SAQA All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.
SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY 
REGISTERED QUALIFICATION THAT HAS PASSED THE END DATE: 

Master of Business Administration: Executive Programme 
SAQA QUAL ID QUALIFICATION TITLE
15183  Master of Business Administration: Executive Programme 
ORIGINATOR
University of Cape Town 
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education  HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework 
QUALIFICATION TYPE FIELD SUBFIELD
Master's Degree  Field 03 - Business, Commerce and Management Studies  Generic Management 
ABET BAND MINIMUM CREDITS PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL NQF LEVEL QUAL CLASS
Undefined  120  Level 8 and above  NQF Level 08  Regular-Provider-ELOAC 
REGISTRATION STATUS SAQA DECISION NUMBER REGISTRATION START DATE REGISTRATION END DATE
Passed the End Date -
Status was "Reregistered" 		 SAQA 0695/12  2012-07-01  2014-12-31 
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2015-12-31   2018-12-31  

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.  

This qualification is replaced by: 
Qual ID Qualification Title Pre-2009 NQF Level NQF Level Min Credits Replacement Status
96543  Master of Management in Executive Leadership  Not Applicable  NQF Level 09  180  Complete 

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION 
We recognise that increasing globalisation and democracy in Southern Africa are creating new socio-economic challenges that will require new ways of managing and organising our firms and institutions. This programme is designed to broaden and deepen thinking about these issues and critically question current practices and theories with a view to developing more innovative approaches that are more relevant to the context in which we find ourselves.

The programme introduces a systemic approach to thinking critically about and inquiring into thee issues. It brings into focus issues of ethics and aesthetics, of values and ends, and of efficiency and effectiveness. Multiple sources of learning and knowledge are integrated in order to take more effective action. Its flexibility allows individuals to concentrate on particular areas of importance to themselves and their organizations.

The programme develops appropriate organisation and general management competencies for professional practitioners who are proficient in their specialised fields. These competencies provide the foundations for their development as executives and future leaders in an increasingly global context.

Students develop a deep appreciation of a set of core and foundation courses that familiarises them with the debates, techniques of research and study in the following fields: systems thinking and inquiry; quantitative methods; economics; ethics and governance; business and society; marketing and electronic commerce; operations and logistics management; strategic human resources management; accounting and finance; information management and technology; international business; entrepreneurship; strategic and global management and critical management thinking.

Students are required to show proficiency in all of these subjects before applying them to particular organizational issues and problems. They are required to produce a series of group (30) and individual (12) problem-based learning reports, a personal development report, an action learning report and a major action research report. The research report submitted should be on a standard sufficient to provide the foundation for a PhD thesis. 

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING 
A bachelor's degree. CA, CMA degree or equivalent qualification and a minimum of ten years' working experience in a relevant environment are a pre-requisites for entry to the program.

In the case of non-degreed applicants, a minimum of fifteen years' relevant working experience and evidence of academic and intellectual potential (in form of reference letters) are required. These need to show evidence of the candidate's managerial performance typically measured in terms of budgets managed and number of people reporting to them. They also need to demonstrate high levels of competence in their fields of specialization. Typically this can be done through membership of professional organizations.

Candidates must write the GMAT test (bench mark score 550) and must present evidence of suitability for the program. Candidates are selected through a panel interview process. GMAT scores alone do not determine entry. Evidence of distinctive workplace or professional achievements, and quality of working experience, are also taken into consideration, as are letters of reference from employers.

Recognition of prior learning:

People who have shown by examination, publication or a record of appropriate training that they have reached a level in the subject or a cognate subject equivalent to an honours degree may be permitted to register for the degree.

Senior certificate with matriculation exemption or equivalent university admission qualification

First degree:
Not specific 

RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING? 
Y 

EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES 
The Executive MBA graduates are competent in and can demonstrate mastery in the field of general and executive management in complex organizations. They are able to lead, manage and operate in complex organizations in both the public and private sectors.

They are equipped to:

*Research and enquire into complex operational, strategic and normative organizational issues.

*Design appropriate interventions.

*Plan, implement and monitor interventions in complex situations.

*Critically reflect on outcomes and learn from the experience.

The program draws on the following sources of learning:

*Authority in the form of the literature, specialist practitioners and world authorities.

*Experience through action learning and action research projects

*Social discourse and dialogue through group work.

*Critical thinking and reasoning.

These competencies will enable graduates to enquire into and debate issues in the field of general organization and management on a level that is equivalent to prevailing PhD standards. These competencies and unit standards outcomes are detailed below.

i) Understand and manipulate quantitative information provided in tables, graphs and sets of equations;
ii) Critically understand and evaluate descriptive, prescriptive and argumentative written texts;
iii) Produce descriptive, prescriptive and argumentative written texts to PhD standards in the field of organization and management.
iv) Find information of professional relevance efficiently and independently and use the Internet to find and access information.
v) Use and organize such information to conduct systematic research aimed at providing answers solutions to open ended questions and problems, or to verifying answers that are assumed on the basis of accepted wisdom;
vi) Understand and critically appreciate the roles and contributions of major societal stakeholders in problem situations.
vii) Use efficiently and independently information technology on levels that are standard in professional offices (at the time of his or her graduation).
viii) Develop an increasing awareness of self and personal strengths and weaknesses and ways of managing personal development.
ix) Understand when and how to acknowledge the limitations of his or her own expertise and elicit the more appropriate expertise of others;
x) Appreciate the importance of life-long learning and the importance of self-initiative in pursuing it;
xi) Understand and internalise as a personal value the importance of conducting professional entrepreneurial activity within the scope of national, provincial, municipal and international law.

General outcomes:

An Executive MBA graduate is able to:

i) Develop solutions to both familiar and novel business problems as these arise in the course of general and executive management activities;
ii) Communicate his or her understanding of business problems and solutions to others in ways that are clearly without arrogance or presumptions;
iii) Receive critically and understand the difference between personal and social (often corporate, sometimes public) goals;
iv) Appreciate the ethical issues associated with organization and management and the research there of; and understand the importance of commitment to broader social goals even when these diverge from his or her personal interests;
v) Critically challenge the current wisdom on organization and management and develop a awareness of how this is changing;
vi) Master a critical mass of the body of knowledge within organization and management
vii) Master research methodologies relevant to organization and management
viii) Summarize clearly and accurately all the aspects of debates relevant to organization and management
ix) Appreciate the contexts in which specific technical competencies identified below can best be integrated with the general competencies just identified

The holder of an Executive MBA degree will:
  • Be familiar with leading issues in the field of organization and general and executive management and will be able to contextualise these using systemic and critical frameworks.
  • Be able to apply empirical, statistical and conceptual thinking and learning in the field of general organization management
  • Be able to prepare professional papers, technical reports and research documents for peer review.
  • Be able to develop innovative proposals for enterprise development and entrepreneurship
  • Be competent in the learning to learn process
  • Be able to integrate action-learning processes into his or her management practice to enhance continuous improvement.

    The development of these competencies will be developed within the following core content areas.

    Systems thinking
  • Management cybernetics
  • Soft systems thinking
  • Critical systems thinking
  • Action research and learning

    Strategic human resources management
  • Issues of motivation, leadership, power, politics in the workplace, diversity training
  • Cultural and cross-cultural understanding and issues such as; affirmative action
  • Linking human resource management to management strategy

    Business and society
  • Evaluation and identification of socio-economic and political trends
  • Understanding of how' such trend impact upon the business sector
  • Analysis of the relationship between business, government and society

    Impact and management skills:
  • Introduction of the theories of systems practice and organizational learning
  • Generic skills of communication and management
  • Introduce concepts of leadership and diversity

    Normative management
    Economics
  • Identification of national and international economic trends
  • Understanding of the context of business
  • Integration and prediction of future developments and trends

    Ethics and Governance
  • Moral development
  • Business ethics, ethical decision making
  • Governance

    The Organization's value stream

    Quantitative analysis
  • Understanding of mathematical principles and statistical concepts
  • Evaluation of data
  • Application of above concepts and principles for the analysis of data relevant to organizational decision making

    Marketing
  • Provide students with working knowledge of marketing
  • Activities to achieve competitive advantage
  • The role of marketer and finding, creating and capitalizing on sources of customer value

    Managing Operations
  • The study of methods by which services and products are designed, developed and produced
  • Decision-making in the areas of process, capacity, inventory-measurement, productivity and quality
  • Management for continuous learning and improvement

    Value-based management

    Finance
  • Analysis of complex financial environments. Examination of financial decisions taken by companies and assessment of these decisions and their consequences.
  • Analysis of cash-flow procedure, cost of capital analysis, risk, uncertainty
  • Examination of capital sources, debt-equity balance and dividend payments.

    Accounting
  • Read, use and understand corporate financial statements
  • Introduce cost analysis and management control systems
  • Teach the underlying principles of accounting

    Information systems and technology
  • The management of information
  • Technological change and impact on organizations
  • Alignment of IS and the organization's goals and strategies

    International business and entrepreneurship
    International business
  • Good practice in international business
  • Life cycles in international business
  • Leadership in international business

    Entrepreneurship
  • The role of entrepreneurship in wealth creation
  • Models of entrepreneurship
  • Entrepreneurship apprenticeship

    Strategy and critical management thinking

    Strategy
  • Thinking and acting strategically
  • Managing holistically
  • Theories and case studies to test such theories in both the South African context globally

    Critical management thinking
  • The role of metaphor in management
  • Relationships and post modernism in management
  • Critical management research 
    		•

    ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 
    The Executive MBA program provides an environment in which students learn in an integrated way the general management and executive competencies needed to manage organizations ranging from large multinational corporations to small high technology start-ups; from large para-statal organization to local authorities; etc

    These competencies are assessed in terms of the following criteria through oral and written group projects, action learning projects, research projects and personal development projects.

    1. Richness: Richness reflects the depth of understanding of and the insights into these aspects and the different levels of complexity and interpretation. Any object can be viewed from many different perspectives and that each stakeholder has his/her own perspective of an issue. A richer understanding of an issue requires you to sweep in multiple perspectives of the issue.
    2. Recursion: Understanding of the recursive nature of things. This is the idea of meta-levels and that, when you are dealing with something on a particular level; it is more useful to view if from a meta-level. As we ascend to higher levels we are able to "reflect" in a process that is increasingly diverse and complex and that systematically organisations and reorganisations to cognitive content.

    3. Relationships:

    Focusing on the interconnections and interrelationships between the parts that give coherence to the whole. It is the relationship with the whole that gives meaning to the parts.

    4. Rigor:

    Recognizing the complexities of our age and the problems it brings, as well as the uncertainties, indeterminacies and the abilities of our theories. Vigorously searching for alternatives, relations, patterns and connections before coming to decisions. Understanding the assumptions on which decisions are made and the implications of these for the decisions. These are measured through the following activities:

    i) Statistical projects

    ii) In-depth and critical review of relevant literature

    iii) Professional and critical report writing

    iv) Paper and on-line literature searches

    v) The writing and presentations of position papers and action learning project

    vi) Critical stakeholder analysis in action learning and research projects

    vii) Professional preparation of report and presentations

    viii) Impact of management skill (IMS) projects

    ix) The use of experts and consultants in action learning and action research project.
    IMS project.

    x) The developments of an action learning approach to own management practices.

    xi) Projects on strategy, international business and entrepreneurship.

    Criteria

    Outcomes are assessed in terms of levels of cognitive complexity achieved in the following categories:

    Relevance, which answers the question:" Is this relevant to the context?"

    Utility, which answers the question:" Will this bring about an improvement in the context?"

    Validity, which answers the question: "Is there a valid basis for this?"

    Ethics, which answers the question: "Is this an ethical option in this context?"

    These are measured through the following activities.

    i) Systematic problem formulation, solution design and implementation
    ii) Professional communication
    iii) Sweeping in multiple perspectives - typically technical, economic, social and political perspectives
    iv) Projects in ethics, governance and normative management
    v) Explicit use of critical reflective activities and critical management thinking.
    vi) Projects in core subjects relevant to organization and general and executive management
    vii) Action research projects
    viii) Critical reasoning and thinking
    ix) Systems thinking

    Levels of cognitive complexity reflected in:
  • Construction and evaluation of arguments.
  • The degree of critical and reflective thinking and reading
  • The ability to gain insights into, critique and redefine the interactions between empirical and conceptual objects.

    Cognitive complexity is demonstrated in:
  • Group problem based-learning aspects
  • Position papers
  • Action learning project
  • Personal development report
  • Major research project

    Integrated assessment:

    The program consists of 6 modules spread over a two-year period. Modules are designed around the following themes:

    Module 1 - Foundations of organization and management
    Module 2 - Normative management
    Module 3 - Designing and managing the organization's value stream
    Module 4 - Value-based management (stakeholder value)
    Module 5 - International business and entrepreneurship
    Module 6 - Strategy and critical management thinking

    Content course are selected in accordance with these themes.

    Each module is structured as follows:

    1. Two week full-time intensive period - 120 scheduled hours
    2. 14 week part-time project period - 200 project hours
    Each module is assessed in terms of:

    1. Five problem-based group projects (30 hrs)
    2. One position paper (20 hrs)
    3. One individual problem-based or action learning project (150 hrs)

    In addition there are the following three program projects:

    1. One personal development project (150 hrs)
    2. One major reflective action learning project (200 hrs)
    3. One major action research project (350 hrs)

    Students have to exhibit proficiency in a range of mathematical, analytical and written assignments. The Executive MBA is designed to impart to students a set of professional as well as academic skills that provide a sound foundation for general and executive management. It equips student to pay leadership and senior executive roles in the full range of organizations the make up civil society. 
    		•

    ARTICULATION OPTIONS 
    Title of related qualification
    PhD

    This qualification serves as an entry point to the related qualification.

    Other articulation possibilities, either generic or specific
    None 

    MODERATION OPTIONS 
    The University of Cape Town has a system of external peer review and evaluation, which will be used for each module. An important aspect of the system is an evaluation of the standards and assessment practices of the program. 

    CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS 
    The academic staff of the University of Cape Town and other external examiners, who hold at least a masters degree, will be used in a manner, which is consistent with the quality assurance system of the University. 

    REREGISTRATION HISTORY 
    As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2006; 2009; 2012. 

    NOTES 
    These qualifications will be realigned to what the CHE has termed Category C qualifications to comply with the HEQSF. 

    LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION: 
    When qualifications are replaced, some of their learning programmes are moved to being recorded against the replacement qualifications. If a learning programme appears to be missing from here, please check the replacement.
     
    NONE 


    PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION: 
    This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.
     
    1. University of Cape Town 


    All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.