After the successful launch of an innovative BAppSocSci degree with a specialisation in Human Resource Management in 2018, SACAP (the South African College of Applied Psychology) is building on its unique offering of Social Sciences education programmes that blend highly relevant business and psychology majors.
SACAP’s new BAppSocSci degree in Business Management with a major in psychology provides the essentials of a progressive business management education and applied psychology. The programme offers a person-centred learning experience that empowers students to gain and enhance their own 21st Century skills-set for a constantly changing world with new demands requiring new solutions. A key strength of the BAppSocSci platform is its versatility which, for graduates, opens up a wide choice of postgraduate studies and careers across business, psychology and social sciences fields.
According to Brian Kantor, SACAP’s Chair of the BAppSocSci in Business Management programme, understanding people; their mental processes and emotional landscapes, motivators and behaviours, has never been more significant in corporate and entrepreneurial environments. Moving deeper into a world where more and more routine work is automated; and artificial intelligence processes data beyond human capabilities, shines the spotlight on how important human imagination, ingenuity, creativity and problem-solving have become in the workplace. Today’s managers and team leaders have shifted from focusing on overseeing people adhering to processes and mechanically meeting standards to become influencers capable of igniting and leveraging human originality and multiple intelligences. Kantor says: “The better we understand the mind, the more effective business enterprises will be at predicting the needs and actions of their customers, suppliers and fellow workers. A complete business education should foster the creativity and imagination that will become ever more important for success in business.”
In addition to SACAP’s renowned applied Social Sciences education, the Business Management specialisation includes modules that provide a strong and comprehensive foundation in business management, strategy and operations; economics, accounting, business finance and financial markets; business law, corporate governance, business ethics, social responsibility and sustainability; imagination, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship; research and data management as well as information systems and the use of information technology to develop new business opportunities. The three-year, full-time NQF 7, CHE-accredited BAppSocSci includes 26 modules and will be offered at SACAP’s Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria campuses, as well as online part-time over five years. In line with SACAP’s education philosophy and goal to deliver work-ready graduates, a work integrated learning programme that includes mentoring is embedded in the programme.
Admission requirements to the programme, which is open to both high school graduates and mature learners, recommend competencies in numeracy and data handling. There are minimum requirements in English for candidates with National Senior Certificate with a Bachelors Pass and for those with a Senior Certificate with Endorsement. The programme will appeal to candidates who grasp the importance of people in today’s world of business, and have a keen interest in the impacts of psychology in the workplace.
“The BAppSocSci with Psychology and Business Management prepares students for our ‘VUCA’ world, characterised by Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity,” says Kantor. “They gain technical business skills along with developing their people skills, and develop the much sought-after personal capacities to nimbly and successfully navigate business complexities through today’s turbulent environment by inspiring and marshalling the diverse human creativity available.”
SACAP’s educational philosophy is student-centred and focused on providing wraparound support services to help students achieve their academic goals in unique, intimate learning environments. Successful applicants for the BAppSocSci can expect a small group classroom environment with a low student‐educator ratio that optimises the academic and interpersonal dynamics of the healthy teaching and learning environment that is the trademark of SACAP.
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