The Faculty of Business and Management Sciences is the largest faculty within CPUT. We are proud of our achievements over the years and continue to strive to provide academic excellence; operating at the cutting edge of our disciplines; creating and disseminating knowledge through high level research. Our students are taught by academics who are both actively engaged in industry, ensuring high programmatic relevance; and who are pushing forward the boundaries of discipline-specific knowledge.


Our faculty works hard to create a caring and supportive culture and an affirming environment which values and celebrates diversity through respecting and celebrating individual differences.

The Faculty of Business and Management Sciences prides itself in its mandate to prepare skilled graduates to participate successfully in the economic and business sectors of South Africa and beyond. It is comprised of 16 academic departments and 1 academic unit that offer a broad selection of business qualifications, from Paralegal, Hospitality, Tourism and Sport, through a host of Management qualifications specific to industry sectors like Retail, Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Real Estate, to a number of qualifications within the Accounting field.

The faculty is also supported by three strategic units that aim to advance the academic programmes and promote the faculty projects, initiatives and research:

Unit for Academic Advancement, Planning and Quality Assurance
Unit for Research and Information Advancement
Unit for Strategic Initiatives and Projects
The Cape Town Hotel School and Restaurant also form part of the Business and Management Sciences Faculty.


VISION

To be a leading provider of business education in Africa and beyond. To achieve our vision, the Faculty will:

Advance the innovation in business education and practices through excellence in teaching, research and community engagement.
Develop a culture based on the high academic expectations of our students in partnership with Fundani; we will prepare them for success in business and society in general.
Elevate the quality of our programmes to educate the citizens of the country and beyond.
Build mutual business and scholarly relationships with key external constituents.
Increase and sustain the Faculty resource base.
Provide transformational leadership to staff and students.
Ensure the reputation of the Faculty is excellent.

MISSION

THE FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES is committed to be an innovative and people-centred Faculty that strives to create an enabling environment where scholarship, research, service excellence, teaching and learning are promoted to establish Cape Peninsula University of Technology as a world-class university.


CHANGES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The faculty has geared itself to meet contemporary educational challenges by implementing innovative ways of designing and delivering its brand new suite of postgraduate qualifications, (commencing with the Postgraduate Diploma) in response to the call by the fourth industrial revolution for innovative management expertise relevant to a rapidly transforming local and global knowledge economy. These programmes are delivered in the form of flexible teaching and learning methodologies which include and accommodate the needs of working adult learners, to balance work and study commitments through lifelong learning.

The broad range of nationally-accredited undergraduate qualifications equips students with requisite managerial skills within their chosen fields of study. In addition, these programmes are designed to articulate towards postgraduate masters and doctoral degrees that equip students with advanced levels of knowledge and competencies in their fields of study, critical to engaging in the demands of a continuously evolving global knowledge economy.

Click on Changes in Higher Education Qualifications to follow the path to information relating to our new suite of qualifications on offer.

THE HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXT

Teaching, Learning and Assessment in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences (FBMS) are aligned with the One Smart CPUT 2030 vision and serves to promote the principles of Oneness and Smartness. The Faculty strives to develop successful, dynamic, socially-conscious and entrepreneurial graduates who are able to contribute to the economy and impact positively on communities and society at large. The revised 10-Level Higher Education Qualification Sub-Framework (HEQSF) (2013) heralded in two new qualifications for the UoT sector, i.e. the Advanced Diploma at Level 7 and the Postgraduate Diploma (PGDIP) at Level 8. The HEQSF allows for three progression routes namely vocational, professional and general pathways. Qualifications at the CPUT reside within the vocational/professional pathway and are closely aligned with industry/workplace/professional body guidelines. Some qualifications are endorsed by professional bodies, with students receiving professional body accreditation. For noting, not all fields of study have designated professional bodies approved by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). The FBMS responded by revising all diploma qualifications and developed the Bachelor of Paralegal studies, the Advanced Diplomas and the Postgraduate Diplomas in 16 different fields of study. Currently, the PGDips are at varying stages of accreditation and implementation. It is important to note that all pre- HEQSF qualifications (such as the National Higher Certificate in Accountancy, National Diplomas, BTech, MTEch and DTech qualifications are in the process of being phased out. The last year for first-time applications for these qualifications was 2019 and will be phased out incrementally.

Where students wish to complete any the qualifications noted above, after these have been phased out, students will have to select subjects from the new qualifications where applicable, or will have to complete new subjects that did nor form part of their previous qualification. The respective departments will provide additional information on this as and when required. In keeping with the principles of vocational education, workplace-based learning forms part of most programmes in the faculty, with work placements ranging from 3 months to 6 months in industry. The importance of workplace-based learning is that the workplace is an extension of the learning journey and provides insights and experience of the dynamics of a work environment. Other examples of theory in practice applications include service learning and community engagement projects, where students apply knowledge and skills to real world community contexts. All students would engage in different forms of work-integrated learning (such as work placements, service learning, community engagement and/or volunteerism) during a programme of study.

Faculty staff are aptly qualified, knowledgeable, and experienced with strong industry and professional networks to lead, develop and facilitate curricula that remain robust and relevant in an evolving economy and society. Curricula, pedagogies, and assessments are aligned whilst teaching, learning and assessment strategies are learner-centred and augmented by appropriate learning tools and resources. The aim of the FBMS is to maintain exceptional academic standards and produce graduates who can successfully navigate the world of work and society in the 21st century.