One week would be set aside for the students to visit organisations and hear, at first hand, from one of their managers, about the realities of managing their organisation.
Date: 25/03/2015
When designing the new first year Business Management module – Fundamentals of Management – last summer, the Teaching Team wanted to bring some real life management experiences in to the course.
It was decided that during the Spring semester, one week would be set aside for the students to visit organisations and hear, at first hand, from one of their managers, about the realities of managing their organisation.
With the invaluable support of the FBL’s Placements and Employability Unit and helpful introductions from Dave Trodden, visits were arranged for all 13 classes – we have some 200 plus students on the course.
The visits ranged from “The Bread Factory” (a £30m turnover business which supplies many of London’s top restaurants); the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants; the University’s own Accelerator (which promotes and supports new businesses), two of the University’s internal Departments, and to “Satigo” (a specialist IT Recruitment Agency) based in the Gherkin.
Reaction from students to the visits and hearing from and questioning managers has been very positive. For example, Ryan’s comments were as follows:
“I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to The Bread Factory, and not only for the quite amazing bread! Meeting the manager was extremely informative, especially to find out about the business and how it has diversified, taking over similar companies. I really liked how the business kept employees happy, through functions and feedback, as this is crucial for success and very interesting for myself, being an International Business Management student.”
And Ghulam said:
“Attending the business trip was a great experience, a real eye opener. It showed how a business functions in real life situations with regards to its theoretical counterpart, the classroom".
Sharka, a member of the Teaching Team, took the students to Satigo and summarised the visit as follows: “Students enjoyed the visit to the Gherkin and Satigo. The Gherkin is one of London's most recognised buildings, which is not normally open to the public, so visiting the building was an attraction itself. The views from the 28th floor were magnificent. Students found Satigo and the various presentations very interesting and useful. They learnt about the company, including what it does, how it is managed, importance of teamwork and other skills that graduate employers look for. It was also good to meet one of London Met's students there, who is currently doing a 12 month placement at Satigo. He explained what his day-to-day job involves and what he learnt while working for the company. We really enjoyed the experience and wish to thank Satigo for this visit.”
The Teaching Team’s overall view is that the visits were very worthwhile – giving the students an insight in to how the management theory covered in the course does have some practical relevance to the real world of management.
If you would you like any further information about this initiative please contact Doug Smith, d.smith@londonmet.ac.uk
