Undergraduate Course: Management Consulting (BUST10128)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The management consulting industry is very significant and many business graduates consider careers in consulting. This course will help students develop their understanding of the consulting sector, and better equip them for subsequent employment. Consulting activities and processes are significant to many aspects of organisational life, as even those who are not formally employed as consultants will need to diagnose organizational problems, make interventions and assess the efficacy of these. Consultancy is also an activity that has attracted critical commentary on a number of grounds. For example, that consulting is prone to promoting fads and that excessive fees are levied for interventions that are of limited value. In their future professional lives students will therefore benefit from an understanding of these issues.
The objectives of the course are to:
- Provide an understanding of the consulting industry, including its history, size and shape.
- Map the complete consulting process, including entry, diagnosis, intervention, delivery, assessment.
- Introduce basic ideas on the fundamentals of consulting project management.
- Review critical perspectives on consultancy work, including the role of ethical practices.
- Give students a grounding in data collection techniques such as surveys, focus groups, interviews, and archival data analysis.
- Develop consultancy skills via a team-based consultancy project in a real organisation.
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| Course description |
Not entered
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Course equivalents to Organisational Behaviour 2 BUST08028(formerly entitled Organisation Studies) and Managing Change BUST10107 recommended. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 40 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 12,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 6,
Formative Assessment Hours 10,
Summative Assessment Hours 50,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
118 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
85 %,
Practical Exam
15 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% coursework: 60% groupwork; 40% individual.
Groupwork (60%)
1. Group project proposal to the client: 12% (1,500 words).
2. Final report to the client: 30% (6,000 words excluding appendices).
3. Presentation of the final report to the client: 15%
4. Peer assessment of performance and contribution: 3%
Individual assignment: 40% (2,000 words) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
Intended Learning Outcomes
- A good, working knowledge of the consulting industry and its key characteristics
- A sound appreciation of the typical consulting process and the drivers of success and failure at each stage
- Basic skills in proposal production, client engagement, diagnosis, reporting and project evaluation
- Appreciation of how to scope and manage a consulting project
- Understanding of the criticisms that have been made of the consulting industry.
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Reading List
| Required text: Stroh, L.K., & Johnson, H. (2006). The basic principles of effective consulting, Lawrence Erlbaum. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
A quota of 40 will be applied in the first year (2014/15). Entry will be based on merit on the basis of marks obtained at the end of Year 2. |
| Keywords | MCon |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Nick Oliver
Tel: (0131 6)50 3811
Email: nick.oliver@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Paul Kydd
Tel: (0131 6)50 3824
Email: Paul.Kydd@ed.ac.uk |
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