ObjectivesIf you want to develop your understanding of strategic leadership and management, and transfer this learning into pragmatic and productive knowledge, skills and abilities, this is the programme for you. The Postgraduate Diploma/MA programme covers a wide range of leadership and management contexts and perspectives. It will appeal to those who already work, or want to work, in the public, private or voluntary sector. The programme welcomes UK, European and International students, to generate a rich cultural diversity in the learning group and enable students to grasp key issues around globalisation and business ethics. This programme is available as a Postgraduate Diploma or Master of Arts award. Most students will register for and complete the MA programme. Applicants who enrol for the Postgraduate Diploma can progress to the MA dissertation on successful completion of module assignments.
Entry requirementsUK students will be able to enter the programme directly in accordance with normal entry requirements for MA programmes. International students whose first language is not English will be required to achieve IELTS 6 or above with no less than Band 6 in the writing skills. Candidates for entry to the Postgraduate Diploma/MA programme must normally possess the following requirements. At Postgraduate Diploma level (study level M) students are required to: Be over 21 years of age Possess a professional business qualification equivalent to the Graduate Diploma Or Possess a first degree, achieved at Class 2:2 or above, from and approved University or Institution Or Possess an equivalent qualification Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) Where Postgraduate Diploma applicants do not meet the stated entry requirements above, the YSJ APEL policy may be utilised for entry to the programme where necessary and appropriate. The programme is expected to use this system to allow entry for post-experience professionals who are over 21 and have been in management for at least two years. This is likely to involve a submission of evidence of professional competence, and assignment to the Head of Programme and an interview as part of the recruitment process. For entry at Master of Arts (level M) students are required to: Be over 21 years of age Possess a first degree, at Class 2:2 or above, from an approved University or Institution Possess a Graduate or Postgraduate Diploma from a recognised institution Or An international qualification equivalent to the above
In a collaborative learning and teaching environment, you can experience debate on strategic issues of relevance and engage in discussion on putting theory into practice.
Through module assignments, you can research and explore topics of particular interest. If you are already in employment, you can use the written assignments to explore, for example, implementing HR strategies within your organisation.
A key part of the programme is the action learning set. Here, in a group of up to eight learners, you will work in a mutually supportive yet challenging environment. The programme brings the opportunity to stimulate learning and development in the spirit of collaborative working.
What will I study?
The programme comprises five modules. Completion of the first four leads to the Postgraduate award, with the completion of the research appreciation and dissertation module leading to the Master of Arts award.
The modules are:
Module 1: Strategic Leadership, Culture and Ethics
This module explores the key issues around strategic leadership, culture and ethics in organisation and business environments. This will involve reviewing relevant theory, models and concepts and their practical application to business today.
Module Content
Strategic thinking, strategic leadership; leadership styles, effective leadership; culture, gender, and leadership; understanding organisational culture; understanding diverse international culture in relation to organisational settings; organisational culture and how it might facilitate or impede change in organisations; identifying, understanding and establishing productive organisational ethics; identifying, understanding and establishing relational ethics within different cultural and organisational contexts.
Module 2: Leading Organisational Development
This module explores issues pertaining to effective leadership of organisational development including innovation, change and management, and human resources issues of understanding and empowerment including innovative practices. Case studies are used to develop skills in understanding the complexity of real-life issues and the synthesis of information.
Module Content
How to use case studies as a way of learning about the complexities of organisational development; how to analyse and critique a written case study; theoretical models of design, implementation and evaluation of change; innovation, supporting innovation, practices, processes; organisational growth and development; the role of the leader in intervening and managing organisational change; human resource responses to organisational development eg coaching and mentoring; leading change/changing leaders: what happens to leaders in the change process; transformational collaborative leadership; diagnostic tools for personality (individual and organisational), interpersonal relationships, communication process, teams, values (aligning individuals with organisational values).
Module 3: Managing the Business Environment
This module explores external and internal relatedness in the business environment. It examines issues pertaining to the identification and management of key business stakeholders and the management of resources including human, finance and marketing. It considers the ethical issues involved in relations with internal and external stakeholders and identifies socially and environmentally sustainable business practice.
Module Content
Stakeholder theory; home and international marketing; managing and leading internal and external relatedness; financial resource management; human resource management; globalisation; social sustainability and responsibility; business ethics.
Module 4: Managing Business Integration
This module explores issues pertaining to problem-solving, decision-making and project management. It will provide analytical and consultancy tools for analysing practices and processes within business settings in order to make recommendations for implementation.
Module Content
Consultancy skills eg systems analysis, questioning; problem-solving and decision-making; organisational planning and project management; the leader role in business integration and evaluation of systems and processes; control, implementation and change as primary business processes; modelling gas an aid to business integration.
Module 5: Research Methods and Dissertation
The dissertation is the final part of the programme, successful completion of which leads to the award of Master of Arts in Leadership & Management.
The dissertation aims to provide you with the opportunity to undertake independent research, through supported individual study, into one aspect of the foregoing studies from the postgraduate programme. It is intended that the study will build on elements of learning derived from one or more aspects of previous modules.
Students will undertake desk-based or action research, with the aim of facilitating an appreciation of quantitative or qualitative (or a combined methodology) approaches to research in leadership and management.
It is envisaged that the constitution of the leadership learning sets, formed during the programme induction, will be re-formed for this module.
Module Content
Research appreciation; what is research and what constitutes knowledge; development of a research proposal and submission to Faculty and /or University Research Ethics Committee for approval; identification of a research design with clear stages and time-scales; selection of appropriate research methods, collection of relevant types of data, analysis of date and discussion of findings; dissertation layout, writing and presentation; cultural values attributed to different types of research and its implications; contemporary research approaches in leadership and management.
Postgraduate diploma/MA
If you want to develop your understanding of strategic leadership and management, and transfer this learning into pragmatic and productive knowledge, skills and abilities, this is the programme for you.
The Postgraduate Diploma/MA programme covers a wide range of leadership and management contexts and perspectives. It will appeal to those who already work, or want to work, in the public, private or voluntary sector. The programme welcomes UK, European and International students, to generate a rich cultural diversity in the learning group and enable students to grasp key issues around globalisation and business ethics.
This programme is available as a Postgraduate Diploma or Master of Arts award. Most students will register for and complete the MA programme. Applicants who enrol for the Postgraduate Diploma can progress to the MA dissertation on successful completion of module assignments.