Unit information: The Practice of Management in 2022/23

Unit name	The Practice of Management
Unit code	EFIM30007
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Ms. Ballard
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	None.
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None.
Units you may not take alongside this one	None.
School/department	School of Management - Business School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Unit Information

This unit is aimed at helping students to bridge the gap between university and first graduate job. It has been carefully designed to help to make the transition from abstract theory to applied management practice.

We will be studying issues and challenges faced by real-life managers from a diverse range of industry sectors. We will also be developing skills very specific to the management role; some of which students will have been developing over the past years – but during this unit we will be particularly focused upon the management context. Key practical ideas and skills include team-working, managing change, rationality, judgement and decision‐making, managing stress in the workplace and leadership in contemporary organisations.

Importantly, we will also explore key theories relating to neuroscience – how knowledge of the brain can improve our understanding of ourselves as well as help us improve our practice as managers in the future.

By the end of the unit, students will be able to relate theory to practice and will have a broad insight into the role of the manager and the challenges of management.

The unit aims to:

• Integrate learning from earlier units so students become conversant in the issues and challenges regarding the management role in organisations today.
• Develop new knowledge and skills in analysis, interviewing, option generation and decision making to help make the transition from theory to practice.
• Extend students’ knowledge of concepts of particular importance for practising managers, including neuroscience, stress in the workplace, leading in contemporary organisations, understanding change management, presentations, interviewing, and team‐working.

Your learning on this unit

By the end of the unit students will be able to:

• Integrate concepts and ideas from earlier units by combining rigorous analysis and critical evaluation in solving management problems;

• Extend knowledge and skills in these areas through application to a range of practical situations;

• Understand and work with complexity in applying theory to case situations;

• Organise work in groups, discuss and negotiate with colleagues, interview senior managers;

• Present analysis and solutions clearly to colleagues and larger audiences.

How you will learn

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions including lectures, seminars, drop-in sessions, discussion boards and other online learning opportunities

How you will be assessed

Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative)

The entire unit will help you to prepare for the summative assessment. We will continue to develop skills which will be familiar to you - analysis and synthesis of theories and frameworks. For this unit, you will also develop practical skills which will help you to make the crossover into the working world. These will include interviewing skills, focused presentations, working with external managers, unpicking real-life organisational exaples and responding as a management consultant to help analyse and resolve organisational issues. The formative work will be a piece of group work based around a typical management challenge. As a group you'll be excpected to work as management consultants to identify recommendations. You'll get specific feedback on your presentations which will take place in March.

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)

Timed Open book Assessment (100%)

When assessment does not go to plan

The reassessment on this unit will remain the same as the original assessment.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EFIM30007).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.