CONSULTING PROJECT - 2023/4

Module Overview

The Consulting Project is designed to integrate the learning from across the programme curriculum and apply it to a real business problem in a specific organisational context. Working in teams, students will consolidate and deepen their knowledge and understanding of the relevant areas of study through their engagement with a live consulting project set by a client organisation in conjunction with the module teaching team.  Unlike other elements on the programme it is not a ’taught’ module, this one provides you with a very practical platform to apply and reflect on your new learnings from the MSc Management programme.  Having been given a clear brief and some skills enhancement experiential workshops, your group will be responsible for planning and delivering the consultancy experience, including finding a client sponsor. 

Students will develop their professional skills with a particular emphasis on consulting skills, including the ability to:

• engage with representatives of client organisation in a professional and effective manner; 


• interpret a consulting brief from a client;


• define the scope of the project in terms of the issues that require investigation;


• select appropriate sources of information and methods of data collection and analysis;


• design an effective approach to conducting a consulting project given the requirements of the client brief and the circumstances of their engagement with the client organisation;


• conduct relevant research for the client organisation with professionalism and sensitivity to any ethical implications of the assignment; 


• select and deploy appropriate analytical tools and frameworks to analyse and interpret the data;


• reach evidence-based conclusions and develop effective solutions and recommendations for the client organisation.


• act ethically and with professional integrity.

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

O'BRIEN Justin (SBS)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

Indicative content comprises:

The Consulting Project module consists of a project set by a client organisation in relation to a business problem or opportunity. You will work in teams and engage in guided inquiry on behalf of the client organisation. In groups, you will collect, analyse and interpret relevant data and conduct background research to develop effective evidence-based solutions to the problems set out in the client brief. Finally, you will prepare a consulting report and present it to the client organisation to obtain formative feedback prior to presenting to your peers in plenary.

You will benefit from facilitated, co-created timetabled sessions (active learning workshops) on the consulting process that should help develop project planning and management, team working, and presentation skills.  Some modest guided learning and self-study learning materials will be available to support you in SurreyLearn.  This is not a traditional ‘taught’ module, and you will expect to meet up with your group at least weekly from Feb-July to progress your consultancy project.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Individual presentation Individual report

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate advanced understanding of the subject matter pertinent to their consulting and their mastery of the learning outcomes through practical application.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module is based on the live consulting project that students carry out for a client organisation, with both a group presentation and group report.

This is an integrative collaborative project that showcases students' knowledge from across the programme curriculum, their cognitive skills as well as their practical ability to apply their learning to complex problems and tasks in the practice of management consulting.

Formative assessment

You will deliver a short presentation to the client organisation and receive oral and written formative feedback from the client organisation (to be included in the final report submission). 

Feedback

You will receive formative peer and module leader feedback throughout the duration of the module in the form of team meetings with your instructor.

Module aims

• Give you the opportunity to enhance your learning of subject matter from across the MSc Management programme curriculum by applying it in a real business and organisational context
• Enable you to gain experience of conducting applied research to develop effective, evidence-based solutions and recommendations.
• Become familiar with the rigours, demands, and dilemmas of working for a real client in a consulting capacity.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to combine the core academic content from the programme and to facilitate its application via a live consultancy challenge.   Thus, the timetabled classes are scheduled to further develop creativity and group working skills in the early part of the semester and then subsequently to provide monthly co-created (i.e. facilitated but not formally taught) plenary review updates focussed on ensuring satisfactory progress is being made and unblocking challenges.  You will be required to undertake extensive beyond class work.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MANM448

Other information

Resourcefulness and Resilience 

This module enables students’ development to become independent critical thinkers, with expertise in selected subject area of academic and practitioner interest, capable to identify problems and apply scientific inquiry methods to obtain new knowledge aimed to address real-life organisational problems and enhance managerial practice.  

Employability

Students have the opportunity to develop their soft skills (particularly communication) and team working. They will ideally be able to evidence contribution to a real-world situation.

Digital capabilities

With focus on virtual and physical team coordination and communication with the client, they will use communication and diary management tools in a real-world professional setting.

Global and cultural capabilities

Often working in diverse groups, students will be exposed at close quarters to multi-cultural ideas and benefit from assessing their own world view resulting from these interactions.

Sustainability

If the client brief has the potential scope to, students may be able to build their sustainability knowledge.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2023/4 academic year.