AF6043 - Management Enquiry

The module is an individual student-led enquiry, but you are supported by, initially, weekly lectures and workshops and guest lectures which provide an introduction to undertaking AEF management enquiry research followed by one-to-one or small-group supervision meetings. You will study on the same taught sessions as students taking the Dissertation module, with the taught elements of the module covering the following topics; developing a literature review, researching ethically, quantitative research techniques, qualitative research techniques, quantitative analysis techniques and qualitative analysis techniques. These taught sessions will introduce you to the underpinning knowledge necessary for undertaking an individual student-led investigation into an applied business problem or issue. The workshops provide you with the opportunity to put this knowledge into practice for your own proposed research area.

The one-to-one or small-group supervisions with your allocated supervisor give you the opportunity to seek guidance to support your Management Enquiry. Your supervisor will not instruct you but will provide you with on-going formative feedback on your progress as you engage with the Management Enquiry process. Supervisors will be appointed in line with NBS policy which recognise the requirements of professional bodies and AACSB accreditation and aligns to broad subject specialism, in your case AEF.

A supporting reading list provides you with key references to enable you to undertake a more detailed and in-depth review of your enquiry. You will be expected to keep up-to-date with your project tasks. To aid with self-assessment a portal is available to encourage your experiential learning through, journals, development of project meetings etc. This independent learning will be further supported by various online materials housed within the module eLP that cover key lecture and seminar interventions.

The selection of a suitable Management Enquiry topic that is specific to the AEF discipline rests with you. However, to achieve this, you will be supported by the following academic staff:
• Lecture tutors.
• Workshop tutors, who will be from the AEF discipline.
• Guest lecturers
• Supervisor, who will be from, the AEF discipline.

From part-way through semester one through to submission of your Management Enquiry, your key point of support is the supervisor. The Management Enquiry module is led by an academic from the department who has oversight of this supervisory and support processed, alongside responsibility for supporting the e-learning portal, allocation of supervisors and regular communication with students on the module. They will provide ongoing support via the weekly webinar that further complements the formal inputs described above.

In addition, you will be provided with support from your peers in the seminar-workshops. These workshops are typically based upon programme cohorts or subject groups, so you will be grouped alongside other students from your discipline. suite.

The module’s e-learning portal acts as a repository for: lecture materials, workshops exercises and materials, exemplar Management Enquiries and assessment details (including submission, plagiarism detection and marking criteria). In addition, the eLP houses the online reading list (including direct links to textbooks, journal papers, academic and conference reports) and various support facilities such as recordings of certain lectures. The eLP site will also provide a blended approach to learning housing various recordings of the module lectures and key IT workshop interventions that further support the classroom based study within the module.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• Critically evaluate and assess contemporary knowledge of theory, research and professional practice relating to a subject of your choice within the AEF discipline. (MLO1)
• Critically apply knowledge of AEF to identify complex real-world problems in professional practice. (MLO2)

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• Undertake an independent self-managed Management Enquiry involving primary research, adopting an evaluative and critical perspective, thereby critically reflecting upon professional practice relating to the AEF discipline. (MLO3)
• Develop and appraise key employability capabilities, including time management, project management, communication (written and verbal), negotiation, persuasion and influence, discovery, initiative, creativity and innovation in problem-solving and analysis as a means of assessing personal development. (MLO4)

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• Generate and analyse relevant primary or secondary data using an appropriate level of, and critically justified, method while critically evaluating the limitations of the data source/s and the method/s employed. (MLO5)
• Critically evaluate the ethical implications of the research work undertaken. (MLO6)

Formative assessment will take place through applied group-based activities in the workshops that will provide an initial input into the module. This formative assessment be built on through the 2-hour lectures hosted by the module tutor. You will be encouraged to discuss initial your initial research ideas through peer review activities and discussions.

You will receive on-going formative feedback from your supervisor based on the research proposal and throughout the period of your engagement with the Management Enquiry process.

A comprehensive handbook of guidance will be given on this assessment. The eLP will be used to permanently host this detailed guidance, alongside a copy of the marking criteria, to ensure that students can access it throughout the dissertation process.

The summative assessment will be an individual 10,000 word Management Enquiry report based about your choice from the AEF discipline.

The module assessment comprises two components, each of which is in the form of a business report, which demonstrates your engagement with the five themes of the module.

Part A: Explore and Review (35%, 3,500 words)
Part B: Engage, Reflect and Connect (65%, 6,500 words)

This will assess the module learning outcomes MLO1-3 and MLO5-6 inclusive.

In addition, you will be required to submit a 1,000 word reflective statement providing an individual assessment of how you have met the UG goals and objectives that underpin your programme and undergraduate study, and in doing so, how you are prepared for either graduate employment or higher-level study. This will assess MLO4.

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The Management Enquiry module aims to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate an authentic engagement with managers and/or professionals within the AEF discipline, and to integrate the knowledge developed during your programme of study to explore theory in practice. Your learning on this module is experiential and problem-based, with a focus upon you discovering, probing, questioning and critically reflecting upon practice-based issues. Therefore, you will engage significantly in enquiry-based research rich learning, alongside research-led learning as you evaluate the AEF literature as part of your independent study.

You will meet and discuss with a manager/professional within the AEF area to scope an initial problem or issue that you will then explore. You will review this issue/problem, examining the depth of pre-existing academic knowledge. You will then undertake the collection/generation of primary or secondary data to probe and investigate this issue/problem more widely. Having analysed your data, you will feed-back to the participants of the Enquiry (usually the manager and/or participants) your key findings to provide clear prioritised, well-justified, practical and actionable recommendations for change/enhancement/improvement to existing AEF practice to inform workplace decision-making.