IMQ Diploma in Management
PROGRAM AND ASSESSMENT SPECIFICATION

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

ILM has devised a suite of International Management Qualifications (IMQ’s) specifically for international candidates. They link directly to ILM UK qualifications although they have a different structure and assessment process

The IMQ Diploma in Management covers 5 key areas:

1. Managing Self
2. Managing People
3. Managing Information
4. Managing Activities
5. Managing Resources

(S.P.I.A.R. Competency Model)

Aims and Objectives

The ILM IMQ Diploma in Management aims to give practicing or potential middle managers the foundation for their formal development in this role. The program has two primary objectives:

Entry Requirements

Participants will normally be either practicing or aspiring middle managers. There are no formal educational requirements although candidates will need to have sufficient literacy skills to complete and meet the assessment criteria

Progression

Participants may progress to the level 7 ILM UK Executive Diploma in Management.

ILM Membership

With effect from October 2006, ILM has launched its new study membership scheme. It is offered free to all new registration for ILM courses. On successful completion of the IMQ Diploma in Management candidates will be eligible to apply for membership of ILM with the post nominal letters “MinstLM”.

Candidate Profile

This qualification is likely to be best suited to candidates who match the following characteristics:

• Middle managers will normally be budget-holders but with limited powers of virement between budget headings and can authorize recurrent expenditure and expenditure on small capital items within defined, budgeted, limits.
• Their resource responsibility will also include recruiting, promoting and disciplining people, within defined parameters; this may extend to sole responsibility for recruiting the most junior people in their area of responsibility.
• Middle managers will engage in direct negotiation with internal and external customers and suppliers over the terms and prices governing their relationship, within set boundaries, and will be accountable for the quality of the goods or services supplied by their area of responsibility and for improvements in quality and efficiency of operations.
• They are likely to engage in project leadership where such projects are designed to bring about changes in products, services, resources or systems.
• Middle managers are more likely than first line managers to have a specialist management role which may extend to a technical specialism but which is primarily managerial in its focus -  that means that they will be responsible for establishing, maintaining and improving systems (eg. Quality, marketing, sales, energy, health and safety, etc.) as well as/rather than operating them.
• Unlike senior managers (both operational/strategic) above them, middle managers have clearly defined limits on their freedom to act or take decisions, and are expected to report regularly on their performance.
• They may propose changes to systems and will be responsible for ensuring that those systems are operated effectively, but they may only change those minor systems operated wholly within their own areas of responsibility without approval from others.

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2. PROGRAM OUTLINE

Duration:                    A recommended 220 guided learning hours (glh), excluding assessment time, to be completed within 1 year or up to a   maximum of 3 years.

Structure:                   Induction – 3 hours
                              Tutorial Support – 7 hours
                                   
                              210 glh covering 5 key areas (SPIAR)
                              Managing Self – 30 glh
                              Managing People – 30 glh
                              Managing Information – 30 glh
                              Managing Activities – 30 glh
                              Managing Resources – 30 glh

Method of Delivery: Flexible to suit requirements of candidates and employers. Methods can include classroom teaching, lectures, workshops, group discussions, role plays, case studies, interactive activities

Assessment: 4 Work based assignments of approx. 1500 words each and a Management Report of 4-5000 words and 5 written Personal Development Records (one for each key area)
and a Summative CPD (Continuing Personal Development) plan and an individual summative interview, including presentation of the Management Report (organized by TNI), of approx. 30 minutes.

3. PROGRAM STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS  

Induction (recommended min. 3 hours)
Each program will commence with a short induction session and provide written and oral information for candidates covering aspects such as:

Content
Guided Learning Sessions for the IMQ Diploma in Management
In order to fulfill the guided learning requirements of the qualification, the candidate must successfully complete a total of 35 guided learning sessions. All sessions are 6 hours each.

Key Area 1 – MANAGING SELF
Module 1 – Self Management and Skills
Session Titles:               (a) Continuing professional development
                                    (b) Grasping Opportunities
                                    (c) Objectives and Targets
                                    (d) Interacting with people
                                    (e) Professional presentations

Key Area 2 – MANAGING PEOPLE
Module 2 – People Management
Session Titles:               (a) Managing Individuals
                                    (b) Developing and managing teams
                                    (c) Addressing people problems
                                    (d) Human resource planning
                                    (e) Recruitment and selection   

Key Area 3 – MANAGING INFORMATION
Module 3 – Information and Communication
Session Titles:               (a) Attending meetings
                                    (b) Gathering information
                                    (c) Communications
                                    (d) Leading meetings and briefings
                                    (e) Information systems

Key Area 4 – MANAGING ACTIVITES
Module 4 – Operating Context and Change
Session Titles:               (a) Management in organizations
                                    (b) Managing change
                                    (c) Initiating change
                                    (d) Organisations and their cultures
                                    (e) Managing ethically
Module 5 – Meeting Customer Needs
Session Titles:               (a) Planning to meet customer requirements
                                    (b) Understanding the organization
                                    (c) Managing quality
                                    (d) Product and service management
                                    (e) Marketing and Selling

Key Area 5 – MANAGING RESOURCES
Module 6 – Planning and Resources
Session Titles:               (a) Planning for efficiency
                                    (b) Health, Safety and the environment
                                    (c) Facilities management
                                    (d) Project Planning and control
                                    (e) Successful project delivery
Module 7 – Finance and Numeracy
Session Titles:               (a) Managing by budgets
                                    (b) Making a financial case
                                    (c) Understanding finance
                                    (d) Management accounting for managers
                                    (e) Spreadsheets for managers

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4. CANDIDATES REGISTRATION ROUTES (2 routes)

• Integrated

A single IMQ Diploma in Management is awarded on satisfactory completion of the whole program and meeting the assessment requirements of the qualification.

Each key area can be certificated separately. One certificate of key area credit at Diploma level is awarded on satisfactory completion of the learning and development for the key area, and meeting the key area assessment requirements. Where a participant achieves all five separate key area credits and goes on successfully to complete any additional assessment requirements then a full IMQ Diploma in Management is awarded.

5.  LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
ILM and TNI  encourages flexible modes of delivery, to suit the requirements of participants and employers. Reflective learning and personal development are also essential features of the program, to be achieved through Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Review and Reflective Integrated Presentation.

6. OVERVIEW OF THE ASSESSMENT STRATEGY
A single assessment strategy applies to the IMQ Diploma in Management, regardless of the method of learning. The assessment procedure comprises four independent components, each of which is free standing in that there is no transfer of ‘marks’ or compensation from one component to another.

There are two routes to certification as follows:

Integrated Route
This will be the normal route for most candidates. There are five assessment components as follows:

• 4 work based assignments of approximately 1200 words each (one for each Key Area 02 – 05, excluding Key Area 1 (Managing Self), and
• A written Management Report of approximately 4000 – 5000 words, and
• 5 completed Personal Development Records – PDRs (one for each Key Area), and
• A summative PDR Plan, and
• An individual summative interview of approximately 15 -20 minutes (organized by TNI), including a presentation of the Management Report.

Toa achieve the IMQ Diploma in Management, the candidate must be successful in all five components. They must also have completed the requisite program of training. Further details on each component are provided below.

Key Area (Modular) Route
Where a candidate registers for the Key Area Route, a Diploma certificate of credit for each Key Area can be issued:

Please note that if a candidate wishes a Diploma certificate of credit for the Key Area Managing Self, they will have to complete a work based assignment (this is not required for the Integrated Route). Where a candidate holds all five Diploma certificates credits of Key Area Module credit, the full Diploma in Management can be awarded provided the additional assessment requirements are met ie.

• A written management report of approximately 4000 – 5000 words, and
• A summative PDR plan, and
• An individual summative interview of approximately 15 – 20 minutes, including a presentation of the management report.

Time for completion of all assessment is outside the 220 hours of minimum program content and, for audit purposes, a record will be maintained to ensure participants have attended all the 35 sessions of training.

7. WORK BASED ASSIGNMENTS (WBAs)

General Information on Work Based Assignments

• Learners are required to complete a total of 4 WBAs, one for each of the following key areas:

Key Area 02 – Managing People
Key Area 03 – Managing Information
Key Area 04 – Managing Activities
Key Area 05 – Managing Resources

• Each WBA should represent a nominal 2-3 hours work (and additional time to write up the assignment). They should be approximately 1200-1500 words in length. They should try, wherever possible, to cover all the modules in each of the 4 key areas
• Alternatively, fewer longer WBAs each based on more than one key area the length and amount of words to be in proportion to the number of modules/key areas covered. (eg. A WBAcovering 2 key areas would be 4-6 hours’ work, with a nominal 3000 words; a WBA covering 3 key areas would be 6-9 hours’ work, with a nominal 4500 words, and so on.)
• The 1200-1500 words is given as guidance. It is not to be an inflexible and prescribe  specific “word count”. This can be misleading to the participants, due to the fact that their writing styles may vary considerably, and there is the difficulty of equating word counts with presentations, flow charts or spreadsheets. The essential point is that all the requirements of the WBA should be satisfactorily covered by the participant’s response – whatever form that takes.
• WBAs must clearly indicate the practical competencies/learning outcomes that are being assessed, and should cover a total of 4 sessions of each module. These learning outcomes will form the basis of the assessment criteria.
• Candidates must achieve at least 50% of the available marks in order to pass each assignment. There is no transfer of marks or compensation allowed between WBAs.
• At least one (and not more than 2) WBAs should require a predominantly oral response, usually in the form of a presentation, supported by written notesand/or copies of the visual aids used. Assignments that include oral tasks to be carried out at work (eg. holding briefing groups or other meetings with the work team) should be supported with written evidence of completion (eg. brief notes or minutes).
• Oral presentations may be recorded on audio or video cassette to facilitate verification, but the minimum requirement is for an appropriately structured evaluation of the presentation skills by the tutor, and an assessment of the content as for other WBAs. The key issue is that assessment must be audible.
• One(only) group WBA (normally based on a single key area) is acceptable on a single program provided that there is a clear means of identifying the contributions of individual learners for assessment purposes. This may be done by the group maintaining records of each individual’s contributions as the work progresses.
• WBAs should have realistic, clearly defined work-based tasks, using live issues. They must not be scenario-based (eg. Case studies or simulations), or exercises with a single right answer.
• The program of WBAs should be coherent, complementary and encourage the participant to apply learning in the context of their own workplace.
• It may be useful to involve participants and/or their line managers in the design of WBAs. Wherever possible, WBAs should be designed to offer real benefits to the employing or sponsoring organization.
• WBAs will be set at a management level as appropriate to the Diploma qualification (ie. Not at team leader or Senior/strategic magement level.
• WBAs will be presented to candidates in a professional and consistent manner, with the following features:

8. COMPLETION AND ASSESSMENT OF THE IMQ DIPLOMA
    MANAGEMENT REPORT (MR)

General Information

The IMQ Diploma Management Report is based upon problem solving in the workplace in a management context, requiring the participant to undertake investigative and analytical work, draw conclusions and make recommendations. It draws upon practical competencies/learning outcomes from some of the sessions of the qualification, and provides an opportunity, through the choice of topics, for candidates to demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes from other sessions. ILM sets the generic brief for the Management Report as detailed in “Management Report Terms of Reference”.

Group Management Reports are not acceptable for the IMQ Diploma qualification.

Objectives

The objectives of the management report are to provide candidates with the opportunity to demonstrate :

Outline of the Management Report Task

It is essential that the management report:   

• Focuses on management rather than operational problems and is at a level appropriate to Diploma candidates.
• Generates and evaluates more than one alternative solution to the problem to reach conclusions before making recommendations.
• Makes use of investigative and management theory, and does not rely solely on the opinions of the writer.
• Demonstrates a sound understanding of the financial issues (eg. are the recommendations likely to be financially viable and acceptable to the organization)
• Includes significant reference to the human factors (eg. are the implications of the proposed changes to the working practices, location of personnel, change ofroles. Need for re-training, downsizing, etc all considered in a comprehensive and realistic manner)
• Demonstrates an appreciation of the wider organizational and environmental issues (eg. what will be the impact on the organization as a whole; what are the effects on the local community, or on the environment?)
• Provide full details of how the recommendations will be implemented – including timescales, resource implications, etc.
• Includes a bibliography.

Without satisfactory reference to the above issues, the Management Report would be incomplete. As a general guide, candidates are unlikely to meet the requirements in less than 4000-5000 words, plus relevant appendices.

It is not acceptable to “write up” a situation which has recently been completed. The purpose of the Management Report is to assess the candidate’s ability to analyse a current situation and to make viable proposals to improve or move it forward for the benefit of the organization and the individuals concerned with it.

ILM sets the generic Terms of Reference for the Management Report which is given in the section “Management Report Terms of Reference”. The format of the assessment is tightly controlled to ensure fairness, yet offers scope for individual candidates to define topics and specific terms of reference which are of relevance and value to themselves and their organizations. Details of the tasks are to be found in TORs and general information and specific guidance are given under the section heading of “General Information for candidates” and Specific guidance for candidates”.

If their initial submission does not meet the required standard, participants are allowed one opportunity to resubmit their Management Report for assessment before the results of the whole qualification are notified to ILM at the end of the program.

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