Qualification Overview 

The  CILT(UK)  Level  6  Advanced Professional provides the strategic management skills and tactical insight necessary for professional and business development. It bridges the gap between the undergarduate level of the Level 5 Professional Diploma and the Postgraduate standard of a Masters Degree.  

The Level 6 Advanced Diploma is aimed at managers aspiring to move to more senior, strategic roles within the logistics and transport professional sectors. The qualification is open entry and as such is also suitable for graduates in other disciplines who are entering the sector for the first time, although Learners would benefit from having some prior knowledge of the logistics and transport industry at a strategic level.

Structure and Content

To achieve this qualification Learners must complete all five mandatory units, as detailed below:

Mandatory Units

AD01 Strategic Contexts

In this unit Learners will be encouraged to examine organisational business environments from a global perspective through case studies and models.

The unit looks at resource availability, utilisation and how managers decide on the best approach to make the most of the limited resources available to their organisation’s operations. Stakeholder and relationship mapping tools will clarify the different priorities in the competition for resources.

Cost benefit analysis is examined in order to make strategic decisions and investment appraisal, with the principles of risk being considered. Appropriate strategies should be developed to assist operations management within organisations to deliver products and services in a sustainable way.

The final element in this unit considers the various types of competition and their impact; it also examines contingency planning and trade-offs between operations. The implication of performance on an organisation’s supply chain operations is explored.

AD02 Leadership and Strategic Management

The first element of this unit defines culture and examines organisational culture in a wider business environment along with the associated internal and external factors that influence the differing cultures in organisations.

Through the use of concepts and models, the relationship between organisational culture, strategy and performance is investigated. 

The element on leadership describes and investigates a number of theoretical and practical aspects of leadership in the work environment. There is also a review of the alternative styles that a leader can utilise in different situations.

This section further examines the purpose of the organisation, its values and vision, relating this to the methods used to influence and motivate people to achieve the organisation’s goals. Collaboration is examined in the global environment, as are the benefits and risks of intraorganisational working to achieve common goals and organisational improvements.

The final element of this unit looks at business ethics. Ethical, or unethical, business practices usually reflect the values and beliefs of the organisational culture; the links between what the organisation says and what it does is examined, as are the legal implications.

AD03 Strategic Network Planning

This unit is concerned with the important subject of strategic planning, taken from an organisational, intra-organisational and a global perspective.

The first element is concerned with examining organisational models and looking at how influences inside and outside the organisation can affect business strategy. Risk and decision-making models are examined in some depth.

The second element looks at forecasting, using the information that is available to make effective and realistic business decisions. Delivering Customer Service is an element in which the area of relationships with customers is explored in order to develop and build a culture of customer focus, thus delivering excellent customer service.

The final element in this unit addresses the issues surrounding change. Today’s organisations need to continuously adapt to new situations and address these issues if they are to survive and prosper. 

This element explores the triggers for strategic change and how organisations can develop strategies for innovation and learning.

AD04 Delivering Strategic Performance

The first element in this unit looks at how organisations need to become more aware of strategic performance and to integrate if they are to achieve the aim of operating on a global scale. Tools and techniques are examined that can assist in producing a plan to improve intra-organisational performance.

The second element looks at strategic supply strategies and the opportunities to collaborate between organisations, examining issues that impact on future long-term procurement requirements. Organisational performance looks at how organisations can use models and concepts to assist in the design and implementation of a functional strategy to support the business strategy, using concepts such as trade-offs, cost and service balance. This element illustrates how this support works.

The final element in this unit examines the use of technology in the implementation of organisational strategies. A number of tools and techniques will be evaluated that enhance internal and external business integration.

AD05 Research Methods and Professional Project

The unit aims to develop Learners’ ability to apply research methods and techniques to organisations and to enable them to use both qualitative and quantitative methodologies in problem analysis and solving.

The professional project will develop the Learners’ skills in undertaking a structured and methodical research project, involving production of a substantial body of work (8,000-10,000 words) which has been instigated, developed and produced as a consequence of their own initiative, using incompany research and/or industrial liaison and which offers opportunities for specialism.

In this unit Learners will be encouraged to use work-based research to realise the requisite requirements for this module. Each Learner can base their project on their own work based environment, or using a relationship with a company or organisation.

Assessment

This qualification offers flexible assessment opportunities depending on the Learner’s prior experience and future aspirations.

Learners will be assessed through the Centre Assessment Route (CAR).

Further information on assessment will be explained during the pre-course induction.