Paper - Academic Registry and Council Secretariat - Queen Mary ...

Taught Programmes Board
TPB2012-015
organisational design are addressed, and processes of change management in the politically sensitive conditions of the public
services are explored”. A text (Brown and Osborne) has been added to the reading list which addresses change management
processes specifically for the public services. Many of the texts already listed under strategy also include chapters on
organisational design. We have added a text (Agranoff) which addresses design issues in inter-organisational settings.
5. Public financial management and accounting module. In two passages in his comments, Professor Metcalfe notes the
importance of financial management for all public managers – not just for finance department specialists – and for
understanding organisational and inter-organisational imperatives and risks and he notes, with a hint of reservation, that the
module was an elective one. Reflecting carefully on this point, we have decided to restructure the programme, to make the
module a compulsory one. In order to balance the programme, we have therefore decided to make the module on leadership
and strategy an elective one, on the ground that – as Professor Metcalfe says – all public managers must demonstrate
accountability for public funds, but not all will be involved in the explicit development of strategy. However, the involvement of
all public managers in the implicit development of emergent strategy is an issue addressed by the organisation behaviour
module.
6. Public financial management and accounting module. Agreeing with Professor Metcalfe that the finance module should also
identify issues of unintended longer term organisational risk to which financial innovations made to address short-term
financial crisis may give rise, we have strengthened the module description in three passages to make it clear that the module
will indeed address these issues. For example, we have added the point that the module will explore “the ways in which
financial pressures can have both beneficial and unintendedly risky consequences for organisations commissioning or
providing public services” and the aims now clearly state that we shall examine the impacts of new accounting rules on
“organisations involved both in commissioning and in providing public services”.
7. Emphasis on public management issues at the global, international and European levels. We agree strongly with Professor
Metcalfe about the importance of stressing this dimension across the curriculum for the programme, and of giving it particular
stress in marketing. Our completed marketing questionnaire for the programme already does weight these issues very heavily.
Because the principal cross-curriculum documents submitted for approval are the Parts 1 and 2 and the programme
specification forms, we have given this point additional emphasis in several appropriate places – for example, by adding the
point that one of the distinctive features of the QM MPA will be that, as well as being international in content, it “makes
intensive use of cross-nationally comparative frameworks across the curriculum”. We shall shortly write the marketing brochure
and in it, as Professor Metcalfe urges, this aspect of our approach will be emphasised.
The following documents must accompany the Part 2 Programme Proposal.
Proposals that are not accompanied by the necessary documentation will not be
considered by Taught Programmes Board.
> Has a Programme Specification been completed and submitted with the Part 2? Yes
> Have module proposal forms for each new module been submitted with the Part 2? Yes
> Is there evidence of support from at least one external adviser? Yes
> Have the Academic Regulations (including progression, if not within the modular
regulation structure) been clearly documented and/or appended?
N/A
Collaborative provision: programmes that are offered in partnership with an
external organisation should usually have the following documents appended to
the Part 2 Programme Proposal.
> Has a draft Memorandum of Agreement been completed and submitted with the Part
2?
N/A