NGO Education Survey

MBA5603 Economics for managers

The unit exposes students to the 'economics lens' for reasoning in business. Topics to be considered include demand, supply and market analysis, cost concepts, price determination and pricing practices. The course aims to develop an understanding of the competitive environment facing firms through analysis of varying market structures (oligopoly, monopolistic competition etc).

MBA5604 - Financial and management accounting for decision making

This unit examines the structures, processes, content and interface between financial and management accounting, which assists organisations in planning, decision making and control to create sustainable economic, social and environmental value. The financial accounting component is concerned with the information requirements of external users such as owners, lenders, regulatory authorities and potential investors. Herein the focus concerns the measurement of performance, valuation of assets and liabilities, and determination of the financial strength and 'health' of the organisation. The management accounting component is concerned with the information needs of internal users at various levels of responsibility and with varying functional responsibilities. Herein the focus concerns issues such as the nature and behaviour of costs, budgets and budgetary control, and measuring and managing performance so as to enhance organisational competitiveness.

MBA5605 - Business finance

This unit introduces finance theories and practices that can assist financial decisions in for-profit firms. Herein investigation concerns exploration of the interrelated aspects of making decisions from an investing, financing and operating perspective. Using the body of knowledge that comes from finance theories and practices, students will learn the analytical skills required to solve these problems. Further, the unit will examine key aspects of financial decisions (capital budgeting, financing, dividend policy and hedging) that managers in non-financial firms are required to make.

MBA5607 - Evidence-based decision making

The first objective of this unit is for students to understand which data analysis technique is appropriate to address a business problem and then, with the support of the relevant software, to apply that technique. The second objective is for students to learn how to interpret the results and extract useful business insights. An applied approach will be taken. Topics covered include data description and summation, data mining, confidence intervals and hypothesis testing, regression analysis, time series and forecasting and decision making under uncertainty.

MBA5608 Managing people for competitive advantage in Asia

Effective management of people can benefit organisational performance. This unit examines how organisations can effectively lead and manage people for competitive advantage in diverse organisational settings. The unit considers the human resource function, managing individual motivation, behaviour and engagement and high performance human resource systems. The unit covers a wide range of real-world cases and practical challenges.

MBA5615 Entrepreneurial marketing

This is an introductory managerial course in marketing. It will provide participants with a basic understanding of the key strategic concepts in marketing and their application in an organisation. The key question it will seek to answer is: "How should managers strategically manage their market offerings to enable value for their firms, their customers, and business partners?" The course will address diverse situations of marketing to consumers and business customers, product and service-oriented businesses, domestic and global firms, and business and social organisations. The predominant pedagogy is case-based, and thus classroom discussion will emphasise strategic decision-making situations. The decision orientation will be supplemented with contemporary scholarly thought on effective marketing strategies.

MBA5620 Sustainability strategy for contemporary organisations

Environmental, social and ethical issues are increasingly influencing business decisions. The ability to create value from, and mitigate risks associated with, environmental, social and ethical issues increasingly impacts markets, access to capital, company reputation and shareholder value. Through the use of case studies, lectures and guest speakers, this unit will critically examine corporate sustainability across a range of industry settings.

MBA5640 The Entrepreneurial and innovative organisation

Innovation drives sustainable competitive advantage in organisations. The aim of this unit is to equip students with the knowledge to understand and manage innovation. The unit requires integration of multiple organisational functions but particularly those that impact product and process development. The objective of this unit is to examine the foundations of innovation in product and process for the organisation and its supply chain. It explores innovation at the design, process and system level that is both user-led and technology-led.

MBA5701 - Negotiation

Negotiation is the art and science of securing agreements between two or more parties, who are interdependent and who are seeking to maximise their outcomes. The central issues of this course deal with understanding the behaviour of individuals, groups, and organisations in the context of competitive situations. The purpose of this course is to understand the theory and processes of negotiation as applied to a variety of settings. It is designed to be relevant to the broad spectrum of negotiation problems that are faced by the manager and professional. The content is not only relevant to those interested in brand management, real estate, consulting, entrepreneurship, or mergers and acquisitions, but to anyone who communicates in their daily interactions with other people. This unit is designed to complement the technical and diagnostic skills learned in other courses in the Monash MBA. A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to discover optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. This course will allow participants the opportunity to develop these skills experientially and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks. Considerable emphasis will be placed on negotiation simulations and role plays.

MBA5706 Business strategy

This unit integrates material from earlier units in the MBA degree and provides the context for business and corporate strategic decision making. On completion of the unit students should be able to understand the key influences on the development of an organisation's strategy, analyse those influences, propose appropriate strategic behaviour for an organisation and demonstrate an understanding of how strategic change can occur within an organisation.

MBA5709 The business environment

This case-based unit is designed to provide an overview of the business environment at the global, market, and organisational levels and the role of individuals in such an environment. The focus of this unit will be to investigate important socio-political/legal dimensions and the contemporary context of managerial decision making. To this end, students will examine the myriad of issues challenging the pursuit of sustainable business practice as a precursor to the more detailed consideration of functional methods that help inform these decisions that will follow in the subsequent module.

MBA5730 Critical thinking

This foundational unit focuses on the practice and development of key critical thinking skills required by a business leader to achieve superior performance. Through interactive group work, role play, case studies and a variety of situational exercises, this unit will introduce students to methods of analytical reasoning to successfully manage business problems and interpret and produce clear and sound arguments in relation to business issues of general interest. In addition, students will develop questioning strategies to support a critical inquiry approach to their learning and research activities throughout the program.

MGF5030 Corporate social responsibility

This unit analyses corporate social responsibility (CSR) from a range of different perspectives. The course is designed within a framework of understanding, applying and managing corporate social responsibility in business; CSR is considered in the context of the marketplace, the workplace, in the community and the natural environment. Through the use of case studies of Australian and international companies, students will examine CSR challenges across a range of industry settings and develop strategies for responsible management.

APG4807 Participatory planning: Local, national and international perspectives

EDF6806 Sustainable community development