KEY FACTS

BUS102 Introduction to Management provides the management tools and theoretical concepts to analyse businesses in different industries, make decisions and justify these decisions with supporting evidence. This subject will enhance students’ appreciation of management both in theory and in practice and equip students with the language and skills to identify, define, analyse, and articulate good management practice in professional work contexts. The subject covers a wide spectrum of management knowledge, activities and decisions, related to management practice. Topics develop understanding of both the internal and external environments faced by managers in today’s organisations, as well as providing learning on both the technical and people management aspects of business.

Designed for candidates in their first year of undergraduate study this unit acquaints students with the economic aspects of modern society, to familiarize them with techniques for the analysis of contemporary economic problems, and to develop in them an ability to exercise judgment of economic events. Students learn the principles of economics that enable them to understand economic events, analyse and explain the actions of economic agents, offer solutions to business problems grounded in economic knowledge, and demonstrate application to real-world events, scenarios and cases. This subject expands on essential micro and macroeconomic concepts, theories and their influence on governments, markets and everyday life including exploring scarcity, competition, welfare of society, demand and supply and international trade.

Marketing Principles offers an overview and introduction into the field of marketing whilst putting the function of marketing into organisational context. It also informs the non-marketer how one might interact with marketing as an organizational member.

The subject aim is to enable students to become knowledgeable about the concepts which inform (and skilful in the use of) the practical tools employed by marketers to plan, implement and evaluate marketing decisions. The subject is based on both the theory and practice of marketing and through the use of lectures, tutorials and assessment tasks students will be encouraged to apply the theoretical learning to real world cases.

This subject focuses on the development of knowledge and skills in the following areas (and which also provide a foundation for more specialist marketing subjects at levels two and three):

• Market planning and strategy in a competitive environment
• Marketing research and information systems
• Consumer behaviour
• Segmentation, targeting and positioning
• Business markets and buyer behaviour
• Product decisions
• Pricing decisions
• Distribution decisions
• Integrated marketing communications
• The expanded marketing mix (services)
• Aspects of digital marketing and social networks

In the rapidly changing world of business professions and tertiary study, the ability to use, interpret and analyse data is integral to student and graduate success. Therefore, this subject is designed to give students the knowledge, skills and confidence to apply mathematical concepts to their numerically-based academic subjects as well as to their future professional careers. The course will use active learning within an interactive workshop structure to teach student basic numerical, problem-solving, mathematics notation and data interpretation skills and their applications to business problems. The workshops will be focused entirely on problem-based numerical tasks undertaken by students, with the support and guidance of a facilitator, ensuring that students gain knowledge and confidence through direct application of concepts. Also, in order to provide students with a hands-on appreciation of the applications of mathematic concepts to various disciplines and business problems, guided workshop problem solving will be supplemented with periodic Take Home Exercises which apply what is taught in class to real-world data and numerical information.

The subject aims are to introduce students to a variety of statistical techniques and the basic quantitative methods used in business. Knowledge gained in this subject provides a solid foundation for future study in the field of business statistics and econometrics. The emphasis will be on the application of quantitative and statistical methods to solving practical problems.

Upon successful completion of this subject, Students should be able to identify and apply suitable statistical methodology for describing data and making inferences from those data. This subject introduces students to relevant software for statistical data analysis and emphasizes the role of computer software in application of statistical analysis.

This unit will provide students with competency in the key skills required to master learning in a tertiary education environment. These essential skills will empower students to succeed in all the future subjects of their degree and, most importantly, to meet the expectations of their future employers.

Students will learn how to locate, analyse, and select research-based information that is current, valid, logical and applicable. This will then generate an ability to synthesise research findings into a logical exposition supporting an assertion, which is then communicated and defended both orally and in writing.

MKT201 Integrated Marketing Communications is designed to inform students further about the marketing communication process and the role and importance of communication as a vital element of the marketing mix. In doing this, the subject introduces major concepts in integrated marketing communications (IMC). The aim of this subject is for students to develop skills and practical knowledge in selecting and integrating communication strategies as part of the broader marketing mix development.

This subject focuses on the development of knowledge and skills in the following areas:

• Understanding integrated marketing communications (IMC)
• Corporate image and brand management
• Buyer behaviors
• The IMC planning process
• IMC advertising tools
• Advertising management
• Advertising design: theoretical frameworks and types of appeals
• Advertising design: message strategies and executional frameworks
• IMC media tools
• Traditional media channels
• Digital marketing
• Alternative marketing
• IMC promotional tools
• Database and direct response marketing and personal selling
• Sales promotions
• Public relations and sponsorship programs
• Regulations and ethical concerns
• Evaluating an integrated marketing program

In this subject, students examine consumer decision-making and other aspects of marketing in relation to the service context. It explores the important role that marketing activity plays in aligning the ‘service expectation’ with the ‘service experience’ of the consumer in service-based industries.

Services Marketing builds on the foundation laid by the first-year subject ‘Marketing Principles’ and extends the concepts that were introduced there to take account of the service environment and it achieves this mainly through the development of the ‘services marketing mix’.

This subject focuses on the development of knowledge and skills in the following areas:

• Customer decision-making and service interactions
• Market segmentation and service positioning
• Managing the service encounter
• Service development and delivery
• Pricing the service
• Self-service technology
• Integrated marketing communications for services
• Managing productive capacity and customer demand
• Customer satisfaction and service quality

This subject introduces students to the use and management of information systems and technologies in modern accountancy. Accounting information systems use information technology and traditional accounting controls and methods to collect and process information relating to organisational business transactions. This information becomes the basis upon which effective business decisions are made.

The subject focuses on business processes and transaction cycles, as well as systems mapping; internal control systems; database concepts; enterprise information systems; and the increasing use of e-commerce.

In this subject, students will study the complex legal system that governs Australian companies and its commercial transactions and relationships.

One of the aims of this subject is to introduce students to the legal regulation of Australian companies. The subject is intended to provide students with a very basic introduction to the operation of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and its application to various types of companies, commercial transactions and relationships with both internal management and company outsiders.

This subject commences with a basic introduction to Australian company law, followed by studies on the corporation’s pre-registration and post-registration obligations. Additionally, the subject provides students with an in-depth understanding of the legal obligations of internal management, particularly directors, company secretaries and other senior employees. The subject concludes with the study of more specialised areas such as takeovers, the financial services market and corporate insolvency.

Throughout this subject, the relationship between the law and the corporation is explored through relevant provisions of the Corporations Act and applicable case law.

This subject has been specifically developed for students who are studying financial institutions and markets as part of a business degree and is an introduction to the principles, structure, functions and operations of a modern financial system from an Australian perspective. This subject explains how lenders, financial institutions, products, markets, regulation and sophisticated technology-based information systems, all combine to form the Australian and International financial systems. The focus of the subject is to learn and to apply financial tools to address ‘real-life’, applied financial trading problems, and to appreciate how the complex multi-national financial system operates. The subject is also concerned with valuation of financial assets, securities and derivative products. Finally, students will learn about financial crises in the recent past and how these have affected the stability of the financial system.

This subject seeks to equip students with a fundamental understanding of the concepts and principles of corporate finance. Throughout the subject the emphasis will be on two main areas: learning conceptual knowledge through theory and problem solving, and critical thinking through the application of theory to real-life scenarios and class discussions. Some topics covered include working capital management, time value of money, risk return analysis, capital budgeting, capital structure and dividend policy.

The primary objective of this subject is not for students to become finance managers but rather to gain the essential skills and understanding of the role of finance in an organisation and in particular, the methods used by corporations for maximization of value of the firm and its assets through investment, financing and dividend policy decisions.

This subject provides an in-depth examination of the structure and dynamics of Hospitality and Tourism markets. Domestic and international trends are considered with an emphasis on the Hospitality & Tourism markets in Australia. The structure and relationships of the market are looked at in a holistic manner in order to provide a basis for understanding the dynamic variations of the market. Students will apply Hospitality & Tourism trend models to analyse the impact it has on domestic business situations.

In this subject, students examine consumer behavior in relation to the service context, and explore the important role that marketing activity plays in aligning the “service expectation” with the “service experience” of the consumer in service-based industries. The subject builds upon the foundation laid in the earlier subject “Introduction to Marketing” but extends the concepts that were introduced there to take account of the service environment by examining the seven ‘P’s’ of services marketing.

MAN201 Organisational Behaviour introduces students to the fundamentals of organisational behaviour and its relevance to twenty first century business operations. It begins with a general introduction to human behaviour in the workplace and discusses the evolution of and trends in organisational behaviour. It examines organisational behaviour from three perspectives: the individual, the team and the organisation. It discusses factors influencing individual behaviour in organisations, such as personality, values, perception, attribution, attitudes, emotions, stress, ability, and motivation. It investigates behaviour in groups and teams, such as communication, power and influence and leadership. It concludes with an examination of organisational structure, organisational culture and the management of change.

This subject aims to prepare students to enter the workplace with a deeper understanding of workplace contexts, cultures, recruitment practices and expectations of professionals across a range of industries. Students will be provided with a systematic approach to developing a strategy for entry into the employment marketplace. In particular, attention is focused on understanding the needs of employers and on communicating with them to secure a job. Students will also focus on understanding and developing skills to assist them as employees in the workplace and in cultivating their career path for the future. This subject directly prepares students for their internship in the following trimester.

The past decade has seen increasing rates of technological change that has transformed consumers’ lives and the explosion of digital channels is causing accepted marketing wisdom to be challenged; media-centricity is giving way to consumer control enabled by digital means. MKT302 Digital Marketing provides an introduction to the concepts and skills necessary to compete successfully in today’s digitally-empowered markets.

This subject focuses on the development of knowledge and skills in the following areas:

• The evolution and role of digital marketing; the move from media-centric to consumer-control
• The components (platforms, media, channels, tools, services and applications) and process options of digital marketing
• How digital provides real-time contact points for customer dialogue and interaction
• Digital techniques for augmenting the customer experience and the importance of post-purchase engagement for peer-to-peer recommendations
• The use of big data and the efforts made to establish relevant marketing metrics
• The ethics of digital marketing

MKT304 is the capstone subject for the Bachelor of Business (Marketing): the culmination of an undergraduate’s marketing studies. This subject locates marketing within a strategic context by introducing a range of analytical models and techniques to be applied to situational analysis, formulating marketing strategies and their planned implementation to produce superior marketing performance. Strategic Marketing focuses on the development of knowledge and skills in the following areas:

• Marketing’s strategic role, levels of strategy
• Strategic Analysis and Situational Awareness
• Strategic direction, missions and objectives
• Macro-environmental analysis
• Market, competitor and customer analysis
• Internal analysis, resources and capabilities
• Strategy Formation
• Strategy choices
• Strategic management of the marketing mix
• Portfolio approaches
• Modelling approaches
• Criteria for choosing strategies
• Strategy Implementation
• Harnessing the organization: cooperation and communication
• Control, feedback and correction
• The ethics of social marketing

This subject examines the practice and scope of auditing and assurance services and provides an overview of the auditing process as practiced in Australia. It covers the auditing of general purpose financial statements, demonstrates the relationship between auditing, accounting and organisational internal control systems, and identifies the special challenges for auditing and assurance in the present environment, including the clarity standards.

The subject also considers the shift from traditional auditing services in which a high level of assurance is provided to the demand for assurance of products other than the financial report. It gives an introduction into internal auditing and public sector auditing, and introduces the student to professional and ethical standards.

This subject introduces students to the basic concepts of taxation law in Australia, and covers the fundamentals of the taxation system and its administration. It includes an understanding of compliance with statutory and professional requirements and its application to current issues and covers the taxation laws relating to income tax, capital gains tax, fringe benefits tax and goods and services tax in Australia.

This subject builds on FIN301 and introduces students to portfolio management theory and asset allocation strategies. The subject also explores the performance of active and passive investment strategies and hedge funds. Applied case studies to do with portfolio design, asset allocation and fund performance are incorporated into the subject structure and assignments and will be viewed through the lens of portfolio, capital asset pricing and arbitrage and efficient market hypothesis theories. These theories are considered using a critical approach and their applicability to real-life portfolio management and construction is explored. The subject also reflects on the applicability of GIPS (Global Investment Performance Standards) to portfolio management to prepare students for the CFA.

This subject focuses on the operation of multinational corporations in a global financial environment. The unique challenges facing multinational institutions are intimately linked with the theories and concepts of international finance. This subject aims to teach students how to apply theory in addressing international finance challenges. The subject explores exchange rate theory and what risks it creates for multinational firms, as well as other transaction and operating risks and their management. International financing, portfolio management and securities will also be covered Students will build on theoretical and excel modelling skills gained in earlier finance subjects to develop their problem solving skills in an international context. The subject will also introduce theories of corporate governance in a multinational context.

The nature and management of attractions and events are the focus areas for this subject. The nature of attractions as the primary consumer experience in the Hospitality and Tourism industry is introduced and ‘events’ are placed within this context. The concept of an event lifecycle is used to examine the activities involved in event development and realisation, and the role of project management in effective event management is addressed. A range of event types is examined.

This subject explores the key ‘operational’ aspects of accommodation management: namely, the management and provision of accommodation and associated services, and the effective financial management of each of these areas. Students should gain a comprehensive understanding of: the planning, management and operational requirements of accommodation complexes; the hotel front office guest cycle (from check in to check out); room rate determination methodologies; hotel feasibility studies; hotel and motel room design; strategic planning concepts; environmental analysis; strategic choice; implementing strategy; and planning in turbulent environments. It examines the operational constraints on hospitality systems, with an emphasis on customer service and quality control. It considers the role of management systems and processes and how organisations monitor performance and maintain financial control of the overall process.

This subject introduces a range of change models, and recent developments in change theory and research. It will develop the student’s ability to manage both planned and unplanned change. It deals with change as a process and examines a range of strategies managers can use to successfully manage change. The course focuses on the skills needed to manage transitions and the psychological, structural and cultural issues people face when dealing with change.

MAN303 Entrepreneurship and Innovation provides an introduction to the concepts and skills necessary to successfully develop and commercialise new products and services. This subject will teach students the skills to analyse business opportunities, and articulate them as a compelling business description, and pitch to an audience of investors, customers, or business partners. On completion of Entrepreneurship and Innovation students will:

• understand how organisational vision, change and structures determine the dynamics of innovative companies, new or established;
• understand the process of bringing “newness” into an organisation through internal innovation and/or through external strategic alliances;
• appreciate the complexities involved in managing the often-competing priorities and resources within a growing businesses;
• understand the importance of keeping abreast of new opportunities for technological support/ systems / processes in the business;
• recognise the opportunities that arise from a global perspective.

This Internship subject provides an opportunity for students to gain real world experience in the workplace. It involves completion of a set of activities under the guidance and supervision of: an academic supervisor at Kaplan Business School and an industry mentor from the partner organisation. By working with professionals, students will be able to acquire skills that will help prepare them for the transition from study to the work place. The students will apply knowledge and skills gained throughout their studies and develop a practical understanding of the industry and profession.