Yearbooks

Programme: MPhil (International Business) (Coursework)

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Code Faculty Department
07254015 Gordon Institute of Business Science Department: Gordon Institute of Business Science
Credits Duration NQF level
Minimum duration of study: 1 year Total credits: 180 NQF level:  09

Programme information

The degree comprises the writing of a mini-dissertation and coursework.

Full particulars of the degree programme are contained in a brochure which is available from the departmental website.

Admission requirements

  1. Relevant honours (or equivalent) degree
    or
  2. Relevant postgraduate diploma

Other programme-specific information

Refer to General Academic Regulations G30-G41.

Refer to the GIBS student guidelines and regulations.

The Dean may authorise matters not provided for in the General Academic Regulations or in the GIBS regulations

Examinations and pass requirements

  1. The minimum pass mark for each prescribed module is 50%, provided that a subminimum of 45% has been obtained in the examination or an examined component.
  2. A candidate who has failed more than two core modules may not continue with their studies for the degree, except with the approval of the Dean.

Refer to the GIBS student guidelines and regulations.

Minimum credits: 180

Students must complete 5 electives from the list provided. The total number of credits for electives modules must be 50. Please contact the faculty to confirm the availabilty of elective modules.

Core modules

  • Module content:

    This module will prepare students for the global environment by examining what makes countries and companies competitive globally. Students will be helped to draw on their entire experience to develop the critical ability to identify factors that enhance and restrain competitiveness. Special attention will be given to the relative competitiveness of South Africa and the countries and regions to be visited, with special reference to the industries that will be studied.

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  • Module content:

    International business is subject to many international laws and regulations.  This module deals with the international regulatory bodies such as the WTO, UN and international agreements governing cross-border trade and investment.  This module will also deal with legislation and regulations governing financial transactions or investment.

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  • Module content:

    The rationale for the module is that all businesses are increasingly exposed to the global context, whether in terms of their competitors, their markets or their supply chains. As such, it is incumbent upon all managers to have an appreciation of the opportunities and threats that exist in doing business on an international scale. To operate effectively in a global context, managers need to be able to evaluate differences between countries in terms of issues such as economic policy, cluster development, industry structure, and the impact of these differences on firm behaviour. This module aims to provide students with the skills necessary to develop global business strategies and meet the challenges entailed.

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  • Module content:

    Operating across geographic and cultural boundaries is a reality in today’s globalised world, and this module explains how to manage the multinational to support the achievement of strategic objectives in the international environment. This module deals with how line managers should engage with people, both employees and consumers/clients from different countries and cultures to achieve optimal performance. It uses a holistic approach and therefore includes operational or strategic elements that may need to be changed in response to employee and customer/client needs.

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  • Module content:

    In this module students will be equipped to execute their research project. The module will focus on formulation of a research question, population and sampling concerns, the use of literature reviews, various qualitative and quantitative research methodologies including documentary research, surveys, questionnaire design and interviewing techniques. The analysis of data and research report writing will also be covered. The research report will serve as a means for the students to deepen their insight into the market that they are preparing to enter or to help them understand a key relationship affecting their business. As such the module will prepare a student to do research that is of both practical and intellectual value.

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  • Module content:

    Students must submit a mini-dissertation on an approved topic.

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Elective modules

  • Module content:

    This elective aims to introduce students to theory and practice of employee happiness and well-being, and its role in organizational outcomes. Specifically, providing an overview of the latest research on employee happiness and well-being, the relationship between employee happiness and well-being and organizational outcomes, and case studies on practical methods to implement employee happiness and well-being strategy.

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  • Module content:

    This elective aims to introduce students to the science resilience, the process of positively adapting to adversity. Specifically, in this elective students will explore the capabilities, skills, and self-care practices that contribute to building personal resilience to meet both professional and personal challenges.

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  • Module content:

    This elective develops a toolkit and interventions based on principles and experiments that have practical value for business. A distinct selection of principles and methods from diverse fields will be demonstrated and applied. These techniques are aimed at enabling behavioural shifts for business impact. Students will develop essential insights into these methods and will apply the learning by creating persuasive interventions to shift behaviour.

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  • Module content:

    This elective teaches the skills for communicating when the stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. Students will learn the dialogue skills—as demonstrated by top performers—that empower them to talk with anyone about anything, helping reach alignment and agreement on important matters. These skills turn into behaviours that improve decision-making, commitment to action, productivity, improved relationships and enhanced accountability. As these behaviours become consistent, they empower organisations, teams, and individuals to develop high-performance cultures based on trust and respect.

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  • Module content:

    A 3-day workshop-styled programme covering the broad field of negotiation. This is an advanced programme aimed at negotiations of high financial value and significant consequence of error.

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  • Module content:

    The module explains how to analyse and respond to different contextual dynamics by developing appropriate partnership strategies. It reflects on an organisation’s contextual factors and dynamics that influence the partnership negotiation and implementation processes, paying special attention to the influence of characteristics unique to the African context.

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  • Module content:

    This elective reflects on the concept of ethical leadership in the public and private sector within the context of state capture and corruption and proposes solutions to combatting corruption and state capture, which threaten an emerging democracy in South Africa.

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  • Module content:

    This elective will enable students to view the latest models and theories that surround doing business the global economy. This elective builds on the concepts covered in the core programme and therefore the topics chosen will be very substantive. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    Strategy has become a key concept associated with organisational success or failure. Through a case method approach, this elective will provide students with a more in depth perspective of the current best practices for developing and executing strategy in the current business environment and will build on what was covered in the core curriculum. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    External factors and shifts in the political, social, technological, demographic, legal and regulatory environments all have an impact on organisations and their ability to remain relevant, competitive and to grow. These shifts are further accelerated by the “age of disruption” – which the World Economic Forum titles the Fourth Industrial Revolution This rapidly evolving external environment has resulted in a need to create more agile and competitive strategies.

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  • Module content:

    This highly practical module aims to equip the participants with various practical tools and tactics that will enable them to become an adaptive and effective management consultant.

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  • Module content:

    The elective will introduce students to the concept of sustainable development from ethical, economic and corporate governance perspectives. The field of sustainability has grown in recent years and with more regulations being introduced across various countries the importance for managers to have understanding of this environment has grown too. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    In this elective, you will be exposed to the latest theory and models based on Entrepreneurship. On completion of this module, you will be able to analyse, evaluate and offer solutions to local or global businesses from an entrepreneurship perspective. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    In this elective, you will be exposed to the latest theory and models based on Entrepreneurship. On completion of this module, you will be able to analyse, evaluate and offer solutions to local or global businesses from an entrepreneurship perspective. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    Regulatory changes over the last few years have increased the pressure on the financial expertise required of senior managers and board members. This elective will look at the current regulations and requirements needed to meet the increasing demands on organisations. Students will be exposed to the latest methods to handle this technically demanding and changing environment. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    The elective will introduce students to the concept of sustainable development from ethical, economic and corporate governance perspectives. The field of sustainability has grown in recent years and with more regulations being introduced across various countries the importance for managers to have understanding of this environment has grown too. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    The aim of this elective is to expose students to the current research in the field of general management at a local and international level. Students attending this elective will gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges of managing a business in the current economic environment. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    Building an agile and innovative organisation has become a critical requirement to participate successfully in the current competitive landscape. In this elective students will build a working knowledge on the fundamentals requisite for an innovation culture to flourish. Through cases, company discussions and mixed media methods, students will also cover the components, structures, processes and mind-sets involved in developing a functional innovation system. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    The elective will focus on the contemporary emerging thoughts and theories surrounding the knowledge economy. After attending this elective, students will apply the necessary tools and frameworks to develop strategies which will assist in bridging the gap between information systems and the information managers. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    This elective is based on the principle that understanding oneself is the first step towards becoming an effective leader. Students will be exposed to current theory and practice in the field of leadership. Exercises and discussions will assist students to understand leadership at a personal level and prepare them to develop strategies for personal improvement The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    This elective is based on the principle that understanding oneself is the first step towards becoming an effective leader. Students will be exposed to current theory and practice in the field of leadership. Exercises and discussions will assist students to understand leadership at a personal level and prepare them to develop strategies for personal improvement. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are. and students are advised to consult the elective manual each year for further guidance.

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  • Module content:

    The supply chain plays a vital role in the success of organisations. Supply chain management is responsible for ensuring the flow or products, information information and money to ensure value is added to the end consumers and return on capital employed for the entire supply chain is improved. As the networks become more complex, with more variability and the customer’s expectation of shorter lead times, there is a need to give students a more in-depth understanding of this function, viewed from a systems perspective. This means the focus has to change from make and sell what can be made (push-and -promote) to make and sell what can be sold (position-and-pull).

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  • Module content:

    This elective will explore the most significant challenges and opportunities that face managers working in Africa. The interplay between economics, politics and social wellbeing will be explored at a macro and micro level. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are.

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  • Module content:

    This elective will enable students to view the latest models and theories that surround doing business the global economy. This elective builds on the concepts covered in the core programme and therefore the topics chosen will be very substantive. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are.

    View more

  • Module content:

    This elective looks at the importance of managing stakeholders through focusing on the possible ways to minimise threats and as well as maximise opportunities. Students will be exposed to the contemporary issues that surround the factors that impact on stakeholder management as well as the factors that assist in building these relationships. The focus will change year on year depending on what the current trends are.

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The regulations and rules for the degrees published here are subject to change and may be amended after the publication of this information.

The General Academic Regulations (G Regulations) and General Student Rules apply to all faculties and registered students of the University, as well as all prospective students who have accepted an offer of a place at the University of Pretoria. On registering for a programme, the student bears the responsibility of ensuring that they familiarise themselves with the General Academic Regulations applicable to their registration, as well as the relevant faculty-specific and programme-specific regulations and information as stipulated in the relevant yearbook. Ignorance concerning these regulations will not be accepted as an excuse for any transgression, or basis for an exception to any of the aforementioned regulations.

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