Phase 1: Management Fundamentals

Management Fundamentals

This phase prepares students to operate in a business environment by covering the basic tools and frameworks required for business decision-making. The detailed content of the basic management tools is defined by that which is required in the Management in Context phase (Phase 2). The following modules are delivered during this phase:

Business Fundamentals

Background to management theory – the value chain; competitive forces and positioning; market dynamics; the manager’s functions in a dynamic, interrelated and continuously changing work environment; global management issues; principles of strategic decision-making; a world view of the information age; analysis of complex problems through systems thinking; systemic principles and methods of organisational development; the case method as a mechanism to explore complexity and cross-functional characteristics of business challenges.

Decision Analysis

Data, data collection and description; probability theory; probability distributions; sampling and sample distributions; statistical estimation; hypothesis testing; linear programming; model formulation, solution and sensitivity analysis; integer programming; goal programming; critical path methods; simulation; decision theory.

Economics for Managers

The meaning of economics and economic systems, and how economics influences all stakeholders in society; the meaning and challenges of globalisation and international economic integration, especially with regard to an open developing economy; the application of the principles of supply and demand in a market economy; the implications of the interaction between changes in one or more of a wide range of macroeconomic forces; economic growth and development; inflation; unemployment; the balance of payments and exchange rates; the reasoning behind economic policy decisions, and the impact of such decisions on the managerial function.

Leadership: Orientation and Context

The aim of this module is to establish a clear understanding of the leadership development process and assessment requirements. It includes the principles of the New Economy Leadership and Values Shift, and discusses the primary challenges facing leaders in the New Economy. It also initiates the leadership development process on a personal level.

Management Accounting

Elements of cost and cost systems; break-even analysis; budgeting control; cost behaviour, variance analysis; in-depth analysis and interpretation of financial statements of listed South African industrial companies; focus on cash-flow analysis and management of working capital; traditional ratio analysis; value-added statements and analysis of historical performance reviews.

Personal Skills Development

Dimensions of proper communication; self-reading on verbal communication skills; oral presentations techniques and resources; adaptive assessments of individual presentation skills; self-reading on professional written communication with emphasis on report-writing; continuous feedback and adaptive assessment of report-writing skills; self-study of resources supplied to acquire proficiency in office productivity software and the US enterprise collaboration software; information literacy, dealing with the proper methods of finding, using, passing value judgements upon, and referencing information resources.

Research Methodology

This module deals with the mastery of the scientific principles underlying business and management research. These principles must be applied in developing a research approach and in choosing a research strategy within the context of a specific question. Hence, the required steps in the research process must be implemented in order to reach a scientific conclusion. This information must be documented in the form of a final research proposal. This module includes the logic of the research process and the different forms of reasoning; stages in the research process; formulating the research question; and research design, conceptualisation, sampling, and data collection. Approaches in data analysis are included: qualitative, quantitative, non-parametric, parametric and time series analysis. The module includes hypotheses, models, theories and report-writing.

Further information

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

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

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.