THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Business Studies

Undergraduate Course: Managing in the third sector (BUST10166)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe third sector (social enterprises, voluntary organisations, charities, NGOs etc.) is a key component of societies and economies globally. This course will enable students to (1) understand its key elements and potential (2) examine the significant challenges of managing and leading the sector, (3) evaluate and analyse its role in stimulating active citizenship, and (4) visualise and propose innovative third sector solutions to social/environmental problems, in a range of settings including developing economies and the global south. Key topics will include:
-Understanding the third sector
-The third sector and public services
-Collaboration between state, business and the third sector
-The impact of digital and AI technology on the sector
-Social impact and innovation in the third sector
-The critique and 'dark side' of the third sector
-The third sector in developing economies and global south

Students will incorporate their past learning in management to their understanding of third sector, considering this in a global context. The course will also draw upon social policy, international development and public policy, and will be of interest to students from across the university.

This course will enhance students' employability skills by embracing intellectual, analytical, critical knowledge of managing the third sector but also visualising and developing innovative third sector solutions to global grand challenges.
Course description The course will draw on research knowledge about the third sector from a range of management disciplines, including strategy, organisational studies, service management marketing and innovation. It will also integrate these with knowledge from other disciplines including social policy, international development and public policy. Integrating theories from service management and public administration and management, the course will challenge students to explore the hybridity of third sector organisations and its implications for their management, how they balance social and business imperatives and the balance between the positive and the 'dark side' of third sector organisations. The third sector exists at the nexus of the public and private sectors, and is a significant source of employment for many students.

The course will be delivered through lectures and associated seminars on the analysis of international real-life cases. Some lectures will be delivered by guest speakers from practice. Students will be expected to contribute to seminar discussions and group activities as well as to engage fully with guest speakers from practice. In the assessments, student will be expected to link their learning with these real-life management challenges, making explicit the links and proposing ideas for establishing third-sector organisations.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  72
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 10, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 176 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 70% coursework (individual) - assesses all course Learning Outcomes
30% coursework (individual) - assesses course Learning Outcomes 1-3
Feedback Formative: Feedback will be provided throughout the course.

Summative: Feedback will be provided on the assessment within agreed deadlines.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Consider and analyse the core principles and values that underpin the practice of managing third sector organisations.
  2. Understand management challenges in the third sector through the lens of service theory and public management theories.
  3. Synthesise cross-disciplinary theories and concepts in order to critically evaluate management approaches in third sector organisations.
  4. Demonstrate the capacity to innovate and communicate third-sector approaches to a range of stakeholders.
Reading List
J Rees & D Mullins (2016) The third sector delivering public services (Bristol University Press)
M Kallman & T Clark (2016) The Third Sector (University of Illinois Press)
M Hudson (2017) Managing without Profit (Directory of Social Change)
L Portales (2020) Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (Palgrave Macmillan)
M Roy & J Farmer (2021) Social Enterprise, Health, and Wellbeing: Theory, Methods, and Practice (Routledge)
Gronroos, C. (2016) Service Management and Marketing (4th ed.) (Wiley)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills After completing this course, students should be able to:

Practice: Applied Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
-Work with a variety of organisations, their stakeholders, and the communities they serve - learning from
them, and aiding them to achieve responsible, sustainable and enterprising solutions to complex problems.
-Apply creative, innovative, entrepreneurial, sustainable and responsible business solutions to address
social, economic and environmental global challenges.

Communication, ICT, and Numeracy Skills
Critically evaluate and present digital and other sources, research methods, data and information; discern
their limitations, accuracy, validity, reliability and suitability; and apply responsibly in a wide variety of
organisational contexts.

Knowledge and Understanding
-Demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of contemporary organisational disciplines;
comprehend the role of business within the contemporary world; and critically evaluate and synthesise primary
and secondary research and sources of evidence in order to make, and present, well informed and transparent
organisation-related decisions, which have a positive global impact.
-Identify, define and analyse theoretical and applied business and management problems, and develop
approaches, informed by an understanding of appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative techniques, to explore
and solve them responsibly.


KeywordsThird sector,social enterprises,voluntary organisations,charities,NGOs
Contacts
Course organiserDr Yida Zhu
Tel:
Email: Y.Zhu@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Leah Byrne
Tel:
Email: lbyrne4@ed.ac.uk
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