Strathclyde Business School, Glasgow, Scotland

MDP 1 - Timetable - Teaching Team

The class outline for the 1st Year 2009-10 Management Development Programme class is given below.

Class Code: BF101

Course Aims

The Management Development Programme runs in each of the first three years of the BA degree. The MDP aims to encourage integration of the knowledge and experience gained in Principal Subjects with students and staff with complementary expertise. Each year of the MDP focuses on different aspects of business. In first year the objectives are to develop and enhance skills in

• communication
• team working
• numeracy
• inter-personal skills
• use of information and communications technologies

The second year of the MDP focuses on decision-making, leadership, negotiation and entrepreneurship, while the third year class considers strategic management, business environments, ethics and research methodology. During the three years, students will be given the opportunity to continuously enhance their skills and develop a holistic overview of business, preparing them for the management development programmes they may experience on graduate training schemes.

Class Description

Management Development Programme 1 does not involve traditional lectures. Instead, the emphasis is on a number of interactive plenary sessions and small group work classes. These will be supplemented by computer laboratory exercises. Students are required to actively participate in all elements of the class. The class is driven by real business problems and is delivered by a team of interdisciplinary lecturers from different departments who will be supported by invited practitioners. ICT is used extensively in this class with students and staff using laptops in a dedicated teaching room with additional support facilities.

The class website StrathMDP.com and MERCURY provide all the information relevant to this class. As the class develops throughout the session the web pages are enhanced to include additional material, computer laboratory sheets, data sets etc. The web is the primary source of information for students and staff. Staff update attendance and assignment records, and students are e-mailed their marks and any other communication (e.g. warning letters for absences).

Each student is allocated to a Group Session, and within that to a team of approximately 6 individuals with whom they work throughout the year. Teams are constructed so that as far as possible students with different Principal Subjects are mixed. Usually each group consists of 6-9 teams.

Resources

All group and lab sessions take place in the Millennium Room, Sir William Duncan Building. All Plenary sessions take place in K325. A team of lecturers and graduate tutors from across Strathclyde Business School and other faculties are supported by the MDP Manager, the Administrator, three year academic co-ordinators (one for each year) and the web systems developer.

Management Development Programme Manager

Aileen Watson
Human Resource Management
Email a.c.watson@strath.ac.uk, tel x3553

MDP 1 Academic Class Coordinator

Jill McBryde
Management Science
Email jillian.macbryde@strath.ac.uk, tel x4549

Class Administrator

Adele McPherson
Business School
Email admin1@mansci.strath.ac.uk, tel x4024
Room 3.27 Sir William Duncan Building, 130 Rottenrow, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G4 0GE

Web Developer and MERCURY Systems Administrator

Derek Crowe
Management Science
Email d.crowe@strath.ac.uk

Learning Objectives

• To use Windows operating system, Microsoft tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer) web browsers and e-mail
• To plan and manage projects to solve simple business problems
• To collect primary data using questionnaires and surveys
• To access sources of secondary data and business reports using the library, both traditional and electronic
• To present, analyse and interpret statistical data using visual displays and number summaries
• To write reports and give presentations describing the analysis of business problems
• To work in teams and conduct peer group assessment
• To assume personal responsibility for contributions to team and individual work
• To reflect on personal skills development and learning

Teaching and Learning Methods

The class is based on action learning with an emphasis on problem-solving. Therefore group sessions (2 hours per week) are very important as they allow students to work independently in their teams or for group discussions to take place. Plenary sessions (1 hour per week) may involve an introduction to a problem, a presentation by a visiting speaker, or a lecture on a technique. Laboratory sessions (1 hour per week) allow students the opportunity to work through laboratory sheets to develop basic IT and numeracy skills. Please note that 80% attendance is required at group and lab sessions in order to qualify for this credit. Students who do not meet the 80% attendance rule will have to retake the class the following year.

Structure of Class

After a general introduction to teamwork, students work through a number of individual and team tasks covering ICT, presentation skills, statistics and internet search skills.

Assessment

This class is continuously assessed. There are four elements to the assessment:

• Teamwork presentations and reports
• Attendance at groupwork and lab sessions (min 80%)
• Individual IT, statistics and numeracy assignments
• Learning Diary

Students are assessed using the Faculty Marking Scheme and must attempt all assignments. One unsatisfactory assessment (i.e. a mark of less than the pass mark of 40%) can be carried. If the Learning Diary is assessed at a 'fail' mark, it must be resubmitted. If either the Holiday Project Report or Holiday Project Presentation are assessed at a 'fail' mark, the failing peice of work must be resubmitted. Resubmitted work can only achieve a 'satisfactory' grade. Students achieving less than a 80% attendance record are not qualified to take the resit examination in August. They must instead retake the entire class in the following academic year. Students who attend but fail the resit need only take the resit examination the following August. Students may 'carry' a Management Development Programme class for one year so therefore CANNOT carry MDP1 into Year 3 of the BA degree.

NOTE: If you fail to pass the required number of assignments, a mark of 0% will be returned at the June Exam Board (i.e. regardless of your mark shown on MERCURY)! This indicates that you have failed the class. Your final grade will be confirmed by Registry after the Exam Boards have met.

Late Submission Penalties: The Business School has the following penalty scheme for the late submission of assessed work:

• 1 day late - deduct 5% of mark allocated
• 2 days late - deduct 10% of mark allocated
• 3 days late - deduct 20% of mark allocated
• 4 days late - deduct 40% of mark allocated
• 5 days late - deduct 80% of mark allocated
• After 5 days - deduct 100% of mark allocated

This applies only to weekdays where students submit in hard copy but includes Saturdays and Sundays where students submit electronically.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is concerned with the appropriation of the ideas and works of others without due acknowledgement of the sources. It can manifest itself as copying from sources without proper acknowledgement. Normally plagiarism is interpreted as deliberate attempts to deceive the reader as to the originality of the work submitted.

Plagiarism occurs where acknowledgements are omitted or quotations and other material from original sources are not clearly identified. This concerns not simply text but figures, diagrams, statistics and illustrations. It would include any source whether printed or electronic. The most obvious forms of this are copying directly from the work of others or slightly changing words copied from another source. Always acknowledge your sources at the point of use in the text and cite these in the bibliography and references. This includes electronic sources. Plagiarism applies to all assessed work and similar penalties and procedures will apply in such cases. This is treated very seriously by the Strathclyde Business School. Penalties can range from discounting the particular piece of work to referring the matter to the University's disciplinary procedures which could ultimately involve dismissal from the University. Any penalty would be applied only after an investigation allowing individuals the opportunity to present an explanation.

Under University regulations dealing with academic dishonesty you are required to sign a declaration for each piece of work to say that the work is your own, that you have referenced all documents (paper and electronic) used according to University rules, and that you have not copied the work of another person, whether student or published author, in any way. If you are in any doubt about what is acceptable and what is not you should ask your tutor.