Professional Diploma in Management
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Certificate
- Code
- D64
- Level
- Postgraduate
- Made up of
- 60 credit points
Description
The Professional Diploma in Management will be of particular interest to those aspiring to middle level managerial roles in large organisations and those who have a leadership role in smaller organisations.
Management and leadership are about performance and change. To respond quickly and flexibly to rapidly changing markets and environments, organisations put great emphasis on lateral rather than hierarchical coordination. Managers need a broad integrated picture of how their organisations work; they need to consider compromises, tensions and interdependencies between operational, accounting, marketing, information, financial and ‘people’ issues. The Professional Diploma will help you meet this challenge, focusing on the management of teams, departments and projects; the skills of the reflective practitioner are an important theme throughout.
The study programme affords the opportunity to stand back from your current situation in order to concentrate on themes of understanding and improving performance, managing projects and change. The emphasis is on your own professional development. Everything you study is related to the management roles and responsibilities you exercise. The elements of the programme – course texts, activities and assignments, online resources, and personal and group support – ensure that you can apply newly learned skills and techniques in very practical ways immediately. You can build on your experience and make direct links to your management development needs wherever you are in the world, whatever the size of your organisation and whether it is in the commercial, non governmental or public sector.
The Professional Diploma is not only a recognised qualification in its own right but also it is Stage 1 of the following masters degree qualifications:
- MBA
- MBA (Life Sciences)
- MBA (Technology Management)
- MPA
- MSc in Human Resource Management
- MSc in International Finance and Management
When you have been successful in the Professional Diploma, you can go on to study Stage 2 of any of these six masters degrees.
Planning your studies
To enter the Professional Diploma you must either hold:
- our Professional Certificate in Management (C31)
- our Certificate in Accounting (C32)
- a bachelors-level qualification (see below for further details); or
- a business professional qualification (see below for further details).
You will already have some first-hand experiential knowledge of managing some part of an organisation.
You must normally complete the required credit for your award within four years.
You must include at least 20 credit points from OU courses that have not been counted in any other OU qualification you have been awarded.
Courses
For this postgraduate diploma you require:
60 points from the following compulsory course:
| Postgraduate compulsory course | Points | Next start |
|---|---|---|
|
60 | May 2010 |
Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued courses B730, B736, BZX730, BZX736
If you have taken the discontinued course B730 (or version BZX730) but not B736 (or BZX736) and still wish to complete the Professional Diploma you can do so by completing Project management (M865).
You can choose whether you want a combination of face-to-face and online tutorial support or whether you prefer your tutorial support to be entirely online. Your choice may be influenced by where you live, because tutorial meetings are offered only where there are enough students to establish viable tutorial groups.
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
Please note that credit transfer is not available towards the current version of the qualification as the new single-course structure does not permit this.
Note that if you have completed part of an older version of the Professional Diploma and have gained further relevant credit from study elsewhere, then you may now have sufficient credit to be awarded the qualification. Please visit the Credit Transfer site.
Credit transfer details for this qualification:
On completion
On successful completion of 60 points’ worth of required courses you can be awarded a Professional Diploma in Management entitling you to use the letters Dip Mgmt (Open) after your name.
Approved minimum entry requirements
In addition to the Professional Certificate in Management and Certificate in Accounting, the following awards and qualifications meet the entry requirements for the Professional Diploma in Management:
Awards from educational institutions:
A certificate or diploma in business studies or management awarded by a higher education institution incorporating at least 60 points of at least Level 3 undergraduate study
A certificate in management of any institution where the award is validated by the Open University Validation Services.
N/SVQ Level 4 or Level 5 in Management (full award)
A bachelors degree specialising or majoring in business studies, management or a closely related discipline (N.B. if your degree is not in one of these areas, and you want to study Stage 1 of a masters degree, please refer to the entry requirement for course B713). Your degree must have been awarded by a university or other recognised degree-awarding based in Europe, the Commonwealth or the rest of the world. It must be at least equivalent to a bachelors degree from an English, Welsh or Northern Irish university. These comprise at least 360 CATS points at undergraduate level, of which at least 120 must be at or above undergraduate level 3, and would normally involve a minimum of 3 years of equivalent full-time study. (N.B. This specification is based in the Bologna agreement regarding 3 years of full-time higher education study giving rise to a bachelor qualification). The following is a list of degree names recognised as bachelors level or above in European jurisdictions other than England, Wales and Northern Ireland:
AUSTRIA
Diplomstudium/Magister
BELGIUM
Licencie/Licentiaat/Ingenieur Industriel/Industrieel Ingenieur
CZECH REPUBLIC
Magister
DENMARK
Candidatus Philosophiae (CandPhil)
Candidatus Magisterii
Magisterkonferens (Magister Artium/Magister Scientiarum)
FINLAND
Until 1996:
Kandidaatti/Kandidat (Ekonomi, Diplomi-insinööri, Arkkitehti, Lisensiaatti, Proviisori) (N.B.: course lasts longer than 3 years)
Licentiate (Lisensiaatti/Licenciat)
New system implemented from 1993 to 1996:
Maisteri/magister (5 years)
FRANCE
Maîtrise
Diplôme d’Ingénieur/Magistere
GERMANY
Diplom/Erstes Staatsexamen/Magister Artium
Staatsprüfung/Lizentiat
GREECE
Ptychion (Bachelor degree) awarded by an AEI
HUNGARY
Egyetemi Oklevel
IRELAND
Bachelors
Masters
ITALY
Diploma di Laurea
LIECHTENSTEIN
Mag Phil from the International Academy for Philosophy
NETHERLANDS
Doctoraal
NORWAY
Candidatus Magisteri
Candidatus Realium, Candidatus Philologiae
POLAND
Magister
PORTUGAL
Licenciado/Diploma do ciclo especial/DESE
SCOTLAND
Bachelors
Masters
SLOVAKIA
Magister/Inzinier (formerly Absolvent Vysoké Skoly)/Professional title
SLOVENIA
Univerzitetna ali visokošolska diploma
SPAIN
Licenciado/Titulo de Ingeniero/Titulo de Arquitecto
SWEDEN
Masters degree/Magisterexamen
SWITZERLAND
Diplom/Diplôme/Lizentiat/Licence/Staat sdiplom/Diplom d’Etat
Awards from professional bodies:
Professional Qualifications, Accountancy
*Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA, FCCA)
*Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA, FCMA)
*Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CPFA)
*Institute of Chartered Accountants (England & Wales) (ACA, FCA)
*Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (CA)
*Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland (ACA)
*Chartered accountant or certified public accountant members of one of the Institutes of Chartered Accountants in Australia (CA), Canada (CA), Malaysia (CA), New Zealand (CA) or South Africa (CA), or Institutes of Certified Public Accountants of America (CPA), Australia (CPA), Hong Kong (CPA), Malaysia (CPA) or Singapore (CPA).
Professional Qualifications, Other in the UK and Ireland
Association of Business Executives - Advanced Diploma in Business Administration
Association of Managers in General Practice - Certificate of Management in Primary Care
British Production and Inventory Control Society - Advanced Diploma in Production and Inventory Management
*Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB, FCIB)
*Chartered Institute of Bankers of Scotland (MCIBS – not ACIBS)
*Chartered Institute of Marketing (MCInstM, FCInstM)
*Chartered Institute of Marketing – Professional or Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing (see note)
*Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) (see note)
Chartered Management Institute – Diploma and Executive Diploma in Strategic Management (see note)
Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply – graduate diploma
Hotel, Catering and Institute of Management Association - Professional Diploma
Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) – Associate membership
Institute of Health Care Management - Certificate in Health Service Management
Institute of Leadership and Management - Diploma in Management (Level 4)
*Institute of Marketing, Ireland - Graduateship
Institute of Marketing, Ireland – Certificate in Business Studies
Institute of Supervisory Management (ISM) – Diploma in Management
National Examining Board for Supervisory Management (NEBS) - Combined award of Certificate and Diploma in Supervisory Management
*Plassey Management Centre Diploma in Management
*Police Senior Command Course
*Professional Diploma of the Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management Association (post 1990 syllabus)
*RAF Officer Training – Officers’ Command Course, Individual Studies Course and Basic Staff Course
Note: The CIM Professional Postgraduate Diploma from 2004, CIPD Postgraduate Diploma and CMI Executive Diploma in Management are at the same level as the Professional Diploma in Management (B700). They can be used in place of B700 for Stage 1 of a masters degree, provided credit transfer is applied for.
Holders of items in the above marked * may also choose course B713 as the Stage 1 course for a masters degree.
At present there is no general facility for granting entry to the Diploma programme through APEL (the Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning) though this may be developed at a later stage.
If you hold a qualification that is not on the list but that you believe is at bachelors level, you are advised to bring this to the attention of our Student Registration & Enquiry Service with full details. The OU Business School Masters Programme Committee is responsible for judging whether applicants’ qualifications meet the requirements for admission to any award.
Regulations
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the Award Regulations and the Student Regulations.
Award Regulations
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 course you wish to study first and ensure it is suitable for you before following the registration procedure for that course.
About this page
A postgraduate qualification in Business and Management.
Study explained
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