Major areas of study
Students study six core units that provide expertise in several areas of management, accounting, finance and information systems; and an additional six units that advance a student’s understanding of marketing, international business and specialised areas of management.
Accounting and Finance for Managers
This unit introduces students to the fundamentals of accounting and finance including financial statements, ratio analysis, cost terminology and cost-volume relationships, cost information for decision making, and budgets for planning and control.
Finance components include financial mathematics, risk and return, valuation of corporate securities, investment appraisal, leveraging and capital structure.
Marketing Management
This unit introduces students to the concept of marketing as a philosophy of doing business successfully and therefore is relevant to all organisations.
It looks at all aspects of marketing management: customer focus, relationship marketing, monitoring the environment, buyer behaviour, marketing research, marketing planning, segmenting, targeting and positioning, the marketing mix, new product development and competitive strategy.
It also applies concepts to products and services and also introduces global issues.
Foundations of Management
This unit examines the principles and current practices of management in organisation in the Asia-Pacific region and broader global contexts.
It addresses the changing environments of organisations, issues of social responsibility, key management functions, communication and interpersonal skills, leadership skills, leadership, the management of change, and international management.
As the name implies, this is a foundation unit and should be completed as early in your course as possible.
Strategic Management
Addresses the objectives of global strategic management; the strategic management process including analysis; decision-making and implementation; emerging strategic business issues.
It is recommended that students take this unit in the latter stages of their programme. Students are encouraged to complete the unit Foundations of Management and three other Masters units prior to undertaking this unit.
Leading and Managing People
This unit provides an advanced analysis of leadership and teamwork within the context of the modern organisation.
The unit will assist students to become aware of their own leadership style and its impact on individuals, work teams and organisations. The unit examines many essential issues that enhance effective leadership in organisations.
Strategic Information Systems
Provides a strategic approach to the use of information systems in organisations. Students are introduced to the use of information systems as a means of achieving competitive advantage and for improving efficiency and effectiveness in business processes and managerial decision marking. Students learn to manage information as one of the key resources of an organisation by planning, developing, implementing and evaluating information systems from a managerial perspective, taking into account social, ethical, cultural and global factors.
International Marketing
This unit embraces the challenges of international marketing and is divided into two parts. The first part covers researching international markets including the challenges of undertaking international research and the gathering of marketing research to evaluate and then select alternative international markets, highlighting the opportunities and threats posed by differences in environmental factors and culture. The second part addresses the determination of international marketing strategy, examining decisions on product, branding, communications and pricing. Key themes include the impact of cultural differences and the ‘globalisation of markets’ debate. Students should complete Marketing Management before undertaking this unit.
Organisational Behaviour
This unit introduces students to work and worker behaviour; behaviour at work; group and organisational behaviour; links between behaviour and organisational structure, tasks and job design, administrative hierarchy; job satisfaction and worker adjustment; stress and other factors related to the environment of work; and values associated with work behaviour.
Project Management
This unit develops students’ understanding of the principles of project management from a managerial perspective in an organisational setting.
Students will be introduced to the various phases and processes associated with a project life cycle and should understand the knowledge areas associated with any project and explore practical applications of the knowledge acquired through this unit.
Human Resource Management
Discusses issues relating to the acquisition and maintenance of resources in the current organisational context of rapid change. Topics considered include job analysis and design, human resource planning, health and safety, selection and recruitment including equal employment opportunity considerations, career planning, performance apprasial, remuneration, training and development, and international HRM issues.
International Business
This unit examines the (additional) challenges confronting the international business manager. Firstly, it explores the vibrant and dynamic international business environment and the opportunities and threats posed specifically by differences between countries; notably in political economy and culture. The unit then turns to the development of international business strategy, addressing strategic management, entry strategies, organisational design and the functional areas of marketing, finance and human resource management.
Strategic Knowledge Management
In an increasingly global knowledge economy, the discipline of knowledge management has emerged as a central focus for progressive organisations to develop effective corporate strategies in the competitive global marketplace.
Strategic knowledge management involves the development of an integrated framework and business model through effective leveraging on business best practices, and the transformation of organisational knowledge assets into marketplace successes.
