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SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY 
REGISTERED QUALIFICATION: 

Master of Philosophy in People Management 
SAQA QUAL ID QUALIFICATION TITLE
91918  Master of Philosophy in People Management 
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  Human Resources 
ABET BAND MINIMUM CREDITS PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL NQF LEVEL QUAL CLASS
Undefined  180  Not Applicable  NQF Level 09  Regular-Provider-ELOAC 
REGISTRATION STATUS SAQA DECISION NUMBER REGISTRATION START DATE REGISTRATION END DATE
Registered-data under construction  EXCO 0324/24  2024-07-01  2027-06-30 
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2028-06-30   2031-06-30  

Registered-data under construction

The qualification content is currently being updated for the qualifications with the status “Registered-data under construction” or showing “DETAILS UNDER CONSTRUCTION” to ensure compliance with SAQA’S Policy and Criteria for the registration of qualifications and part-qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) (As amended, 2022). These qualifications are re-registered until 30 June 2027 and can legitimately be offered by the institutions to which they are registered.

 

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.  

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION 
Purpose:
The primary purpose of the Master of Philosophy in People Management is to provide advanced training in human resource management, with a focus on strategic human resource management and human capital development. This Master's qualification aims to educate human resource practitioners with the requisite knowledge and skills to conduct Master's level empirical research into a variety of human resource related problems or concerns within South African organisations. Learners will also be able to apply their newly acquired knowledge to develop possible solutions or interventions for these problems.

Rationale:
This qualification is designed for the professional training of industrial/organisational psychologists. Over the years many human resource practitioners have completed this Master's qualification in order to attain a higher Degree in a related discipline. The overwhelming majority of these learners have not pursued an internship, written the board examination or registered as organisational psychologists. The identified a need amongst prospective learners for an alternative qualification dedicated to advanced learning in human resource management was also identified. This field of study is similar to, but distinct from, that of organisational psychology. This qualification is meant to better tailor the learning material to the real needs of human resource practitioners. The implementation of this qualification will allow the modification of organisational psychology in a Master's qualification and strengthen its focus on developing researchers and scientist practitioners in the area of organisational psychology. In this way the institution's strategic orientation of (a) strengthening and building greater research capacity and (b) expanding the postgraduate offerings with innovative delivery modes to appeal to learners requiring a Master's level Degree, but not one with a professional registration track, will be fulfilled.

This qualification will be implemented over two years to allow working learners the necessary time to engage comprehensively with the learning material while at the same time continuing in their place of employment. This Master's qualification is designed to include a significant component of work-based and experiential activities and a triangulated relationship with learners' line managers, in order to ensure that the learning is directly applicable to their current job positions and future career aspirations.

The rationale for this qualification was also motivated by a needs analysis, conducted amongst human resource directors throughout a variety of industries within the region to assess the learning needs of their staff. The needs analysis exercise has provided empirical evidence that there is a cogent argument for providing this qualification.

Historically the common descriptor is human resource management, but given that the National Association for Human Resource Practitioners has re-branded itself using the descriptor People Practice, the qualification descriptor represents more contemporary conceptualisation of the field. This also provides for differentiation on the institution's offering from other and more traditional national Master's qualifications in the field. The institution's differentiation centres around the focus on strategy and developing knowledge and competencies for human resource practitioners as strategic partners and the triangulation with line managers, to ensure successful transfer of learning. The term 'people management' is a more modern/current/contemporary term. 

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING 
Depending on the undergraduate Degree, applicants to the qualification would have a well-rounded and broad education in various fields or in organisational psychology or human resource management. An applicant without a prior Degree in the field would require practical work experience and the associated learning in the discipline.

Recognition of Prior Learning:
The Recognition of Prior Learning can be used where applicable to grant:
  • Access to the qualification to those who do not meet the minimum admission requirements, but who qualify for admission.
  • Credits towards the achievement of the qualification.

    Access to the Qualification:
    The applicant must be in possession of a relevant Bachelor Honours Degree, with a minimum of two years' related work experience. 
    		•

    RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING? 
    Y 

    QUALIFICATION RULES 
    The qualification comprises six coursework modules, together totalling 120 Credits and the production of an original relevant research project at Master's level, worth 60 Credits, in order to complete the qualification with the minimum required Credits of 180.

    People Management Masters Coursework I: 80 Credits:
  • Strategy.
  • Training and development.
  • Resourcing, talent retention and other global Human Resource challenges.
  • Intergroup skills.

    People Management Masters Coursework II: 40 Credits:
  • Research Methods.
  • Performance and compensation.

    People Management Masters Research Project: 60 Credits. 
    		•

    EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES 
    1. Conduct independent research in the discipline (or inter-disciplinary field).
    2. Communicate verbally and orally with professional audiences.
    3. Apply in-depth and specialised disciplinary knowledge and research skills to discipline based problems.
    4. Analyse and critique communications of an academic and popular nature.
    5. Demonstrate appreciation of the ethical issues associated with research and knowledge production in the discipline.
    6. Demonstrate in-depth knowledge and understanding of the processes whereby knowledge in Business is constructed.

    Critical Cross-Field Outcomes:
    All the Critical Cross-Field Outcomes are addressed in the qualification. 

    ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 
    These assessment criteria may be applied in an integrated manner to any or all of the Exit Level Outcomes:
  • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of contemporary theoretical, empirical and applied issues in the field of human resource management.
  • Identify and document strategic trends in the external environment of an organisation; prioritise these trends and make informed decisions, based on sufficient evidence, about those trends which might affect people management practices.
  • Produce a business-oriented document (i.e., brief, concise and based on numbers) which outlines transactional efficiencies for internal Human Resource (HR) processes.
  • Design an HR unit which will deliver strategic partnership, change agility, fairness and service excellence in an organisation.
  • Construct a logical, written argument indicating which value-adding measures could be used in a high level HR report for the senior leadership team in an organisation.
  • Design an equitable reward qualification.
  • Understand when reward discrimination is justified and use this understanding to design models for rewarding special groups.
  • Deal with inequitable rewards.
  • Design retention strategies that organisations can make use of to retain top talent.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the role that organisational learning can play in organisational success by formulating an evidenced-based argument to this effect.
  • Examine the strengths and weaknesses of popularly used evaluations models in a comparative analysis exercise.
  • Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the underlying theories informing training evaluation models by reviewing and analysing relevant social science research and theories.
  • Select and apply an appropriate model for a particular intervention in a given context.
  • Apply an evaluation model to a case in order to assess the potential for learning transfer and present the result of this application exercise in the form of a class presentation.
  • Assess the strengths and weaknesses of different recruitment and selection process models for a given context.
  • Identify the challenges associated with recruitment and selection planning processes in the South African context.
  • Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different sources of recruitment.
  • Assess the role of psychometric assessment in the recruitment and selection process.
  • Develop a guideline for fair practice (ethical and legal) in recruitment and selection.
  • Diagnosis interpersonal problems based on diversity.
  • Evaluate the potential effectiveness of a variety of transformation initiatives and diversity skills training models.
  • Develop conflict management and team communication skills.
  • Apply a range of advanced research methods and statistical procedures to human resource management research problems.
  • Conduct advanced literature searches to inform reviews of specialised literature.
  • Diagnose a given scenario and identify an appropriate intervention.
  • Evaluate an intervention qualification and write research proposals.
  • Write reports for a variety of clients and stakeholders.

    Integrated Assessment:
    Each module is equally weighted and learners will be required to pass all modules to pass the course work component of the qualification. Formative assessment is addressed in that each lecturer is required to set a minimum of two assessments per module.

    Summative assessment requires that there be at least one assignment and one test. The assignments will articulate with work-based problems and be a combination of theory and application. 
    		•

    INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY 
    In terms of the required research component and the theoretical knowledge and practical skills, this Master of Philosophy in People Management complies with international practice in terms of the requirements for a Master's Degree. 

    ARTICULATION OPTIONS 
    Horizontal Articulation:
    This qualification articulates horizontally with relevant Master's Degrees in Organisational Psychology or Human Resource Management, at NQF Level 9.

    Vertical Articulation:
    This qualification articulates vertically with any relevant Doctoral Degree at NQF Level 10. 

    MODERATION OPTIONS 
    Preliminary moderation takes place after each module by the Head of Section, who reviews the spread of results across and between the modules. Formal moderation of assignments takes place during the external examination of the qualification.

    Research projects are examined by two external parties. Practice is to appoint one examiner internal to the institution but external to the section and one examiner external to the institution. 

    CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS 
  • Assessor must have a relevant Higher Education qualification at least one level higher than the course being assessed.
  • Be qualified and experienced as assessors. 
    		•

    REREGISTRATION HISTORY 
    As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2015. 

    NOTES 
    N/A 

    LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION: 
     
    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.