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MN50734: MBA multi-project suite

[Page last updated: 15 October 2020]

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2020/1
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: School of Management
Further information on credits Credits: 36      [equivalent to 72 CATS credits]
Further information on notional study hours Notional Study Hours: 720
Further information on unit levels Level: Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7)
Further information on teaching periods Period:
Modular (no specific semester)
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: CW 100%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • CHANGE IN ACTION PROJECT (CW 16%)
  • CONSULTING PROJECT ASSESSMENT (CW 17%)
  • ENTREPRENUERSHIP IN ACTION PROJECT ASSESSMENT (CW 25%)
  • MN50374 GROUP PROJECT ASSESSMENT (CW 25%)
  • MN50374 INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ASSESSMENT (CW 17%)
  • Assessment detail for this unit will be available shortly. (CW 100%)
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Assessment detail for this unit will be available shortly. (CW 100%)
  • CHANGE IN ACTION PROJECT (CW 16%)
  • CONSULTING PROJECT ASSESSMENT (CW 17%)
  • ENTREPRENUERSHIP IN ACTION PROJECT ASSESSMENT (CW 25%)
  • MN50374 GROUP PROJECT ASSESSMENT (CW 25%)
  • MN50374 INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ASSESSMENT (CW 17%)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites:
Description: Aims:
The purpose of the Multi-project suite is to provide multiple opportunities for MBA students to apply what they have learnt during the programme to real-life projects. By focusing on different areas (entrepreneurship, consulting, change...) this unit exposes students to the realities and challenges of applying academic theory to real-life situations in different sectors.
In particular, each element of the unit will do the following:

Entrepreneurship in Action
* To provide students with the opportunity to encounter the real-life process of launching an entrepreneurial enterprise with individuals who have launched or are in the process of launching a new venture;
* To integrate the multi-disciplinary knowledge and insight gained from the taught programme and their personal experience;
* To provide students with the opportunity and skills to develop, work within and manage international teams;
* To embed enterprise skills along with an understanding of how high-performance and creative teams are developed and managed.

Group Project
The aims of this project are:
* to provide students with the opportunity to work in teams with large corporate partners to carry out a significant piece of management research work;
* to provide students with the opportunity to refine skills needed for working in diverse groups and with organisations;
* to embed problem-solving and management research skills to enable student to link business issues to the available academic literature and content covered throughout the MBA programme

Consulting Project
* To provide students with the opportunity to encounter the real-life process of consulting with small organisations facing specific business challenges;
* To integrate the multi-disciplinary knowledge and insight gained from the core taught programme and their personal experience;
* To provide students with the opportunity and skills to develop, work within and manage international teams;
* To embed consulting skills along with an understanding of how high-performance and creative teams are developed and managed.

Individual Project
The aims of this project are:
* to develop self-awareness and the capacity for self-directed career development and reflection
* to develop awareness of the needs of others and the ability to respond in an effective and professional manner
* to identify and evaluate different leadership styles and the academic models that support them
* to provide students with the opportunity to work independently on a leadershop problem of their choice;
* to provide the student with the knowledge and ability to conduct research
* to give the student the opportunity to apply and evaluate the knowledge gained

Change in Action
The aim of this project is to provide an appreciation of a number of concepts and models relating to the leadership and management of change in organizations in a live project context. Such an appreciation includes an understanding of the academic literature, but is ever mindful of the practical relevance of the subject. Therefore, this section is concerned with both thinking about and doing of organizational change. Key aims include:
* Providing students with a strong link between the management of change in theory and the management of change in practice.
* Giving students the opportunity to experience real-world change-in-action by working with organisations in the process of significant change projects
* To embed change management skills whilst working in diverse teams over a period of time.

Learning Outcomes:
Entrepreneurship in Action
By the end of this project, students will:
* be able to develop a professional, integrated and convincing new venture creation proposal;
* have an understanding of how they can develop, work within and manage creative and effective teams;
* have acquired and developed enterprise skills.

Group Projject
By the end of this project, students will:
* be able to integrate various components of the total degree programme and own experience to solve business problems
* be able to identify literature relevant to a chosen business issue, thereby appreciating the relationship between business practice and theory.
* be able to undertake a major project in a professional manner and be able to develop solutions to business problems;
* have refined skills in organisation, negotiation, management research, analysis, and report writing.
* Provide a new interpretation on existing information or provide an original view on an issue. Do all of the above in written form in a report that conforms to acceptable standards of presentation and expression.

Consulting Project
By the end of this project, students will:
* be able to undertake consulting projects in a professional manner and be able to develop solutions to business problems that consider practical issues such as context, size, and budget
* have an understanding of how they can develop, work within and manage effective and innovative consulting teams;
* have acquired and developed consulting skills.

Individual Project
At the end of this project students will be able to:
* carry out an assessment of their own strengths and weaknesses
* identify and respond effectively to the needs/attitudes styles of others in the working environment
* purposedly develop career competencies and strategies
* incorporate ethics into their decision making
* integrate components of the degree programme and their individual experience to explore leadership issues;
* critically evaluate the theoretical and practical worth of management theories and apply them to business problems;
* plan and execute an original investigation into a leadership problem;
* demonstrate effective personal skills especially those of organisation, negotiation, research, analysis and synthesis

Change in Action
By the end of the Change in Action project, students should have:
* An understanding of organisational change in practice, the context in which it operates and how change can be effectively led
* The facility to apply subject-specific knowledge into a range of change situations in practice
* An ability to work with clients on change management challenges over a period of time and in a professional manner
* An ability to develop innovative solutions to change management problems.

Skills:
Entrepreneurship in Action
Group work; analytical problem-solving; presentational skills; lateral integration of management activities.
Transferable/Key Skills
* an ability to develop a holistic perspective on an organization and an understanding of how the different functions relate to one another;
* an appreciation and in-depth understanding of the resources and competences required for successful cross-functional management in organisations including enterprise skills
Professional Practical Skills
* deal with complex issues and make sound judgements in the absence of complete information, and to communicate their conclusions clearly and competently to a range of audiences;
* operate effectively both independently as well as within teams and assume leadership roles where appropriate.
Personal/Interpersonal
* the facility to communicate including presenting and marketing themselves and their ideas; preparation and production of effective business plans and reports;
* he ability to recognise intra/entrepreneurial risks and opportunities and to use their enterprise skills to the advantage of start-ups and firms in general.

Group Project
Group work; critical-thinking, analytical problem-solving; lateral integration of management activities.
Transferable/Key Skills
* Ability to select, summarise and synthesise written information from multiple sources;
* an ability to develop a holistic perspective on an organization and an understanding of how the different functions relate to one another;
* Ability to develop rigorous arguments through precise use of concepts and models (F; A).
* Ability to select, analyse and present numerical or non-numerical data (F; A).
Professional Practical Skills
* deal with complex issues and make sound judgements in the absence of complete information, and to communicate their conclusions clearly and competently to a range of audiences;
* operate effectively both independently as well as within teams and assume leadership roles where appropriate.
Personal/Interpersonal
* the facility to communicate including presenting and marketing themselves and their ideas; preparation and production of effective written report;
* the ability to recognise risks and opportunities and to use their problem-solving and analytical skills to the advantage of organisations

Consulting Project
Group work; analytical problem-solving; presentational skills; lateral integration of management activities.
Transferable/Key Skills
* an ability to develop a holistic perspective on an organization and an understanding of how the different functions relate to one another;
* an appreciation and in-depth understanding of the resources and competences required for successful cross-functional management in organisations including consulting skills.
Professional Practical Skills
* deal with complex issues and make sound judgements in the absence of complete information, and to communicate their conclusions clearly and competently to a range of audiences;
* operate effectively both independently as well as within teams and assume leadership roles where appropriate.
Personal/Interpersonal
* The facility to communicate including presenting and marketing themselves and their ideas; preparation and production of effective business plans and reports;
* the ability to recognise risks and opportunities and to use their consulting skills to the advantage of organisations

Individual Project
At the end of this project students will be able to demonstrate:
* an understanding of their own individual context. That is, their current career strengths and areas for managerial skill development. (T, F & A);
* the ability to integrate the knowledge of a variety of functional and theoretical areas through application to organisational problems (T, F, A),
* the ability to analyse specific situations using appropriate theoretical models, allied to pragmatic, well-reasoned judgements (T,F,A), and
* an understanding of appropriate research techniques that allow detailed investigation into topical issues (T,F,A).
* operate effectively both independently as well as within teams and assume leadership roles where appropriate (T,F,A),
* be self-directed and autonomous planning and implementation of projects at professional levels (T,F,A)
* an ability to reflect on their earlier learning and practice with a view to integrate the new knowledge with past experience and effectively apply it to new situations (T,F,A).

Change in Action
Critical thinking - facilitated and assessed Research skills - facilitated and assessed

Content:
Combines five project elements

Entrepreneurship in Action - 25% of total unit
Business Plan writing and presentation.

Group project - 25% of total unit
The project will start with a Final Group Project workshop with the aim of providing students with some the knowledge and ability to conduct group research and preparing them for the process of planning and undertaking their final group project.
During the workshop the following will be covered:
* Nature of suitable projects, working with the organisation(s), developing project ideas, the role of a group project supervisor, time management and project ethics.
* The use of different methodological approaches; the concepts of validity, reliability and ge
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

MN50734 is Compulsory on the following programmes:

School of Management

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2020/21 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2021/22 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2020/21.
  • Programmes and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.