Business Consulting

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2013:

Total Time Commitment: 122 hours

Students must have permission from the Capstone Studies Coordinator AND 50 points of level-2 Faculty of Business and Economics subjects.

• Students can gain credit for only one of: MGMT30012 Business Consulting, 325-330 Business Practicum and 175-300 Managing Work and Projects.
• BCom (Hons) students intending to complete this subject must seek permission to do so from their Honours Convenor.

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/

Students will be assigned to a Client Organisation, where they will work in teams and undertake a structured business planning or business development exercise. This will be supported by seminar work providing tools, techniques and reporting formats, and in depth work at the Client Organisation identifying the scope, opportunities, constraints and recommendations of the exercise. Students will learn to work with unstructured and incomplete information, to develop research and networks to support their enquiry, to work successfully in teams, and to present their findings and seek and receive constructive feedback in a range of settings. Students will also be encouraged to plan, reflect and modify their approaches to improve the outcomes of their efforts in managing their business project.

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

• Explain how the theory and practice of tertiary studies in commerce contribute to resolving real-world business issues
• Research, analyse, evaluate and propose practical business options given the project constraints
• Identify key strategic questions, assess options, communicate progress and check direction with both team members, academic mentors and the client organisation

• Individual written assignments - progress notes produced throughout the Semester by individual team members from week 3 to week 8 - assessed by Subject Coordinator - (10%),
• Participation and team contribution - assessed across the semester via consultation meetings with individual teams during weeks 3 to 8 -assessed by Subject Coordinator with reference to client feedback - (10%).
• Group assignment (10%) - case study assignment prepared by each student team in weeks 7 and 8 - assessed by Subject Coordinator
• Presentations (10%) - prepared and delivered by student teams in weeks 9 and 10 - assessed by Subject Coordinator
• Group report (60%) which is assessed as a team report of 10,000 words in length. Each individual in the team must contribute equally. Prepared throughout the semester and completed in week 12 - assessed by Subject Coordinator with reference to client feedback

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Successful completion of this subject will further develop the following skills:

• Time management
• Commercial awareness
• Initiative within ambiguity
• Independent learning, interpersonal skills and team skills
• Verbal and written communication skills through discussion and assigned tasks
• Project management
• Team working
• Communication skills in a business context
• Research, problem solving, critical thinking
• Documentation, preparation and presentation skills through assigned tasks and the practicum exercise
• Interpersonal skills through the practicum exercise and assigned tasks