ObjectivesThe Weekend Fast-Track programme is suitable for students living outside London, or those who wish to complete the Postgraduate Diploma rapidly. Students attend eight weekend meetings (Friday and Saturday) during the year. This programme will help you to develop the knowledge, skills and competencies essential for managerial effectiveness. Considerable emphasis is placed on extending interpersonal skills, improving personal performance and developing the analytical abilities required in a senior decision-making role. You will have the opportunity to explore specialist management issues within the fields of human resource management, strategic change, marketing, accounting and finance. This course can be used as the first step towards an MBA or other master's programmes in management.
Entry requirementsEntry requirements A good honours degree, or equivalent, from a recognised university. A good command of the English language, both written and oral (IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent for applicants whose first language is not English). Students without first degrees who have successfully completed the Birkbeck Certificate in Management with at least four modules at Merit grade (60–69 per cent), may also be considered. Managers with extensive experience in a wide range of public and private sector organisations, or owners of small to medium-sized businesses, may be able to benefit substantially from the course, and their applications will be considered.
The programme consists of eight compulsory modules:
-Module 1: Personal Development and Learning
-Module 2: Organisational Development and Learning
-Module 3: People and Performance
-Module 4: Marketing in Action
-Module 5: Strategic Change
-Module 6: Finance for Managers
-Module 7: Management in Practice
-Module 8: The Leadership Challenge.
To gain the Postgraduate Diploma, you must successfully complete all eight modules in one year.
Teaching
The programme combines management knowledge, experiential forms of work-based learning, and critical self-awareness of the scope and limits of management practice. Throughout the programme, the emphasis is on identifying core principles from relevant management research, theories and practices and applying these to cases drawn from students' personal experience in the workplace. To this end, many classes take the form of experiential learning workshops which acknowledge participants' current knowledge and past experience, and actively engage them in the process of learning, applying core management principles, while also understanding their limitations.
Students are also expected to undertake personal study to develop a critical awareness of a range of core management concepts and principles and to take part in a number of learning forums outside the classroom, such as peer review groups and learning sets.
Assessment
Assessment varies for each module, but includes a personal development plan, essay assignments, an examination and work-based projects