MGMT19128 - Strategy and Change

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Strategy and Change is a capstone unit in the Bachelor of Business. Organisational strategy and change is increasingly becoming important in a highly competitive business environment. In this capstone unit, you will explore the process used in strategy formulation and implementation and consider how decisions are made to effectively implement change. You will assess how internal and external pressures influence decision making and the subsequent formulation and implementation of strategy and change in a range of different types of organisations. The unit examines how organisations align resources in setting strategy and mechanisms deployed to review performance. You will also gain insights on the importance of risk management in strategy implementation and change process.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Completion of 48 credit points in first year of study

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
Sydney

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. Case Study 40%
2. Presentation and Written Assessment 60%

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 2 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 4 (on a 5 point Likert scale), based on a 26.32% 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: Workshop attendance.
Feedback
Due to the time difference, international students doing this unit online have found it difficult to attend 9 am workshops.
Recommendation
This difficulty will be addressed by allocating afternoon workshops for the students doing this unit from overseas.
Action Taken
Online sessions were scheduled for Friday afternoon 3-5pm AEST.
Source: Unit coordinator's experience.
Feedback
International students used chatbox to communicate during 9 am workshops. Discussion on concepts and issues and group presentation were not very useful
Recommendation
This will be addressed by providing an option for the submission of weekly journals and group presentation for students doing this unit online from overseas.
Action Taken
Weekly workshops emphasised discussion of topics emerging in the business media. Assignment case was also discussed as content topics progressed through the term.
Source: Quality of individual and group assessments.
Feedback
Poor referencing and use of limited literature resources.
Recommendation
Relevant recent articles, reports, and cases will be posted on the Moodle site to assist students with individual argumentative essay and for writing a strategic plan. Special sessions to discuss assessment guidelines will be provided.
Action Taken
Exemplar assignments were provided. ALC staffer Juliette Barreau also contributed to online discussions of how to prepare the assignments. A Student Guide was also available in Moodle to cover referencing and assignment structure.
Source: Impacts on unit grade.
Feedback
Allocation of 60% of total marks for group assessments is too high.
Recommendation
Allocation of 40% marks for the group assessments will be considered.
Action Taken
The previous UC did not follow this recommendation with a Unit Update Proposal. The 60% retained the structure of assessment in two components: Business Report 30% and Presentation 30%. The group requirement aligns with Learning Outcomes and Graduate Attributes.
Source: Student performance.
Feedback
Assessment of learning outcomes based on two group reports does not allow to assess a student's individual performance.
Recommendation
Marks for the individual argumentative essay will be increased to 60%.
Action Taken
This recommendation by the UC was not supported with a Unit Update Proposal for actioning in the review Term.
Source: Student activity on Moodle.
Feedback
Limited Moodle site engagement.
Recommendation
Special zoom session and phone conversation with students who have poor Moodle site engagement and do not respond to follow-up emails will be considered.
Action Taken
CQU Success and Student Activity Monitor were used to oversee student activity. Communication activity is documented in CQU Success. Workshop activities and ALC presentations were all aligned to encourage participation.
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
This unit truly teaches business strategy and strategic thinking. Further, many other business concepts are thoroughly covered.
Recommendation
Continued alignment of weekly topics with supporting discussion of business media coverage adds value and relevance.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
The lecturer was very good at explaining what is expected and easy to approach with any queries. Weekly workshops were very helpful as well - very relevant and current.
Recommendation
Engaged participation in workshops is a valuable way to extract the most out of a unit. Raising questions for discussion adds value and interest.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
The unit coordinator made attending this subject very rewarding in terms of skills and knowledge learnt from the unit. Every week he facilitated interesting and engaging workshop discussions that helped us to understand the content.
Recommendation
The unit lends itself to applied discussion and critical analysis of real-world strategic issues. Everyone's contribution is respected and encouraged.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
Moodle was easy to follow in regards to what was needed each week.
Recommendation
The new Tile structure to suit access from multiple digital devices has been beneficial.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
My only suggestion would be to discuss the workshop material in line with the actual week as was done previously. Delaying the workshop for the benefit of students reading the material the week before had no extra benefit for me.
Recommendation
It is agreed that lagging the workshop sessions to follow the week after the Lecture session was not as beneficial as intended. Reverting to discussion of topics in the scheduled week will require viewing of recorded lectures and recommended readings before attending the workshop discussion.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Evaluations
Feedback
A lot of valuable supplementary material was provided which was of value as well but unable to read all of them each week. Could they be implemented within unit in another way, so as to not affect workload to much?
Recommendation
Distinguishing required reading from supplementary reading that extends the topic is important. The eReading list recommends whether a reading is essential or recommended.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Reflection by the unit coordinator
Feedback
The presentation of strategy topics have relied too much on examples in the specified text.
Recommendation
Although these cases are authentic, the future offering of the unit should incorporate a compelling and insightful narrative, discussion of contemporary issues drawing on the lecturer's experience in the strategy field, and an examination of companies receiving current media attention. This will enable rich discussion of the frameworks and enhance student critical thinking skills.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Analyse strategy, planning and decision making processes in organisations
  2. Evaluate and identify internal and external pressures that inform strategy and change to the business model
  3. Undertake scenario analysis, assess risks, and align resources to achieve key priorities
  4. Assess how organisations use strategy in change management process
  5. Analyse how performance targets and key measures are set, monitored and improved at organisational, functional and individual level.


Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Case Study • • •
2 - Presentation and Written Assessment • • • •
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 •
5 - Team Work • • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • •
8 - Ethical practice • • •
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
1 - Case Study • • • • • •
2 - Presentation and Written Assessment • • • • • • • •