Managing for Value Creation

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

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements for this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject exposes students to an integrated perspective of the firm, how it interfaces with its environment, and how it creates and sustains value. Critical to the creation of value is the way a firm interacts with its various stakeholders. The subject builds a conceptual framework to examine the choices managers face in determining how best to create value, and how these choices may be shaped by key stakeholders including: government, society, trading partners, customers, employees and competitors. A key focus of this subject is on value creation as a cross disciplinary and cross firm activity. As such, the focus is on value creation from multiple disciplinary perspectives including strategy, entrepreneurship, marketing, HRM, supply chain management and organisational design.

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

• Explain the major factors driving the focus on more effective value creation practices;
• Connect all value creation activities undertaken by firms and articulate the extent to which they are mutually reinforcing;
• Appreciate the importance and role of new product / service development in determining overall value creation performance;
• Describe theory relevant to the value creation process;
• Explain the issues and challenges facing organisations managing activities involving value creation in an international context;
• Describe the role and importance of emerging technologies and business models in creating and sustaining value;
• Explain the need for coordinated product and process design within the firm, and between members of the value chain;
• Identify a range of strategies for positioning the firm to maximize value potential in dynamic competitive environments.

• Group Presentation (10 minute presentation; 10 minute Q&A), due Week 4 (20%)
• Group Assignment (4000 words), due Week 10 (30%)
• End-of-semester exam (50%)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

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

• Critical evaluation of evidence in support of an argument or proposition;
• Problem solving in management through the ability to define, structure, and prioritise issues; and collect and analyse data to test ideas;
• Communication of business-related ideas, theories and solutions to peers and the wider community;
• Ability to synthesize ideas, theories and data in developing solutions to business problems;
• Ethical practice through a knowledge of corporate governance processes and implementation;
• Research skills including the retrieval of information from a variety of sources;
• Teamwork through collaborative exercises in workshops and assessment.