or “Strategic Management”. The course has been designed to help you gain an understanding of the key areas of strategic management including an understanding of: what strategic management is and why it is important; the different types of strategic analysis tools available; the difference between corporate, business and functional strategy; the complex issues associated with the implementation of strategy; the concept of strategic fit; and the role for strategic leadership in shaping and implementing strategy.

View detailed information about the Business Strategy course