Advanced Certificate in Business Management and Administration
Business, Commerce and Management Studies - Generic Management
Purpose and Rationale
Qualification Overview
Purpose:
The purpose of this qualification is to equip managers with knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes necessary to manage and lead their organizations effectively in the complex and highly competitive business environment, currently and in the future. It also builds the competence of managers to cope with the challenges facing South African organizations in transforming the local economic, social, and political landscape in a highly competitive global economy. The qualification is aimed at developing applied competence to ensure that managers are able to translate their learning into practices that will make a real difference in organizations.
The qualification has been designed to require learners to apply their learning to practical work-based projects, enabling them to use the learning opportunity to solve real business problems that directly impact organizational effectiveness. Learners who have achieved the qualification will have developed the competence to integrate different management disciplines appropriately within the context of internal and external challenges facing their organizations.
Rationale:
The need for skilled managers is a national skills development priority identified by the business sector and confirmed by Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) across economic sectors. This qualification addresses the need to improve management competence and deepen the pool of competent managers that can contribute to building the South African economy and society.
It satisfies a critical need for a qualification at Level 6 that is specifically focused on building generic business management competence, providing a sophisticated yet practical approach to the knowledge base and decision-making skills required by today's managers in various management contexts relevant to South African businesses.
Participants should be working in or preparing for a supervisory, leadership, or management position. The qualification advances the principles of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in the management learning area by enabling learners to obtain a national qualification through a lifelong learning path, promoting the NQF principles of access, portability, articulation, mobility, progression, and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
This qualification is beneficial for employed managers at middle and senior management levels, but access is not restricted to such learners. Those who have experienced difficulties advancing in their careers can use the Level 6 qualification to develop the management competence required for appointment to more senior positions. Management competence developed through this qualification can be applied in all management and leadership roles across all economic sectors and in all types of private and public enterprises, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Black Empowerment companies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), medium-sized organizations, and multinational global players. The blended nature of the qualification allows for a broader target audience from outside the Western Cape and South Africa.
Outcomes
- Analyse the basic operations of an economy and its different elements as viewed from the purely capitalist and socialist perspectives.
- Explain the concepts of financial management.
- Motivate the importance of managing the working capital and cash flow of a business.
- Illustrate the contribution of the four "pillars" of management to the effective management of a business with practical examples, i.e. Planning, Organising, Leading and Controlling.
- Explain the difference between data, information and knowledge and their application in a business environment.
- Analyse the concept of leadership with reference to selected theoretical frameworks.
- Analyse the qualities of leadership that are essential for leading organisations in today's complex and continuously changing work environments.
- Analyse a number of definitions on the concept of marketing and formulate a definition relevant to a specific business context.
- Conduct a market investigation that includes the results of a SWOT analysis.
- Draw up a plan for implementing and executing best practices to improve operations management.
- Describe the responsibilities of line managers in people management with reference to the role of the Human Resources unit.
- Analyse the characteristics and importance of effective human capital management practices for achieving organisational goals.
Assessment Criteria
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1:
- Explain key economic concepts used in everyday economic reports and discussions.
- Describe the difference between micro- and macro-economic perspectives and their relevance to the business environment.
- Explain how global markets operate with reference to practical examples.
- Analyse reports about current and expected future trends in the South African economy and the economy of a Province.
- Analyse South Africa's position within the broader framework of African as well as global economies.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2:
- Identify and discuss the various components of an income statement.
- Identify and discuss the various components of a balance sheet.
- Identify, explain and perform basic interpretation of the components of a simple cash flow statement using a balance sheet and an income statement as a point of reference.
- Use financial statements to perform basic financial analysis, i.e. ratio analysis, and interpret the ratios.
- Draw up a budget.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3:
- Analyse the elements that might affect the liquidity in a business.
- Explain the main drivers of the return on investment and return on equity.
- Explain the nature and importance of investment decision-making.
- Explain the main investment appraisal methods found in practice with reference to practical examples.
- Analyse the main sources of finance available to a business and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4:
- Explain the factors that a manager needs to consider in order to align the business towards customer satisfaction.
- Explain how managers design individual jobs to maximise employee performance.
- Explain the role of managers in promoting an organisational culture.
- Outline the steps in the strategic planning process.
- Compile a business plan for a new or existing business opportunity.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5:
- Explain how information and knowledge management delivers value to an organisation.
- Describe the attributes of information quality and assess the quality of information in relation to these attributes.
- Evaluate personal information management practices as well as those of a work team.
- Design a set of appropriate interventions to grow information management maturity in a work team.
- Analyse the ethical and regulatory aspects of information privacy in relation to their impact on the business environment.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6:
- Differentiate between the roles and functions of leadership and management.
- Analyse and compare a selection of leadership theories presented by current authors.
- Use the feedback obtained from a leadership assessment to evaluate personal leadership style and behaviour.
- Compile a personal development plan to improve the overall leadership style and to improve resilience during times of change.
- Differentiate between EQ (emotional intelligence), IQ (intelligence quotient) and SI (spiritual intelligence) and illustrate the differences with practical examples.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 7:
- Describe the leader's role in creating a productive working environment in the organisation, including shaping the organisational culture and building trust.
- Analyse the challenges faced in planning, introducing and implementing organisational change, including the importance of an effective communication strategy.
- Distinguish between destructive and constructive conflict in organisations, examine the causes of conflict, the nature of different types of conflict, and describe appropriate methods of conflict resolution.
- Analyse team dynamics and strategies for building team cohesiveness for working collaboratively for achieving team goals.
- Identify the challenges in managing diverse and multi-cultural workforce, and using the diversity to the organisation's advantage.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 8:
- Differentiate between environmental factors that are controllable and uncontrollable when conducting a SWOT analysis for marketing purposes.
- Analyse the internal and external marketing environment for a specific product or service.
- Analyse the factors that influence the buying behaviour of individuals.
- Analyse the typical challenges that are experienced in the distribution channel.
- Analyse the key characteristics of the elements of the marketing mix.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 9:
- Apply the phases of segmentation and selection in the target marketing process to arrive at profiles of an organisation's client base.
- Formulate appropriate marketing objectives for a specific product or service.
- Formulate strategies to market to the modern consumer, taking into account generational differences.
- Formulate a positioning strategy for a service/product offering at gaining a competitive advantage.
- Describe the components to be covered in a marketing plan for a selected product or service.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 10:
- Explain the concept 'value chain' with reference to key elements underpinning a successful value chain, as represented in theoretical frameworks.
- Analyse the customer experience, relationship management and customer-centric culture in an organisation and the customer's contributions to optimising the value chain.
- Explain the concept 'operations management' and illustrate its relation to and impact on the value chain through the practical examples.
- Analyse the critical elements in systems for managing the resources or an organisation.
- Identify best practice guidelines and analyse current operating practices against identified best practices.
- Draw up a plan for implementing and executing best practices to improve operations management.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 11:
- Conduct a job analysis for a selected position.
- Develop a recruitment plan for a specific position.
- Describe appropriate development interventions for staff based on the results of a needs analysis.
- Describe the components of a performance management system, including the performance appraisal process.
- Develop a workforce plan for a selected business unit.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 12:
- Compare the systemic management of human resources with traditional approaches, with reference to the assumptions underpinning both described in literature.
- Explain what constitutes sound talent management practices in recruiting and retaining high talented people.
- Analyse key challenges relating to staff retention and describe appropriate solutions to these challenges.
- Develop a succession plan for a selected business unit.
- Analyse what constitutes fair people management practices, including references to ethical practices.
Qualification Details
- Type
- Advanced Certificate
- NQF Level
- 06
- Min. Credits
- 120
- SAQA Source
- More Information
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