General Management

COURSE TITLE: GENERAL MANAGEMENT ( MANAGERIAL & SUPERVISORY SKILLS IMPROVEMENT)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The General Management course is designed to introduce students to the study of management, its origins, and Africa’s contribution. The course explores all-important management areas: planning, problem-solving and decision making, organization design, leadership, teams and group behavior,  motivation, communication, and control in organizations. The course uses topical examples to explore how management is applied across organizations in Africa with relevant examples.

FACILITATOR

Dr. Lwanga Martin Mwanje is an author, management consultant, and Associate professor of business management.  He has served as Dean of Uganda Christian University Business School, Head of Management Department at Uganda Management Institute and a lecturer at Makerere University. He is co-founder of one of Uganda’s first private radio FM stations and several enterprises.

He devotes his time to teaching business students across universities in Africa, Europe, North America and Asia. He has written over a dozen books that include Everyone can Become an Effective Manager, Entrepreneurship through Generations, and Who is My Friend! As a management consultant he has consulted for the World Bank, United Nations, European Union, government, private and non-government organizations.

He speaks across the East African region and internationally on topics related to management, leadership development and personal effectiveness. He has published articles in refereed journals such as Uganda Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies; and Journal of Public Administration.

He is a columnist with Uganda’s leading Daily, New Vision, where he publishes the long-running The Effective Manager column. Dr. Lwanga is a twice recipient of the Uganda Human Resource Managers Association award for Teaching the Practice of Management.

CONTACT:

Twitter: @Mlwanga1

COURSE OUTLINE

Teaching Method:

Class activities will include lectures and in-class exercises such as case studies, team discussions, and student presentations of projects. The first half of each session will typically follow a conventional lecture-based approach ( 1 ½ hours) covering the chapter materials related to each week’s lesson, the second half ( 1 ½ hours) will involve case study analysis or other form of experiential learning such a video and group discussions.

With this particular subject it is necessary to spend considerable time examining lessons learned from existing organizations and the approaches they have taken in management. Additionally, each week an article from a newspaper or magazine will normally be distributed to serve as the basis for further class discussion on class Group whatsup.

Group Project and Presentation:

40% of final grade

The major in-course assessment for this course requires one major assignment.

First, is a complete analysis of key managerial issues affecting organizations today. You will need to show an understanding of the issues that influence managerial decisions; and finally how you think managers can excel.

Final Exam:

60% of final grade

The final examination will comprise number of conventional examination type questions to choose from.  The exam assesses comprehension of, and ability to describe management concepts, theories and principles. Particular emphasis is given to global and cross-cultural issues affecting Africa. The final examination specifically requires students to apply past learning in addressing the case and examination questions.

REQUIRED READING