Lancaster University

Educational aims

Management

Items marked (B) relate closely to benchmarks produced by the Association of Business Schools

• To provide students with a basic theoretical knowledge and understanding of organisations, their management and the environment in which they operate (B).
• To provide students with first-hand experience of a managerial and/or management-related role and of how organisations operate in practice.

  To provide students with an integrated understanding of the important functions within management and the way in which they interact.

• To develop students' critical analysis of and reflection upon management issues and their ability to undertake serious, deep and well-rounded research in selected areas.
• To develop students' adaptability and flexibility of approach and the ability to initiate and respond positively and appropriately to change.
• To prepare students for a career in management or management-related fields and develop their capability to contribute to society at large (B).
• To enhance students' lifelong learning skills, communication skills and personal development (B).

German Studies

Major schemes of study in the department are based on the premise that the study of language and of culture are equally indispensable to the discipline,

These schemes of study aim to contribute incrementally, as students progress through each of the four years, to their knowledge, understanding and skills in four areas:

  Use of the German language

  Explicit knowledge of language

  Knowledge of aspects of the cultures, communities and societies where German is used

  Intercultural awareness and understanding

The year abroad can be seen as the key point at which language skills and cultural awareness become integrated in terms of the individual student. It combines first-hand experience of German culture of the language studied and intensive exposure to the language itself. It also aims to develop personal independence and maturity.

In general, the departments major degree programmes provide the opportunity to acquire social, cognitive and linguistic skills, knowledge, interests and attitudes that enable graduates to compete successfully for employment in a wide range of job markets. They also aim to produce a number of graduates who are suited for further study and/or training in the subject and then work in schools, colleges and universities.

Our over-riding aim is to produce graduates who:

• Are more clearly and reflectively aware of their own national identity, having encountered at first hand one or more foreign cultures;
• Have gained greater critical awareness of cultural stereotypes and some understanding of cultural differences, and are better equipped to represent the UK to foreigners, and foreigners to the UK;
• Have achieved a level of communicative performance (productive and receptive, oral and written) in one or more foreign languages that enables them to demonstrate their intercultural awareness;
• Have achieved high levels of literacy and cognition, and are able to transfer their knowledge and thought processes to a variety of professional contexts

Intended Learning Outcomes

Management

The programme consists of a number of core management units and coverage of all the main functional areas of management to at least an introductory level. Students also take optional courses by means of which they can develop a more specialist appreciation of selected areas. Items marked (B) relate closely to benchmarks produced by the Association of Business Schools.

Knowledge and Understanding

• The historical development of management and its most important theories, models, frameworks and styles (B)
• Important current developments within the theory and practice of management - what managers (ought to) do and how and why they (ought to) do it
• How to carry out successfully a job in a managerial or a management-related position
• A deep first-hand knowledge and understanding of a particular organisation
• The main international differences in management styles and cultures
• How and why management teams work (or don't work)
• The economic environment and other external factors (local, national and international) and the impact they have upon organisations (B)
• The main functional areas of management, including marketing, finance, operations and people management, and the way they link together
• The main quantitative techniques relevant to management including statistics, accounting methods and management science
• The application of information technology within management
• Management strategy and its impact upon all functional areas
• A deeper, more specialised knowledge and understanding of selected optional areas
• Deep and serious up-to-date research and expertise in one particular field

Skills

• Cognitive skills of critical thinking, analysis, synthesis and reflection, including the capability to identify assumptions, evaluate statements in terms of evidence, to detect false logic or reasoning, to identify implicit values, to define terms adequately and generalise appropriately (B)
• Effective problem solving and decision making using appropriate quantitative and qualitative skills including identifying, formulating and solving business problems (B)
• Effective communication, oral and in writing, using a range of media which are widely used in business including the preparation and presentation of business reports (B)
• Literacy skills
• Quantitative and IT skills including data analysis, interpretation and extrapolation (B)
• Effective self-management in terms of time, planning and behaviour, motivation, self-starting, individual initiative and enterprise - the ability to work well under pressure and to tight deadlines and to adopt a very flexible and adaptable approach (B)
• Learning to learn and developing an appetite for learning; reflective, adaptive and collaborative learning (B)
• Self awareness, openness and sensitivity to diversity in terms of people, cultures, business and management issues (B)
• Effective performance within a team environment including leadership, team building, motivation, maintenance of morale, influencing and project management skills (B)
• The ability to make decisions and take responsibility for their outcomes.
• Interpersonal skills of effective listening, negotiating, persuasion and presentation (B)
• Ability to conduct research into business and management issues, either individually or as part of a team, using a range of business data, research sources and appropriate methodologies (B)

German Studies

Knowledge and Understanding

By the end of the final year

• Students should be able to follow a serious debate or speech in the spoken media and communicate the gist of it; construct sophisticated arguments without a script; express cogent opinions on their own society, that of Germany, and global issues, and articulate arguments and/or analyses in German
• Students should be able to translate advanced passages of German into an appropriate idiom
• Students should have a sufficient awareness of aspects of the culture of German speaking countries to be able to discuss these with educated German speakers, and to derive pleasure from making connections between language, history, society and culture
• Students should have gained in self awareness and sensitivity to diversity in people and cultures, and be more able to apply knowledge of German speaking culture in a professional context, and have gained some ability to reappraise their knowledge of British history and culture in the light of experience of German culture

The intended learning outcomes of the year abroad are to

• Enhance students level of proficiency in German and their independence, self-awareness and capacity for decision-making;
• Depending on the nature of the placement(s), to develop students capacity for independent study and/or to acquire professional skills, including for many students the special responsibility of language teaching;
• Increase their powers of observation and insight into cultural difference;
• Extend their knowledge of the history, culture and outlook of German speaking country(ies);
• Reinforce their ability to handle unfamiliar situations in a foreign language

Skills

High importance is given at all levels to the development of knowledge and skills (including interpersonal skills) which are transferable from an academic to a professional context:

• Improving self-management: planning, motivation, initiative, self-reliance, adaptability and ability to work independently;
• Developing team-working skills and the ability to work well under pressure and to tight deadlines;
• Developing an appetite for learning (reflective, adaptive and collaborative);
• Improving interpersonal skills: listening, negotiating, persuasion and presentation;
• Communicating effectively, including the use of electronic media, in professional contexts;
• Learning to transfer linguistic and analytical skills to non-academic spheres of employment in the UK and abroad

The general teaching and learning strategy is to provide closely linked theory and practice components to ensure that knowledge is consolidated and matched to the appropriate skill-based elements of Computing.