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Brighton Business School
Brighton Business School
The Brighton MBA
(part-time)
MBA General Management
Course Handbook 2013-2014
September 2013
CONTENTS
Welcome from the Dean of the Business School
1.COURSE LEADER INTRODUCTION
2.BRIGHTONBUSINESSSCHOOL
3.COURSE MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
3.1Course management team, programme board and examination board
3.2Communications between staff and students
3.3Where to turn for advice and guidance
3.4Student representation and feedback
3.5Annual academic health process
4.COURSE STRUCTURE AND CONTENT
4.1 Course philosophy, aims and learning outcomes
4.2 Course structure and content
4.3 Academic calendar
4.4Teaching and learning methods
5.COURSE ASSESSMENT
5.1Nature of assessment
5.2Coursework marking guidelines
5.3Coursework presentation
5.4Referencing your work
5.5Coursework word limit and word ranges
5.6Coursework submission
5.7Late coursework
5.8Coursework extensions
5.9Return of coursework
5.10Examination timetables
5.11Examination past papers
5.12Examination results
5.13Mitigating circumstances
5.14 Plagiarism, collusion and cheating in examinations
5.15 Appealing the decision of an examination board
6.COURSE SPECIFIC REGULATIONS
6.1Admissions
6.2 Minimum pass mark & referrals
6.3 What happens if I then fail a referral?
6.4 Compensation within modules (qualified pass)
6.5 Progression regulations
6.6 Deferrals
6.7 Calculation of the final mark for the degree classification
6.8 Awards (including exit awards)
6.9 Registration periods
6.10 Intercalation
7.LIBRARY, COMPUTING AND MEDIA SERVICES
7.1 The library service
7.2 Library services to part-time students
7.3 The Online Library
7.4 Computing services for students based at Moulsecoomb
7.5 Media Centres
7.6 Studentcentral
7.7 ASK Study Guide
7.8 Useful web addresses
8.STUDENT SERVICES
9.STUDENT ENTITLEMENTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
9.1Student Charter
9.2BrightonBusinessSchool – Attendance and Engagement policy
9.3Disability statement
9.4Fire evacuation
9.5Observing copyright laws
10. University Alumni Association
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: MBA Module Guide
Appendix 2: Academic Calendar
Appendix 3: Studentcentral
Appendix 4: Action Learning
Appendix5: Management Competency Profile
Appendix 6: University Maps
Welcome from Professor Aidan Berry, Dean of Brighton Business School
I am very pleased to have this opportunity to welcome you to Brighton Business School at the University of Brighton. As Dean, I am proud of our recent success in positioning the Business School as a leading regional MBA provider within a successful university. The University of Brighton improved its ranking by 21 places in the 2008 RAE and Brighton Business School was in the upper quartile of Business Schools in terms of the percentage of 4* (world leading) research.
Our mission statement clearly sets out the underpinning teaching and learning philosophy that will be governing your study whilst on the MBA programme.
“Brighton Business School is a professional business school that aims to be a leading provider of exciting and relevant management and professional education that makes a positive difference to current managers and potential leaders of the future, which is underpinned by appropriate research and which adds value to individuals, employers and society at large.”
The strength of the Brighton MBA lies in its connections with private, public and third sector organisations, as well as its links with professional bodies such as the Institute of Directors and the Chartered Management Institute. The Business School has a growing research base and its staff continue to make an organisational impact through teaching that is grounded in theory and its application to practice. Brighton Business School considers it a priority to add sustainable value to its stakeholders through well designed and high quality teaching and learning provision. I hope that you will prosper as a student on our Brighton MBA both with regards to your professional and personal development but also that you will also be able to build on the learning and networks in the future, long after the completion of the course.
Professor Aidan Berry
Dean of Business School
1.COURSE LEADER INTRODUCTION
In a dynamic, competitive and constantly changing business environment, the requirement for leadership, quality, innovation and creativity presents a continuing challenge. The Master of Business Administration programme (MBA) is designed to help managers to meet that challenge. As it has evolved over the years the MBA programme has helped managers develop the abilities required to optimize personal, professional and organizational performance with the constant change of the modern business world. During the summer 2012 the latest review of the MBA programme took place to ensure a relevant, exciting and challenging action approach to problem solving aiming at developing and enhancing the skills of improving organisational performance.
The programme is organised into a set of core MBA modules shared across all MBA routes, a set of course specific modules and a Final Integrative module with a course specific focus. The MBA programme has been designed with flexibility of attendance and progression in mind.
Please note that the coursecan be taken as a 1 year full-time course or as a part time course. As a part-time course the structure is organised into 21/2 to 3 years and each year into three main terms and has been designed with flexibility of attendance and progression in mind. However, it is important to bear in mind that the part-time course can also be taken over a longer period to suit the participants’ personal circumstances e.g. any time from 2 to 6 years of study.
This design ensures that students benefit from the diversity of experience and cultural backgrounds from a range of local, national and international participants whilst retaining a personalised teaching and learning approach.
Management education is an important element in a manager's professional development and can often be a route to fast-track promotion. However, within the design as a whole, the importance of personal development has also been recognised with the theme of personal and professional reflection on practice being present throughout the programme.
The remainder of this document will give you information about the overall MBA Programme and especially your chosen MBA course and its administration. However, its contents should be seen as an overall guide only, since some changes will inevitably be made to the published details to ensure that the programme continues to be of the highest quality. The design of the block route is constantly reviewed through interaction with existing and past students as well as local organisation in order that the course continues to reflect the constantly changing nature of management and the challenges facing managers working within this context.
Finally, we would like to welcome you to the Brighton MBA Programme and express our hope that your time on the programme will prove to be stimulating, challenging, rewarding and most of all, enjoyable.
This handbook will stay with you for the duration of your MBA study - we hope you will find the format very helpful and informative.
On behalf of Brighton MBA Management Team
Graham Clifford, MBA Course Leader: Part Time, Leadership and Knowledge & Innovation Management
Jim Mcloughlin, MBA Course Leader: Full Time
Tove Steen Sørensen-Bentham, MBAProgramme Leader and Course Leader: Public Service Management
2.BRIGHTONBUSINESSSCHOOL
2.1Your schoolis BrightonBusinessSchool. The Dean of Brighton Business School is Professor Aidan Berry. More information about the work of the School may be found on the school web site at:
The BusinessSchool’s contact details are:
BrightonBusinessSchool
University of Brighton
Mithras House
Lewes Road
BRIGHTON
BN2 4AT
Tel: (01273) 600900 (Switchboard)
Fax:(01273) 643597
2.2The purpose of this course handbook is to provide you with key information about your course, including administrative and academic procedures, and to give you some practical advice on how to make the most of your studies and to explain what to do if you experience any difficulties. Please read the handbook very carefully and keep it at hand for future reference.
Other key documents that you should be familiar with are:
- the University of Brighton Student Handbook;
- the University of Brighton Plagiarism Awareness Pack;
- the BrightonBusinessSchool Referencing Handbook;
- the University of Brighton General Examination and Assessment Regulations (GEAR).
Copies of all these documents are accessible in electronic format on the University’s student intranet, Studentcentral (see 7.6 below), via your Course Area. You will also be provided with paper copies of the University Student Handbook and the University Plagiarism Awareness Pack.
Because of increasing incidents of cases of plagiarism both in this university and others, you are strongly urged to carefully read the Plagiarism Awareness Pack. Penalties for plagiarism can be very harsh and ignorance is no defence! The University has access to special software which can detect plagiarism and we will be using this at random throughout the year at all levels, so you have been warned.
If you would like to see any other items included in your course handbook please contact the Postgraduate Office () and, whilst we cannot promise to change things straight away, we will do our best to improve the handbook in future years.
3.COURSE MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
3.1Course management team, course board and examination board
3.2Communications between staff and students
3.3Where to turn for advice and guidance
3.4Student representation and feedback
3.5Annual academic health process
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3.1Course management team, course board and examination board
3.1.1Course management team
Responsibility for the day-to-day running of your course lies with the course management team, comprising your course leader, your course administrator, and the members of staff teaching on the course. Their contact details are as follows:
Staff Directory:
The Programme Team
Tove Sørensen-Bentham
01273 642577MBA Programme Leader & Course Leader PSM
t.sorensen-bentham@brightonTove has worked in senior management in the public and
.ac.ukindependent sectors since 1982.
She has an LLM and an MSc Social Policy.
Tove was a non-executive director of local NHS organisationsfrom 1996 – 2006.
She is currently a governor of asecondary school
and has just been appointed associate hospital manager of a mental health NHS trust. She is chair of pharmacy committees in East & West Sussex plus South London and has chaired a number of external reviews and enquiries on behalf of the NHS into serious incidents and service issues. She is particularly interested in issues around strategy, quality, change, leadership and management development. She is the MBA Programme Leader.
Graham Clifford
01273 642985
MBA course leader, PT, Leadership, Knowledge & Innovation Management
Graham has worked in the motor, electronics, transport andengineering industries. He has operated as director and asgeneral manager and has extensive first hand experience of finance, IT, acquisitions, disposals and change management. He has managed companies for growth and turnaround. His interests are in strategy, business ownership, management buy-outs and turnaround.
Jim Mcloughlin
01273 642573
j.g.mcloughlin@brightonMBA & MBA (International Management) Course Leader, Full Time
Jim worked as a Business Analyst at Deloittes Touche,
Italian Swiss Wine Corporation and Shacklee corporation, San Francisco (USA). He is head of the CUBIST Research and consultancy group which researches social enterprise strategies, social finance, corporate responsibility and social innovation. He is a principal lecturer in strategic management and economics. He has been a visiting lecturer in numerous international universities including the following countries: Russia, Poland, USA, Jamaica, Italy, France, Azerbaijan, Kazahkstan & Slovakia. He is an adviser on social impact measurement to European Microfinance Network ( EMN), The Community Development Finance Association (CDFA) and Hidden Britain and the Brighton based Dialogue 50:50 group. He has advised UNESCO World Heritage on social impact measurement.
Carolyn Smith Room M159Programme Administrator (PT General Management)
01273 642947Carolyn previously worked for The Society of Motor
Manufacturers and Traders Ltd, based in London, as Product and Services Managerfrom1988 to 2000. Carolyn joined the BusinessSchool in January 2001, working part-time, Monday 8.30 until 2.30 and Wednesday and Thursday 9.15 til 2.30pm.
Bruce Samuel Room M159Programme Administrator (PSM Management)
01273 642794Bruce studied Library and Information Studies at the
University of Brighton and has spent many years working in the charitable sector. He switched to the education sector and started working for the University of Brighton. He has worked as a programme administrator for the last 3 years, initially in the School of Education and more recently in the BrightonBusinessSchool. Bruce has an MSc in Information Management, is an amateur competitive racing cyclist and is a strong believer in the merits of team work. Bruce worksfull-time in the Postgraduate Office.
Andy Davies Room 159Programme Administrator (FT MBA)
02173 642981
Postgraduate Office M159
01273 642197
The postgraduate office is based in room 159 on the first floor of Mithras House on the University’s Moulsecoomb campus. The office is open Monday - Thursday from 8.30am to 5.00pmand Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm. Mithras House building itself is open Monday to Thursday until 9.00pm and Friday until7.00pm during term-time and Monday to Friday until 7.00pm during vacation periods.If the programme administrator is not available, please contact
the office on the details provided here to deal with another
member of the postgraduate admin staff.Please note that the office will be closed over the Christmas period
TUTORS:Profiles of academic staff may be found on the School website at:
Tutor Name / Responsibility / Tel. Number / Email AddressPatrick Ballin / Lecturer / Direct to BBS /
Tim Brady / Principal research Fellow / Direct to BBS / T.M.Brady@brighton .ac.uk
Peter Bell / Principal Lecturer / 2341 /
Veronique Boulocher-Passet / Senior Lecturer / 1763 /
Sian Eggert / Senior Lecturer / 2547 /
Clair Fisher / Visiting Lecturer / Direct to BBS /
Brenda Flaherty / Visiting Lecturer / Direct to BBS /
Steve Flowers / Principal Lecturer / 1273 /
Julie Flower / Visiting Lecturer /
Paul Grant / Senior Lecturer / 2575 /
Rob Hayward / Senior Lecturer / 2586 /
Walter Heering / Senior Lecturer / 2581 /
Mark Hughes / Senior Lecturer / 2574 /
Joanna Johnson / Principal Lecturer / 2232 /
Despina Kanellou / Research Fellow / Direct to BBS /
Jenny Knight / Senior Lecturer / 2973 /
Barry Lee Scherer / Principal Lecturer / 2196 /
Catherine Matthews / Senior Lecturer / 2845 /
Pete Mccullen / Principal Lecturer / 2133 /
Clare Millington / Senior Lecturer / 2144 /
Richard Morland / Senior Lecturer / 2177 /
Gary Priddis / Senior Lecturer / 2588 /
Jane Priddis / Senior Lecturer / 2548 /
Jeffrey Readman / Senior Research Fellow / 1273 /
Steve Reeve / Principal Lecturer / 2967 /
Asher Rospigliosi / Senior Lecturer / 2340 /
Maura Sheehan / Reader / 2225 /
Khaled Soufani / Senior Lecturer / 2180 /
Babak Sodagar / Senior Lecturer / 2586 /
Jela Webb / Senior Lecturer / 2130 /
Matt Wood / Principal Lecturer / 2179 /
3.1.2Programme board
Each course within the School has a programme board. The responsibilities of course boards include:
•ensuring the smooth operation of the course;
•reviewing syllabus content, teaching methods, assessment and resources and generally monitoring the course in operation;
•supervising the administration of the assessment procedures in accordance with the assessment regulations and the aims of the course;
•liaising with the Examination Board and advising when necessary;
•maintaining effective feedback arrangements between the lecturers and the course members;
•planning and recommending policy with regard to the operation of the course;
•exercising such other functions as may be requested by the School Board.
The membership of course boards is as follows:
Course Leader
Student Representative(s)
Course Administrator(s)
Module Leaders
Information Adviser (or nominee)
Programme Leader
Assistant Head (Postgraduate)
Each course board will normally meet two times a year to hear reports on the progress of each year of the relevant course. The board will discuss both students' and tutors’ reports and take action where appropriate. If an issue arises which is clearly beyond the scope of the course board and requires further consideration, then it will be referred to the School Board.Copies of the minutes of course boards will normally be published on the school area on studentcentral within three weeks of each board on the “My School:BrightonBusinessSchool” area.
3.1.3 Examination boards
Each course within the School is allocated to an examination board, which considers each student’s overall performance and makes decisions on awards and progression (see section 6 of this course handbook).The full terms of reference for course examination boards is included in GEAR, Section D 4.3 a copy of which is available from the Postgraduate Office.
3.2Communications between staff and students
Effective communication between staff and students is very important, and the School facilitates this in a range of ways.
3.2.1We contact you
- Through Studentcentral
- By e-mail – using your University e-mail address (see 4.2.6 below)
- Through the student notice boards
- By mobile phone
- Through the postgraduate student mailboxes
The notice-boards and student mailboxes are all in Mithras House, close to the postgraduate office in M159. Through emails you will be told about changes in timetables, cancellations and re-locations, the membership of groups, notes about examinations and essays, internal and external mail. Changes can happen throughout the academic year so please check Studentcentral and your email account frequently. It is your own responsibility to keep up with any announced changes.
If you change your personal details (address, name etc) you must notify the Postgraduate Office immediately in writing (by letter or e-mail) AND change your personal details on-line on Studentcentral.
3.2.2You contact us
- By e-mail. E-mail addresses on pages 7-10
- Important messages and official documents can be handed in to the Postgraduate Office (M159)
- By coming into the University after prior appointment
- By calling us by phone, Tel: 01273 642197
3.2.3Postgraduate office
The Postgraduate Office is located in Room M159 and is staffed by Julie Watson and her team of course administrators. They have responsibility for all initial enquiries: for most queries you should see them first (what to do, where to go, requests for freely available handouts, information sheets, etc).
Opening times during term time
Postgraduate Office:
08.30 – 17.00 (Monday to Thursday)
08.30 –16.30 (Friday)
Mithras House(access to the building):
07.00 – 21.00 (Monday- Thursday)
07.00 – 19.00 (Friday)
Outside term time the building might close earlier so please check the times before you travel to the site.