The labour market in Sri Lanka, particularly the private sector employers, demand well-qualified first class degree holders with good language competencies and social skills in addition to subject knowledge. The graduates from local universities generally have the knowledge but perhaps lack the soft skills required by the private sector. Therefore, the Imperial Institute of Higher Education (IIHE) has stepped into fill this vacuum with high quality first class degree holders who can be employed immediately without basic training.

The Certificate awarded by the University of Wales (UOW) is well accepted and globally recognized. BSc (Hons) Business Management programme at IIHE, has been designed to cater to students who wish to specialize as well as those who wish to obtain a general degree. Students are permitted to specialize in the areas of Marketing, Finance or Human Resource Management. Selection of relevant electives (10) in years 2 & 3 determine the specialism. On the other hand if a student wishes to be a generalist he/she can choose electives from all these specialisms.

The course is structured and delivered to provide the students with a firm foundation (disciplinary base) in business administration, and a broad understanding of the functional areas of Business and Management, the environment in which these operate, and of the emerging arenas. On graduation our students will be capable of moving into the world of work both nationally and globally, where they can add value and contribute positively as managers and leaders.

Year one is used to lay the foundation while progressively in years two and three the emphasis shifts from basic lectures to more advanced and specific lectures. Guided reading, learner-centred resource-based activities such as, case studies, problem-solving workshops are used for coaching the students to enable them to take responsibility for their learning. This is in addition to the classroom sessions. The culmination is a dissertation that provides a special opportunity for independent learning and for demonstrating deep understanding of the theories and concepts learnt, through the application of theoretical knowledge to a real-world problem from business and industry.

Before undertaking the dissertation, students are required to study the Research Methodology module which provides knowledge and skills as to how to find solutions to real problems using the scientific method. The research (dissertation) topics can address any area of Business, from Business environment problems to those of internal organizational issues. Recent research undertaken have addressed Management, Marketing, Financial, Operational and Economic issues. IIHE in the near future hopes to publish such research for the benefit of the society. The dissertation which accounts for 40 credits compared with 10 credits for each subject module emphasizes the importance attached to application of knowledge in solving management problems.

IIHE empowers the students through another module called Real Life Problem Solving (RLPS). In this subject the student will have to solve a real life problem given by a local company or a multi national company. Being as assessed module, this provides practical exposure to the student not only to gain experience in solving market problems / issues using their theoretical knowledge, but also to think 'out of the box' context when facing genuine market problems. The students are expected to submit a Management Report to the Senior Management of the company and also do a presentation. The module is assessed by the company management and IIHE examiners. This learning process clearly and amply demonstrates the quality, standard, and the knowledge students gain while at IIHE / UOW.

Even if a programme of study is well designed, such a programme cannot be effective if the knowledge and skills are not transferred properly to the students. Here again IIHE, takes great pride in having an "elite faculty" approved by the University of Wales. Panel of lecturers who are responsible for imparting knowledge, consists of five (05) Ph.Ds' and eleven (11) lecturers with double Masters or Masters. Most of the faculty members are not only academically qualified, but also have industrial exposure and experience. They are trained to deliver the knowledge and skills to the standards of the University of Wales.

Finally, it's pertinent to mention that, as in the past, majority of the students who graduated on 8th September '2008, have already found employment in leading Banks, Multinational companies and leading corporate conglomerates operating in Sri Lanka. This signifies the high calibre, superiority and market acceptance for the BSc (Hons) degree in Management of the University of Wales offered at the Imperial Institute of Higher Education.

Trevor Mendis
Masters in Management (Massey)
Auckland, New Zealand
MBA, Sri J'pura University, Sri Lanka
PG Dip. in Fin. Admn., Inst. Chartered
Accts, SL
Associate of Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka
Course Director - BSc (Hons) Management