Form C4
1. Course
Code
Heriot-Watt University - Course Descriptor
C19CA
2. Course
Critical Approaches to Management
Title
School Management and Languages
5. School
7. Delivery:
Location &
Semester
6. Course
Coordinator
3. SCQF 9
4. Credits
Level
Professor Abigail Marks
15
Edin
SBC
Orkney
Dubai
IDL
Collaborative Partner
Approved Learning Partner
Sem .2..
Sem…….
Sem………..
Sem..2…..
Sem….2
Name…………………….....Sem..…...
Name …See attached list……………Sem..2…..
8. Pre-requisites
C18HM Human Resource Management
9. Linked Courses
(specify if synoptic)
10. Excluded Courses
None
11. Replacement Courses
Code:
None
12. Degrees for which
this is a core course
Date Of Replacement:
13. The course may be
delivered to:
UG only
PG only
UG & PG
14. Available as an Elective?
Yes
No
15. Aims





To enable students to apply a more critical understanding to Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management
To introduce students to critical and sociologically informed understandings of the nature of work and employment
To further develop conceptual understandings and critical thinking from ideas presented in Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management
To explore the main theories and research in work-related issues including de-schilling, high performance work systems, bureaucracy, culture and control
To enable students to analyse work from a variety of different levels - the individual, groups, organisational and societal in an attempt to increase understanding of the
complex processes at work.
 To help students understand how these issues affect workers from the factory to the office, from manual to professional employees and from the public to the private
sector
16. Syllabus
The syllabus covers a range of issues regarding the course topic. An indicative syllabus is:
Section 1: The critical analysis of work and industry – The theories of Taylor, Weber, Durkheim, Marx etc
Section 2: The experience and structure of work – Collective forms of work organisation, Participation and Involvement
Section 3: Conflict, resistance and control – Surveillance and Discipline, Resistance, Control and Culture
Section 4: The restructuring of work – Post Fordism, Contemporary Management Practice, New Work and New Economy
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Form C4
Heriot-Watt University - Course Descriptor
17. Learning Outcomes (HWU Core Skills: Employability and Professional Career Readiness)
Subject Mastery
Personal Abilities
Understanding, Knowledge and Cognitive Skills
Scholarship, Enquiry and Research (Research-Informed Learning)
Students will be able to
Students will be able to
 to understand critical perspectives to work
 demonstrate a higher level understanding of developments in the organisational
theory and draw on a range of sources to make judgements
 to differentiate between sociological,
managerialist and psychological positions
 to apply theory to practice
 to show an understanding of recent and
classic theories of work
 to assess difficulties associated with the
change in work and how contemporary and
traditional theories can explain reactions to
workplace change

Industrial, Commercial & Professional Practice
Autonomy, Accountability & Working with Others
Communication, Numeracy & ICT
Students will be able to
Students will be able to
Students will be able to
 Identify and analyse routine professional
 work effectively individually and as part of a
 communicate effectively within
problems and issues
team
team and to the rest of the
class
 present ideas in a well
structured manner
18. Assessment Methods
Method
19. Re-assessment Methods
Duration of Exam
Weighting (%)
Synoptic courses?
Method
(if applicable)
Coursework
Examination
ALPs only: Examination
2 Hours
2 Hours
Duration of Exam
Diet(s)
(if applicable)
50
50
100
None
None
Examination
2 Hours
Resit
Examination
2 Hours
Resit
20. Date and Version
Date of Proposal
February 2013
Date of Approval by
School Committee
Date of
Implementation
September 2013
Version
Number
2/2
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