Unit Outline

Business Continuity Management is the holistic management process that identifies potential threats to an organisation and the likely impacts to business operations that may be caused if those threats materialise. This fully online unit provides you with a thorough understanding of the concepts and practical applications of Business Continuity Management. You will gain an appreciation of the issues and elements that underlie the practice of Business Continuity Management and draw upon theoretical concepts, real life case studies and relevant standards. This unit will provide you with the knowledge and skills to translate and communicate theoretical concepts in Business Continuity Management to tangible outputs for industry. This unit, together with protective security, crisis management, and the ability to lead resilient organisations, are collectively the underpinning foundation for enhancing organisational resilience. The unit provides you with an understanding and the requisite skills that will be interrelated with these units should you proceed further with your postgraduate studies in organisational resilience.

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	Comprehend theoretical approaches in business continuity management.
2	Synthesise and apply relevant theoretical perspectives and concepts to provide solutions to business continuity management.
3	Produce written work on business continuity management that is clearly communicated and meets scholarly and industry requirements.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

A number of minor alterations to content have been made since the last delivery of this unit.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Multiple choice online quiz.	Week 5	15 %	LO1
Assessment Task 2:	Write a 1,000 word report that describes a specific impact analysis for a business continuity disruption.	Week 7	20 %	LO1, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Multiple choice online quiz.	Week 11	15 %	LO1
Assessment Task 4:	Write a 2,500 word discussion paper to support the development or revision of a business continuity management system.	Week 13	50 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Multiple choice online quiz.

Task Description:

Multiple choice online quiz.

Consisting of 30 questions based on your learnings from Weeks 1 to 4, the task is designed to help you assess your own progress in the unit, and your understanding of key concepts in business continuity management.

Task Length:

Students are to answer 30 multiple-choice questions relating to material from Weeks 1 to 4. This is an open book quiz, meaning you can refer to any material. The task is designed to help you assess your own progress in the unit, and your understanding of key concepts. You have a strict time limit of 60 minutes to complete the quiz. If you fail the first attempt, you will have a SECOND attempt. You will NOT receive a second attempt if you pass the FIRST attempt. Once you open the quiz you must complete it. The quiz will be available on MyLO via the quizzes tab at the top of the screen.

Due Date:

Week 5

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Comprehend theoretical approaches in business continuity management	LO1

Assessment Task 2: Write a 1,000 word report that describes a specific impact analysis for a business continuity disruption.

Task Description:

Using the concepts you learnt about in weeks 5 and 6, perform a BIA for a key activity in your organisation.

As a minimum, your BIA methodology must include the following 4 stages:

1. Identify key services.
2. Identify critical processes.
3. Categorise critical processes.
4. Determine continuity measures.

Please access the Assessment Resources module in the ‘Table of Contents’ that provides the rubric for this assessment task.

Task Length:

1,000 words, excluding diagrams, process flows, and reference list

Due Date:

Week 7

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Embed the principles that underpin business continuity management in the BIA.	LO1
2	Apply the 4 stages of the BIA methodology to assess the impact of the chosen activity.	LO1
3	Produce a written report that is clearly communicated and meets scholarly and industry requirements.	LO3

Assessment Task 3: Multiple choice online quiz.

Task Description:

Multiple choice online quiz.

Consisting of 30 questions based on your learnings from Weeks 5 to 10, the task is designed to help you assess your own progress in the unit, and your understanding of key concepts in business continuity management.

Task Length:

Students are to answer 30 multiple-choice questions relating to material from Weeks 5 to 10. This is an open book quiz, meaning you can refer to any material. The task is designed to help you assess your own progress in the unit, and your understanding of key concepts. You have a strict time limit of 60 minutes to complete the quiz. If you fail the first attempt, you will have a SECOND attempt. You will NOT receive a second attempt if you pass the FIRST attempt. Once you open the quiz you must complete it. The quiz will be available on MyLO via the quizzes tab at the top of the screen.

Due Date:

Week 11

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Comprehend theoretical approaches in business continuity management.	LO1

Assessment Task 4: Write a 2,500 word discussion paper to support the development or revision of a business continuity management system.

Task Description:

Using the BIA that you identified in Assessment Task 2 and applying the concepts you learnt about in weeks 7-13, integrate the BIA into a BC plan.

You are required to critically analyse how this BC plan can enhance the broader BCM system and lead to an improved BC culture in your organisation.

Please access the Assessment Resources module in the ‘Table of Contents’ that provides the rubric for this assessment task.

Task Length:

2500 words, excluding reference list and appendix.

Due Date:

Week 13

Weight:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Integrate the BIA into a BC plan.	LO2
2	Critically analyse how this BC plan can enhance the broader BCM system.	LO1
3	Identify the key mechanisms in the plan that will lead to an improved BC culture.	LO2
4	Produce a written paper that is clearly communicated and meets scholarly and industry requirements.	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.

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.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

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.