Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Business Management

Purpose

The Bachelor of Commerce Honours: Business Management has an emphasis on quantitative skills and aims to produce skilled graduates with a broad understanding of the functional areas of business. Graduates will receive intensive and extensive exposure to progressive management theories and practical skills that will enable them to be well trained and competitive in the job market. Learners should be motivated to continue learning and furthering the development of their skills throughout their professional careers.

Towards this end, the qualification

• Emphasises the ethical responsibility of Business professionals to be knowledgeable and up-to-date in their understanding of Strategic Management, Project Management, Organisational Behaviour, and research on new or evolving techniques.
• Emphasises the need to continually improve and re-examine their knowledge in the major functional areas of management and the quantitative and analytical competencies essential for managerial decision making, to know their limitations and seek consultation, supervision or referral as appropriate.
• Focuses on improving and expanding knowledge and skills. The qualification emphasises the importance of research, continuing education and informed interpretation of new findings and approaches. As a general aim of the qualification all modules stress the value of critical thinking, reflection, intellectually independent scholarship and the appreciation for staying current with professional research and thoughtfully evaluating its relevance and general applicability.
• Prepares learners academically for the highly competitive job market by the academic content and research experience which will mean that graduates of the qualification will be highly competitive in the job market.
• Encourages interaction between and among members of the student body and faculty in the programme as well as other related academic areas in order to build a sense of professionalism in the academic and broader community.
• Encourages graduates to grow into individuals who embody the ethical dimensions of justice, beneficence, non-malfeasance and who conduct themselves in a way that befits good citizenship and fosters the greater good of the profession in particular and South Africa in general.

Rationale

The primary purpose of the qualification is to provide graduates with Postgraduate level knowledge, specific skills and applied competencies in a number of fields traditionally associated with Business, Commerce and Management that will prepare them to be lifelong learners, employable workers/managers, entrepreneurs and contributors to society and the business community.

The qualification will provide South Africa, the Southern African region and other African countries with graduates in a number of learning fields in order to ensure that the leadership base of innovative and knowledge-based economic and scholarly activity is widened. Such graduates will be able to understand the constructive role they need to play as intellectual economic leaders in their society and are empowered to play that role.

It is assumed that learners have an understanding of general commerce and/or management subjects at NQF Level 7.

Recognition of Prior Learning

The principles of Recognition of Prior Learning are subscribed to, and will be implemented in a flexible manner. The principle of flexible and open access, will, however, be offset against the provision that this is not detrimental to the potential student and that his/her chances to succeed are reasonable.

Through evaluation by a specifically constituted Recognition of Prior Learning committee, learners' competencies will be assessed to determine whether they are eligible for access to, advanced placement in, or have provided evidence that the stated competence of the qualification has been achieved through experience that complies with the stated specified outcomes.

Learners may also be given credit through Recognition of Prior Learning for individual modules if they can produce a portfolio of evidence or undergo any other recognised means of assessment that shows that they meet the Outcomes and Associated Assessment Criteria specific to that module.

Access to the Qualification

• An applicant with a recognised and relevant undergraduate Bachelor of Commerce Degree, which includes Business Management at third year level as well as Accounting, Economics and Statistics at first year level, is eligible for the qualification.
• Applicants should have achieved at least an average of 60% during the exit year of the applicable qualification. Alternatively, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) could be considered in accordance with the MGI's Policy on Recognition of Prior Learning.

Mature Age applicants or applicants with non-South African school-leaving qualifications or with previous tertiary experience will be considered individually by the Faculty Head.

The qualification comprises six Core modules all at NQF Level 08 all of which are compulsory.

Total credits for the qualification: 136

• Strategic Management.
• Project Management.
• Organisational Management.
• Finance for Non-Financial Specialists.
• Research Methodology.
• Research Project.

During the first semester of the qualification, individual learners are required to develop a research proposal for approval by the Faculty. Before the Bachelor of Commerce Honours: Business Management degree will be awarded, learners will be required to conduct the relevant research and produce a research report which meets the criteria outlined by the Faculty of Commerce.

All the Core modules must be passed in order for a student to be awarded a degree.

• Demonstrate advanced theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to perform effectively in a career in the field of Business Management.
• Demonstrate an appropriate knowledge base as preparation for further learning.
• Conduct relevant research on a selected topic in the field.

Critical Cross-Field Outcomes

• Identify, analyse, formulate, and solve convergent and divergent problems, creatively and responsibly in fields related to business, commerce and management.
• Work effectively with others as a member of a team, group, organisation, community, and contribute to the group output in tasks growing out of the fields related to business, commerce and management.
• Manage and organise activities and life responsibly and effectively, including studies and career.
• Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information as required in pursuit of the programme.
• Communicate effectively using visual, mathematical and/or language skills in the modes of oral and/or written presentation, in sustained discourse.
• Use science and technology effectively and critically, showing responsibility towards the environment and health and well-being of others, in community, national and global contexts.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognising that problem-solving contexts do not exist in isolation, and by acknowledge responsibility to those in the local and broader business community.
• Plan and execute a research project using acceptable scientific methodologies and show a complex level of engagement of the results with professional literature in the field.

Competence in the Exit Level Outcome is determined by integrated assessment using the Associated Assessment Criteria laid down for each module as follows:

Associated Assessment Criteria - Strategic Management

• Explain how strategic management fits into the contemporary business environment.
• Conceptualise the three key elements of the Exploring Corporate strategy model and the interrelationship of the various elements.
• Critically evaluate a strategic management plan for a multi-business organisation.
• Develop a strategic plan with implementation guidelines based on the elements of the strategic management model for a small organisation or a division of a multi-business organisation.

Associated Assessment Criteria - Project Management

• Demonstrate a strong theoretical and practical understanding of the difference between project management and general management.
• Identify, select, plan and implement projects efficiently and effectively.
• Monitor, control and close projects appropriately.
• Identify and learn the soft skills required to empower project management and project teams.
• Illustrate the ability to practically apply all techniques learned on projects of various complexities and sizes.

Associated Assessment Criteria - Organisational Management

• Explore the key aspects of organisational context.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge base and critical understanding of the principles and theories underlying the psychology of individuals in the organisation.
• Manage group behaviour in an organisational context.
• Conceptualise the impact of organisation structures on organisational effectiveness and quality of work life.
• Illustrate organisational change, leadership theories and applications in organisational context.

Associated Assessment Criteria - Finance for Non-Financial Specialists

• Define a set of given financial terms.
• Perform mathematical calculations associated with financial accounting, management accounting and financial management in order to improve decision-making.
• Understand measuring and reporting of financial position, financial performance and cash flows.
• Calculate and interpret commonly used financial ratios.
• Perform cost-volume-profit analysis calculations.
• Understand and perform calculations of full costing.
• Draft basic budgets.
• Understand the making of capital investment decisions.
• Apply and explain the techniques used to evaluate capital projects.
• Discuss working capital management.
• Understand the different sources of finance.

Associated Assessment Criteria - Research Methodology

• Understand the research process in practice.
• Differentiate between qualitative and quantitative research approaches.
• Search electronic databases for information.
• Construct an own research question, and through analysis of the problem and the evaluation of previous research, construct a feasible research proposal.
• Write a literature review according to academic writing criteria.
• Understand and demonstrate ethics in business research.
• Explain the use of various data collection methods.
• Develop a sample plan.
• Construct a questionnaire.
• Understand and explain different levels of measurement and scales.
• Analyse data statistically.
• Write and present research outcomes in an acceptable format.

Associated Assessment Criteria - Research Project

• Conduct a comprehensive literature study on the selected research topic.
• Collect the research data.
• Analyse and interpret the research data.
• Write the report (mini dissertation).
• Conduct a presentation on the research project.
• Illustrate the main components of the research project in poster-format.

Integrated Assessment

An integrated system of assessment, in terms of which students are assessed on an ongoing basis is used. Both formative and summative assessment methods are used. Students are required to complete class tests, assignments (including practical work and projects) and examinations, the results of which count towards the final mark for each module. The components of the final mark are determined separately for each module.

Assessment Criteria

Midrand Graduate Institute practices an integrated system of assessment, in terms of which learners are assessed on an ongoing basis.

Specifically there are a number of modes of assessment included in each component of this programme

• Written: Learners are required to submit traditional written assignments which evaluate the learner's ability to meet the requirements of written performance at the postgraduate level.
• Oral presentation: All components of the programme include some form of oral presentation to either colleagues, lecturers, or the faculty. During seminars, research proposal presentations or discussion groups the individual learner's eloquence and ability to competently communicate salient information is assessed.
• Applied skills: Most of the theoretical components have an integrated applied component which assesses the ability of the learner to put into practice the theoretical constructs taught in the academic module.
• Sustained written and applied skills: Learners are required to submit one formal dissertation which should demonstrate their ability to sustain an intellectual argument having integrated, synthesised, analysed and critiqued the body of literature available to them.
• Research Skills: Learners are required to propose and design an original research study which is then passed by faculty and higher degree readers. Once the proposal has been passed learners are required to conduct the research and produce a dissertation.