Introduction
The BSc Information Technology Management for Business (ITMB) is a degree designed in partnership with leading employers to prepare students for a successful career in IT. Employers are increasingly looking for graduates with more than just computing skills. Rather than focus purely on technical areas the degree covers the best mix of skills and knowledge for students who want exciting and challenging management or senior professional careers designing, developing and implementing technology solutions for businesses. This degree programme provides an excellent preparation for a challenging and rewarding career, offering a high level of knowledge and practical skills in both IT and management. It gives an unrivalled platform on which to build a career in the knowledge economy. This new degree is, in fact, a variation of the University’s well established Computing and Management degree and has been created to meet the specification prescribed by e-Skills UK.
The ITMB degree is the only honours degree endorsed by e-Skills UK, the organisation which officially represents the IT industry to government in the UK. The programme is supported by a partnership of leading industry employers including BA, the BBC, BT, CA, The Cabinet Office, Cisco, Deloitte, Ford, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, ITV, LogicaCMG, The Met Office, Morgan Stanley, Norwich Union, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sainsbury's, Southampton City Council, Symantec and Unilever. The ITMB degree was designed to offer an insight into the real world of IT and allows you to:
- Learn the people and project management skills required to be a successful IT professional in any sector
- Evaluate and understand technology and its role within business
- Gain practical experience working on authentic business challenges
- Establish an unrivalled platform for launching your career
"Students who do well on this type of degree programme should be much more marketable to prospective employers. I only wish we’d had something like this in my day!"
Helen Tovey, Ford Motor Co Ltd.
Career opportunities
The ITMB degree will equip you with a solid grounding in how to apply technology to business situations confidently and effectively. It is the ideal platform for launching a rewarding career as an IT professional...
- Within the IT or telecommunications industries
- In the IT department of a business in any sector
- As an IT management consultant
"The perfect degree for those who want an outstanding career in management or consultancy. It really addresses the needs of employers today."
Chris Miller, Area Manager for UK and Ireland, CA
Course Structure and Relationship to the Computing and Management Degree
The ITMB degree combines traditional lectures and tutorials with a programme of employer involvement and up-to-date business-relevant content. “Guru Lectures” are presented by inspiring IT professionals throughout the course, giving students an excellent grasp of IT as it is used in the business world.
The Department of Computer Science was pleased to find that the new ITMB course designed by the e-Skills UK companies was very similar to its existing, well established degree in Computing and Management, and only minor modifications were necessary to fit the ITMB template. Like the Computing and Management degree, the ITMB degree can be taken with or without a sandwich year in industry between the second and final years. The two courses have the great majority of modules in common, the only differences being for the ITMB degree:
- A new second year module, Industrial Expertise, to be based on the “Guru Lectures” given by IT professionals.
- A more restricted final year project which must be connected with a company or other customer organisation.
- A restricted range of options with only 30 credits of options in the final year.
UCAS Information
- GN52 BSc/ITMB (3 years )
- GN51 BSc/ITMB4 (4 year sandwich)
- G501 MSci/ITMB (4 years)
- G500 MSci/ITMB5 (5 year sandwich)
Year 1
Students must take modules of total credit weight of 120 in each year.
| Module | Weight | Semester | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Skills for Computing | 10 | 1 | |
| Programming for the WWW | 20 | 1 | |
| Organisational Behaviour | 10 | 1 | |
| Financial Reporting | 10 | 1 | |
| Quantitative Methods for Business | 10 | 1 | |
| Server Side Programming | 10 | 2 | |
| Computer Systems | 10 | 2 | |
| Databases | 10 | 2 | |
| Management of Human Resources | 10 | 2 | |
| Accounting for Managers | 10 | 2 | |
| Statistics and Modelling for Management | 10 | 2 | |
Year 2
| Module | Weight | Semester | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating Systems, Networks and the Internet 1 | 10 | 1 | |
| Knowledge-based Decision Support | 10 | 1 | |
| Principles of Marketing | 10 | 1 | |
| Operations Management | 10 | 1 | |
| Industrial Expertise | 10 | 1 & 2 | |
| Team Projects | 20 | 1 & 2 | |
| Requirements Engineering | 10 | 2 | |
| Legal & Professional Issues in Computing | 10 | 2 | |
| Company Finance | 10 | 2 | |
| The Marketing Mix | 10 | 2 | |
| Management Science Methods | 10 | 2 | |
Year in Industry
Students who choose to follow the sandwich degree option spend a professional placement between Years 2 and 3. Successful completion of the sandwich year leads to the further qualification of Diploma in Professional Studies.
Year 3
The final year for this module, year 3 consists of a project and a combination of compulsory and optional modules.
| Module | Weight | Semester | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Project Management | 10 | 1 | |
| Strategic Management | 20 | 1 | |
| ITMB Project | 30 | 1 & 2 | |
| E-Business Planning and Marketing | 10 | 2 | |
| Leadership and Interpersonal Skills | 10 | 2 | |
| Module | Weight | Semester | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2D Computer Graphics | 10 | 1 | |
| Knowledge-based Decision Support | 10 | 1 | |
| Advanced Human Computer Interaction | 10 | 1 | |
| Information and Knowledge Management in the NHS | 10 | 1 | |
| Social Informatics | 10 | 1 | |
| Decision Making and Support Tools | 10 | 1 | |
| Operations Management | 10 | 1 | |
| The Changing Work Organisation* | 10 | 1 | |
| International Human Resources Management* | 10 | 1 | |
| Marketing Strategy and Planning* | 10 | 1 | |
| Risk Management* | 10 | 1 | |
| Business Forecasting | 10 | 1 | |
| Business Systems | 10 | 1 | |
| Entrepreneurship and Innovation* | 10 | 1 | |
| Operating Systems, Networks and the Internet 2 | 10 | 2 | |
| Data Mining | 10 | 2 | |
| E-Commerce Security | 10 | 2 | |
| International Computing | 10 | 2 | |
| Consumer Health Information | 10 | 2 | |
| Culture and Change Management | 10 | 2 | |
| Information Retrieval | 10 | 2 | |
| International Financial Management* | 10 | 2 | |
| Strategic Information Management | 10 | 2 | |
| Analysing Careers* (not available 2011/12) | 10 | 2 | |
| Marketing Communications | 10 | 2 | |
| Lean Operations* | 10 | 2 | |
| Entrepreneurship and Small Business Planning* | 10 | 2 | |
Option Restrictions
- Candidates must choose options of value 40 credits.
- Candidates must not take more than 20 credits of Business School and Economics options marked *.
- Candidates should choose options that, with their compulsory modules, will give a total credit value that will not exceed 60 credits in either semester, excluding the project.
- Candidates must take note of pre-requisites for each option as some options can only be taken if the candidate has taken a pre-requisite option in an earlier Part or Semester.
- Candidates should note that staff availability may mean that it may not be possible to offer some options in any particular year, and that timetabling restrictions may mean that certain combinations of options may not be possible.
Year 4 (MSci)
| Module | Weight | Semester | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teamwork and Leadership | 10 | 1 | |
| Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Engineers | 10 | 1 | |
| Group Project | 30 | 1 & 2 | |
| Thesis Project | 60 | 1 & 2 | |
| Managing a Project Team | 10 | 1 & 2 | |
Accreditation
The British Computer Society (BCS) has granted accreditation for the educational requirement for full membership (MBCS) and for Chartered IT Professional registration (CITP). In addition, for the MSci course, accreditation for the educational requirement for Chartered Engineer (CEng) registration will be applied for at the next accreditation visit by the BCS.
Is the technical content right for you?
This programme has a technical content of around 50% taught by the Department of Computer Science, balanced with an equal proportion of business topics taught by the Business School and Economics. If this is more technical than you would prefer, you may wish to consider the Information Management and Business Studies programme, administered by the Department of Information Science. If, on the other hand, you would like a greater emphasis on technical aspects but still want to retain some business topics, then you may wish to consider the Computer Science programme. Whatever mix of technical and business topics you prefer, Loughborough University should have the degree programme to suit your needs.
