MGMT11109 - Introduction to Business

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit is designed to introduce you to the dynamic interplay of factors that influence the direction and success of contemporary business. You will explore the emerging shift from a linear economy to a circular economy and the facilitating role of entrepreneurship and innovation in successful business transitions. This includes the flow-on effects these have on business strategy, structures, employees, organisational design, and business operations. Business plays a significant role in society and the management skills required for business to be fit for the future rests with each of us. You have a role in this as an agent of positive change.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the 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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2023

Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online

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).

Assessment Overview

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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 20%
2. Written Assessment 40%
3. Reflective Practice Assignment 40%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 4.5 (on a 5 point Likert scale), based on a 15.38% response rate.

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.

Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
"I would of liked a student forum for us to post questions and discussions online"
Recommendation
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.
Action Taken
The successive changes in Moodle tile design may have created confusion for returning students. Students were shown where the Forums were located in Moodle.
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
"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."
Recommendation
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.
Action Taken
Access to reading materials has been directed through eReading lists to ensure compliance with copyright requirements. This is a policy enacted by Library services.
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
"I found that it was a bit difficult to find all relevant weekly information due to it being spread across multiple Moodle unit tabs."
Recommendation
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.
Action Taken
The Moodle design continues to provide access to the eReading list in a drop-down menu at the top of the page. Reference to this is made in the weekly tile and in the Unit Profile (weekly schedule).
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
"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."
Recommendation
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.
Action Taken
The range of eReading resources has been reduced. The guidance notes of 'essential' and 'recommended' have been retained to provide expedited or deeper reading at the student's discretion.
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
"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."
Recommendation
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.
Action Taken
Assignment deadlines were moved to 11.45pm to allow additional time without compromising the return deadline to students.
Source: Verbatim student feedback in the SUTE Term Report
Feedback
"I really enjoyed this unit. Malcolm is a great lecturer, the content was interesting and the readings were insightful and helpful."
Recommendation
The Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Sustainability themes have been embraced in the renewal of this unit within the CQURenew project. The preparation of customised content in the synopses captures the themes in a way that current textbooks do not. Readings and discussions in workshops bring these perspectives to life. The recommendation is to continue this approach.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Verbatim student feedback in the SUTE Term Report
Feedback
"The overall content covered within the unit was interesting and engaging."
Recommendation
Respect for each person's experience and insights is the foundation for engaged discussion and enriched learning. The recommendation is to continue this approach.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Verbatim student feedback in the SUTE Term Report
Feedback
"Workshops and the synopsis (were good aspects of the unit)"
Recommendation
Success relies on the workshop dynamic so there will be some variability week-to-week, but hopefully one that continues to improve through the term. Continue this approach for subsequent Terms.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Verbatim student feedback in the SUTE Term Report
Feedback
"There needs to be a better explanation of the requirements for the assessment tasks as it can be hard to decipher what needs to be done. It would also be beneficial if there were examples of previous submissions to give students an idea of what direction they need to go in."
Recommendation
The feedback comment is respectfully considered as follows. Moodle design seeks to make resources easy to access. Sometimes the resources provided, such as recorded assessment briefings and example reports are not obvious at first glance. Participation in workshops and/or viewing the recordings uploaded to Moodle provides additional pointers as to where resources are located. Academic staff continue to be contactable if there are questions. Therefore, it is recommended that assessment task requirements be communicated through multiple modes, including the unit profile, workshops, forum, the assessment tab in Moodle, and assessment briefings.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Describe the scope, scale, and contributions of contemporary business
  2. Critically assess the dynamic influence of entrepreneurial, innovation, and sustainability (EIS) drivers in contemporary business
  3. Critically assess the the consequential impacts of EIS on business strategy and structure, people, organisational design, and business operations
  4. Critically evaluate the management skill requirements for successfully leveraging emerging EIS opportunities
  5. Critically evaluate the influence of leadership in shaping ethical and socially responsible initiatives for a circular economy.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
2 - Written Assessment • •
3 - Reflective Practice Assignment • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • • •
2 - Problem Solving •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice • •
9 - Social Innovation •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 - Written Assessment • • • • •
3 - Reflective Practice Assignment • • • • • • •
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • • •