Universities and Online Degrees Guide

Stellenbosch University

Bachelor of Commerce in Management Sciences

The Bachelor of Commerce in Management Sciences in Finances is offered by Stellenbosch University.

Program Length: 4 YEARS.

Bachelor of Commerce in Management Sciences offered by the Stellenbosch University at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences

Why study this programme?

This is the degree programme for students who want to follow a career in management.

What knowledge and skills does this programme equip you with?

The list of modules (subjects) you can choose in the various focal areas for BCom (Management Sciences) is a little narrower than for BCom. The majors from which you may choose in your second and third years are limited to: Industrial Psychology, Marketing Management, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Economics, Information Systems Management, Financial Management, Financial Accounting (only until the second year), Quantitative Management and Transport Economics.

The modules you choose in your first and second year determine the focal area. To assist students with a specific career focus, we suggest certain module combinations, making up a specific focal area.  

Career opportunities for various focal areas

The focal area will largely determine your eventual career. Here follow the various focal areas offered in this programme and the different lines of work for which they prepare you. 

Agricultural Economics

This focal area trains prospective entrepreneurs and employees for the agricultural business sector. Careers include general management, financial management and logistics management for the provision of agricultural inputs and services, for the processing and distribution of agricultural products, and for agricultural finance. The integration of agricultural activities with other market sectors, such as tourism, offers further employment opportunities.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

This focal area motivates and orients students to enter the exciting world of entrepreneurship by considering a future business or practice of their own. It therefore equips students to create employment opportunities for themselves and for others. They will also be able to make creative contributions towards the success of other established enterprises.

Financial Management

This focal area deals with three important questions which determine the ultimate success of any business:

Where do we get money to fund the business?

How do we use the money?

How do we apportion the profits?

The 'health' of the business is then measured by means of financial ratios. A thorough knowledge of financial management is crucial for business success whether you are considering starting your own business or wish to work for an established company. With this expertise you could consider a career as financial director, financiual advisor or financial analyst. 

Human Resource Management

There is an urgent need in South Africa for individuals who can effectively manage human resources in order to achieve organisational objectives. A BCom with this focal area can lead to non-statutory registration as human resource practitioner with the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP). Career opportunities include those of human resources manager, market researcher, training and development manager, consultant and labour relations manager. (For statutory registration as Psychometrist or to become an Industrial Psychologist, see our programme BCom (Industrial Psychology) under "Degree programmes for professional registration".)

Industrial Psychology is a compulsory subject from the first year.

Information Systems Management

The world's economic system is becoming increasingly knowledge-based and driven by computerised knowledge technology. As this happens, organisational information management increases in complexity - but at the same time increasingly becomes a critical factor in achieving competitive advantage. In this focal area, students learn how to integrate rapidly developing knowledge technology with organisational strategy in order to enhance productivity, efficiency and (sometimes) innovation.

Logistics Management

To survive in an ever-increasing competitive environment, companies need to manufacture, distribute and sell their products profitably. Globalisation has in many cases led to customers being geographically far away from where products are manufactured. Operational logistics activities (for example overland transport, shipping, packaging, materials handling, and storage) are utilised to bridge this geographical gap and ensure that customers can be supplied with the correct product, at the designated place, at the required time, in the correct packaging. Other important logistics activities are procurement, contracting, coordination, inventory management, communication, and the planning and scheduling of activities and orders.

To enable you to practise logistics effectively in a business environment, this focal area equips you with knowledge and skills such as holistic integrated thinking, understanding of operational challenges, communication, collaboration, ethics and proficiency in the application of information technology.

A wide variety of challenging logistics job opportunities exists worldwide in the public sector and private businesses. From the largest motor manufacturing company to the smallest producer and any business buying or selling products - all require people with logistics skills that can plan, organise and control logistics activities both locally and internationally. Service organisations (for example hospitals and restaurants) also utilise logistics to make sure that their clients are properly served.

Marketing Management

In today's business world, marketing is probably one of the most important tasks in any organisation. Every day individuals and businesses are engaged in various market-related activities such as product decisions, pricing, product distribution, and creating awareness through advertising of the products and services the business has available. There are various management careers that may be followed in marketing, sales, public relations and advertising.

Public and Development Management

Thorough knowledge of public and development management is essential preparation for various careers in the public sector (national, provincial and municipal administrations), and in the voluntary, developmental, business and media sectors. Possible careers within these sectors are: general manager or chief executive officer, strategic manager, financial manager, personnel manager, project and programme manager, development planner, development manager, community developer, or policy and management research specialist and management consultant.

Public and Development Management is a compulsory subject from the first year. 

Quantitative Management

Have you ever wondered how business questions such as the following are answered: What is the cheapest method (or route) to transport new vehicles from different harbours to motor traders? Which payroll should a company purchase if the systems on offer differ with respect to price, customer support and ease of use? How can the quality of service or of a manufactured product be measured? How many tellers should operate in a bank to keep the customers happy?

Quantitative management is about building mathematical models to resolve problems such as those mentioned above. The nature of the problem determines the type of model built. Computers are used to find solutions for these models, and these solutions are verified and then applied to the original problems.

Quantitative management practitioners may become private consultants. Alternatively, they may find that banks and insurance companies (such as ABSA, Sanlam and Old Mutual), production plants and factories, head offices of large chain stores (such as Pep Stores, Shoprite Checkers and Woolworths), logistics companies, government departments and parastatals (such as the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, or members of the Transnet group) and research institutions (such as the CSIR) may be eager to employ them.

Statistics is a compulsory subject from the firts year.