Higher Certificate in Business Management Practice

Purpose

Business Management is an imperative component in commerce. The Higher Certificate in Business Management Practice has been developed for a particular purpose, this being to facilitate access to the world-of-work for learners who are capable of knowledge performance in support of those areas of the world-of-work that rely on the application of the knowledge and skills systems supporting business management practices. For a rapidly evolving and growing nation, it is crucial to increase the supply of competent learners with entry level capabilities for industries that rely on these skills and to enable South Africa to continue to grow and to remain globally competitive. The purpose of the qualification is to ensure learners are equipped with the knowledge, theory and methodology of the important disciplines in business management practice, and enable them to demonstrate initiative and responsibility in a professional or academic context where application of the principles and theory are emphasised as a basis for entry into the labour market, professional training, or professional practice in a wide range of careers within civil society, the public or private sectors. The modules within the Higher Certificate in Business Management Practice are developed in an increasingly applied manner covering the major functional specialisations and culminating in an integrated manner which provides broad strategic context for learners on issues in business management, basic accounting, business communication, socioeconomics, industrial psychology, entrepreneurship and computer literacy.

Upon qualifying learners will be able to

• Apply and understand 'systems approach' to enhance business effectiveness.
• Apply and understand of economic principles to management of business systems.
• Develop, implement and manage a marketing strategy.
• Identify operations management challenges and opportunities.

Rationale

The Higher Certificate in Business Management Practice is a response to the workplace need for competent individuals across all the economic sectors. The current and future need for competent entry and junior practitioners has been expressed by employers and employees. Thus the skills, knowledge, attitudes and values required by entry and junior practitioners will be focussed upon in this qualification while remaining, to a certain degree a generalist qualification for the field of practice rather than a specialist qualification, by offering good breadth on the important topics combined with appropriate occupational and professional depth for its intended purpose. The qualification provides exciting career opportunities in the fields of business, for example:

• Field or Front Office Assistant Supervisor.
• Store or Department Assistant.
• Customer Relationship, Key Account Assistant.
• Service, Sales or Product Representative Assistant.
• Small Business Assistant.
• Junior Communications Officer.
• Data Controller.

In the increasingly competitive, sophisticated and changing world of work; the continued development of higher order applied knowledge is essential. The curriculum has been designed to give individuals the skills required for managing life-long learning to build successful careers and to remain productive and responsible citizens. The qualification provides a balance in fields that are broadly enabling in relation to career pathways whilst providing opportunities for both professional membership within a variety of local and international bodies and further studies through vertical and/or horizontal articulation pathways, for example:

• Specialised studies in new ventures, socioeconomics and business communication.
• Advanced studies in business management and industrial psychology or human resources.
• Diploma or Bachelors' Degree studies in business management or entrepreneurship.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Learners may provide evidence of prior learning for which they may receive credit towards the qualification by means of portfolios or other forms of appropriate evidence which may include, verified accounts of previous relevant work done and performance records and which evidence is in accordance with the requirements of the relevant Quality Council.

Entry Requirements

For admission to this qualification the learner must have either

• Senior Certificate (SC).

Or

• National Senior Certificate (NSC).

Or

• National Certificate Vocational (NCV) at NQF Level 4.

This qualification comprises compulsory modules at NQF Level 5, totalling 120 Credits.

Modules at NQF Level 5

• Business Management 16 Credits.
• Basic Accounting 16 Credits.
• Business Communication 10 Credits.
• Socioeconomics 14 Credits.
• Industrial Psychology 10 Credits.
• Company Law 8 Credits.
• Computer Literacy 16 Credits.
• Entrepreneurship 16 Credits.
• Experiential Learning 14 Credits.

1. Apply a 'systems approach' to enhance business effectiveness.
2. Apply economic principles to management of business systems.
3. Develop, implement and manage a marketing strategy.
4. Identify operations, management challenges and opportunities.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• The systems approach is applied to the analysis of business operations and development of business strategy.
• The systems theory approach in addressing organisational issues is identified.
• Organisations as open systems are recognised and the importance of the relationships between the subsystems is understood.
• The impact of change on organisational systems is identified.
• Models of Organisational Analysis to develop a business strategy are utilised.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Basic economic principles and their application within the South African context are understood.
• Microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts are integrated.
• An understanding of economic principles is applied to enhance insight into human behaviour study.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• A marketing strategy incorporating Strategic Marketing Framework is developed.
• A marketing Planning Process, incorporating: market research process, market situation analysis, macro environment analysis, competition analysis and customer and organisation buying behaviour analysis is conducted.
• Market segmentation principles are applied.
• A marketing programme integrating marketing and product mix analysis is applied.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4

• Operations actions to be taken are identified in order to improve quality and customer service levels.
• Comparative analysis, rating South African organisations compared to international benchmarks is conducted.
• Operations management improvement options, demonstrating an understanding of technological choices are identified.
• Customer satisfaction measurement index is developed.
• Actions required to implement Total Quality Management is listed and explained.
• Stock control methods are identified to demonstrate a working knowledge of MRP ll and JIT (Kanban) systems.

Integrated Assessment

Integrated assessment is an ordinary practice in this type of qualification and is essential to ensure that the purpose of the qualification is achieved in relation to the occupational focus carried by the qualifier and in terms of its propositional and declarative knowledge, vocational relevance, and reflexive competency.

Successful learners will have undertaken an extensive process in which assessments progressively build integrated competency to a point where the learner is able to express - through a range of mechanisms measured against valid, reliable and transparent criteria - which they can operate effectively in an entry level occupational position within the knowledge system specified by the qualification title.

Formative assessment integrates the cycle of teaching and learning, and assessment. The scheme of work includes formal assessments in the form of tests and/or assignments based on the learning material and learners are graded and provided with written feedback. The process is continuous and focuses on smaller sections of the work and is limited in the number of outcomes assessed.

Summative assessments are in the form of examinations, or equivalent assessment such as a research report which assesses a representative selection of the outcomes practised and assessed in the formative stage. Summative assessment also tests the learner's ability to manage and integrate a large body of knowledge to achieve the stated outcomes of the qualification.