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Zenith University College
 
 
Africa Online Business School
Academic Calendar JANUARY–JUNE 2018
- BBA Academic Calendar
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MBA

INTRODUCTION

The need to build human resource capacity in various aspects of Business and Public Administration and Management in Ghana is absolutely crucial to the nation’s ability and capacity to meet challenges posed to its efforts at meeting her national developmental agenda and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This need largely informed the Government of Ghana’s decision to allow private participation in the establishment and management of universities and other tertiary institutions in Ghana. This decision was timely and highly commendable, in view of the inability of the public universities to absorb the large numbers of qualified applicants due to inadequate infrastructural facilities.

Many private tertiary institutions have since responded to the challenge and have been given institutional and programme accreditation by The National Accreditation Board (NAB) to commence Bachelors and Masters Degree programmes mostly in Management/Administration and Information Communication Technology.

Zenith University College (ZUC) is one of the private tertiary institutions that responded to the challenge posed by Government. It started initially as a tutorial college, offering tuition to students who registered and took examinations of professional bodies, including Association of Business Executives (ABE), Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) and the University of London LLB and Diploma in Law.

ZUC has since introduced a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) programme, accredited by NAB and with options in Business Management, Financial Management, Marketing and Human Resource Management, Accounting. ZUC has already received approval for affiliation with University of Cape Coast for these options in addition to options in Hospitality Management, Tourism Management and Business Information Systems (BIS).


ZUC’s decision to introduce an MBA programme is a natural response to the needs of the large pool of human resources seeking to add to their store of knowledge in various aspects of Management and Administration. The MBA degree has, in recent times, becomes the degree of choice for most post-graduate students, including working senior managers and administrators wanting to enhance their chances of moving up the management and organizational hierarchy.

The most sought-after areas of specialization are Finance and Banking, Marketing, Human Resource Management and General Management and, to some extent, Entrepreneurship and Project Management. ZUC has taken up the challenge to offer opportunities for prospective applicants in the areas of General Management, Marketing, Human Resource Management and Finance and Banking.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

• To provide opportunities for students desirous of pursuing higher academic and professional qualifications in General Management, Marketing, Human Resource Management and Banking and Finance, in accordance with their individual career objectives.

• To equip students with the relevant modern knowledge, skills and attitudes/orientations in their chosen options to enable them function efficiently and effectively as senior managers in the dynamic domestic and global business environment.


• To contribute towards the education, training and development of the middle and higher-level human resources required for national development.

• To create opportunities for close interaction between academia and the world of work through seminars, workshops, field visits and other discourses.


• To diversify the range of programmes/courses offered by Zenith University College in order to make more efficient use of its available physical and human resources.
• To enhance the image of Zenith University College as one of the leading universities in Ghana providing a wide range of programmes in Business Administration to meet the varied needs of the population.

COURSE OPTIONS
• General Management
• Marketing
• Human Resource Management
• Banking and Finance


STRUCTURE OF PROGRAMME
DURATION
The MBA programme is scheduled for completion in two (2) academic years, that is, four (4) semesters of sixteen (16) weeks each: twelve (12) weeks for Lectures/tuition, continuous assessment assignments/exercises/projects and four(4) weeks for revision, end-of-semester examinations, and so on.

A maximum of two additional semesters may be allowed for submission of dissertation and other unforeseen developments. The extension would be granted by the Graduate Studies Board on the recommendation of the relevant Department through the School/Faculty Committee/Board.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR ADMISSION
Applicants must have any of the following academic and/or professional qualification and experience requirements to be admitted onto the MBA programme:

• First Degree (in any course) from a recognized institution with a minimum of 2nd class (Lower Division) and a minimum of three (3) years relevant working experience. Applicants whose first degrees are not in management-related courses and do not meet the relevant experience requirement may be required to write an aptitude test and/or attend a selection interview to determine their suitability for and capacity to pursue the programme.

• Final ACCA, CA (Ghana), CIMA, CIM and other equivalent professional qualifications and a minimum of three (3) years relevant working experience.


• Any other equivalent qualifications to be assessed on their respective merit.

 

 


COURSES ON OFFER
:: MBM 511 : Organisational Management
:: MBM 512 : Marketing Management
:: MBM 513 : Business Law
:: MBM 521 :Operations Management
:: MBM 522 :Consumer Behaviour
:: MBM 532 :Business Research Methods
:: MBM 533 :Change Management
:: MBM 534 :Service Marketing
:: MBM 541 :Total Quality Management
:: MBM 542 :Innovation Management
:: MBM 543 :International Business Management
:: MBM 544 :Strategic Management
:: MBM 545 :Information for Marketing Management
:: MBM 546 :Strategic Marketing Management
:: AFM 511 : Accounting for Management Decision Making
:: AFM 523 :Financial Markets & Institutions
:: AFM 531 :Risk Management in Banking & Finance
:: HRM 511 :Managing the Organisation’s HR
:: HRM 521 :Human Resource Planning
:: HRM 531 :Strategic HRM
:: HRM 541 :Labour Law & Industrial Relations
:: HRM 542 :Compensation Management
:: HRM 543 :International HRM


COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
CORE COURSES


MBM 511: Management of Organisations (3 Credits)

This course seeks to introduce students to critical management knowledge, skills and orientation expected of post-graduate students. It will cover, among other issues, discussions on principles and practice of management: planning, organizing, leading, directing and control, including a background to strategic management of organizations. It will also examine the dynamics of human (individual and group) behaviour in organizations, their impact on the internal environment of organizations and organisational performance, and the appropriate approaches managers should adopt to achieve organisational effectiveness. The course will be made as practical as possible and offer students the chance to apply contemporary issues in organisational management to the Ghanaian situation.

MBM 512: Marketing Management (3 Credits)

The basic objective of this course is to provide students with the requisite modern marketing knowledge, skills and orientation to enable them plan, implement and control effective marketing strategies and programmes to ensure sustainable customer satisfaction and achievement of organizational objectives and goals. The course content will cover an overview of the marketing function, customer behaviour, market segmentation, targeting and positioning and the marketing environment. Marketing decisions on product planning and development, pricing, distribution and promotion, as well as the marketing planning process and contents of the marketing plan, marketing organization, implementation and control and the role information for marketing management will be thoroughly examined.

HRM 511: Managing the Organisation’s Human Resource (3 Credits)

As a core course, this course seeks, generally, to provide students with general understanding of contemporary human resource management issues. To this end, it will cover topics such as employee resourcing (human resource planning, recruitment and selection, etc), performance management human resource development and occupational health and safety. The students will also be introduced to compensation and benefits management, labour relations and strategic human resource management. The course will adopt an integrative approach, emphasizing the contributions of other disciplines to human resource management. It will also introduce students to the core practical skills in human resource management such as human resource planning techniques, interview and selection tools (e.g. psychometrics), job descriptions and specifications, human resource accounting and auditing techniques, morale surveys and negotiation skills. The course is meant to serve as a perquisite to more advanced and specialized courses on human resource management.

MBM 521: Corporate Governance, Ethics and Social Responsibility (3 Credits)

The purpose of this course is to enable students to understand, appreciate and deal with strategic governance, ethical, social and legal responsibility issues confronting business organizations. To this end, the course will examine issues relating to governance structures and processes, role of board of directors and executive leadership/board-CEO relationships, internal communication and the management of corporate performance. Governance challenges legal frameworks and business compliance and business ownership regulations will also be discussed. Issues of business ethics and ethical decision-making, concept of corporate citizenship/social responsibility, pursuit of profit/profitability objectives in an ethical and socially responsible manner (i.e. to reflect good corporate citizenship in a company’s goals/objectives and plans) and the need to achieve an equitable balance among the competing claims of an organisation’s various stakeholders will also be discussed.

AFM 511: Financial Management (3 Credits)

In view of Ghana’s growing economy with its numerous investment opportunities and the rapidly growing money and capital markets, a fundamental understanding of financial management is becoming more and more essential. Thus, this course is aimed at equipping students and potential managers with the tools and techniques to understand and be able to critically analyse the financial environment, apply appropriate techniques in capital budgeting decision making, appreciate the risk-return relationship in investment projects address issues and challenges of day-to-day financial management and to use various available trade finance methods efficiently and effectively. Topics to be covered will include financial planning and forecasting, the financial environment, risk and rates of return, time value of money, financing options and cost of capital. Capital budgeting techniques, cash-flow estimation and risk analysis, capital structure and dividend policy working capital management and multinational financial management will also be examined.

 

 

AFM 521: Accounting for Management Decision Making (3 Credits)

The purpose of this course is to expose these non-Accounting students to the basic concepts, principles and techniques in Accounting useful in managerial decision making. Topics to be covered will include Accounting mechanics, processes and systems, the conceptual framework, Accounting policies and standards, bank reconciliation statement and analysis and interpretation of financial statements and the cash flow statement. The students will also be introduced to cost and management Accounting, treatment of overheads, unit costing and activity-based costing, costing techniques, (absorption and marginal costing), cost-volume-profit (break-even) analysis and standard costing and decision making. The concepts of Responsibility Accounting, relevant cost and differential cost, budgeting and budgetary control and their importance as management planning and control tools will also feature in the discussions.

MBM 531: Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management (3 Credits)

This course seeks, generally, to provide students with core entrepreneurship knowledge skills and orientation required to enable them manage small and medium-scale enterprises (SME) or provide services in SME consulting. The course will provide an overview of entrepreneurship, its meaning and scope, qualities of entrepreneurs and the dynamic role played by small businesses in national economic growth and development. Other major topics to be discussed will include the process for new venture creation/setting up a small business (evaluating business opportunities, designing strategies, forming the entrepreneurial team and developing financing strategies), organizing and managing the small business, focusing on sales and marketing management, accounting, finance and records management, people management, general management practice, etc.

MBM 532: Business Research Methods (3 Credits)

This course is designed to expose students to the theories, techniques, processes, tools and approaches that will enhance their analytical and research skills. It describes various quantitative and qualitative research methodologies developed over the years, explains how they work and shows how the decision maker can apply them and interpret the results. The computer will be utilized extensively. The content will include a review of research processes, ethical issues in research, research design, sources and methods of data collection, data collection instruments and sampling concepts. The students will also be taken through data analysis and presentation, estimation and hypothesis testing, multivariable analysis and research report writing, including format for presenting project reports and dissertations.


MBM 533: Change Management (3 Credits)

Many companies operate in industries characterized by rapid technological change, short product life cycles, entry of important new rivals, lots of competitive maneuvering by rivals and fast-evolving customer requirements and expectations. It is important for corporate managers to monitor important developments in their industries and implement effective response strategies accordingly. This course, therefore, aims at enabling students cope with change through effective change management and organizational development. It will examine an overview of organizational change and development, their nature, causes and relevance in organizational management. Techniques for evaluating the need for change, initiating and managing change, coping with rapid change, organizational climate and culture and employee commitment will also be discussed, in addition to strategies for dealing with resistance to change, managing organizational change and for individual, group and organizational development.

MBM 544: Strategic Management (3 Credits)

The purpose of this course is to equip students with the relevant concepts, principles and tools to be able to view the organization as a whole (conceptual skills) and so craft and execute effective corporate strategies in pursuit of corporate objectives, missions and visions. The course content will cover an overview of the strategic management process, industry and competitive analysis, evaluating the organization’s external environment, its resources and competitive position and formulation of corporate strategies, generic competitive strategies, stability, growth and retrenchment strategies, integrative strategies, diversification strategies, alliances and partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing strategies, offensive strategies (to improve market position and build competitive advantage) and defensive strategies (to protect market position and competitive advantage). The students will also be taken through processes involved in choosing appropriate corporate and functional-area strategies, executing the strategy and ensuring its achievement through effective operational and strategic control systems.

 


ELECTIVE COURSES


MBM 522: Operations Management (3 Credits)

This course aims at introducing students to the development and significance of concepts and practices in the management of projects and operations. The course content will cover issues relating to an overview of project and operations management, project planning/integration and scope, project time, cost and quality management, human resource management and communication in project management, developing project risk management plan, project management tools/graphics and estimation and assessing project performance. It will also discuss issues relating to concepts in operations management, (its relevance, strategies, systems, functions, activities and communication), forecasting, planning and controlling operations, aggregate and capacity planning, materials and inventory management, scheduling manufacturing and service operations and improving products and systems. Quality assurance, facility location analysis and layout design, job design and work measurement as well as technology improvement in operations management will also be discussed.

MBM 523: Consumer Behaviour (3 Credits)

The purpose of this course is to demonstrate to students the power of the wheel of consumer analysis as a tool for organizing consumer behaviour knowledge and for understanding consumers (as the focus of marketing management) and for guiding development of effective marketing strategies. To this end, the course will focus on the four major parts of the wheel of consumer analysis: consumer affect and cognition, consumer behaviour, consumer environment and marketing strategy. The relevance of consumer analysis in marketing strategy formulation will be discussed in relation to its impact on market segmentation, targeting and product positioning as well as on formulation of product, pricing, place/distribution and promotion strategies.

 

 

 

 


MBM 524: Integrated Marketing Communication (3 Credits)

This course is designed to provide students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of promotion or marketing communication and its role in the company’s marketing performance. It views the promotion function in marketing as an integrated system and process made up of inter-related and inter-dependent components (the communications/promotions mix). The course will provide students with the skills to coordinate all the communication activities of an organization to deliver a cohesive consistent and effective message to its target markets. Specifically, the course focuses on consumer analysis, communication process and objectives, designing and budgeting for the communication programme, creative strategy, media planning and strategy and implementing and measuring communication programme effectiveness. The various elements of the communications mix will also be examined, including advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, publicity and public relations, corporate identity and corporate image, sponsorships , direct marketing and marketing on the internet.

MBM 534: New Product Development (3 Credits)

The overall purpose of this course is to emphasize the importance of new product development and effective brand management as strategies for strengthening corporate competitive position, growth and profitability in the dynamic business environment. Its focus is on equipping students with the requisite knowledge and skills to successively develop and introduce new products and how effective branding may be used to support this effort. Topics to be discussed will include what “new product” means, organizational arrangements for effective new product development and introduction; new product development process and the role of branding in effective new product development and introduction. Thus, the course will look at the nature and role of branding, brand equity, brand image and brand loyalty, branding strategies, and global and legal issues in branding.

 

 

 

 


MBM 541: Managing Globalisation (3 Credits)

The increasing globalization of industry has increased the complexities of modern-day business management. Businesses in this globalised world, therefore, need managers capable of understanding and effectively strategizing for profitability, survival and growth. This course, therefore, aims at introducing students to the dynamics of the global business environment and how to succeed in it. It will cover the major driving forces affecting globalization, the global business environment, current practices and trends in business growth, global interdependence, multinational, global and transnational corporations, world trade, regional trade and integration, business growth strategies in the global context and the role of creativity and innovation.

MBM 542: Innovation Management (3 Credits)

The purpose of this course is to enable students not only to understand and appreciate the criticality of creativity and innovation capabilities and competencies in organizational effectiveness in the present-day dynamic business environment but also to be able to identify and employ effective strategies and programmes to enhance creativity and innovation in organizations. To this end the course will provide an overview of innovation management, innovation and creativity in context and the role of governments/states in this endeavour. It will also examine key issues in managing innovation and creativity in organizations business strategy and organization knowledge for effective creativity and innovation; strategic alliances/cooperation and networks for innovation and creativity innovative new product development and management process and role of effective research and development (R & D) management in achieving creativity and innovation in organizations.

MBM 543: International Business Management (3 Credits)

This course is intended to expose students to the dynamics of business and marketing in the international environment. The course, therefore, begins with an introduction to international business and marketing and how they differ from domestic operations. It will cover the theory and practice of international business, the international business and marketing environment, strategic issues from an international perspective and the use of international business and marketing information for effective decisions on international product management, promotion/marketing communication, pricing, distribution and operations management, international human resource management, and international finance and accounting will also be discussed.


MBM 545: Information for Marketing Management (3 Credits)

The purpose of this course is to drive home the importance of relevant, accurate and timely marketing information in effective marketing management, which calls for their systematic collection, analysis, dissemination and use. The course content will therefore involve discussion of the information needs of marketing managers in terms of market information, information about the company’s internal situation (its strengths and weaknesses), its external environment (marketing opportunities and threats) and about the marketing-mix elements for purposes of assessing the effectiveness of current marketing strategies , programmes and policies. The course will also discuss the marketing information system , that is the internal accounting and record-keeping system, marketing intelligence system and the marketing research system used to collect the required data and information, and the analytical marketing system which uses advanced quantitative techniques to analyse marketing data and problems.

MBM 546: Strategic Marketing Management Practice (3 Credits)

This course is designed to provide students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of marketing and the marketing concept and the major principles, theories, concepts, techniques and tools relevant to the practice of marketing at the strategic level, including development, implementation and control of competitive marketing strategies. The discussions will focus on analysis of the firm’s marketing situation, including market, product, distribution, promotion and competitive situation analysis as well as its internal and external macro and micro-environment situation. Results of this analysis would help in identifying key issues facing the company’s product-market that its strategic plan must address, through formulation, implementation and control of appropriate competitive strategies (leader, market-challenger, market-follower and market-nicher strategies), market growth strategies and marketing-mix strategies.

HRM 521: Human Resource Development (3 Credits)

The purpose of this course is to provide in-depth exposure and practical knowledge and skills in human resource development to students of human resource management who may wish to branch into human resource development as a career. Thus, the course will discuss the nature and scope of human resource development, focusing on issues relating to principles of adult learning, training and development programme design, human resource training and development policy, training needs analysis, techniques and tools for training and development and training and development programme evaluation. Student will also be exposed to presentation skills, training event management, training administration and legal issues in training and development and curriculum development. It is expected that the course will equip students with the requisite knowledge and skills to function as training specialists, with emphasis on presentation skills.

HRM 522: Human Resource Planning (3 Credits)

This is a specialized human resource management course that seeks to provide students with specialized skills in planning for an organisation’s human resource requirements. It is intended to expose students to the intersection of Human Resource Management with Corporate Strategy. It seeks to bring the practice of people management into the thinking of top management because the success or failure of organizations is directly linked to key human resource activities such as recruitment training and compensation. The course will therefore deal with how to plan to have the right number of staff, with the requisite skills mix and the appropriate strategies to attract and retain them. The course will therefore focus on issues relating to an overview of human resource planning, human resource forecasting, strategies for acquisition, career and succession planning , labour turnover analysis, planning for redundancies, retention strategies, employment flexibility planning and productivity.

HRM 531: Strategic Human Resource Management Practice (3 Credits)

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding and appreciation of the major tools and techniques required to align human resource management (HRM) practices and processes to explicit corporate and business strategies to achieve strategic organizational goals and objectives, vision and mission. To achieve this purpose, the course will cover, among other relevant issues/topics, an overview of the corporate strategic management process and the role of HRM in this process, it will also discuss the meaning and nature of strategic human resource planning, strategic human resource development and talent management, effective compensation and reward strategies for attracting and retaining competent staff, industrial/labour relations practices and their impact on corporate and business strategies. The process of HRM policies and procedures development, approaches to strategic HRM and development and implemention of HRM strategies and evaluating their impact on overall organization and HRM policy development will also be discussed.

 


HRM 541: Industrial & Labour Relations (3 Credits)

The need for a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the formal relationship between the employer and employee and the techniques and methods used to make that relationship effective in achieving organizational, individual and group objectives, goals and aspirations cannot be over-emphasized. Thus, this course is intended to provide students with the requisite knowledge and understanding of the concepts, principles and practices of industrial/labour relations. This requires understanding of the nature and scope of industrial/labour relations practice and approaches to its study as well as the economic, political and legal, social and cultural and the technological environment of industrial/labour relations. Elements of the industrial/labour relations process, parties in industrial/labour relations and the collective bargaining strategy and practices will also be discussed. Students will also be exposed to skills in negotiating, conflict and conflict management, managing discipline and grievance procedures and use of effective management-employee cooperation strategies. Introduction to Ghana labour laws and development and impact-evaluation of industrial/labour relations practices on organizational effectiveness will also be covered.


HRM 542: Compensation Management (3 Credits)

Individuals join organizations to contribute towards achievement of corporate goals and objectives while, at the same time, meeting their respective needs and aspirations, both financial/economic and non-financial. This makes the issue of compensation and reward management a critical issue in strategic human resource management of organizations. This course is, therefore, aimed at providing students with advanced knowledge and skills to enable them manage the compensation and reward function of organizations. It will cover the theoretical basis for compensation and rewards (i.e. motivational theories), the link between motivation and rewards, types and elements of compensation and reward as well as the (economic, legal and other) factors influencing compensation and reward management methods and tools such as job evaluation and classification, wages and salaries surveys, performance/skill-linked pay, contract payments, etc. Development of pay structures and employee benefits will also be discussed within the context of roles and functions of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission.

 

MBM 543: International Human Resource Management (3 Credits)

The basic purpose of this course is to enable students understand and appreciate the challenging task of administering the human resource management (HRM) function in organizations when it cuts across national borders, in view of the fact that human resource managers face a complex set of problems that differ substantially from those in the home country. Key problems in international HRM involve selecting managers to staff the firm’s foreign operations and developing and implementing effective international HRM programme. The course will, therefore, focus on the international HRM function, managerial personnel commonly used by international companies to staff their foreign operations, their pros and cons and factors influencing the choice as well as the need to develop and implement effective international HRM programmes. Effective management of expatriates: why expatriates will also be covered, in terms of why expatriate fail in foreign assignments, measures for reducing failures; selecting right expatriates and administering expatriate programmes and expatriate compensation schemes.

 


WHAT YOU GET AS AN MBA STUDENT AT ZENITH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

:: Free laptop computer (admitted students must pay up to GH¢5, 000 upon registration before)

:: Free core textbooks

:: Free internet access on campus

:: Free access to virtual library

:: Experienced Lecturers

:: Comfortable well ventilated / air conditioned Lecture rooms

:: Well-stocked library with current & up-to date books & journals

:: 30% on any books or stationery purchase at EPP Books Service
 
 
 
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