2024/25 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

GEOG5005M Business and Service Planning

15 creditsClass Size: 40

Module manager: Dr Nick Hood
Email: N.A.Hood@leeds.ac.uk>

Taught: 1 Dec to 28 Feb (adv year), 1 Dec to 31 Mar, 1 May to 31 July View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

Pre-requisite qualifications

The main route into this module is by completing year 1 of the MSc Geographical Information Systems (Part-Time). Students may also be considered for this module as CPD with prior training in GIS / spatial analysis at an equivalent level and / or work experience in business or service planning.

This module is mutually exclusive with

GEOG5937M

Applied GIS and Retail Modelling

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

This module considers the provision of public and private services (such as retail, healthcare, transport and emergency services) from both demand and supply side perspectives. The module provides a brief introduction to public sector service provision before considering the planning and evaluation of healthcare, transport and emergency services provision at a local level in urban and rural contexts. Furthermore, the module focuses on the application of spatial analysis to capture demand, supply and measures of utilization and accessibility, in addition to detailed application of these modelling tools in a retail context. Students apply data-driven spatial models in a business context, drawing on examples from the grocery sector. This module is applied in nature and involves extensive use of GIS and spatial modelling tools. As such, assessment is based on interpretation of modelled outputs within a public sector and business service provision context.

Objectives

This module aims to:

1. Equip students with an appreciation of the role of GIS and spatial analysis in supporting the planning, delivery and evaluation of public and private sector services.
2. Develop students’ understanding of spatial data sources and spatial analytic tools and techniques that link needs/demand and service provision through measures of provision and accessibility.
3. Provide students with knowledge of the processes affecting inequalities in the provision of public and private sector services at a variety of spatial scales and the importance of geographical analysis in identifying and addressing these.
4. Enable students to build, calibrate and apply powerful spatial models in a realistic business context, and to critically evaluate the scope to further improve their accuracy.
5. Develop students’ employability skills relevant to a range of public and private sector organisations and for ongoing research within this application area.

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:

1. Explain and critically evaluate the role of GIS, spatial analysis and spatial modelling in supporting the planning, delivery and evaluation of public and private services.
2. Apply appropriate spatial analysis and modelling techniques to capture the interactions between supply and demand/needs within the context of service planning, delivery and evaluation.
3. Develop and calibrate a spatial model and apply it within a business context to assess ‘what if?’ scenarios relevant to the retail sector.


Skills Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:

1. Academic. Assessed work will involve academic writing which requires students to report on their work in a concise and evidence-based way, with integrity. Within the module students will be expected to plan, organise and manage their time effectively to meet deadlines. There will be opportunities for students to work autonomously on a piece of independent research on retail analysis scenarios of their choice.
2. Digital. Students will use digital technology to demonstrate spatial analysis skills by using digital tools.
3. Work-ready. Using widely used tools for computational analysis, students will develop technical and IT skills valued in the workplace. Through the assessments, students will develop their problem-solving skills through being expected to apply decision-making strategies, applying their critical thinking and analytical skills.
4. Technical. Through the use of appropriate software and analytical environments for modern private and public sector service provision analysis, students will develop and apply a range of technical skills.
5. Sustainability. Since the module covers, conceptually and practically, aspects of behavioural modelling, students will be introduced to systems-level thinking, with a particular focus on behavioural interactions in the transport, health, and retail environments, some of which have the potential to contribute to sustainability challenges, such as the move to online shopping and greener transport choices.
6. Enterprise. Through the module's activities, students will have the opportunity to develop enterprise skills through participating in learning activities which develop their ability to spot opportunities, solve problems and develop creative solutions to service provision modelling tasks. They will have the opportunity to develop their enterprise skills through self-directed learning (private study) and external insights (via real-world stakeholders), Students will also develop their enterprise skills through project-based learning, working on ‘live’ real-world problems, such as developing their own retail project.

Syllabus

Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Discussion forum	8	2.00	16.00
Individual Support	8	1.00	8.00
Independent online learning hours			48.00
Private study hours			78.00
Total Contact hours			24.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			150.00

Private study

Private study and online learning includes directed and independent wider reading, independent practical work and researching/undertaking module assessments and related tasks.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Formative feedback will be provided during practical activities where students will be encouraged to post outputs to devoted unit-by-unit discussion boards. This will allow for peer critique in addition to staff comments. Note that the outputs requested here will differ from those required as part of the summative assessments.


The module leader will also be on hand to provide support (email / Teams / discussion board / etc) during the teaching weeks, in advance of assessment. Whilst not directly formative assessment, this will ensure that the students receive feedback / support on matters of need.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Assignment	Coursework	30.00
Assignment	Coursework	70.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

There is no reading list for this module

Last updated: 29/04/2024 16:14:37

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