Subject benchmark statements
Subject benchmark statements provide a means for the academic community to describe the nature and characteristics of programmes in a specific subject. They also represent general expectations about the standards for the award of qualifications at a given level and articulate the attributes and capabilities that those possessing such qualifications should be able to demonstrate.
This subject benchmark statement, together with the others published concurrently, refers to the bachelors degree with honours.
Subject benchmark statements are used for a variety of purposes. Primarily, they are an important external source of reference for higher education institutions when new programmes are being designed and developed in a subject area. They provide general guidance for articulating the learning outcomes associated with the programme but are not a specification of a detailed curriculum in the subject. Benchmark statements provide for variety and flexibility in the design of programmes and encourage innovation within an agreed overall framework.
Subject benchmark statements also provide support to institutions in pursuit of internal quality assurance. They enable the learning outcomes specified for a particular programme to be reviewed and evaluated against agreed general expectations about standards.
Finally, subject benchmark statements are one of a number of external sources of information that are drawn upon for the purposes of academic review* and for making judgements about threshold standards being met. Reviewers do not use subject benchmark statements as a crude checklist for these purposes however. Rather, they are used in conjunction with the relevant programme specifications, the institution's own internal evaluation documentation, together with primary data in order to enable reviewers to come to a rounded judgement based on a broad range of evidence.
The benchmarking of academic standards for this subject area has been undertaken by a group of subject specialists drawn from and acting on behalf of the subject community. The group's work was facilitated by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, which publishes and distributes this statement and other benchmarking statements developed by similar subject-specific groups.
The statement represents the first attempt to make explicit the general academic characteristics and standards of an honours degree in this subject area, in the UK.
In due course, but not before July 2003, the statement will be revised to reflect developments in the subject and the experiences of institutions and academic reviewers who are working with it. The Agency will initiate revision and, in collaboration with the subject community, will establish a group to consider and make any necessary modifications to the statement.
This statement is © The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education 2000.
It may be reproduced by educational institutions solely for educational purposes, without permission. Excerpts may be reproduced for the purpose of research, private study, or review without permission, provided full acknowledgement is given to the subject benchmarking group for this subject area and to the copyright of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
Electronic storage, adaptation or translation of the statement is prohibited without prior written agreement from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
* academic review in this context refers to the Agency's new arrangements for external assurance of quality and standards. Further information regarding these may be found in the Handbook for Academic Review, which can be found on the Agency's web site.
Academic standards - General Business and Management
1 Introduction and scope
1.1 The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education recommended in its report of July 1997 (the Dearing Report) that the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) commence work with Higher Education institutions, subject associations and professional bodies:
"to establish small, expert teams to provide benchmark information on standards, in particular threshold standards, operating within the (UK) framework of qualifications."
1.2 This recommendation was one of several designed to encourage UK higher education to:
"be explicit and clear in how it goes about its business and to be accountable to students and to society and seek continuously to improve its own performance."
1.3 The QAA created Subject Benchmarking Groups initially in Law, History and Chemistry. This was followed by groups developing benchmark standards, in Business & Management, Engineering and Geography.
1.4 For Business & Management the QAA asked the Association of Business Schools (ABS) as the national representative body, to establish the Subject Benchmarking Group (SBG) and develop the benchmark standards. ABS was pleased to accept this invitation.
1.5 The membership of the SBG is set out in Appendix One.
1.6 The remit of the SBG covered all undergraduate programmes in business and management. However, it was immediately recognised within the SBG and by QAA that with such a large and multi-disciplinary area, it might be necessary to create more than one set of benchmark standards to reflect accurately the range of available business and management programmes. This proved to be the case and the choices made by the SBG are set out in more detail below (in sections 1.11 and 1.19-1.21).
1.7 Benchmark standards are designed to be of use to a variety of interested parties including potential and enrolled students, parents, employers, higher education institutions, external examiners, QAA reviewers, relevant professional bodies and government agencies.
1.8 Business schools and professional associations have supported the concept and utility of having national benchmark standards. Generally, it is felt that benchmark standards should not be overly prescriptive. However, it is also agreed that benchmark standards need to be sufficiently detailed to enable institutions to develop a range of individual programme specifications, which can be easily identifiable as being in line with the general requirements of the benchmark standards.
1.9 Benchmark standards are also relevant in the context of increasing international student mobility, development of joint programmes with international partners and moves towards significant reforms and potential harmonisation of educational standards and systems within Europe and beyond.
1.10 The signing in 1999, of the Bologna Declaration, by all Ministers of Education throughout the European Union, is highly significant in this regard. It commits the UK and other signatories to increased transparency and comparability within higher education, particularly with regard to quality assurance criteria and processes. The development of these national benchmarks together with other related activities in EQUAL, the European Group of Management Associations and EQUIS, the European-based, International Accreditation Scheme for business and management schools enables the UK to benefit from its highly influential role in terms of policy development and practice at the wider European level.
1.11 These benchmark standards are for general business & management Honours degree programmes only. They do not cover named joint degrees or Ordinary degrees in Scotland. There has been extensive consultation in their development. They articulate the knowledge and skills to be expected of successful Honours graduates in the field and provide descriptors of these in three categories of achievement, (defined later) ie, threshold, modal and top.
1.12 The SBG believes that these benchmark standards have been constructed at a sufficiently general level to counter notions of imposing a "national curriculum" or producing "student clones". On the contrary, the benchmark standards seek to provide for individual institutions the flexibility to balance different components within the overall requirements and also to update and innovate in terms of programme design, delivery and assessment together with developing to the full the particular strengths of all students.
1.13 All institutions should review their programmes explicitly in relation to these benchmark standards, so as to be able to demonstrate clearly and precisely how the knowledge and skills components set out are actually developed and assessed in the three categories of graduate achievement.
1.14 These benchmark standards are intended deliberately to be challenging to institutions and to improve the overall quality of provision, so as to meet the dynamic and demanding expectations of students, employers and all other stakeholders in the business and management arena. Arising from this, it is felt that there could be resource implications for institutions in meeting these benchmark standards.
1.15 There are around seven thousand UK Honours degree programmes with business and/or management in the title, as at June 1999. These include individually named awards, modular degrees, pathways and programme specifications, which are delivered within and outside business schools. (Hereinafter, for simplicity, these are all referred to as programmes).
1.16 The number of programmes offered by different institutions varies widely, from single programmes in one or two cases, to over five hundred in a few institutions with large modular degree schemes.
1.17 Statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), as at June 1999, indicate that there are around 114,000 students enrolled on these programmes; and that is 11.5% of the total undergraduate student population in higher education.
1.18 Business and management programmes are normally of three or four years in duration and available in a variety of modes of attendance, including full-time, part-time, sandwich and open/distance learning.
1.19 For clarity in developing and using the benchmark standards, three sub-groupings of programmes within this overall provision have been selected. These are general, functional and sectoral. Initially, the SBG decided to concentrate on one of these areas.
1.20 The benchmark standards set out in this paper relate only to general business and management Honours degree programmes.
1.21 These programmes are categorised as being broadly based and general in their scope, rather than being oriented towards a particular business function (for example, marketing or finance) or sector (for example, tourism or land management). Such functional and sectoral programmes are covered by separate benchmark standards.
1.22 It is estimated that around 50% of all graduates on business and management programmes are covered by these general business and management benchmark standards.
1.23 It will be the responsibility of individual institutions and QAA to decide which benchmark standards (or combination thereof) are most appropriate to particular programme specifications when all of the necessary benchmark standards have been developed.
2 The purpose of General Business and Management programmes
2.1 The purpose of general business and management programmes is threefold:
- the study of organisations, their management and the changing external environment in which they operate,
- preparation for and development of a career in business and management,
- enhancement of lifelong learning skills and personal development to contribute to society at large.
2.2 "Organisations" should be understood throughout this text, to include a wide range of different types including, for example, public, private and not-for-profit, together with a comprehensive range of sizes and structures of organisations.
2.3 "Preparation for business" should be taken to mean the development of a range of specific business knowledge and skills, together with the improved self-awareness and personal development appropriate to graduate careers in business with the potential for management positions. This includes the encouragement of positive and critical attitudes towards change and enterprise, so as to reflect the dynamism and vibrancy of the business environment.
2.4 Not every graduate will engage subsequently in a business and management career, or have entered directly from secondary education. Therefore, "lifelong learning skills" should be understood to include the development and enhancement of a range of general transferable intellectual and study skills, which whilst being highly appropriate to a career in business and management are not restricted to this.
2.5 While there is a clear expectation that all such general degree programmes should cover these three purposes, the actual balance will vary among individual HEIs and may also reflect the requirements for recognition by particular professional bodies. The particular balance being delivered should be explicable and demonstrable in terms of the specified learning outcomes of particular programmes.
3 Relevant knowledge and understanding
3.1 There is an expectation that degree programmes covered by these benchmark standards should provide broad, analytical and integrated study of business and management.
3.2 Graduates will be able to demonstrate relevant knowledge and understanding of organisations, the external environment in which they operate and how they are managed. There is likely to be an emphasis upon understanding and responding to change and the consideration of the future of organisations and the external environment in which they operate.
3.3 The inter-relationships among and the integration of these areas are important within the overall student learning experience, and should be demonstrated in the capabilities of successful graduates from all modes of delivery.
3.4 "Organisations" - this encompasses the internal aspects, functions and processes of organisations including their diverse nature, purposes, structures, governance, operations and management, together with the individual and corporate behaviours and cultures which exist within and between organisations and their influence upon the external environment.
3.5 "External environment" - this encompasses a wide range of factors, including economic, environmental, ethical, legal, political, sociological and technological, together with their effects at local, national and international levels upon the strategy, behaviour and management of organisations.
3.6 "Management" - this encompasses the various processes, procedures and practices for effective management of organisations. It includes theories, models, frameworks, tasks and roles of management together with rational analysis and other processes of decision making within organisations and in relation to the external environment.
3.7 Within the framework of these three main areas, it is expected that graduates will also be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the following:
MARKETS - the development and operation of markets for resources, goods and services
CUSTOMERS - customer expectations, service and orientation
FINANCE - the sources, uses and management of finance; the use of accounting and other information systems for managerial applications
PEOPLE - the management and development of people within organisations
OPERATIONS - the management of resources and operations
INFORMATION SYSTEMS - the development, management and exploitation of information systems and their impact upon organisations
COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - the comprehension and use of relevant communication and information technologies for application in business and management
BUSINESS POLICY AND STRATEGY - the development of appropriate policies and strategies within a changing environment, to meet stakeholder interests
CONTEMPORARY & PERVASIVE ISSUES - a range of contemporary and pervasive issues is expected to be addressed. These may change within the lifetime of these benchmark standards but the following are illustrative examples: business innovation, e-commerce, creativity and enterprise, knowledge management, sustainability, globalisation, business ethics, values and norms.
4 Skills
4.1 Graduates are expected to be able to demonstrate a range of cognitive and intellectual skills together with techniques specific to business and management. They should also demonstrate relevant personal and interpersonal skills.
These include (not in any particular priority order):
a. Cognitive skills of critical thinking, analysis and synthesis. This includes the capability to identify assumptions, evaluate statements in terms of evidence, to detect false logic or reasoning, to identify implicit values, to define terms adequately and generalise appropriately.
b. Effective problem solving and decision making using appropriate quantitative and qualitative skills including identifying, formulating and solving business problems. The ability to create, evaluate and assess a range of options together with the capacity to apply ideas and knowledge to a range of situations.
c. Effective communication, oral and in writing, using a range of media which are widely used in business, for example, the preparation and presentation of business reports.
d. Numeracy and quantitative skills including data analysis, interpretation and extrapolation. The use of models of business problems and phenomena.
e. Effective use of Communication and Information Technology (CIT) for business applications.
f. Effective self-management in terms of time, planning and behaviour, motivation, self-starting, individual initiative and enterprise.
g. Learning to learn and developing an appetite for learning; reflective, adaptive and collaborative learning.
h. Self awareness, openness and sensitivity to diversity in terms of people, cultures, business and management issues.
i. Effective performance, within a team environment including: leadership, team building, influencing and project management skills.
j. Interpersonal skills of effective listening, negotiating, persuasion and presentation.
k. Abilities to conduct research into business and management issues, either individually or as part of a team for projects/dissertations/presentations. This requires familiarity with a range of business data, research sources and appropriate methodologies and for such to inform the overall learning process.
4.2 It is recognised that all programmes covered by these benchmark standards need to address issues at the European and international levels. Where specific emphasis is placed upon this for example, in the title or in requiring study and / or work abroad, then appropriate foreign language capability and business and cultural understanding should normally be developed and demonstrated by graduates.
5 Learning, teaching and assessment
5.1 There should be a learning and teaching strategy, which makes explicit and demonstrable the appropriateness of the learning and teaching methods used in relation to the anticipated learning outcomes and skills being developed, linked to the mode of delivery and the student profile.
5.2 There should be integration between theory and practice by a variety of means according to the mode of delivery including: work experience or placement, exposure to business issues, visits, and inputs from visiting practising managers.
5.3 There should be an assessment strategy which makes explicit and demonstrable the appropriateness of the assessment methods used in relation to the learning and teaching strategy adopted and the anticipated learning outcomes and skills being developed.
5.4 Overall the assessment methods should aim to assess achievement, both formatively and summatively, over the whole of the degree programme. It is recognised that achievement in certain (skills) components may be difficult to assess. Nevertheless graduates will be expected to have attained appropriate achievement in knowledge, understanding and skills taken as a whole.
6 Standards of achievement
6.1 The standards of achievement expected of graduates in business and management are set out in sections 6.6 to 6.8 below. These relate to the areas of relevant knowledge, understanding and skills, set out in sections 3 and 4 above.
6.2 Three categories which differentiate graduate achievement have been identified, namely threshold, modal and top. These are based upon the perceived national norms, operating across the business and management area. It is expected that the proportion of graduates in each of the three achievement categories may vary over time, within and between institutions.
6.3 The factors which have been selected as the basis for differentiation into the three categories of achievement are the range and consistency of demonstration of:
breadth, depth, integration and application of knowledge and understanding,
area specific and intellectual skills,
personal and interpersonal skills,
learning skills
capability to deal with uncertainty and complexity,
the capabilities of evaluation, reflection, creativity and originality.
6.4 "Threshold" describes the baseline to be exceeded by all graduates.
6.5 "Modal" is set at the standard, which is currently achieved by the majority of graduates. It seeks to describe, particularly for the benefit of employing organisations, the capabilities that can be expected of typical graduates.
6.6 "Top" is characterised by excellence.
6.7 Threshold graduates:
Have knowledge and understanding of the key areas of business and management, the relationships between these, their application and their importance in an integrated framework.
Have demonstrated competence within the range of area specific and intellectual skills.
Have a view of business and management which is predominantly influenced by guided learning with a bounded critical perspective.
6.8 Modal graduates:
Have a wide knowledge and understanding of the broad range of areas of business and management and the detailed relationships between these, their application and their importance in an integrated framework.
Consistently demonstrate a command of area specific skills including application of knowledge, as well as proficiency in intellectual skills.
Have a view of business and management which is influenced by a variety of learning sources including guided learning, team work and independent study.
Are distinguished from the threshold category by their enhanced capacity to develop and apply their own grounded and informed perspectives to their studies, deal with uncertainty and complexity, explore alternative solutions, demonstrate critical evaluation and integrate theory and practice in a wide range of situations.
6.9 Top graduates:
Have comprehensive knowledge and understanding across a wide range, and in depth, of business and management areas and the complex relationships among these, their application and their importance in an integrated framework.
Consistently demonstrate excellence in area specific skills and intellectual skills.
Are self-aware and have a strong interpersonal focus together with the capability to operate effectively in a variety of team roles including leadership.
Have a view of business and management derived from a wide variety of learning sources including independent study, reflection, group activities and guided learning.
Are distinguished from the modal category by their additional creativity and adaptability. They bring originality, insight and superior critical and reflective abilities to bear upon their knowledge, and have the capability to evaluate and integrate theory and practice in a comprehensive range of situations.
Business and Management benchmarking group membership
Professor I Beardwell De Montfort University
Professor J Dawson University of Edinburgh
Professor C Greensted (Chair) University of Strathclyde
Mr K Harrison Sheffield Hallam University
Dr J Holloway Open University
Mr W Hornby Robert Gordon University
Professor M King Loughborough University
Dr C Morris University of Hertfordshire
Professor D Parker Aston University
Ms S Proudfoot London Guildhall University
Professor M Quayle University of Glamorgan
Mr R Warren Manchester Metropolitan University
Professor T Watkins South Bank University
Professor S Watson Lancaster University
Mr J Slack (Secretary) Association of Business Schools
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