Yearbooks

Programme: BComHons Business Management

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Code Faculty Department
07240073 Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences Department: Business Management
Credits Duration NQF level
Minimum duration of study: 1 year Total credits: 120 NQF level:  08

Admission requirements

  1. Relevant BCom degree
  2. A weighted average of at least 65% for Strategic Management at final-year level

Additional requirements

The Department can only admit 30 students to the honours programme per year, and as a result, current University of Pretoria students who comply with the entry requirements will get preference to fill the first 20 openings based on their OBS 320 mark. The remaining 10 places will be filled by the 10 candidates who scored the highest marks in the entrance examination. The entrance examination will be written by applicants from other universities as well as current University of Pretoria students that were not successful in the first round of selection and who would like a second opportunity to be considered for selection.

Registration for a second field of study

With reference to General Academic Regulation G23, a student who has already completed a bachelor of honours degree at this or another university, may, with the permission of the Dean, register for another degree, subject to the regulations applicable to the field of study in question and to any other stipulations the Dean may prescribe on the condition that there shall be no overlap in the course content of the first degree and the second degree. Such a concession may be withdrawn by the dean/deans if the student does not perform satisfactorily.

Recognition of modules

  1. Subject to the stipulations of General Academic Regulation G23 and the Joint Statute, a dean may acknowledge modules passed at another tertiary institution or at this university in a department other than that in which the honours study is undertaken for the honours degree – provided that at least half of the required modules for the degree in question are attended and passed at this university.
  2. If there is overlap in the course content of the degree for which the student wishes to enrol or is enrolled and a degree already conferred, the Dean may not acknowledge any modules that form part of the degree already conferred.

Other programme-specific information

  • All the modules are compulsory and a minimum of 120 credits must be obtained. Only students registered for the BComHons (Business Management) degree programme may register for SBE 780, INR 780, OBS 780, OBS 782 and OBS 785.
  • A semester mark of 40% is required to be admitted to the examination. 
  • The semester mark will be compiled from assignments, group projects and written tests. 
  • Final examinations will take place during May/June and October/November annually.
  • A final mark of 50% is required to pass a module.
  • There are no supplementary examinations for any of the modules.
  • A maximum of two (2) years will be allowed for the completion of the honours degree.

Examinations and pass requirements

Subject to the provisions of General Academic Regulation G26, a head of department determines, in consultation with the Dean when the honours examinations in his/her department will take place, provided that:

  • honours examinations which do not take place before the end of the academic year must take place before the closing date of the special exam period in the beginning of the following academic year, and all examination results must be submitted to Student Administration before the closing date of submission of marks; and
  • honours examinations which do not take place before the end of the first semester may take place no later than the closing date of the exam period, and all examination results must be submitted to Student Administration on or before the closing date of submission of marks.

The head of the department determines:

  • whether a candidate will be admitted to a supplementary examination, provided that a supplementary examination is granted, only once in a maximum of two prescribed semester modules or once in one year module.
  • the manner in which research reports are prepared and examined in his/her department.

Supplementary examinations (if granted) cover the same subject matter as was the case for the examinations.
A student may not enrol for the same module more than once, unless the dean has approved a second enrolment based on an application supported by a valid reason or motivation. Also refer to General Academic Regulation G18.3.

NB: Full details are published in each department's postgraduate information brochure, which is available from the relevant head of department. The minimum pass mark for a research report is 50%.

Subject to the provisions of G26, the subminimum required in subdivisions of modules is published in the study guides, which are available from the relevant head of department.

Pass with distinction

In order to be awarded the BComHons (Business Management) degree with distinction, a student must meet the following criteria:

  • Obtain a Grade Point Average of at least 75% including at least 75% for the research component
  • Complete the degree within the minimum period prescribed.
  • Only the final mark of the first attempt to pass the modules or research report will be considered.
  • The GPA will be not be rounded up to a whole number.
     

Minimum credits: 120

Core modules

  • Module content:

    The purpose of this module is to enhance the international perspective of South African business people and other interested parties in order to increase the competitiveness of local businesses.  This can be done by the student gaining appropriate knowledge on international trade in general and international or multinational businesses in particular.
    Study themes:
    • Globalisation;
    • National differences in political economy;
    • International trade theory;
    • Foreign direct investment;
    • The strategy of international business;
    • The organising of international business;
    • Entry strategy and strategic alliances and
    • Global marketing and RandD.

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  • Module content:

    This module builds on the basic financial management and costing skills acquired at undergraduate level. It emphasises and expands on basic costing skills that managers may need to provide sound oversight of the costing function. The focus of the module is to provide the aggregated financial management knowledge to make informed capital budgeting decisions. There is furthermore an emphasis on emerging forms of reporting and alternative source of finance, with a specific emphasis on sustainable finance and integrated reporting. 

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  • Module content:

    The module focuses on the design, implementation and analysis of an operations management strategy; the role of operations management and the relationship between operations, products and services; contemporary trends and innovations in operations management; aims of an operations strategy and how operations strategy develops over time; designing a product operations strategy and the appropriate strategic fit to the environment, designing the services operations strategy and the appropriate strategic fit to the environment; implementing the operations strategy and how global and dynamic contexts affects the implementation; analysing the operations strategy and measurement of the operations strategy.

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  • Module content:

    The module aims to inform future managers, consultants, and advisors on the psychological processes and biases underlying the decisions made by customers, competitors, colleagues, and themselves, with emphasis on how to incorporate such insights into business. This course will provide new insights into a personal approach to decision-making and enable the development of thinking and influencing skills required for effective strategic decisions, especially when faced with complex or ambiguous situations. Business analytics is covered within the context of decision-making. In addition, an applied decision-making aspect will focus on mastering quantitative modelling tools and techniques for business decision-making and deterministic optimisation techniques.

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  • Module content:

    The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the nature and the role of research in a business enterprise so that they will be able to conduct and utilise research. 
    Study themes:

    • The role of research in an enterprise;
    • Conceptualisation and the scientific thinking process;
    • The research process;
    • Research planning and design;
    • Data gathering and analysis; and
    • Reporting of research results.

    The purpose of this module is to guide students through the process of planning a small-scale academic research study in the field of Business Management, collecting and analysing empirical data, and presenting the findings of the study in the form of a research article. Students will be guided to develop a research proposal for the research study during the first semester. During the second semester, students will be guided to collect and analyse the required data and to write a research article. Students will only be allowed to continue with the execution of their research projects (i.e., with the collection and analysis of data and the writing of a research article) during the second semester, if they have obtained a progress mark of at least 50% and passed the final research proposal at the end of the first semester with a sub-minimum mark of 50%
    1 lecture per week during the first semester and ad hoc workshops during the second semester

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  • Module content:

    This module, Strategic management, analyses the combination of competitive moves and business approaches that organisations can employ to please customers, achieve organisational objectives and compete successfully in a dynamic business environment.
    Study themes:

    • The strategic management process: an overview;
    • Establishing company direction: developing a strategic vision, setting objectives and crafting a strategy;
    • Industry and competitive analysis;
    • Evaluating company resources and competitive capabilities;
    • Strategy and competitive advantage;
    • Tailoring strategy to fit specific industry and company situations;
    • Strategy and competitive advantage;
    • Evaluating the strategies of diversified companies;
    • Building resource strengths and organisational capabilities;
    • Managing the internal organisation to promote better strategy execution and
    • Corporate culture and leadership - keys to effective strategy execution.

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General Academic Regulations and Student Rules
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. The G Regulations are updated annually and may be amended after the publication of this information.

Regulations, degree requirements and information
The faculty regulations, information on and requirements for the degrees published here are subject to change and may be amended after the publication of this information.

University of Pretoria Programme Qualification Mix (PQM) verification project
The higher education sector has undergone an extensive alignment to the Higher Education Qualification Sub-Framework (HEQSF) across all institutions in South Africa. In order to comply with the HEQSF, all institutions are legally required to participate in a national initiative led by regulatory bodies such as the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), the Council on Higher Education (CHE), and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). The University of Pretoria is presently engaged in an ongoing effort to align its qualifications and programmes with the HEQSF criteria. Current and prospective students should take note that changes to UP qualification and programme names, may occur as a result of the HEQSF initiative. Students are advised to contact their faculties if they have any questions.

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