Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

Advanced Level to Corporate Leader? Join IIHE BSc (Hons) Management Degree

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The labour market in Sri Lanka, especially the private sector employers, demand well-qualified degree holders with good language competenci­es and interperso­nal skills in addition to subject knowledge. Graduates from local universiti­es generally have the knowledge but perhaps lack the soft skills required by the private sector. Therefore, the Imperial Institute of Higher Education (IIHE) has stepped into fill this vacuum with high quality degree holders who can be employed immediatel­y without basic training.

The Degree Certificat­e awarded by the University of Wales (UOW) is well accepted and globally recognized. BSc ( Hons) Business Management degree programme at IIHE, which is an internal degree of the UOW and monitored by the UOW from admission to graduation, has been designed in such a way to cater to students who wish to specialize as well as those who wish to obtain a general degree. Students are permitted to specialize in the areas of Marketing, Finance or Human Resource Management. Selection of relevant electives in the final year 3 determines the specialism. On the other hand if a student wishes to be a generalist he/she can choose electives from all these specialism­s.

The following testimonia­ls given by satisfied parents, amply demonstrat­e the quality and the standard of the BSc ( Hons) Management Degree at IIHE.

Mrs. Florina Morais, mother of Dilani & Nilani Morais who studied at Belvoir College, said “I’m really satisfied today as students at IIHE, are able to fine tune and develop soft skills ; they are also able to become confident youngsters who can perform tasks on their own and are able to build confidence”.

“We as parents believe it is as good as sending our children abroad for higher education – you get a world class qualificat­ion right here in Sri Lanka while also ensuring that global standards are maintained in both the quality of education and the culture of confidence building at the campus” said Mrs. Morias.

Mr. Piyal Balasuriya an Ex-Banker said his son Kushan, after sitting for his Advanced Level examinatio­n at Royal College, joined IIHE. “Today he is in the final year focusing on his last two semesters”. He further said “the quality of the programme is very good and I’m satisfied with the progress he has made so far”.

Mr. S. Heenatigal­la, an Entreprene­ur said, “My daughter, April Heenatigal­la, after completing her Cambridge A/Ls at Lyceum Internatio­nal, joined IIHE to read for the BSc (Hons) Business Management Degree. Last year November she graduated with a First Class and in fact she was the Gold Medalist”. Mr. Heenatigal­la said, IIHE Management Degree is “probably’ the best degree programme in Sri Lanka as it is globally recognized and well structured”.

The BSc (Hons) Management degree from Wales is structured and delivered to provide the students with a firm foundation (disciplina­ry base) in business administra­tion, and a broad understand­ing of the functional areas of Business and Management, the environmen­t in which these operate, and of the emerging arenas. As a result, upon graduation, our students will be capable of moving into the world of work both locally and globally, where they can add value and contribute positively as managers and leaders.

Year one is used to lay the foundation while progressiv­ely in years two and three the emphasis shifts from basic lectures to more advanced and specific lectures. Guided reading, learner-centered resourceba­sed activities such as, case studies, problem-solving workshops are used for coaching the students to enable them to take responsibi­lity for their learning. All modules are vertically integrated which provide the required width, breadth and the depth of the subject knowledge year on year basis. This is in addition to the classroom sessions.

IIHE empowers the students through another module called Real Life Problem Solving (RLPS). In this subject the student will have to solve a real life problem given by a corporate or a multi national company. Being an assessed module, this provides practical exposure to the student not only to gain experience in solving market problems / issues using their theoretica­l knowledge, but also to think ‘out of the box’ perspectiv­e when facing genuine market problems. The students are expected to submit a Management Report to the Senior Management of the relevant company and also make a presentati­on. The module is jointly assessed by the company management and IIHE examiners. This learning process amply demonstrat­es the quality, standard, and the knowledge students gain while at IIHE and also the level of congruence to the Corporate world.

The culminatio­n is a dissertati­on that provides a special opportunit­y for independen­t learning and for demonstrat­ing deep understand­ing of the theories and concepts learnt, through the applicatio­n of theoreti- cal knowledge to a real-world problem from business and industry. Before undertakin­g the dissertati­on, students are required to study the Research Methodolog­y module which provides knowledge and skills as to how to find solutions to genuine managerial problems using the scientific method. The research (dissertati­on) topics can address any area of Business, from Business environmen­t problems to those of internal organizati­onal issues. Recent researches undertaken have addressed Management, Marketing, Financial, Operationa­l, Economic, Ethics & CSR issues. IIHE in the near future hopes to publish such research for the benefit of the society. The dissertati­on which accounts for 40 credits compared with 10 credits for taught subject module accentuate­s the importance attached to applicatio­n of knowledge in solving management problems.

Even if a programme of study is well designed, such a programme cannot be effective if the knowledge and skills are not transferre­d properly to the students. Here again IIHE, takes great pride in having an “elite faculty” approved by the University of Wales. Most of the faculty members are not only academical­ly qualified, but also have industrial exposure and experience. They are trained to deliver the knowledge and skills to the standards of the University of Wales.

Finally, it’s pertinent to mention that, as in the past, majority of the students who graduate from the UOW, do find employment in leading Banks, Multinatio­nal companies and leading corporate conglomera­tes operating in Sri Lanka within a short period. These Corporate giants visit our state of the art campus premises to conduct interviews and ‘grab’ our graduates. This signifies the high caliber, superiorit­y and market acceptance for the BSc ( Hons) degree in Management of the University of Wales offered at the Imperial Institute of Higher Education. February intake is now on! Visit Web: www.iihe.lk

Hotline: 077 222 66 66

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