Elective Units

Competition and Strategy in Asia-Pacific

The growth of economies in the Asia-Pacific region has presented diverse trade and investment opportunities for international firms. This unit is designed to provide a management framework for developing and implementing business strategies in individual Asian markets, as well as examining strategic and organisational priorities for the region as a whole. Lectures, case studies and field research will consider the experience of Australian and international organisations competing in Asia-Pacific countries. The unit will explore the complex interdependence of national cultures, management philosophies, corporate strategies and socioeconomic development impacting business performance in the Asia-Pacific region. It will provide conceptual tools to help understand dynamic Asian markets and contribute to developing skills in managing (particularly joint ventures) within local Asian environments.

Competitive Intelligence for Global Business

Competitive Intelligence (CI) is concerned with how firms obtain, store and use the information they need to increase their competitiveness. Almost all the top 100 Fortune firms now have in place some form of systematic intelligence gathering knowledge and management system. Traditional management information systems tend to overwhelm decision-makers with information. The “new economy” (e-business) has made this problem worse as it provides managers with a flood of information. CI is not spying, it is not just about competitors and it is not just market research. CI is where the most useful knowledge in “Knowledge Management” comes from. CI is an important aspect of successful strategy. Most successful managers already carry out CI intuitively. The issue now is how to show managers better and more effective ways to carry out CI. This unit explores the ways organisations can do this and puts CI in the context of an evolutionary step by organisations to a fast changing, more competitive and more globalised environment.

Recommended: MGSM820 Marketing Management

Consumer Behaviour

This unit explores the multiple influences on the behaviour of consumers, drawing from theories developed in psychology, sociology and economics. The unit builds on these theoretical bases to explain and predict the attitudes, perceptions and decision-making processes of consumers in different markets, assisting in the development and
application of more appropriate marketing strategies.

Recommended: MGSM820 Marketing Management

Corporate Acquisitions

This unit examines the various forms of corporate combinations and the motivations for corporate acquisitions, accounting, tax and legal issues associated with corporate acquisitions in Australia. The pricing and financing of acquisitions, corporate restructuring and integration issues are also examined.

Prerequisites: MGSM840 Accounting for Management and MGSM835 Financial Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

This unit explores the ways in which CRM is concerned with the development and maintenance of long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with strategically significant customers. This unit takes the view that CRM is viewed as the intelligent management of the existing and potential customer base, with a view to optimising long-term organisation and customer value. Issues such as: customer portfolio analysis, network management, database development, data mining, developing customer value propositions, IT for CRM and customer bonding strategies will be covered.

Prerequisite: MGSM820 Marketing Management

Doing Business in/with China

This unit examines the various critical issues related to doing business in/with China, including: the macro business environment in China; outsourcing and exporting to China; running business operations in China; negotiating with Chinese businesses; and competing with Chinese businesses internationally. This unit is designed for students who wish to gain a comprehensive understanding of China as a host country/market, as well as those needing to develop capabilities in dealing with the range of challenges of doing business in/with China.

Entrepreneurial Finance

The objective of this unit is to provide a structured approach to the analysis of the special problems of entrepreneurial finance within the context of the available funding opportunities in Australia and overseas. In particular, it offers the financial particulars that are required to access finance from the various avenues available domestically and internationally. Case studies will feature in all lectures and members of the venture capital community, as well as successful seekers of funds, will make presentations during the unit.

Prerequisite: MGSM840 Accounting for Management

Executive Coaching

This unit will explore the central role of coaching for managers. Because management is based on relationship to other people, coaching is essential to a manager’s performance. Coaching is above all concerned with effective execution. It is the study, awareness and development of those skills that enable managers to encourage their team, department or group to execute with excellence. Effective coaching requires more than an understanding of the technical know how of the business and includes an understanding of the “people” dimension of organisations. Coaching is vital for working effectively with the culture, the politics and the human relationships dimensions of organisations. It is empowering for managers in building relationships. In this unit a number of frameworks and a range of coaching skills will be developed. Participants will be given the opportunity to match frameworks with their experiences as managers.

Human Resource Management

This unit explores the issues and choices confronting organisations in regard to the management of people. A central focus is the relationship of human resource management, equity and workplace performance. The unit identifies and analyses a range of factors which influence attitudes toward the management of people and experience at work. It examines, among other things, recruitment and selection, performance management, training, equal opportunity and health and safety.

International Marketing

This unit addresses the conceptual and practical issues that confront the indigenous business when it decides to market its products (goods and/or services) in foreign countries. Studies include environmental differences, market entry modes and financing international marketing, in addition to, the practical problems encountered in implementing marketing strategies and plans in foreign countries.

Prerequisite: MGSM820 Marketing Management

International Perspectives: Study Tour

International Perspectives in Management is a double elective unit in which students participate in an overseas study tour of current-edge organisations, adopting a project-based experiential learning approach. The unit strives to provide a deep-level learning experience and strike a balance between academic, cultural and intercultural learning. Each study tour adopts a particular focus such as socially-responsible leadership (see MGSM886), international marketing, knowledge management, operations and technology.

NB. Study tours may not run to each location every year and those interested in participating in Study Tours should confirm with Student Services Centre regarding timetabling.

Prerequisite: China Tour: MGSM820
US Tour: MGSM836 recommended
Two unit equivalent

Internship

The MGSM Management Internship is a 10 week work placement for a MGSM MBA/Masters student. The Internship gives students at advanced stages of their postgraduate degrees an opportunity to work in an Australian organisation on a ‘real time’ business project. The Interns will work independently or as part of a team from the organisation under the supervision of an MGSM academic supervisor and the client sponsor. At the conclusion of the Internship the student must present a report to the Sponsor and MGSM. The report forms the main basis of the student’s assessment for inclusion on their academic record. MGSM Interns are expected to work at a high level and have advanced communication, research, writing, consulting and project management skills. To be successful Management Interns must navigate a complex array of pressures and challenges, including: the impact of organisational politics; accessing accurate or complete data or meaningful metrics; diverse stakeholder interests and of course the pressure of a looming deadline. Accordingly, entry to the Internship is competitive based on GPA and overall suitability of the student to the project. Since the inception of the Internship Program at MGSM students have worked in a diverse range of industries.

The Internship is both a challenging and rewarding Capstone unit for self motivated and career oriented MGSM students.

Prerequisite: Minimum completion of six units (24 Credit Points) + GPA 3
Note: Students have the opportunity to apply for an Internship.

Investment Management

This unit examines the academic and professional literature pertaining to the investment setting, securities markets, market efficiency, security valuation, equity and debt investments, managed funds, portfolio strategies and alternative investments. Literature is critically examined with a view to better determining the intrinsic value of individual investments, creating optimal investment portfolios and understanding current capital market developments. This unit will enhance your ability to make knowledgeable investment decisions and build wealth.

Prerequisite: MGSM840 Accounting for Management and MGSM835 Financial Management

Law and Management

This unit examines some operational aspects of the Australian legal system of concern to managers. Particular attention is paid to business agreements, types of business organisations and business property. The focus is on understanding the legal environment of business as a means to more effective management.

Leadership and Motivation

This unit explores the practices and philosophies of leadership and motivation, encouraging students to challenge conventional approaches. It evaluates theoretical and empirical contributions to these important areas of management and encourages students to develop a style of workplace learning through which their own leadership and motivational practices can grow. It aims to develop an appreciation of the role and value of leadership in organisations both domestically and abroad.

Management Consulting and Research

In this unit students will be introduced to the discipline of management consulting and to several important concepts and practices associated with business research. Students will be divided into syndicates and undertake a minor consulting assignment for an industrial or public sector client. Both the “output” and the dynamics of the client/consultant relationship are explored via the mechanism of the process assignment. This will involve a number of meetings between the syndicates and lecturer.

Prerequisite: Minimum completion of four units and minimum GPA of 3.0

Management of Innovation

The objective of this unit is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the process of innovation and its management within the Australian and international context, a private sector corporation or government instrumentality, an “old economy” or “new economy”. The unit takes a senior/middle management perspective in covering the management of the “fuzzy front end” of the innovation process where problems are identified and new ideas are generated. It examines the innovation process and new technology-based ways of speeding it up, reducing its cost and improving its success rate in the development of new processes, services, software and physical products. It also examines how effective innovation is achieved through a style of project management and organisational structures that involve the collaboration of individuals and the cooperation and coordination of the groups and functions of the organisation.

Management of Service Operations

This unit will examine the operations of both consumer and professional service companies. A framework will be used to link development of a clearly defined service concept with an effective service delivery system in order to provide both external and internal customers with appropriate service levels. Current issues such as the use of internet technology, the formulation of service level agreements, call centres, service blueprinting, managing capacity, the service firm life cycle, performance measures, service quality, the service profit chain and service strategy will be discussed. A number of servcie case studies will be used to illustrate these concepts.

Managerial Psychology

This unit examines theories of personality, motivation, managerial values, group dynamics, occupational stress and counselling and their relevance for, and application to management. It aims to promote an understanding of diverse psychological perspectives and research findings to the practice of management. Human behaviour at the Australian workplace is analysed by comparing and contrasting four psychological perspectives: psychoanalysis, behaviourism, dispositionalism and existentialism. Of special relevance is an analysis of individual differences which includes a critical evaluation of the role and use of psychological tests in management.

Managerial Self-Development

The focus of the unit is on developing self-reflection and self regulation skills among students. These skills are applied to developing self-awareness of managerial skill strengths and deficits and on developing an action plan to enhance strengths and reduce deficit skills. The unit’s theoretical foundation is social-cognitive theory, which considers both personal and situational dimensions, and their interactions, to be important in understanding behaviour and behaviour change. The unit provides a framework, for students to reflect on how personal and situational variables influence their own managerial skill strengths and deficits. In addition, the unit provides an opportunity to develop a self-managerial action plan to enhance strengths and redress skill deficits.

Managing Change

This unit has been designed to provide the framework and skills for managers who are likely to be involved in strategic initiatives within their organisations. This is a particularly important area of expertise, linking the concerns of strategic management with those of the more directly “people-focused” side of management. The basic premise underlying this unit is that the capacity to implement strategic change is a critical complementary skill to the capacity to conceive new strategic directions.

Managing Sustainable Organisations

The rising importance of socially responsible investment, increasing consumer and environmental concerns and an encouraging political/legislative environment have all contributed significantly to the pressure on businesses to be socially responsible. However, while many believe Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) would have a positive impact on their brand or even mean to do good for the community, often it is not done in the most effective way to make a substantial impact. Strategic CSR is about tying it to the company’s strategy and sustainability as well as working from a multi stakeholder perspective. The course will cover ethical behaviour, giving and environmental sustainability. A multi stakeholders approach will be introduced, as well as issues such as employee involvement and organisational change toward strategic CSR.

Managing with a Global Mindset

The objective of this unit is to equip participants with the knowledge and skills which are central to developing a global mindset, specifically in the context of international business relations. In this unit we shall focus on both the concepts and competencies of a global mindset. Leading in a global context means being able to influence people who have ways of doing things that are unlike and unfamiliar to us. In a global context we need to be able to bounce back very quickly from the surprise of unexpected and unfamiliar ways of doing things to lead people who do things in a way other than our own. We also need to learn to think and execute strategically in unfamiliar context. This poses unique challenges and requires unique skills that can be generalised to any situation of uncertainty and given that we are living in an uncertain world, the competencies developed in this course are essential to leading and managing in the face of uncertainty. We shall explore the interesting and complex set of issues around the idea of a “global mindset” in a “global world.” These include the relationship between globalization and localization; globalization, nationalism and fundamentalism; globalization, worldliness and cosmopolitan mindsets. All of these will contribute to becoming leaders able to influence people unlike and not familiar to us.

Negotiation: Theory and Practice

This unit examines the theory and practice of negotiation from a number of academic and practical perspectives. The dynamics of integrative, distributive and intra-organisational bargaining are analysed and the critical sub-processes of negotiation are reviewed: persuasion, communication, the social context of negotiation, sources and use of power and influence. The analysis and conduct of a series of negotiation case studies, role plays and a simulation, cover a wide range of managerial and organisational issues.

New Enterprise Management

New Enterprise Management provides some specific techniques and skills relevant to the management of new enterprises and provides an understanding of the factors that are important to the success of new ventures and the management options for increasing the success of new ventures. The unit addresses the questions “why will you succeed?”, “how can you increase your chances of success?” and “how will you manage success (or failure)?”. The unit is designed to assist those who are currently responsible for managing or developing new stand alone ventures, managing or developing new ventures within a larger enterprise in the private or public sector, and those involved in evaluating and advising managers of such ventures (e.g. financiers, analysts, accountants, consultants and public sector managers).

Recommended: MGSM820 Marketing Management & MGSM840 Accounting for Management

Operations and Logistics Strategy

This unit examines the management of the supply chain and the role it plays in selling both goods and services. The alignment of the logistics and operations capabilities within the overall objectives of the organisation and the way in which operations and logistics capabilities can add value to organisations will be explored.

Prerequisite: MGSM890 Operations Management

Project Based Management

This unit develops an understanding of the key processes, terminology and concepts relevant to the project based management approach and explores the issues of moving towards a ‘projectised’ organisation.

Public Performance for Managers

This unit examines the requirements of public speaking situations and teaches those techniques needed for effective public performances and the giving of prepared and impromptu speeches. The unit analyses some of the techniques used in political speeches and oratory. Methods of public discourse, argument and persuasion are studied.

Report 1

This is an individual thesis-styled unit requiring a report of approximately 10,000 words on a research project. Identification of the subject and thesis content should be negotiated with an MGSM academic supervisor and approval given by the Director of Research prior to commencement of this unit.

Report 2

This is an individual thesis-styled unit requiring a report of approximately 10,000 words on a research project for students who have completed Report 1. Identification of the subject and thesis content should be negotiated with an MGSM academic supervisor and approval given by the Director of Research prior to commencement of this unit.

Available to MBA and Master of Management students only.
Prerequisite: MGSM950 Report 1

Research Project

This is a double elective dissertation styled-unit requiring a report of approximately 15,000 – 20,000 words on a research project. Identification of the subject and dissertation content should be negotiated with an MGSM academic supervisor and approval given by the Director of Research prior to commencement of this unit.

Two Unit Equivalent
Available to MBA and Master of Management students only

Sales Management

This unit builds on MGSM820 to provide a detailed exploration of the planning, structuring and management of the sales discipline in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer settings. The course blends review of theoretical approaches with examination of contemporary practical application, to provide students with an understanding and appreciation of the options available to them for managing sales.

Prerequisite: MGSM820 Marketing Management

Services Marketing

This unit explores the important issues in the marketing of services including: the differences between marketing services and marketing goods; the importance of customer relationships in services marketing; the importance and measurement of quality in service provision; and the application of services marketing principles in a range of diverse industries and sectors (such as professional services, the public sector, retail services, tourism, charities, etc). The unit will draw on extensive marketing literature in the field, while exploring salient issues from both theoretical and applied views. An industry based project and case studies are important components of the unit.

Prerequisite: MGSM820 Marketing Management

Strategic Finance

This unit aims to bridge the divide between corporate finance and corporate strategy, using game theory and real options analysis. Game theory offers a systematic, structured approach to analysing strategic decision-making when there are situations of interdependence between the firm and its competitors. Real options analysis provides an investment evaluation tool that incorporates the value of flexibility and growth opportunities in an uncertain environment where competitors can affect each other’s behaviour.

Prerequisite: MGSM835 Financial Management

Strategic Marketing

This unit explores the relationship between marketing strategy formulation and the strategic direction of the organisation. It is designed to develop skills in analysing, planning, implementing and controlling marketing policies in the business enterprise. The central focus is the study of market strategy formulation with particular emphasis on the use of simulation models and behavioural approaches to inform key strategic marketing decisions regarding products, markets and competition. Examination of the literature relevant to advanced marketing topics and the study of actual marketing problems in selected organisations provide an important part of the learning environment. The unit also utilises a sophisticated marketing simulation game to explore and demonstrate the dynamic interrelationships in key marketing decision areas.

Prerequisite: MGSM820 Marketing Management

Supply Chain Management

This unit addresses the fundamentals of managing the supply chain, including the impact of e-commerce on order placement, processing and delivery. Supply chains across functional and organisational boundaries and the contribution of logistics strategy implementation will be examined. This includes issues such as demand driven supply chains, collaborative commerce, postponement strategies, third and fourth party logistics providers and strategic alignment of the supply chain.