Business Case Challenge

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2013:

Approximately 2.5 hours of personal study per hour of class time is required to achieve a satisfactory level of performance.

Completion of 150 points in the Master of Management (any specialisation). Students should undertake this subject in their final semester of the Master of Management (Advanced) degree.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject brings together students from different specializations in the Faculty of Business and Economics Masters programs (accounting, finance, management, human resource management and marketing) to work in multi-disciplinary teams on a broad and challenging business case of contemporary importance. The subject culminates in a presentation and Q & A session before a panel of industry, community and academic judges. Students are required to undertake research on a complex, multi-faceted problem. They are also required to explain and defend their recommendations and to explain how and when their recommendations should be implemented. The subject is taught by academic staff from different departments within the Faculty and features guest presentations from relevant industry and community experts in how to analyse cases, make effective and compelling presentations, and work together in teams comprising people from different disciplinary specialisations. The scores for each of the assessment components are peer moderated.

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

• Engage in cross-disciplinary dialogue on understanding and analysing complex problems facing organizations;
• Provide actionable recommendations to an organization;
• Demonstrate core management skills with respect to decision making and working with others;
• Demonstrate an ability to support recommendations with appropriate qualitative and quantitative data;
• Demonstrate effective communication skills in a timed presentation and during a Q&A session.

• Team based mini case presentation (10 min oral presentation with slides; 10 min Q&A), due Week 5 (10%)
• Team based written report on the mini case (1500 words), due Week 5 (10%)
• Team based major case presentation (20 min oral presentation with slides; 15 min Q&A), due Week 12 (40%)
• Team based written report on the major case (4000 words), due Week 12 (40%)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On successful completion of this subject, students should have improved the following generic skills:

• Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making skills;
• Collaborative learning and teamwork;
• Evaluation, interpretation and analysis of data;
• Accessing data and other research information from a range of sources;
• Verbal and written communication skills.