Management Development Programme

The Management Development Programme (MDP) is a core element of the undergraduate degree programmes in the Strathclyde Business School. The programme is three years in length and provides students with a learning environment through which they develop business and commercial awareness, with a focus on corporate social responsibility and sustainability, alongside graduate employability skills. The programme adopts a blended learning approach and is based on social constructivist and experiential learning principles. Students are exposed to the reality of business through industry engagement as well as development of knowledge and understanding through dialogue.

The Management Development Programme runs in each of the first three years of the School’s undergraduate degrees*. The entire suite of modules is driven by real business problems and is delivered by a team of lecturers and tutors from different departments who are supported by invited practitioners. The approach to learning is active problem-based, with students working in project teams. Each year of the MDP focuses on different aspects of business and the content of MDP is constantly evolving and being updated and enhanced.

The class aims to:

encourage integration of the knowledge and experience gained in the Principal Business Subjects
increasing understanding of organisations, their management, the economy and the business environment
preparation for and development of a career in business and management
enhancement of a wide range of skills and attributes which equip graduates to become effective global citizens

Why is the Management Development Programme important?

In consultation with employers, the programme focuses on those skills which are recognised as important for your personal and professional development in preparation for your future career working in the public, private or voluntary sector. Thus the MDP is essential to becoming a graduate with impact.

Increasingly, organisations are seeking flexible employees who can adapt to change, are effective in operating in multidisciplinary teams, have confidence in presenting and have well-developed interpersonal skills. The MDP develops these skills across three years, enhances your employability and integrates with your knowledge of business acquired through your selected academic subjects.
The MDP is an integral part of the undergraduate degrees. It's a compulsory class which runs in Years 1 to 3* and you must successfully complete all three years in order to graduate or to progress to Honours-level study. The approach to learning is active problem-based, with students working in project teams.

[* The BBA (the accelerated Honours degree over three years) undertakes a tailored version of the Programme known as the Leadership Development Programme which runs in BBA Years 1 and 2 and mirrors MDP1 and MDP2.]

MDP 1

MDP1 follows the ICE Pathway – “Innovation, Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship”, where students learn about the Foundations of 'What is Business’.

Alongside:

Personal & Professional Development: Who am I? How Do I learn? How do I lead & work in a team
Knowledge & Practice: What is a business/organisation? Why does this matter? How does this affect society?
Experiential Learning: Real World Cases & Clients; Team-based and Student Centred Learning Approaches

Each topic will be introduced as pre-sessional activity which forms the basis of team based activities (timetabled groups of 50 and teams of six to seven) where students develop an agreed understanding of the topic and present this to the group through a variety of medium. The feedback gained from this activity then feeds directly into the assessments for the module.

MDP 2

MDP2 follows the 3Ps Pathway – “People, Projects & Professionalism”, where students progress to the next level of 'How Businesses Function’.

Alongside:

Personal & Professional Development: What career would I like? What skills do I have & need to develop? How can I work professionally with different audiences?
Knowledge & Practice: How do organisation’s function? How can we innovate inside an organisation/firm? How can I work in a team to deliver a project?
Experiential Learning: Deliver Consultancy; Academic Poster for UG Conference on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Problem-based Learning Approach

This year of the programme concentrates on developing understanding through industry-specific contextualisation. The sessions are thematically linked to the pathways for individualised experience in third year whilst also drawing on the theoretical knowledge developed in MDP1.

MDP 3

MDP3 is the WoW Pathway – the “World of Work”, this provides students with the opportunity to chose their own experiential journey to further enhance their employability skills and learn 'Who' they are (or could be) in their career.

Knowledge, Personal and Professional Development: What have I gained from this experience? How can I use this in my current and future career?
Experiential Learning: student centered approach; independent learning opportunities

Third year of the programme centres on individualised experience in organisational context for all students through one of the following pathways:

Internship/Charities - gain practical experience in a private or third sector organisation. You need to negotiate and locate your own organisation and experience – this is one of the key learning points of the pathway.
Research and consultancy - a facility for local small businesses to gain from the experience and expertise of those within SBS. You work on two live business consultancy projects (one in each semester) and, as a team of six, develop solutions and strategic initiatives for the local SME economy.
International experience – only available for students who are undertaking an international exchange for either one semester or full year.
Vertically Integrated Projects - working on a cross-faculty basis to research longitudinal projects (including the Bill Gates Toilet Challenge, Solar Panels for Gambia and Enterprise in Schools) you work with a team of students from all levels of study (first year undergraduate to final year PhD) to further the work of the project.

In addition to this, all students are required to undertake a social responsibility element to their programme (this accounts for one quarter of the overall workload). These have been designed to provide support to the Curriculum for Excellence and the Widening Access to Higher Education programme. There are no formal classes for MDP3 although there is pathway support with the pathway leads and tutor support.

Employers and MDP

We work with major employers in all sectors, and prizes for the best team projects have in the past been sponsored by companies such as Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, Screenmedia and Ernst & Young. The selected best teams present to the organisations and their senior staff. At a practical level, staff, often Strathclyde graduates, participate in the group sessions, observe business presentations and give feedback to students. They all value the skills which our students are acquiring as being essential for prospective employees.