Dr Lisa Daniel
Room: 10-34, 10 Pulteney Street, Adelaide 5005 SA
Telephone: +61 8 8313 3105
Email: lisa.daniel@adelaide.edu.au

Weekly lectures begin Tuesday, July 26 from 11 am till 1 pm.
Tutorial sessions commence week 2.

Knowledge & Understanding

• An understanding of the political, economic, technological, social and cultural environments of businesses.
• An understanding of the theories, concepts and tools that support strategic management in organisations.
• An appreciation of the implications of structure, culture and operations on the strategic management of organizations.
• Capacity to understand the significant issues of strategy in business and management.

Communication & Comprehension Skills

• Ability to evaluate and synthesise information and existing knowledge from numerous sources and experiences.
• Capacity to apply relevant theories and concepts to inform the demands of business and management practice.
• Ability to recognize the limits of management and strategy and a capacity to identify, develop and apply alternative methods where necessary.
• Ability to interpret complex business issues and ascertain their causes and effects through application of appropriate tools, then develop feasible and constructive solutions and provide advice to business managers.
• Capacity to participate constructively in team situations to complete shared tasks and meet deadlines
• High level analytical, critical thinking and problem solving skills, high level oral communication skills, high level written communication skills.

Attitudes and Values

• A commitment to objectivity, intellectual inquiry and academic rigour.
• An appreciation of the role of business ethics and corporate responsibility.
• An appreciation of cultural diversity and sensitivity in the management of businesses.
• An appreciation of social justice through organisations that pursue good governance, meet professional standards and conform to societal norms and uphold respected community value.

MyUni is used extensively in this course for announcements, assignment submission and assessment advice. Please ensure you have access to MyUni BEFORE lectures begin.

This course delivers all critical material in a 2 hour lecture each week of the semester.
Tutorial sessions run for an hour each week provide an opportunity for students to workshop concepts, theories, tools and models to advance their understanding through questions, discussions and presentations.

At least 3 hours of study time is required for each lecture, over and above the contact hours of the lecture and tutorial/workshops in each intensive. This expectation is considered to provide the level of study required in order to achieve an effective understanding of the course material.

• Annotated Bibliography (20%) You are required to prepare an annotated bibliography from one set of academic papers discussed in the tutorials, detailed as follows. Which set you select is your choice but you must submit on the appropriate date or late penalties will apply and a score of zero may result. Must be submitted via MyUni.

The sets of academic papers are;
1. Analysis - 4 papers (4 pages limit) DUE Friday September 4, midnight.
2. Planning – 3 papers (3 pages limit) DUE Friday September 25, midnight.
3. Implementation and Feedback (3 pages limit) – 3 papers Friday October 6, midnight.

• Tutorial questions and presentations (20% - 2 x 10% for each presentation). You are required to read and review the academic paper prescribed for each tutorial and come prepared to discuss and present that critique.

In keeping with the small group discovery learning experience, you will be put into groups in the tutorials for further discussion of the paper (20 minutes). In your group discussions you should develop the a comprehensive critique from everyone’s contributions for the presentation. Your critique must be explain the benefits and contributions of the paper to the strategic management and competitive advantage of the firm.  Four or five students will be randomly selected each tutorial to present their critique answer to the class (5 minute presentations) which will be marked according to the table below.

Presentation assessment criteria and marking distribution will be as follows;
Academic Content 2% Organisation and Logic 2% Intelligent Expression 2% Constructive Critique 2% Presentation Clarity 2% 
 
• Organisational Analysis & Strategic Direction Assignment (30%) – GROUP Case Study Assignment (groups of 3) Must be submitted via MyUni. DUE midnight Sunday, 11th October.

This assignment requires you to a) undertake a strategic organisational analysis and b) consider a constructive strategic direction for an Adelaide small-medium business (50-250 employees) of your choice.  Franchises are not aceptable SME's for this assignment – if you are unsure check with your tutor or the lecturer. If you do a franchise you will have to repeat the assignment with another business and you will incur any late penalty associated with the revised submission.  You must explain the strategic advantage that could be achieved (direction) with respect to the organisations strategic position (analysis).

If you know or are familiar with a business, organisation or company, you may wish to approach them and ask if they are agreeable to their firm being the subject of your strategic management assignment.

You can use internet resources about your selected company to support your investigation.

Alternatively you can identify an existing business and make a sensible assessments based on your observations and other available business information and resources.

Make sure you note ALL your sources (both academic and business) and the source details in your reference list. You are required to have at least 5 academic references for each part of the assignment i.e. analysis and direction.  Begin your reports with an executive summary (1 page or less) explaining concisely what you found that is important and why. Justification of these in your assignment is essential.

Put any detailed analysis and tables in the appendix and only report key points, strategic issues and justifications that you have drawn from those assessments in your assignment proper.

Organisational analysis (5 pages)
- Analyse the company’s current strategic position (where are we now?)
- A full internal and external analysis is required
- Discuss the important issues covered in lectures 2-5 i.e. environment, capabilities, purpose, culture & history, leadership.
- You are required to have at least 5 academic references.
- You must a) assess these issues with respect to your organisation and b) justify why they are important with respect to their implications for your business’ strategy i.e. you must report on their situation and what is strategically significant about the situation.
 
Strategic direction and advantage (5 pages)
- Prepare a strategic plan detailing where you think the company should be heading and why (where do we want to be?)
- This should be prepared with respect to your preceding analysis and justification.
- On that basis consider how your business could advance, reinforce or develop to build its strategic advantage.
- Use tools that aid strategic positioning and direction as covered in lectures 2-6, 8 as applicable.
- You need to explain and justify how your direction and ideas for advantage are consistent with your businesses existing strengths and current opportunities and its established overarching objectives.
- You need to explain how you believe the organisation can manage threats and address its weaknesses.
- Prepare your report with your suggested plans, associated goals and strategic justification.
- Justification for your plans and direction using corporate information and material taught in the course is ESSENTIAL.

- Use academic and company references where appropriate. You are required to have at least 5 academic references. 


• Final Exam – (30%) Essay questions will require students to synthesis material from all the lectures across the course to provide integrated answers.

• All submissions MUST be in WORD.docx, 12pt Arial, 1.5 spacing, 2.5 cm margins.
• References, appendices, executive summary and cover pages are not included in the page limit.
• Over limit material will not be read or assessed.
• Assignments submitted without student name or number on the documents will automatically lose 10% of their final assignment grade.

Late Assignment Submission - If you require an extension you need to get permission before the due date, as assessment requirements are known from the start of the semester.

Requests and approvals for extensions must be given in writing (or email) from your tutor or the lecture.

Any late assignments without extensions will accrue late marks at the rate of 10% of the final grade per day including students whose assignments are late because they have failed to submit via the appropriate method.