Programme Specification MA Strategic Management and Leadership Valid from: September 2015 Faculty of Business
SECTION 1: GENERAL INFORMATION Awarding body: Teaching institution and location: Final award: Programme title: Interim exit awards and award titles: Brookes course code: UCAS/UKPASS codes: JACS code: Mode of delivery: Mode/s of study: Language of study: Relevant QAA subject benchmark statement/s: External accreditation/recognition: (applicable to programmes with professional body approval) Faculty managing the programme: Date of production (or most recent revision) of specification: Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University: Wheatley Campus MA Strategic Management and Leadership Postgraduate Certificate in Management and Leadership (CML) Postgraduate Diploma in Management and Leadership (DML) BH72 MA P048150 DML P000459 CML P032913 N600 On Campus / Blended Learning Part-time day / Evening English Subject benchmark statement: Master's degrees in business and management (2007) Chartered Management Institute Business February 2015 2
SECTION 2: OVERVIEW AND PROGRAMME AIMS 2.1 Rationale for/distinctiveness of the programme The programme seeks to prepare participants for the challenge of senior operational and strategic management and leadership. The PG Certificate in Management and Leadership stage provides a broad introduction to organisations and management, encouraging critical enquiry and providing opportunities for practical insights to students who may not have studied management or managerial related subjects before. The PG Diploma in Management and Leadership stage aims to prepare participants for the challenges of senior operational management. Participants will be able to apply tools and techniques from a range of key business and management disciplines. The Programme team further aims to provide continuity and focus around the following themes. a. Ethical practice and decision making the need for managers to develop and sustain an ethical framework within which to advise and manage. b. The impact of globalisation on all aspects of management, and the importance of being able to lead and manage within international, diverse workforces. 2.2 Aims of the programme The aims of the MA programme are to: 1. Enhance students underpinning knowledge and understanding of major contemporary research and debates in relation to management and leadership. 2. Develop in students the competencies of skilled and knowledgeable professionals, able to advise and ultimately lead organisations in the delivery of sound, effective and ethically-informed policies and practice. These competencies include awareness and managerial capability around the full range of operational and strategic and leadership roles in the organisation. 3. Develop research skills to enable students to undertake a substantial piece of organisationallybased research that has significant implications for both the student s personal development including their ability to influence organisational decision making, and for the organisation upon which the research is based. 4. Enhance skills of critical enquiry and evaluation, particularly in relation a critical awareness of key issues and debates within the domain of knowledge related to the dissertation, the capacity for reflective practice and the skills needed for online collaboration and communication. 5. Develop broader perspectives and cross-cultural capability in order to be able to perform, professionally and socially, in a multicultural environment 6. Develop study skills and the skills of reflective practice to provide the basis for lifelong learning as well as skills in on-line collaboration and communication. 7. Gain an understanding of management processes and their contribution to the success of the organisation in an increasingly dynamic global business environment. 8. Enhance planning, designing and evaluating skills in order to provide a quality service to customers. 3
9. Encourage an understanding of how individuals from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds work as participants in organisations, as employees and team members, and how management can use these insights towards achieving organisational goals. 10.Develop an understanding of the fundamentals of the management of finance and information systems sufficient for the non-specialist general manager. 11.Allow participants to develop an awareness of both the internal and external business environments (both national and international), the impact of changes in these environments and how change might be best managed. SECTION 3: PROGRAMME LEARNING OUTCOMES The following table identifies specific Programme Learning Outcomes, categorised within the five postgraduate attributes that a student, studying at PG Certificate, PG Diploma and MA levels of the programme, will achieve on completion of each stage. This illustrates the skills, competences and attributes that are necessary for students to progress to the final MA award. There is an expectation that as a student progresses from one stage to the next they will be able to demonstrate, through a variety of assessments, different levels of knowledge and understanding, analysis, criticality, creativity, innovation, originality, leadership and ability to map hypotheses derived from an in depth review of relevant academic literature against practice based data and the world of work. At the highest level, these are the skills expected of a masters graduate. The ultimate test of a student s ability to garner and apply these skills will be evidenced in the dissertation. Whilst all of the Programme Learning Outcomes should be demonstrated and applied at the MA level, those learning outcomes requiring advanced level skills are more pertinent to the PG Diploma and the MA. The allocation of research literacy attributes at each stage of the programme is illustrative of this expectation. A further example can be seen in the critical, self-awareness and personal literacy cluster. On successful completion of the programme, graduates will demonstrate the following Brookes Attributes: Achieved by those leaving with: 3.1 Academic literacy PG PG MA Cert Dip 1. Analyse the general and specific business environment and the organisational internal environment and the impact these have for the operational and strategic management and leadership of the organisation at departmental and corporate level with the objective of improved organisational performance. 2. Use conceptual, technical and interpersonal skills relevant to a manager s departmental role, critically applying theory to the advancement of management practice. 3. Adopt a critical perspective to organisational practices functions and processes taking into account their diverse nature, purposes, structures, governance, operation and management. 4. Understand the importance of managing continuous change within organisations so as to enhance and improve rather than detract from organisation performance. 3.2 Research literacy 5 Display an appreciation of the theoretical bases of rigorous and systematic management research and the ability to deliver relevant inputs that will inform management decision making at a strategic level. 4
6 Demonstrate a level of conceptual understanding that facilitates a critical evaluation of research, advanced scholarship and methodologies and can argue for alternative approaches. 7 Demonstrate an ability to undertake original, rigorous, systematic and critically evaluative research of a high quality into a relevant organisational issue including collecting and synthesising data, critically evaluating problems and generating recommendations which contribute to strategic management decision making. 3.3 Critical self-awareness and personal literacy 8 Demonstrate a commitment and the ability to carry out continuing personal and professional development. 9 Show evidence of a range of transferable intellectual skills, including: the ability to diagnose problems; analyse complex issues; synthesise data using appropriate tools and knowledge at the forefront of a discipline, suggest innovative alternative actions; teamwork; leadership and communication skills. 10 Demonstrate self-direction in tackling and solving problems and the ability to act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional and academic level 11 Demonstrate the self-confidence to manage others, to influence others including those in leadership positions, and tolerance of ambiguity. 3.4 Digital and information literacy 12 Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate conclusions to both specialists and non-specialists. 13 Demonstrate an ability to conceptualise and use technical IT, accounting and interpersonal skills relevant to management and leadership roles. 3.5 Active citizenship 14 Relate relevant international management and leadership debates to global organisational contexts with a view to improving organisational performance 15 Operate in complex and unpredictable/ specialised environments, while retaining an overview of the issues governing good practice. 16. Demonstrate a range of professional competencies in relation to the management and development of people in a variety of organisational settings and sectors, both nationally and internationally. X X 5
SECTION 4: PROGRAMME STRUCTURE AND CURRICULUM 4.1 Programme structure and requirements: The MA Strategic Management and Leadership programme is comprised as follows: Module Title Developing Personal and Managerial Effectiveness and Continuing Professional Development* Developing a Strategic Focus* Module Number P57101 30 Credits Status Normally delivered Compulsory for PG Semester 1 Cert, PG Dip and MA year 1 P57110 30 Compulsory for PG Cert, PG Dip and MA Semester 2 year 1 Strategy and Leadership** P58008 20 Compulsory for PG Dip and MA Financial Management** P58052 10 Compulsory for PG Dip and MA Strategic Marketing** P58053 10 Compulsory for PG Dip and MA Semesters 1 and 2, year 2 Semester 1 year 2 Semester 1 year 2 Undertaking Work-Based Projects*** Leadership, Innovation and Change** P58055 10 Compulsory for PG Dip P58056 10 Compulsory for PG Dip and MA Semester 2 Year 2 Semester 2 year 2 Understanding and Researching Organisations P57107 20 Compulsory for MA Semesters 1 and 2, year 2 Dissertation P57109 50 Compulsory for MA Semesters 1 and 2 year 2 * Progression to Postgraduate Diploma is conditional on passing these two modules ** Progression to MA is conditional on passing these four modules ***Students progressing to MA are not required to complete this module 4.2 Professional requirements In 2012, the MA in Strategic Management and Leadership was successfully mapped against the Chartered Management Institute's (CMI's) Units. This means that upon successful completion of the MA stage of the Programme, students would have sufficient learning outcomes in place to achieve the CMI Level 7 requirements (mandatory and optional units) for the award of the L7 Diploma (7D1). Additionally Unit 8001 would also be included, either as a stand-alone L8 Award (8A1) or in combination with units 7013 & 7014. Payment of a fee (currently 200) to CMI would be required. 6
SECTION 5: PROGRAMME DELIVERY 5.1 Teaching, Learning and Assessment Teaching methods use students knowledge and experience in workshops as a focal point for learning. Students are actively involved in their own development through structured activities, discussion and feedback, which is both formative and summative. The emphasis is on applying learning to the workplace to develop and justify options for improving both people management and organisational effectiveness. Reflecting on the learning and how it improves practice is an integral part of the programme. Workshops can involve for example, tutor input, analysis of case studies, problem-solving activities, computer-based business simulations, presentations, analysis of data for decision making and directed reading and research. Outside normal contact time students are expected to undertake individual and group online activities (using tutor facilitated and independent Brookes Virtual discussion groups), which includes directed reading. It is also recognised that some skills and learning needs are best addressed in intensive workshop modes and one day weekend workshops are provided to enable this. Students are encouraged to relate knowledge, understanding and skills to real organisational issues. These activities, plus the opportunity for students to work in groups provide the opportunity for a learning process which is shared and experiential. The programme emphasises the development and application of research skills in the work place, reflecting the view that a career is likely to depend increasingly on the capacity for conducting grounded empirical and literature-based research, primary data gathering and analysis. The School has a welldeveloped series of research seminars that Postgraduate students can access. Staff in the Business and Management Team has a wide range of research and consultancy experience and interests, this body of research and expertise is available to students to facilitate and guide their own research projects and assignments. In addition, the School has a panel of visiting practitioners and specialists from industrial, commercial, voluntary sector and public sector bodies who are invited to contribute to the programme. Assessment on the programme seeks to measure attainment of the learning outcomes through a variety of subject-appropriate methods. These might include assignments based on an evaluation of management practice in the students own organisations, skills based assessments, online tests, reflective pieces (some based on online tasks) which assess the capacity for self-reflection and personal development, and unseen tasks. The dissertation proposal, literature review essay and the dissertation itself will together form the most significant body of assessment on the programme. Teaching and assessment on the programme take explicit heed of the diversity of the student body (in relation to organisational and professional background, as well as national, cultural, gender, age and other characteristics). The internationalisation of the curriculum is achieved by using international case studies as well as the students own experiences. In terms of assessment, examples might include assessing individual reflections on group discussions and projects, or through basing the assignments on international case studies or the student s own organisation. Students are also expected to draw from a wide range of international journals and textbooks. Each module specifically takes into account the increasingly diverse global work environment within which our student s work. Students are actively required in many of their assignments to demonstrate a sensitivity to the perspectives of others, a willingness to try and put oneself in the shoes of others and see how things might look from their perspective. Brookes Attributes 7
The Brookes Attributes are addressed through the teaching and assessment across all the modules. Programme design and delivery is informed by the graduate attributes listed above which have been mapped against the Programme Learning Outcomes. These are developed in the programme as follows: Academic literacy The MA in Strategic Management and Leadership, by its very design as a part time programme attracting participants from the work based environment who are actively engaged in employment, has a distinctive practice oriented focus. Academic literacies relevant to the programme are therefore developed around the notion mapping theories, concepts, models, frameworks derived from the literature against the live practice based experience of participants. The programme assessment strategy emphases the importance of this relationship at each level and across all modules. Academic literacy is seen as a significant attribute in assisting participants in a better, perhaps more objective, understanding of their work based environments and the impact that this might have on individual and organisational performance. Research literacy Research literacy skills make a vital contribution to every aspect of assessment on the programme. These are particularly important to programme participants who may not be familiar with the rigours of academic research methodology or who were introduced to them some time in the past. These skills inform the content of assessment in the development of strategies to both collect and evaluate relevant data informing the mapping process between theory and live practice. Ultimately, the import of these skills is made manifest in the dissertation at masters level. The research methods module reinforces participant understanding of research literacy and its link to the dissertation module. Critical self-awareness and personal literacy Personal development represents a key component of the programme at all levels. This particular attribute informs the design and development of the programme via both in class discussion (both face to face and virtually) and in a variety of varied assessments including the use of reflective practice. Digital and information literacy This attribute links to the research literacies attribute and informs choices with regard to the collection and, importantly, evaluation of data supporting analysis and argument across a variety of assessments and ultimately the dissertation. Students have the opportunity to develop and practice skills associated with this attribute on P57101, P58052, P58053, P58055, P57107 and P57109 in particular. Active citizenship The global dimension of business and organisational life informs all stages of the programme. The global economy impacts, to varying degrees, on the work environment of all participants whether or not they are employed by the public or private sector, local or global companies. This is evident in the complex dynamic of the competitive marketplace. The notion of global active citizenship is not always one that resonates initially with all participants, although as they progress through the programme this particular dimension becomes more readily apparent and recognisable to their organisational life. Different models and dimensions (both economic and cultural) of globalisation feature in such modules as P57110, P58053, P58056, P57109 and P58008. Contact time and mode of assessment The programme is delivered part time. Modules are delivered via 24 class contact hours per 10 credits (P58008 will be delivered in semesters 1 via 24 class contact hours and in semester 2 via 24 class contact hours) in blocks of 4 weeks with 6 hours of class contact each week, with the exception of the dissertation module which is delivered by independent study with access to a supervisor normally involving five meetings. 8
The primary mode of assessment across all levels of the programme is coursework. This includes on and off-line activity in addition to group and individual work. 5.2 Assessment regulations The programme conforms to the University s Academic Regulations; section B4 Specific Academic Regulations for Postgraduate Taught Programmes http://www.brookes.ac.uk/regulations/current/specific/b4/ The Programme also embeds the principles and practices within the Brookes Assessment Compact. Assessments are carefully designed to contribute to formative developmental feedback and can incorporate peer feedback as well. All module guides include specific assessment criteria which are clearly communicated and an assessment calendar is also produced. http://www.brookes.ac.uk/aske/documents/brookesassessmentcompact09.pdf SECTION 6: ADMISSIONS Entry criteria Applicants to the Postgraduate Certificate in Management and Leadership must possess the following: At least a 2:2 honours degree or an internationally recognised equivalent from an approved Institution or a professional qualification from an approved and recognised professional body that is regarded as equivalent to a degree for this purpose, plus, a minimum of one year of relevant work experience OR Exceptionally, applicants who can show that they have qualifications, experience or both, that demonstrate that they have knowledge and capabilities equivalent to those possessed by holders of qualifications listed above, may be admitted with dispensation from the requirement to possess those qualifications. To this end a minimum of three years relevant advisory, supervisory or management employment experience may be acceptable. Applicants seeking admission to the Postgraduate Diploma in Management and Leadership must possess the following: A postgraduate Certificate in Management and Leadership from Oxford Brookes University or another institution equivalent to 60 Level 7 credits. Evidence or prior certified learning will be required for admission. Applicants seeking admission to the MA in Management and Leadership must possess the following: A postgraduate Diploma in Management and Leadership from Oxford Brookes University or another institution equivalent to 120 Level 7 credits OR Exceptionally a candidate with seven years or more of prior experience at a senior managerial level may be admitted through the accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) by submitting appropriate evidence. Any such accreditation will not exceed 120 Level 7 credits. Applicants whose first language is not English 9
Where a candidate s first language is not English, the candidate must show the University that their level of English is high enough to study at postgraduate level. In addition to the academic entry qualifications, one of the following (or equivalent) qualifications is required: British Council IELTS: normally 6.5 and a minimum of 6.0 in reading and writing TOEFL score of 575 paper-based (233 computer-based or 90 internet-based) or above SECTION 7: STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE Induction An induction programme is provided before teaching begins in the first semester, providing the opportunity to meet fellow students outside the classroom situation. It also introduces the philosophy of the programme, the rationale for its design and delivery, and provides insight into what is expected of students. People A number of people are available to support, guide and assist personal development during the programme. The Programme Lead and Programme Administrator work as a team to ensure the programme runs smoothly, and the Programme Lead acts as Academic Advisor for students. The Module Leaders and Module Tutors provide academic tutoring and answer subject specific queries during modules. The Student Support Coordinators can provide one-to-one support, advice and guidance on a range of issues, such as personal and family problems, disability or sickness, learning difficulties and money worries. They offer the opportunity to talk to someone who is not connected to academic studies and can refer students to other services available within the University, which include: Counselling, Student Disability and Dyslexia Service, Medical Centre, International Students Advisory Service, plus specific support for mature students. Study skills support is provided by the University s Upgrade service, which provides bookable tutorials and a drop-in service on all campuses plus an online directory of study skills resources. English language support is also available. Programme and Module Guides Handbooks are provided for both the programme and for each module. The Module Guide provides: Contact details of the Module Leader and Tutors Specific content and learning outcomes Week by week topics and activities Details of required class preparation Recommended and required reading Coursework assessment including the task, learning outcomes, assessment criteria and deadlines. Careers Centre support The University Careers Service offers guidance on career planning as well as practical advice on CV writing, mock interviews and assessment centres, tutorials and careers counselling. Its online vacancies database Talent Bank details internship and graduate job opportunities plus volunteering and project work. Students in the Faculty of Business can benefit from the services of the Work and Voluntary Experience Service (WAVES), which also supports students in identifying volunteering or internship opportunities. 10
SECTION 8: GRADUATE EMPLOYABILITY The programme is designed for participants who are employed in management and leadership roles with responsibility for strategic direction and decision making. This Masters programme aims to provide participants with the theoretical understanding, practical skills, self-confidence and self-awareness to make a substantial contribution to Strategic Management and Leadership in their employing organisation. On enrolment participants often hold the roles of Manager or Supervisor. During the programme as the confidence and expertise of participants grows, promotion to more senior roles is the norm rather than the exception. Participants progress rapidly to middle and senior management roles either in their current or a new organisation. The programme provides participants with networking opportunities and through this a range of context specific business contacts who can be called upon to provide ongoing advice and support during the programme and following graduation. Membership of CMI and access to CMI networks and databases can make a significant contribution to the development of networking opportunities. SECTION 9: LINKS WITH EMPLOYERS The programme is designed to encourage participants to investigate management policies and practices in a participant s workplace with a view to making suggestions for improvement. Potential improvements are based upon comparing contemporary research with common business practice by benchmarking policy and practice with the organisations represented in the body of participants. In this way participants act as organisational consultants, ideas generated provides payback for the financial investment in programme tuition fees. The Business School has a regular programme of research workshops that are available to all postgraduate students. The annual postgraduate research conference enables the dissemination of research undertaken by postgraduate students for their Dissertations to an audience of students, faculty, alumni and visiting academics. SECTION 10: QUALITY MANAGEMENT The reputation of the Faculty of Business is underpinned through programme accreditations received from the Association of MBAs; professional associations such as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the European Foundation for Management Development. The Business School is widely regarded as one of the best within its peer group. The Faculty of Business's programmes benefit from rigorous quality assurance procedures and regularly receive excellent feedback from external examiners, employers, students and professional bodies. Quality assurance of the Programme is addressed in a number of ways:- Subject Committee meetings held once a semester to enable staff and students to feedback on the programme A rigorous annual and periodic review process to ensure the currency of the programme An external examining process that follows the university guidelines - http://www.brookes.ac.uk/ asa/apqu/handbook/introduction.html Systematic end of module and end of programme monitoring and evaluation 11