Master of Commerce in Strategic Management

Purpose

The Master of Commerce in Strategic Management's primary purpose is to provide learners entering the corporate world, as well as experienced managers and executives, with the advanced strategic management knowledge and competence required to further their careers at or to the executive level. Learners will focus on contemporary management, strategy, and leadership skills relevant to the current business environment, as well as design thinking and strategic innovation for business growth and sustainable performance. This qualification will enable learners to become the leaders of the future, to apply mature strategic management and leadership skills across a broad range of commercial, private, public and NGO structures and entities, to initiate and lead effective processes, implement appropriate systems, and ensure quality research, effective resource management and good governance practices.

Business and career development require managers and leaders who can respond to a world characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) resulting in problems that are highly challenging to address. Within this context, this qualification aims to further develop learners' strategic managerial qualities and skills, focusing on the contemporary problem-solving and leadership skills required by the emerging and developed economies of the dynamic and largely uncertain -New World' and contributing to the body of knowledge through research in this field.

The qualification further provides learners with the opportunity to undertake independent research in the practice of contemporary management, strategic management, leadership, design thinking, and strategic innovation. The qualification appeals to learners who want to gain academic knowledge in strategic management and leadership to either further an academic career or pursue a career as a business leader.

Upon completion of the qualification, a qualifying learner will be able to

• Demonstrate advanced knowledge of contemporary strategic management, leadership, and business strategy theories, principles, and practices.
• Formulate business strategies to solve complex business challenges using specialised skills and resources relevant to strategic management.
• Conduct independent research that contributes to disciplined thinking in the strategic management field using advanced research techniques to solve problems and answer questions relating to the field.
• Innovate and lead, develop strategic insights, analyse and solve problems, make evidence-based decisions and apply knowledge in the workplace
• Embody critical and forward future-thinking, conduct academic research and display an understanding of emotional intelligence.

Rationale

According to the Future Jobs Report 2020, the majority of the skills deemed necessary in 2015 and 2020 will no longer be relevant in 2025. Critical and analytical problem-solving skills that incorporate originality, innovation, and creativity will be critical for the future. Technology development, adoption and use, and the importance of self-management skills such as flexibility, stress management, building resilience, and ensuring active continuous learning, should be prevalent among tomorrow's leaders. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for qualifications that equip managers and leaders with the vital skills needed for agility and flexibility in the current business environment. However, all indications are that requirements for these leadership skills will remain even as COVID-19 subsides, and other global business factors come to the fore. The changing business landscape, brought about by volatile global factors (including COVID-19, climate change, and the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions) that affect political and trading relations, highlight sustainability issues; and changing economic and technological systems require changes in skills, leadership competence, and vision to be able to respond to and address unprecedented and complex environmental events and wicked problems.

Graduates of the Master of Commerce in Strategic Management will be equipped to contribute to economic and societal growth through the development of a unique combination of strategic management, business, and leadership skills as outlined by the World Economic Forum (2020). Graduates will possess skills that will enable them to evaluate, respond to, adapt to, and thrive in this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment, by employing advanced research skills aimed at the creation and formulation of new ways to respond to the VUCA environment. More specifically, the qualification's curriculum benefits the economy as it prepares working professionals to lead their organisations or departments in the current work environment, to understand universal business problems and challenges in the South African and global context, and to construct new best practices and management styles to solve the increasingly complex problems, both current and future.

Graduates will be equipped to find suitable work opportunities in areas of management, leadership, consulting, research, knowledge management, innovation, business strategy, and academia. Graduates who are in current employment will be better equipped to address complex issues and provide more sophisticated levels of input and guidance, furthering their potential for career advancement.

Career opportunities for graduates of this qualification could include

• Chief Executive positions.
• Director.
• Chief Business Development Officer.
• Chief Development Officer.
• Chief Strategy Officer.
• General Manager.
• Managing Director.
• Corporate Research Director.
• Strategic Business Consultant.
• Academic Leader or Faculty Head.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The institution subscribes to the principles as outlined in the CHE Policies on the Recognition of Prior Learning, Credit Accumulation and Transfer (IIE010), and Assessment (IIE009) in higher education as well as the SAQA National Policy and Criteria for the Implementation of RPL.

RPL at the institution is framed by the following

• RPL can be used to give a learner access to a qualification if they have the required prior qualification but not at the performance level normally required.
• RPL can be used to give a person admission to a qualification without having completed a qualification normally required at a lower level.
• Only 10% of any cohort can be admitted through RPL.
• RPL is applied to formal, informal, and non-formal learning achieved through any means other than formal study towards a recognised qualification or part of a recognised qualification, which is normally recognised through a process of Credit Accumulation and Transfer.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Bachelor of Commerce Honours, NQF Level 8.

Or

• Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Economics, NQF Level 8.

Or

• Postgraduate Diploma in Commerce, NQF Level 8.

Or

• Postgraduate Diploma in Economics, NQF Level 8.

Or

• Cognate Postgraduate Diploma, NQF Level 8.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory modules at National Qualifications Framework Level 9, totalling 180 Credits.

Compulsory Modules, Level 9, 180 Credits

• Contemporary Strategic Management, 25 credits.
• Business Strategy, 25 credits.
• Leadership in Dynamic Environments, 25 credits.
• Wicked Problems and Design Thinking, 25 credits.
• Mini Dissertation, 80 credits.

1. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of contemporary strategic management, leadership, and business strategy theories, principles, and practices.
2. Formulate business strategies to solve complex business challenges using specialised skills and resources relevant to strategic management.
3. Conduct independent research that contributes to disciplined thinking in the strategic management field using advanced research techniques to solve problems and answer questions relating to the field.
4. Communicate effectively and efficiently with both professional and lay audiences using appropriate language, academic discourse, and technology.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• Proactively identify and assess trend lines in local and international markets and apply appropriate strategic leadership approaches to ensure business success.
• Successfully formulate appropriate strategic plans to address market trends in consultation with key stakeholders.
• Effectively collaborate with key stakeholders to assess the efficacy of the strategic plan.
• Critically analyse complex data to successfully drive the implementation of strategic measures.
• Competently evaluate a strategic plan and re-strategise on the way forward.
• Conduct a detailed evaluation of the external organisational challenges influencing the sustainability of the organisation.
• Correctly evaluate opportunities and trends in the macro-environment and provide recommendations on how to achieve these.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Competently utilise business simulations and conduct scenario planning and contingency planning using contemporary management and business strategy practices and considerations across business disciplines and stakeholders.
• Successfully analyse case studies, journal articles and trends to determine the underlying theoretical principles and management problems, to make meaningful contributions on a strategic level towards implementing innovative solutions.
• Effectively interact with people of different cultures and personalities, developing meaningful relationships in the process of constructing and implementing business solutions.
• Successfully demonstrate creativity in generating or recognising ideas, alternatives, or possible solutions to business problems.
• Responsibly apply business and strategic decisions to effectively resolve complex problems in an ethical, legal, and socially responsible manner.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• Illustrate appropriate scholarly research skills and theory to support a research project.
• Develop appropriate research designs; collect, analyse, and interpret data and report the findings with appropriate recommendations.
• Competently produce a minor dissertation that reflects an in-depth understanding of a major area of management.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4

• Communicate results from the research project to both professional and community audiences using appropriate language and technology.
• Engage presentations and complete them within the given time.
• Apply appropriate academic language in the thesis, present in the approved style and adhere to norms for scientific writing.
• Apply standard referencing styles accurately and consistently in the thesis.

INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT

The assessment strategy for the Master of Commerce in Strategic Management coursework modules consists of a Portfolio of Evidence (PoE) with a total weighting of 100%. The mini dissertation consists of a formative research proposal (40%) and a summative mini dissertation (60%).

The key principles that inform the assessment policy and principles of good assessment are as follows

- Diversity, variety, integration, and development of learning skills

- Fairness, transparency, accessibility, and predictability

• Practicability and appropriateness
• Reliability
• Scaffolding cognitive complexity

Each qualification and each module have an assessment strategy that will ensure that all assessment principles are adhered to and manage predictability and learner load. This strategy includes the type, number, and weightings of assessments in all modules.

This is made explicit for learners in the Module Information Sheet (MIS) as summarised in the Qualification Guide. The assessment structure, type, number, and weightings in all modules must be appropriate for the credit value of the module (notional time), discipline and NQF level. Exceptions to standard structures must be approved by Faculty Boards.