Strategic Management

(1) ACCT102 or ACIS102 (2) 45 points of 200-level MGMT, MKTG or MSCI (or 30 points of 200-level MGMT, MKTG or MSCI and 15 points of 200-level ECON)

BSAD304, BSAD314, MGMT314

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Paul Knott

Lecturers

David Stiles and Michael Darby

Assessment

Group presentation
Each student will be assigned to a group normally consisting of 4 students. The group will be required to make a presentation in class on a set topic and date. Normally each member of the group will receive equal marks. In the event of perceived inequity of input, group members should submit written details of the work performed and propose a distribution of marks. The presentation relates closely to the topics of the class and is assessed based on the following two equally weighted criteria:

• The presentation (including the quality of interaction with the class)
• The accompanying report posted on LEARN

The presentation must be original and evaluative, must avoid descriptive material on company history or product offerings, and must keep to time. The presentation is to last a maximum of 15 minutes. Presenters must not read from a prepared script. A separate document available on LEARN details these requirements further and gives the marking guidelines. After the presentation, the lecturer will facilitate discussion involving the class and the group. In the case of any online classes, groups will not be required to present but will participate in forum discussion. Presentations taking place in lecture tents will use handouts in lieu of powerpoint projection.

The LEARN submission must be posted prior to the class in which the presentation is scheduled. It should be a synopsis of the presentation, presented in the form of a brief but well structured report. The report should be close in structure and content to the presentation but use standard report format in MS Word or PDF equivalent. It should include any graphs, table or illustrations used in the presentation, and must include full referencing.

The assigned topics often require the use of public domain information about the companies concerned. As well as internet sources, the Subject Guide for Management on the library homepage provides a useful starting point. You may also like to consult the Commerce librarian (try online). Please do not contact the firms directly.

If you need help with preparing the presentation or understanding the topic, please ask.

Note for students not presenting in a class
It is important to pay attention to the presentations and participate in the discussion. Consider your own interpretation of the issues the company faces or the choices it might make. Write notes so that you have something to use when revising for part 2 of the final exam.

Individual quizzes
These quizzes are designed to help students prepare for the classes and hence be in a position to contribute to the discussion. The quizzes will be based on assigned readings and/or cases. There will be a quiz for each class from 28 March – 11 April and 2-30 May. To gain full credit for this item of assessment, you will need to complete all questions for 12 quizzes out of 14 available. This item of assessment is not available for aegrotat consideration.

Each quiz will be available for the five day period ending at the beginning of the relevant class. There is no option for late submission of a quiz and no option to complete the quiz other than via the facility on LEARN. Marks will be available for each quiz after submission closes.

Case analysis exercise (Sun 17 Apr 6pm to Mon 18 Apr 9pm)
This exercise run through LEARN replaces the open book, invigilated test and will be comparable to the 2010 test posted on LEARN. Students will require study space and computer access during this limited-time assignment. The exercise is based on materials that set out the situation confronting a major business: no additional research is expected or desired. The case will be available from 6pm Sunday 17 April for reading. The questions will be available from 9am Monday 18 April. Submission must be made via the relevant link on Learn, which closes at 9pm on Monday 18 April. Submissions will be submitted to Turnitin, which will check them against each other and against published sources, highlighting any identical text. In all cases, students must submit their own individual answers to the exercise. The test will specify word limits and permissible file formats.

Final examination
This will be a closed book exam lasting 3 hours. All parts will be compulsory.
Part 1 (45%) will consist of multiple choice questions testing basic knowledge and understanding.
Part 2 (55%) will consist of questions applying theory to the cases covered in the group presentations, as found in the MGMT320 2007-2010 exam papers.

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

Grant, Robert M; Contemporary strategic management : an Australasian perspective ; John Wiley and Sons Australia, 2011.

Additional materials will be posted on Learn.

Notes

Departmental Academic Policies
If you require a hard copy of this document, please ask the course co-ordinator. The Department assumes that you have read this document. You should also read the “Information related to courses and assessment” on page 32 of the Enrolment Handbook 2011 (also in UC Calendar under “General Course and Examination Regulations”).

Dishonest Practice
The University of Canterbury considers cheating and plagiarism to be serious acts of dishonesty.  All assessed work must be your own individual work unless specifically stated otherwise in the assessment guidelines. Material quoted from any other source must be clearly acknowledged. You must not copy the work of another person (student or published work) in any assessment including examinations, tests and assignments. Any person, who is found to have copied someone else's work, or to have allowed their work to be copied, will receive a fail grade for that piece of assessment and may face disciplinary action which may lead to a fine, community service or exclusion from the university.

IMPORTANT: Where there are concerns regarding the authorship of written course work, a student can be required to provide a formal, oral explanation of the content of their work.

Coversheets - Group and Individual

Indicative Fees

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.