Management in Context

This phase is structured into three broad and overlapping learning clusters – Individual, Organisation and Environment – to facilitate cross-functional learning. The following modules are delivered within this phase:

Business Finance

  • About this module: This module takes a look at the tools and analyses one needs to deal with corporate financial decisions in order to increase corporate value while managing the company’s financial risks.
  • What you will learn: The aims and functions of financial management; financial analysis; management of working capital; financial markets; strategic investment and financing decisions; dividends; cost of capital, risk and required rate of return; valuation and take-overs; an introduction to derivative instruments.

Operations and Information Management

  • About this module: What knowledge, resources and methods are required to ensure the smooth and efficient running of a competitive business? This module focuses on the management of an operation and one of its key resources: information.
  • What you will learn: Competition and operations management of global organisations; demand management; order fulfilment process; volume and variety; e-commerce and the impact on operations, technology and productivity; operations and information quality; the global supply chain and information; the information resource; managing information technology to deliver strategy; enterprise systems; managerial decision-making and knowledge management; information strategies; technology challenges and future trends.

Business Environment

  • About this module: This module explores the international, regulatory, societal and ethical environments in which we do business. It examines the different dimensions that are required to create and maintain a viable business model within different contexts.
  • What you will learn: Identify the management challenges for modern organisations brought about by the international, regulatory, societal and ethical environment within which they operate; understand that different dimensions are required to create and maintain a viable business model within this environment.
    • Legal Environment: Intellectual property rights; competition law, law of contract and delicts; internet law; company law; insolvency and business recovery, forensic auditing, employment contracts, employment legislation, labour law.
    • International Environment: Global rules for market access; World Bank and IMF policies as they impact on investment trends in developing countries; regionalisation and bloc formation, especially the EU/SA trade agreement; the difference between and importance of "trade, not aid", and "aid for trade"; the significance of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) and the Indian Ocean Rim; assessment of South Africa's relations with Africa, the political environment and the role of government.
    • Business in Society: Sustainability and the triple bottom line; global corporate citizenship; social and ethical challenges facing multinational corporations in a globalised economy; socially responsible investment concepts and key local and global indices; sustainability reporting; key global standards.

"3 overlapping clusters: Individual, Organisation
and Environment"

Marketing Management

  • About this module: How do you get consumers to know about your products or services? This module covers all aspects of marketing and markets in order to sell successfully.
  • What you will learn: The role of marketing in society and its impact on consumers and producers; consumerism and customer centricity; the central role of marketing in the organisation; the principles of marketing; the marketing concept and process; consumer behaviour and the concept of value; directional strategies; branding; marketing strategy including the traditional marketing mix and the expanded marketing mix; formulation, implementation and control of a marketing plan.

Strategic Management and Innovation

  • About this module: A business needs an overall direction and a plan of action to achieve its objectives, and this is what strategic management is all about. This module looks at the policies and plans to reach business goals. It also looks at the innovation and entrepreneurial input that drive a business forward.
  • What you will learn: The theory, process, implementation and evaluation of strategic management; industry, competitive and environmental analyses; internal analysis, goal-setting, and formulating strategy; link between allocation of resources/budgets and strategic plan; evaluating performance, evaluating difficult-to-quantify, non-financial goals; designing action plans; differentiation between competitive business strategy and corporate strategy; managing stakeholders and interest groups; leadership, role of key decision-makers; entrepreneurial action-orientation; managing innovation; risk; entrepreneurial initiatives; military strategy; social enterprise and non-profit management; driving the organisation forward; integrated, cross-disciplinary cases; business simulations.

Leadership

  • About this module: The USB's strong emphasis on personal leadership addresses the need for a new generation of leaders with a global focus and integrated skills in a multi-polar world.
  • What you will learn: This learning area covers the following:
    • Personal leadership: Orientation and Context, Personal Leadership Edge, Personal Mastering and Emotional Intelligence, Individual Ethical Decision-making, Multi-cultural Sensitivity, Personal Identity/Culture/History
    • Group leadership: Valuing and Leading Diversity, High-impact Leadership and Teaming
    • Organisational leadership: Organisational Change, Corporate Governance, Diversity within Organisations, High-performance People Management Practices, Employment Relations, Negotiation.
    • Societal leadership: Managing complex social issues.

Further information

 PDF of comprehensive MBA brochure in English [Read / Download]
 PDF of comprehensive MBA brochure in English [Print]

 PDF of comprehensive MBA brochure in Afrikaans [Read / Download]
 PDF of comprehensive MBA brochure in Afrikaans [Print]

The USB reserves the right to modify the contents of subjects and to combine subject matter for better integration of learning areas. This is in the interest of continuous improvement of the curriculum.