MGMT20133 - International Business, Strategy and Corporate Transformation

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Businesses are at the dawn of a fourth industrial revolution, propelled by frontier technologies and robotisation advances that make the product better, cheaper and faster than ever before. This new industrial revolution offers enormous opportunities for businesses to grow and gain sustainable development with potential benefits on a scale that is difficult to imagine. New technologies promise the possibilities of industrial upgrading and leapfrogging. Reconfiguration of world businesses environment, cheaper transportation and communication, coupled with more efficient logistics now help businesses to establish links to new global value chains. Strategic intuitiveness and the ability to quickly manage change is key to gain competitive positioning in the global context. As the capstone unit, you will integrate prior functional and interpersonal knowledge and skills acquired in previous units of the Master of Business Administration and examine international business practices and strategic management processes at an advanced level in different kinds of organisations. You will use your advanced level of knowledge and skills to analyse how organisations develop future business strategies which are influenced by domestic and international pressures. By considering the challenges facing contemporary businesses, you will examine how international business theories, strategic management concepts, frameworks and tools are used by business executives to develop a business plan and implement effective corporate transformation.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 9
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite: A minimum of 36 credit points made up from four (4) specified core/compulsory MBA units and an additional 12 credit points 

MGMT20129 Managing People, Organisations and Context.

MGMT 20130 Operations Management and Business Analytics

ACCT 20077 Accounting for Management Decision Making

ECON 20039 Economics for Managers

and 12 credit points (2  X 6 credit point units, either core or electives)

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 Optional Residential School
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Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2023

Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
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 Postgraduate 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. Group Work 40%
2. Report 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 1 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 83.33% 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: Unit coordinator. Overall performance
Feedback
Low class attendance. This can be largely attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without a legally binding compulsion to ensure the attendance of students in the classes, they are not able to benefit from the unit as is expected. This is apparent from their overall performance. On an average, about 30 to 40% students attended the classes, i.e., both lectures and workshops. This trend has compromised their overall performance.
Recommendation
Allocation of marks for class participation may be considered. In-class tasks or short journal reports for each workshop (weeks 2-11) may be useful to increase interactive engagement. For ensuring students’ minimum attendance, a penalty may be considered under contingent circumstances.
Action Taken
Allocated marks for individual presentation and marks for group report. Continued with the use of real organisations, in-class tasks on business planning issues. To facilitate interactive engagement international, regional, and transformative cases were selected for workshop discussion to highlight contemporary challenges in the post-COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Unit coordinators observation. Emails from students.
Feedback
Unequal participation in Group Works in Assessment 1. In this unit, group works on business cases have been incorporated to have a collaborative learning experience of the students on key concepts, theories and their practical applications. Low class attendance with impunity, might have contributed to this unequal participation in the group works, and consequently, the expected learning outcomes.
Recommendation
Allocation of marks (20 out of 40) for an individual in-class/online case presentation. The written report may be marked as group work (20 out of 40). Compulsory participation in at least 6 group discussions in break-out rooms in case of online teaching. This practice will enhance students' ability for critical analysis and applications of theories, models, and concepts in real-life situations through simulation, and role-play during workshops. Group members will be required to prepare team charters, showing the contributions of each member in a group. This will enable lecturer(s) to understand the students’ involvement and contribution in the assessments, and accordingly, provide appropriate grades that they deserve. This strategy might encourage better participation of students with an improved learning experience.
Action Taken
Allocated 20 marks of 40 for an individual in-class/online case presentation. The written report was marked as group work (20 out of 40). Compulsory participation in at least 6 workshops and group discussions was made mandatory.
Source: Unit Coordinator’s observations on students’ performance
Feedback
Need for better understanding to prepare Strategic Business Plan (Assessment task 2)
Recommendation
One workshop may be dedicated to discussing a business plan of a company. A real-life business plan may be distributed a week before for students to read. The unit coordinator will facilitate the discussion asking students to identify the key elements of a business plan.
Action Taken
In two workshop, 30 minutes each was dedicated to discussing a business plan of a company. A real-life business plan was distributed a week before for students to read. The unit coordinator facilitated the discussion asking students to identify the key elements of a business plan. Students were advised to find sample business plans and annual reports of known companies to get ideas on the issues incorporated in a business plan.
Source: Unit Coordinator’s observations on students’ performance
Feedback
Lack of analytical writing skills, inadequate referencing, and coherent arguments in a logical manner.
Recommendation
Conduct special sessions within the first few weeks (during workshops) to discuss expected learning outcomes, students' responsibilities, how to use resource materials, and improve the quality of academic writing. Provide a list of quality journals/articles that the students should regularly check or use in their written assessment.
Action Taken
Conducted special sessions before the submission of assessment one (during workshops) to discuss expected learning outcomes, and students' responsibilities. A special session was dedicated to demonstrate how to use resource materials, and improve the quality of academic writing. Distributed a list of quality journals/articles that the students could read and understand how referencing is done in those articles and cases.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Students enjoyed this unit and always find the workshops and tutorials of great assistance. The case studies are very helpful in applying the theory towards a scenario as a practical activity. The only criticism I would have, is the timing during the work day. As many of us are working, being able to take time out to attend is difficult. Thank you again Quamrul for an excellent course.
Recommendation
Continue with the lecture and workshop model. As most students are part-time and work full-time, an evening class from 6-9 could be considered.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Students enjoyed the unit contents and the style of delivery.
Recommendation
New cases and recent articles should be used to encourage students to read and learn. As corporate scenarios are changing, contemporary issue-related videos, discussion papers, or reports by McKinsey, Australia Institute, World Economic Form etc., would be very useful.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Unit Coordinator experience and observation
Feedback
Case study discussion at the workshops is very interactive and educational. Students share their practical country-specific and industry-specific experiences. Break-out rooms offer opportunities to discuss and share ideas. Case presentations can be arranged during workshops.
Recommendation
Group activities on contemporary international business and trade issues to facilitate robust discussion. Formation of groups during the workshops to debate on international business topics. This will give students an opportunity to conceptualise the theories and apply them in enhancing their critical thinking and analytical capability.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Critically evaluate concepts and principles of international business, strategic management and corporate transformation
  2. Analyse and integrate specialist knowledge pertinent to global business and economic complexity
  3. Apply cognitive and technical skills to reflect on and synthesise complex problems and apply strategic frameworks to develop and implement business strategies
  4. Communicate corporate strategy highlighting the effects of decisions on business performance
  5. Demonstrate business acumen using appropriate strategic and transformative frameworks in a socially responsible manner.

N/A

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Group Work • • • • •
2 - Report • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Knowledge • • • • •
2 - Communication • • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • • •
4 - Research • • • •
5 - Self-management • • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • • •
7 - Leadership • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8