Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration
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Certificate
- Code
- C66
- Level
- Postgraduate
- Made up of
- 60 credits
Description
This postgraduate certificate in business administration will enable you make a real difference within your management practice through active use of frameworks, theories and tools. It will help you to develop a good grounding in the theory and practice of managing and leading, covering the core functions and disciplines of management and helping you make the connections between them. It provides a framework for a year-long process of professional development which challenges you to engage actively with a wide variety of ideas and to develop a repertoire of techniques and approaches best suited to your own situation and management context.
This postgraduate certificate course will enable you to gain a better understanding of your own management practice in the context of learning about different management functions within organisations. You will gain confidence in understanding how they operate and in having successful conversations across these areas, including:
- managing people and organisations
- accounting
- marketing
- operations
- project and change management.
Over the course of a year’s study you will learn, develop and consolidate your understanding of the principal management functions. The certificate course aims to:
- develop your understanding of the core and current frameworks, theories and tools and to assess their relevance to the issues of twenty-first century leading and managing
- increase your awareness of different perspectives on, and approaches to, managing and leading in different organisational and cultural contexts
- develop your ability to engage critically with management frameworks, theories and tools helping you to select and adapt techniques and approaches appropriate to own management context, in order to have a real impact on your management practice
- develop your awareness of the wider global context in which business and management takes place, and increase your ability to work confidently across sectoral and national boundaries
- develop interpersonal and conceptual skills that will help you to use ideas and frameworks to make sense of, and to work with, organisational complexity
- challenge your own thinking and practice by reflecting upon it critically in the light of the ideas you encounter, and through debates with others
- enhance your ability to plan and implement change which will have real impact within your own organisational context.
Planning your studies
The entry requirements for this qualification are normally a UK honours degree or equivalent professional qualification, and have a minimum of three years’ experience in a managerial, professional or technical role. Usually this means that you are at least 25 years old as it is unusual (but not impossible) to be able to satisfy the ‘experience’ requirement under this age.
To gain this qualification you need to successfully complete the 60-credit module MBA stage 1: management: perspectives and practice (B716). If you already hold the Professional Certificate in Management (C31), successful completion of B716 would entitle you to claim the Professional Diploma in Management (D64). It is not permitted, however, to claim both this Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration and the Professional Diploma in Management (D64).
MBA stage 1: management: perspectives and practice (B716) is the first 60 credits, of 180 credits, required for the MBA (F61). You can count B716 towards both your MBA and the Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration (and similarly B716 can be counted towards both the Professional Diploma in Management (D64) and the MBA).
You should note that the University’s unique study rule applies to this qualification. This means that you must include at least 20 credits from OU modules that have not been counted in any other OU qualification that has previously been awarded to you.
Career relevance and employability
This certificate is designed for professionals from a wide range of contexts and backgrounds who need actively to engage with the challenges of twenty-first century management, to develop their management skills and knowledge of management frameworks, theories and tools and to use these appropriately in order to make a real difference in their own practice.
There is more information about how OU study can improve your employability in the OU’s Employability Statement from our Careers Advisory Service. You can also read or download our publication OU study and your career and look at our subject pages to find out about career opportunities.
Modules
For this 60-credit postgraduate certificate you require:
| Postgraduate compulsory module | Credits | Next start |
|---|---|---|
|
60 | May 2012 |
Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued modules B713, BZX713
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes of this qualification are described in four areas:
- Knowledge and understanding
- Cognitive skills
- Practical and professional skills
- Key skills
Read more detailed information about the learning outcomes, and how they are acquired through teaching, learning and assessment methods.
Credit for previous study elsewhere
For this qualification, we do not allow you to count credit for study you have already done elsewhere.
On completion
On successful completion of the required module you can be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate of Business Administration entitling you to use the letters PG Cert Bus Admin (Open) after your name.
Regulations
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the Qualification Regulations and the Student Regulations.
Qualification Regulations
- Introduction to the Qualification Regulations
- General Qualification Regulations
- Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration
Student Regulations
The Student Regulations (including the Code of Practice for Student Assessment and the Code of Practice for Student Discipline) are available on our Policy Documents for Students website.
How to register
To register for this qualification, read the description and check you meet any specific requirements (for example, some of our qualifications, require you to be working in a particular environment, or be sponsored by your employer). Then select the module you wish to study first and ensure it is suitable for you before following the registration procedure for that module.
About this page
A postgraduate qualification in Business and Management.
Study explained
- Credits
- - show how much study is required to complete a course or qualification. One credit point represents roughly 10 hours of study.
- Costs
- - find out how much you can expect to pay.
- Financial support
- - find out if you qualify for support with your fees with our eligibility checker.
- Study explained
- - all you need to know about studying with the OU.
Your questions
We may have already answered it in our frequently asked questions.
Or contact an adviser in our Student Registration & Enquiry Service Email or call +44(0) 845 300 60 90+44(0) 845 366 60 35
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