Unit Outline

Strategy is concerned with the long- term direction of an organisation - with making strategic choices about how to best use resources and how to align the firm with the operating environment. Business Strategy enhances students’ knowledge of the process of strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation with a business, and the key contextual factors and managerial decisions which influence this process. The unit develops skills in research, academic writing and application to current and future business environments. The unit amalgamates aspects from a range of management areas and prepares students to be able to develop and apply sound business strategy methods in practical settings. While senior managers, entrepreneurs, and strategic consultants are most concerned with an organisation’s strategy, it is important for all professionals to have an understanding of strategy. This will allow them to make better workplace decisions, to win better support for their initiatives, and to improve their changes of gaining appropriate employment.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

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


1	Critically analyse business strategy theory
2	Identify strategic issues in business
3	Develop innovative and sustainable strategic solutions for a business
4	Communicate complex strategic analysis in written and oral forms.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	BMA302, BAA311

Alterations as a result of student feedback

This unit has been altered to reduce the number of quizzes and to streamline the assessment tasks to make them relevant to contemporary industry practice.

How will I be Assessed?

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
ASSESSMENT TASK 1:	Essay	Week 5	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
ASSESSMENT TASK 2:	JIT Quizzes	Refer to Assessment Description	20 %	LO1, LO2
ASSESSMENT TASK 3:	Case study	Refer to Assessment Description	50 %	LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Essay

TASK DESCRIPTION:

The goal of this assignment is to evaluate your comprehension of the concepts and materials we've learned in this unit.

To complete this task, you will need to write an essay in response to a question regarding business strategy. Your essay should be persuasive in nature, meaning you'll need to take a position and provide evidence using theory, research, and real-life examples to support your argument. To back up your argument, you will need to find and include information about actual organisations.

Examples of real organisations must be used to support your argument. You will need to source the organisation related information on your own.

The essay question and further information will be provided on MyLO.

TASK LENGTH:

2,000 words

DUE DATE:

Week 5

WEIGHT:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME


1	Explain the key concepts of business strategy	LO1
2	Analyse relevant business strategy theory and research	LO2
3	Use real-life examples to support your argument	LO3
4	Write using academic language and structure including the use of relevant referencing and presentation conventions	LO4

Assessment Task 2: JIT Quizzes

TASK DESCRIPTION:

At the end of each module, a quiz will be made available for students to complete to solidify their knowledge of the topics. These quizzes will consist of a range of multiple choice or true/false questions randomised from a test bank. They will be delivered online through MyLO. You will be required to recall and evaluate business strategy theory.

Quizzes will be held in weeks 4, 8, 10 and 12 of the semester.

TASK LENGTH:

Up to 20 multiple choice questions or true/false questions

DUE DATE:

Refer to Assessment Description

WEIGHT:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME


1	Recall business strategy theory and concepts	LO1
2	Contrast business strategy theory and concepts	LO2

Assessment Task 3: Case study

TASK DESCRIPTION:

This assignment is composed of two parts, with a total score of 50 marks.

Part 1 is a group assignment where your group will be required to conduct a comprehensive analysis of a case organization using a specific case process. You should understand how the organisation's scope is determined by their strategic vision, accreditation standards, and external partnerships, including sustainability, using SDG 17 - Partnerships for sustainable development. You must also analyse the case through a sustainability lens. This section is worth 40 marks.

Part 2 is an individual assignment, and each member of the group for Part 1 must choose one of the proposed future strategies from Part 1 and create an elevator pitch (under 2 minutes). As a consultant, you must focus on why your chosen strategy is the best, why the organisation should choose that strategy, and how the strategy relates to sustainability. This section is worth 10 marks.

TASK LENGTH:

Part 1: 3000 words (+/- 10%) Part 2: 2 minute pitch (+/- 1 minute)

DUE DATE:

Refer to Assessment Description

WEIGHT:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME


1	Analyse issues in the general environment surrounding the case organisation	LO2
2	Analyse issues in the industry and competitor environment surrounding the case organisation	LO2
3	Analyse issues in the internal environment surrounding the case organisation	LO2
4	Apply the business strategic management process to a case	LO3
5	Propose and justify business strategies for the case	LO3
6	Write using academic language and structure including the use of appropriate referencing and presentation conventions	LO4
7	Application of sustainability within the business strategy case process	LO3
8	As an individual, use visual aids and oral communication to pitch ideas	LO4
9	As an individual, justify business strategy through a pitch	LO3

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late Penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required resources

Required Reading Materials

You will need the following text [available from the Bookshop]:
Hanson, D, Hitt, MA, Ireland, RD & Hoskisson, RE 2017, Strategic management: competitiveness and globalisation, Cengage Learning, Melbourne.