Overview
This unit is designed to introduce you to the world of business by focusing on the nature, structure and workings of contemporary business organisations. You will learn the terms, concepts and values of business and management. The unit will cover topics related to the major functional areas of business including accounting, finance, management, marketing and information technology as well as other important topics such as ethics and social responsibility, forms of business ownership, entrepreneurship, and international business. Emphasis is placed on appreciating the dynamic role of business in everyday life.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 3 - 2020
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Have Your Say
"I would of liked a student forum for us to post questions and discussions online"
Student familiarity with what is provided in Moodle is not uniformly understood. Improve awareness by increasing mention of what is available in Moodle during the (recorded) workshops.
Feedback from Have Your Say
"The links on e-reading seemed to work slow in downloading, whether they could have been added to the moodle main site page for ease of access."
In line with SBL policy, readings previously uploaded to each week in Moodle have been moved to the eReading List. This can slow down the updating of reading list due to librarian checking processes. Speed of access to material on the eReading list can be impacted by servers located outside the CQU ecosystem.
Feedback from Have Your Say
"I found that it was a bit difficult to find all relevant weekly information due to it being spread across multiple Moodle unit tabs."
All lecture PPT and Workshop materials, and recorded sessions are provided in the relevant weekly tab in Moodle. The separate location of reading materials on the eReading list does require students to also check the relevant weekly tab in that system. Familiarity and confidence with Moodle will overcome this concern.
Feedback from Have Your Say
"There was so much reading sources given for each week of the unit, it was a little unnerving as to how much I should of been reading."
Materials in the eReading list were flagged with a variety of guidance notes indicating whether the materials were 'Essential' through to 'Recommended' and 'Workshop Question'. Continue this practice. It is also recommended to reduce the amount of posted reading materials and this has been done for T2 that follows. Students should then be encouraged to search for additional materials through the CQU Library databases.
Feedback from Have Your Say
"The deadlines of 5pm for assignments don't really help full time workers. In the previous 3 units I had 23:00 deadlines, which helped in finalising the assessments without rushing."
Consistent deadline submission times across all units would likely benefit students. A later submission time to 23:00 hours delays marker access but this may not be a major concern.
- Describe the fundamental roles of each functional area of business within an organisation
- Examine the different forms of business ownership
- Critically assess the factors that influence business environment
- Evaluate the complex role of globalisation
- Analyse the roles of ethics and social responsibility in the business environment.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | |||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | |||||
| 3 - Reflective Practice Assignment - 40% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||||
| 5 - Team Work | |||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Reflective Practice Assignment - 40% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
Additional Textbook Information
Recommended readings will be provided in the eReading list for MGMT11109
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- eReading List
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
b.johnstone@cqu.edu.au
m.n.johnson@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to contemporary business
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Workshop: Critical Thinking Skills
Module/Topic
Environmental factors influencing business
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Quiz 1 opens Monday 16 November at 9:00am AEST
Module/Topic
Legal structures and protection for business and startups
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Quiz 1 closes Thursday 26 November at 5:00pm AEST
Quiz 2 opens Monday 23 November at 9:00am AEST
Module/Topic
Organisational design and functional roles
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Quiz 2 closes Thursday 3 December at 5:00pm AEST
Quiz 3 opens Monday 30 November at 9:00am AEST
Module/Topic
There are no scheduled activities for this week.
Chapter
There is no scheduled reading for this week.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Entrepreneurial perspectives in contemporary business
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Quiz 3 closes Thursday 17 December at 5:00pm AEST
Quiz 4 opens Monday 14 December at 9:00am AEST
Module/Topic
Innovation approaches in contemporary business
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Quiz 4 closes Thursday 24 December at 5:00pm AEST
Module/Topic
Ethics, social responsibility and sustainability
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Globalisation
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Business model architecture
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Strategy and structure
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Managing business operations
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Leadership matters
Chapter
eReading list in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Business Report Due: Week 13
Monday (15 February 2021) at 11:45 pm AEST
1 Online Quiz(zes)
This assessment comprises four (4) online quizzes to assess your understanding of key business concepts. Each quiz will comprise ten (10) multiple choice questions and contribute five percent (5%) respectively to the final result in the unit. The total value of this assessment is twenty percent (20%).
The quizzes can be accessed from the assessment tab in Moodle and will be available for completion at the following times:
| Quiz | Content covered | Quiz opens | Quiz closes |
| 1 | Week 1 | Week 2: Monday 16 November at 9:00am AEST | Week 3: Thursday 26 November at 5:00pm AEST |
| 2 | Week 2 | Week 3: Monday 23 November at 9:00am AEST | Week 4: Thursday 3 December at 5:00pm AEST |
| 3 | Week 3 | Week 4: Monday 30 November at 9:00am AEST | Week 5: Thursday 17 December at 5:00pm AEST |
| 4 | Week 4 | Week 5: Monday 14 December at 9:00am AEST | Week 6: Thursday 24 December at 5:00pm AEST |
4
As detailed in the table above
Score for the quiz is shown when the quiz is completed
Each quiz is open for 20 minutes and has ten (10) multiple choice questions and each correct answer is awarded 0.5 percent. The total value of each quiz is five (5) percent.
Please allow 20 minutes to attempt each quiz. The quiz cannot be paused. Be sure to access the quiz in Moodle at least 20 minutes before the quiz closes at 5:00pm on the nominated date.
- Describe the fundamental roles of each functional area of business within an organisation
- Examine the different forms of business ownership
- Critically assess the factors that influence business environment
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
2 Written Assessment
In a 1500-word academic essay, you are required to critically analyse the following statement:
"To become a viable reality, a business-led post-COVID recovery in Australia will rely on entrepreneurial mindsets and practical innovation. Critically discuss."
To support your argument, your critical analysis should use research from peer-reviewed academic journals, incorporating different perspectives on the statement, and identifying both positive and limiting factors. Your critical discussion must express an informed argument and draw compelling conclusions.
Before you start writing, it is recommended that you read the material uploaded to eReading List on critical thinking (Week 1) and the student Guide which elaborates how to write an academic essay.
Week 9 Monday (18 Jan 2021) 11:45 pm AEST
Please submit through Turnitin in Moodle
Week 11 Monday (1 Feb 2021)
Feedback and result will be available in Moodle by clicking on the 'blue pencil'
Your report will be assessed according to the following criteria. Your report must demonstrate:
1. Evidence of your critical analysis of how a post-COVID business-led recovery might be achieved through entrepreneurial thinking. (15%)
2. Examination of what innovative approaches business might use to initiate a post-COVID business-led recovery. (15%)
3. Adherence to essay structure, adherence to 1500-words, quality of written expression, paragraph structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling using Australian English (5%)
4. Use of at least six (6) peer-reviewed papers from academic journals. Adherence to CQUniversity APA reference style. (5%)
NOTE: In alignment with the CQUniversity Assessment Policy and Procedure, a late submission penalty of five (5) percent of the total available marks for the assessment must be deducted for each full or part calendar day the assessment task is overdue. Excess word penalty: Assignment submissions in excess of the specified word limit (+10%) will be penalised at 1% per 100-words over the limit.
- Critically assess the factors that influence business environment
- Evaluate the complex role of globalisation
- Analyse the roles of ethics and social responsibility in the business environment.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
3 Reflective Practice Assignment
The purpose of this task is to assess your ability to critically evaluate application of the concepts and models of EIS (entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainability) as evidenced by Unilever in their circular economy initiative on plastic waste.
Exam Week Monday (15 Feb 2021) 11:45 pm AEST
Submissions must be made to the unit website in Moodle.
Results and marking feedback will be made available on the unit website on Certification of Grades day.
Your report will be assessed according to the following criteria. Your report must demonstrate:
1. Critical reflection on Unilever's entrepreneurial practices. (10%)
2. Critical reflection on Unilever's innovation practices. (10%)
3. Critical reflection on Unilever's sustainability practices. (10%)
4. Adherence to the short business report format, length 1500-words, quality of written expression, grammar, punctuation, and correct spelling using Australian English. (5%)
5. Use of at least six (6) peer-reviewed papers from academic journals. Adherence to CQUniversity APA reference style. (5%)
NOTE: In alignment with the CQUniversity Assessment Policy and Procedure, a late submission penalty of five (5) percent of the total available marks for the assessment must be deducted for each full or part calendar day the assessment task is overdue. Excess word penalty: Assignment submissions in excess of the specified word limit (+10%) will be penalised at 1% per 100-words over the limit.
- Evaluate the complex role of globalisation
- Analyse the roles of ethics and social responsibility in the business environment.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
