Recommended Study Sequence

This unit provides an introduction to the Human Resource Management (HRM) function in business and government organisations within the Australian socio-political context. It provides an overview of the function; an examination of its relationships with other business functions; a review of its foundation disciplines (psychology, sociology, law, economics, management and organisation theory); a study of the concept of professional HRM practice; and an examination of trends in HRM practice, taking into account projected legal, technological and economic change. Various models of the HR function are reviewed and an attempt is made to integrate HR and industrial relations activities into an HR employment relations model.

This unit provides an overview of Australia's traditional system of industrial relations and the forces for change; discussion of strategic responses to change such as award restructuring, enterprise bargaining, career development and skill formation and implications for industrial relations participants; and development of skills for the new workplace relations including negotiating skills, grievance handling skills, the role of consultative mechanisms and establishing consultative processes and productivity bargaining at the workplace.

The nature of accounting requires the first unit in accounting to attend to the process and system, which represents what accountants do. Many of the most difficult theoretical, conceptual and practical problems encountered by accountants originate in the basic model A=O+E and the necessity of making data and events conform to that model. Concepts and principles in accounting ultimately must face the test of procedure and relate to the systematic processing of the data. Introduction to accounting regulation and ethics.Students wishing to take this unit as an Elective need approval from either the Head of Program or the Course advisor.

Accounting: A Business Perspective focuses on the analytical uses of accounting information by managers. It emphasizes the role of both financial and management accounting in measuring, processing and communicating information that is useful in making economic decisions.

This unit introduces marketing management to post-graduate students whose previous studies and current occupations can be quite diverse. It provides students with an appreciation of marketing concepts and principles as part of their marketing studies. In addition, it exposes students to a systematic thinking approach expected from them in postgraduate studies in marketing.

This unit concentrates on both Microeconomic and Macroeconomic theories. Microeconomics is concerned with the study of individual units within the economy - the individual consumer, the individual firm, the type of market structure facing the firm and price and output determination. Macroeconomics is concerned with analysis of the factors determining the way in which the economic resources of an economy are utilised or under-utilised. Students wishing to take this unit as an elective will need to seek approval from either the Head of Programs or Course advisor.

This unit provides an introduction to the Human Resource Management (HRM) function in business and government organisations within the Australian socio-political context. It provides an overview of the function; an examination of its relationships with other business functions; a review of its foundation disciplines (psychology, sociology, law, economics, management and organisation theory); a study of the concept of professional HRM practice; and an examination of trends in HRM practice, taking into account projected legal, technological and economic change. Various models of the HR function are reviewed and an attempt is made to integrate HR and industrial relations activities into an HR employment relations model.

The nature of accounting requires the first unit in accounting to attend to the process and system, which represents what accountants do. Many of the most difficult theoretical, conceptual and practical problems encountered by accountants originate in the basic model A=O+E and the necessity of making data and events conform to that model. Concepts and principles in accounting ultimately must face the test of procedure and relate to the systematic processing of the data. Introduction to accounting regulation and ethics.Students wishing to take this unit as an Elective need approval from either the Head of Program or the Course advisor.

Accounting: A Business Perspective focuses on the analytical uses of accounting information by managers. It emphasizes the role of both financial and management accounting in measuring, processing and communicating information that is useful in making economic decisions.

This unit provides an overview of Australia's traditional system of industrial relations and the forces for change; discussion of strategic responses to change such as award restructuring, enterprise bargaining, career development and skill formation and implications for industrial relations participants; and development of skills for the new workplace relations including negotiating skills, grievance handling skills, the role of consultative mechanisms and establishing consultative processes and productivity bargaining at the workplace.

This unit introduces marketing management to post-graduate students whose previous studies and current occupations can be quite diverse. It provides students with an appreciation of marketing concepts and principles as part of their marketing studies. In addition, it exposes students to a systematic thinking approach expected from them in postgraduate studies in marketing.

This unit concentrates on both Microeconomic and Macroeconomic theories. Microeconomics is concerned with the study of individual units within the economy - the individual consumer, the individual firm, the type of market structure facing the firm and price and output determination. Macroeconomics is concerned with analysis of the factors determining the way in which the economic resources of an economy are utilised or under-utilised. Students wishing to take this unit as an elective will need to seek approval from either the Head of Programs or Course advisor.

The major sources of information on which to base judgements on borrowing capacity, liquidity, managerial effectiveness, and investment potential remain the financial statements of an organisation. This unit is a result of the claim made by Foster, an authority in the finance field, that developments in the fields of accounting, economics, finance and statistics (as they relate to financial statement analysis) are understood well enough to permit financial statement analysis to be studied intensively.

This unit examines the theory and application of information technology on the accounting discipline. It covers principles of systems analysis, design and database management relating to accounting information systems. The functions, control, data and processes of accounting information systems are discussed in the context of businesses. The communication of accounting information through the internet or intranet and the development of integrated systems is also explored. Students wishing to take this unit as an elective need to seek approval from either the Head of Programs or Course advisor.

The goal of this unit is to identify the accounting issues that arise from the various forms of corporate organisation and how these translate into disclosure issues for financial reporting purposes. The unit includes company formation and liquidation; accounting for a group of related companies and other associated entities includig partnerships, joint ventures and trusts. Students wishing to take this unit as an elective need to seek approval from either the Head of Program or the Course Advisor.

The fundamental of any management accounting system in organization is to provide appropriate information for (1) costing of products and services; (2) support functions - planning, controlling, evaluation, continuous improvement and decision making and (3) competitive support - focuses on the provision of both financial and non-financial services to the management team to enhance the firm's competitiveness. This unit is designed to provide an overview in understanding all these areas of information. Students wishing to take this unit as an elective will need to seek approval from either the Head of Programs or Course advisor.

This unit provides an overview of aspects of managerial decision-making; the study of demand -- covering neoclassical and modern consumer theory, individual and market demand; the study of supply -- covering the theory of production and costs, and practical cost concepts for decision-making; the study of price -- covering theoretical pricing policy in various market situations, practical pricing policy issues and new product pricing.

Finance theory forms the basis of many of the Master of Applied Finance units. This unit sets out the basic principles of corporate finance, risk-return analysis, and financial markets. Topics covered include financial evaluation of projects; cost of capital calculations; management of cash and working capital; the choice between debt and equity in financing a business; dividend policy; and identification and management of risk.

This unit treats the application of the laws of Australia to companies. Company law has a significant impact on the duties and responsibilities of accountants. This impact is increasing daily, with the trend towards corporatisation of government business enterprises and with public concerns about the conduct of incorporated enterprises.

This unit helps candidates adapt to turbulent organisational situations, and identify opportunities for new ventures through developing innovative strategies and intra-preneurship skills that will contribute to organisational growth. Topics include concepts of entrepreneurship, intra-preneurship and innovation; lateral thinking; innovation in strategic context; risk-taking in business; opportunity realisation and feasibility analysis; adding value to existing products/services through innovation and innovative management approaches; managing innovation for business growth; product development and life cycle analysis; innovation and global marketplace; commercialising new products and services; issues in marketing new ventures and business plans, intellectual property; and technological forecasting.

This unit will provide an introduction to quality management principles, quality management systems and the quality tools and techniques needed for creating customer value and improving competitiveness and organisational effectiveness.

Objectives: This unit is designed to introduce the concepts and principles underpinning modern information systems to students who have not previously studied the unit formally. An overview of hardware, software and communication technology will be covered, and a substantial part of the course is concerned with providing a structured overview of the diversity of applications to which Information Systems can be applied. A practical component introduces students to standard personal computer software: word processing, spreadsheets and databases.

Information is possibly the most important commodity that a manager trades in on a day-to-day basis. Accordingly, the effective use of information is a key factor in both effective management and organisational success. This unit provides students with a clear understanding of the difference between information and data, and the transformation processes that are associated with the conversion from one to the other. The unit also considers other issues such as the varying quality of information and the impact that variability can have on managerial effectiveness. From another point of view there are also important issues that organisations must face in terms of effectively managing the information resource. The unit will examine the role that databases and information repositories play in this management process, covering current relevant issues such as client-server, full text, hypertext and multimedia systems. With respect to management of information, the unit will also critically review and analyse issues such as orphan data, information obsolescence and so on, within the context of effective management of these information repositories.

The use of information technology has dramatically transformed the way organisations, groups or teams and individual managers within organisations deal with each other. The creation, use and dissemination of electronic documents is a central feature of this changing landscape. This unit investigates the application of information technology to business operations within organisations. Specifically, it considers the convergence of information and communications technologies as manifested in electronic document interchange. This unit also looks at the rise of electronic transactions processing, with particular emphasis on the revolution that is currently occurring within the financial sector. Finally, the unit investigates and reviews the increasing impact that the Internet and other communications technologies are having on both the way organisations communicate and the new opportunities that this technology presents today and in the future.

This unit is concerned predominantly with issues of information technology that go beyond the boundaries of organisations. It looks at the impact of information technology on societies and economies. The unit looks at changing attitudes within organisations about the application of information technology to assist them to compete in global markets, through strategic alliances and other mechanisms. Other major issues concern the level and impact of computer crime on organisational performance, the degree of concentration within the information technology sector, the current debate concerning the impact of quality practices within organisations that supply either hardware or software, and the increased vulnerability of organisations as their involvement and use of information technology increases.

This unit considers the broader implications, particularly in the context of future directions, of how information technology affects the way organisations relate to society and individuals. The unit will explore new frontiers that information technology will inevitably open up, and assess the potential to yield public or personal benefits. More specifically, it analyses in depth ethical practices and conduct in the use of information technology, and the change that information technology can make to societies as a whole, such as the development of virtual communities. The unit also considers issues such as the importance of addressing both technical and human issues in the design, development and implementation of information technology in both organisations, and society as a whole.

An integrative unit that examines the nature of practice in the employment relationship both conceptually and empirically, with particular focus on the interplay between human resource management and industrial relations. Major contemporary influences on practice, such as micro-economic reforms, are considered to provide a context in which to examine this interplay.

This unit builds on the understanding gained in earlier units to facilitate the development and evaluation of the interaction of strategy, policy and change in employment relations. Specific topics include public policy affecting workplace relations; the effect of public policy on corporate strategies and policies, e.g. equal opportunity, anti-discrimination, occupational health and safety, negotiation, consultation, grievance handling; the development of trade union strategies and policies; gaining consensus in change; the impact of organisational culture on workplace relations; and developing proactive strategies.

This unit explores the differences in industrial relations models and practices between selected countries with different social structures, policies and practices. The unit recognises that the transfer of industrial relations institutions, methods and attitudes between countries must be handled with a critical sensitivity to the broader context of industrial relations. Issues and trends in international human resource management are discussed.

This unit covers concepts of international human resource management (HRM); the international environment of HRM globalism, regionalism, economic regions, international industrial relations; the roles of transnational organisations; national environments for HRM; comparative studies of the effects of society, politics, economics and culture on HRM policy, practice, organisational strategies and structures; and HRM in multinational organisations. Application of overseas experience (policy/concepts/practice) to Australian HRM will be an important outcome of this unit.

This unit introduces sociological analysis -- methods and procedures in sociology, themes in the sociology of work and industry, and the sociological approach to understanding work relations. It covers industrial work from post-industrialisation to mass production and mass consumption; work in Australian society -- class structure and its impact on work; the cultural base of Australian business; international comparisons in business values -- USA, UK and Japan; the structures of work in modern society -- the occupational structures of work, the organisational structures of work, examples of modern work organisations; new technology and work -- the restructuring of work in manufacturing, services, communications and publishing; disadvantaged groups in the workforce -- common characteristics, policies and strategies; conflict in work -- the management of institutionalised conflict -- Australian case studies; and the future directions of work -- information technologies, trends and initiatives in organisations, strategy, change and consequences.

This unit aims to develop an understanding of the methodological tools and concepts associated with qualitative and quantitative research in employment relations. The unit consists of a survey of methods applied in the field in the context of pure and policy-oriented research.

This unit is offered in partnership with Strategic Business School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and is part of the conversion program that leads to the award of Master of Science (Human Resource Management).The management of diversity is concerned with the way organisations deal with the range of cultural and individual differences within the workforce. It seeks to explain the way cultures impact on management practices and to show how culturally sensitive practices can improve employee wellbeing and organisational performance. There are two aspects to diversity management: intranational and cross-national. Cross-national diversity management is primarily concerned with the interactions in work situations of people of different national cultures. This is the prime focus of this unit although there are clear implications for the management of intranational diversity. The unit commences with an overview of the nature of societal culture and proceeds to a consideration of the management and strategic implications of culture. It concludes with a consideration of the role of culture in the management of organisations in the future.

The main purpose of this unit is to provide students with a thorough understanding of the process flows in human resource management and the information management issues in managing human resource management processes and systems. It provides hands-on skills to students for managing business processes related to human resources in the best possible way, through the Human Resource module (HR) of the SAP R/3 system.

This unit provides an understanding of the employment relations concept by analysing important contemporary issues affecting relations between employees and their employer organisations. The impact of government labour market policies on employment decisions and strategic choice is examined. Different perspectives on human resources management and industrial relations are discussed. The role of corporate strategies, culture and institutional structure is presented in order to develop student knowledge of complex background issues.

Australia, in common with other countries, has had to respond to the deregulation of economic markets and world trade. This unit aims to give depth and breadth to the analysis of issues facing Australian industry and government organisations by assessing the innovation and responses of other countries to these issues. After introducing students to the international context, the unit is covered from a thematic perspective, rather than country by country. The unit emphasises cultural, political and economic differences between countries. Comparative case studies emphasise the application of the themes. Countries which may be relevant to the selected themes include the USA, UK, EC, Japan, South-East Asia and New Zealand.

This unit explores such questions as: Training -- what is it!! How is it linked to strategic development!! It explores education versus training versus development; managing the training department, upper management involvement, career development; cost-effectiveness of training and development; training and development needs -- how people learn, implications for training and development of staff, models and roles for training; needs analysis, objective setting, and the implications of politics, culture and government; curriculum -- methods content, people, sequencing of curriculum; the advantages and disadvantages of various training methods; measurement of success philosophies, instruments of measurement and post-training measurement.

This unit looks at managing employee performance; terminology; objectives of performance appraisal; stages in the performance appraisal process; performance appraisal systems -- approaches to appraisal, especially management by objectives and BARS; appraisal process -- job analysis and job standards, observation of performance, preparation of written appraisals, appraisal interviews, frequency of appraisal; dysfunctions of performance appraisal; design and construction of appraisal systems; establishment of purpose, organisational climate, policy statement, implementation; interviewing for performance appraisal interviews, employee counselling, professional ethics; developing networks for the referral of employees with various personal or emotional problems, overcoming barriers, and facilitating referral; employee assistance programs -- using human resource information systems to manage employee performance; integrating approaches to manage employee performance.

The nature and history of occupational health and safety in Australia, legal frameworks including occupational health and safety acts and workers' compensation. OH&S is considered using the medical, legal, economic, industrial relations and management perspectives. Identifying, assessing, monitoring risks; and specific occupational hazards and intervention strategies are also covered.

Based largely on the concept of equity and the pay model, this unit considers internal, external, individual and process equity. Theory and design of compensation systems focuses on the strategic use of remuneration and constraints on practice in remuneration. Candidates emerge understanding theory and techniques that underpin a remuneration system and its links to organisational strategy. Remuneration theory and practice is critically analysed from the perspective of various stakeholders in the process.

Negotiation, advocacy, consultation and counselling are central activities in the industrial relations process. The effective industrial relations practitioner requires good theoretical knowledge and practical skills in these areas, along with an appreciation of the impact of contextual and legislative factors on these processes. This unit is offered in Australia and in partnership with Strategic Business School in Kuala Lumpur.

Finance theory forms the basis of many of the Master of Applied Finance units. This unit sets out the basic principles of corporate finance, risk-return analysis, and financial markets. Topics covered include financial evaluation of projects; cost of capital calculations; management of cash and working capital; the choice between debt and equity in financing a business; dividend policy; and identification and management of risk.

This unit covers the basic principles of portfolio selection and funds management and examines share investments. The unit focuses on the factors that affect asset prices; calculations based on the Markowitz Model of portfolio selection; the Single Index Model and the beta of a share; performance measures for a managed fund; style differences in funds management; management of fixed-interest portfolios; and the use of share derivatives to manage share portfolios.

This unit describes the major derivative products and explains how they are used for hedging, speculation, and creating synthetic investments. In doing so, it analyses the effect of the growth of derivatives markets and their relationship to the market for the securities underlying them. Hedging applications are considered from the point of view of corporate treasurers and funds managers.

Australian companies are increasingly competing on world markets for sources of finance and are looking for investment opportunities in foreign markets. This unit looks at the determination of exchange rates, the foreign exchange markets, effective management of exchange exposure on overseas investments, and sources of finance.

Objectives: This unit is designed to introduce the concepts and principles underpinning modern information systems to students who have not previously studied the unit formally. An overview of hardware, software and communication technology will be covered, and a substantial part of the course is concerned with providing a structured overview of the diversity of applications to which Information Systems can be applied. A practical component introduces students to standard personal computer software: word processing, spreadsheets and databases.

Aims/Objectives: This unit aims to explore information management in organisations from social, technological, methodological and theoretical perspective. More specifically the unit will focus on the role Information Technologies (IT) and particularly Information Systems (IS) play in managing information and knowledge in organisations. A wide range of information technologies and systems will be examined and discussed within a framework of organisational information needs and information management. A collaborative teaching and learning methods will be applied to engage students in an investigation of the critical organisational, social, technological, operational and strategic issues of IT/IS in organisations. Selected topics will be explored in depth through case studies undertaken by students in their organisations. Students are expected to be active participants and to provide individual contributions to the investigation of information management and strategic IT/IS issues in organisations, including critical analysis of the actual organisational problems in the light of the theoretical and practical approaches found in the literature. Objectives: 1. To understand the key issues involved in managing information and knowledge resources in organisations. 2. To understand and apply IS and IT terms, concepts, models and theoretical frameworks to analyse and assess business needs and information/knowledge management in practice and to explore business innovations through IT. 3. To be able to explore strategic IS/IT issues and opportunities 4. To understand the impacts of IS and IT on organisations and how they are, or may be or should be transformed in the immediate future.

The major focus of this unit is information used in decision making, and the application of information technology to assist or support the decision making process, either for a single decision maker or a group of decision makers. Various models of decision making are considered, as well as the impact of different management styles on decision making. In applying information technology, the use of decision tools as well as the development of decision support systems (DSS) are considered, including issues such as model management and the interface design. Practical examples of decision support systems are examined. Finally current issues within DSS are covered such as executive information systems and computer mediated communication within an organisation. Topics: human information processing; managers, management and decision making; models of decision making, application of DSS; building DSS's; user interfaces and DSS's; evaluating decision making and DSS performance; decisions made in groups; executive information systems; computer mediated communication; current issues regarding DSS.

After completing this unit the student should understand: the basic features and functions of the seven layer ISO/OSI model for data communications as well as other proprietary models such as SNA and TCP/IP; the types of hardware used both for local area and wide area networks; the types of software used within a distributed environment; management issues and products used to control data processing within a distributed environment; and emerging standards, hardware and software within this field. Topics: data vs human communications; ISO/OSI and SNA; data transmission; link control and networking; internetworking; transport protocols: Internet and TCP/IP; session and presentation layers.

This unit covers concepts of international human resource management (HRM); the international environment of HRM globalism, regionalism, economic regions, international industrial relations; the roles of transnational organisations; national environments for HRM; comparative studies of the effects of society, politics, economics and culture on HRM policy, practice, organisational strategies and structures; and HRM in multinational organisations. Application of overseas experience (policy/concepts/practice) to Australian HRM will be an important outcome of this unit.

This unit covers the nature of the social, economic, political and business environment in international markets; dynamic interrelationships between the environment, marketing strategies, and practices; global market opportunity assessment, alternative entry strategies, global marketing strategy formulation, problems and current issues affecting international marketing with emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region.

This unit is offered in partnership with Strategic Business School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and is part of the conversion program that leads to the award of Master of Science (Human Resource Management).The management of diversity is concerned with the way organisations deal with the range of cultural and individual differences within the workforce. It seeks to explain the way cultures impact on management practices and to show how culturally sensitive practices can improve employee wellbeing and organisational performance. There are two aspects to diversity management: intranational and cross-national. Cross-national diversity management is primarily concerned with the interactions in work situations of people of different national cultures. This is the prime focus of this unit although there are clear implications for the management of intranational diversity. The unit commences with an overview of the nature of societal culture and proceeds to a consideration of the management and strategic implications of culture. It concludes with a consideration of the role of culture in the management of organisations in the future.

This unit introduces new concepts and understanding from an international management perspective, and seeks to synthesise concepts, understanding, skills and knowledge developed already in the masters program. The unit critically examines major approaches to contemporary international theory and practice, and offers an awareness of emerging political, cultural and social issues affecting management in the global arena.

This unit is concerned predominantly with issues of information technology that go beyond the boundaries of organisations. It looks at the impact of information technology on societies and economies. The unit looks at changing attitudes within organisations about the application of information technology to assist them to compete in global markets, through strategic alliances and other mechanisms. Other major issues concern the level and impact of computer crime on organisational performance, the degree of concentration within the information technology sector, the current debate concerning the impact of quality practices within organisations that supply either hardware or software, and the increased vulnerability of organisations as their involvement and use of information technology increases.

Australian companies are increasingly competing on world markets for sources of finance and are looking for investment opportunities in foreign markets. This unit looks at the determination of exchange rates, the foreign exchange markets, effective management of exchange exposure on overseas investments, and sources of finance.

This unit introduces buyer or consumer to customer behaviour analysis and encompasses the study of the processes that buyers go through when they make purchase decisions.

This unit covers marketing information and decision-making; information and decision models; marketing information sources, qualitative and quantitative research designs, experimentation, selected multivariate statistical techniques, applications of research to market analysis, forecasting, new product development, advertising, pricing and distribution.

This unit covers promotion strategies as translations of the marketing strategy; constructing a behavioural sequence model to profile the target audience; using management judgment and econometric models to set the budget; formulating copy, sales promotion, publicity/public relations and media strategies; testing promotion strategies; tactical executions of promotion strategies; evaluating copy, sales promotion program, public relations campaign, media plan; working harmoniously with advertising agencies, sales promotion and public relations consultants.

This unit builds on previous coursework in marketing by developing analytical skills that address the development of strategic marketing plans for a given product-market entry and for portfolios of product-market entries. It stresses customer, competitor and environmental analysis, and analysis of market segmentation and product positioning. A continual focus is made on the interrelations between marketing performance objectives, strategy selection, and strategic orientations implicit within marketing programs. Topics include organisational strategy, market opportunity analysis, and situation-specific strategy selection. In addition to conceptual discussion, case analysis is an important unit component.

This unit covers the nature of the social, economic, political and business environment in international markets; dynamic interrelationships between the environment, marketing strategies, and practices; global market opportunity assessment, alternative entry strategies, global marketing strategy formulation, problems and current issues affecting international marketing with emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region.

This unit provides students with the opportunity to learn about the cultural orientations of different groups of people. The course is designed specifically to assist students in developing a genuine appreciation for other cultures apart from one's own. It is hoped that the end result will be the attainment of a level of empathy that may assist in one's adaptation to another culture.

In this unit, students are exposed to a rigorous and practical approach to business-to-business marketing (B2B). B2B Marketing encompasses those management activities which enable a supplier firm to understand, create and deliver value to other businesses, governments and/or institutional customers.

This unit is concerned with the analysis, planning, implementation and control skills required for marketing planning. Students are divided into firms which compete in a sophisticated marketing computer simulation game. They work as teams to analyse data, draw conclusions, and formulate strategies and plans which become inputs into the game. In the process, they develop or refine analytical, interpersonal and communication skills in a controlled environment and gain experience in developing a marketing plan which draws on the concepts and skills acquired in previous marketing and non-marketing (e.g. accounting) units.

This unit examines decision-making processes of firms and the economic environment in which they operate. To function efficiently and effectively as future managers in the domestic or international sphere, students need to gain a working knowledge of the macroeconomic setting within which firms operate; the microeconomic elements of consumer behaviour that affect sales; the firm's objectives and goals; the revenue, cost and profit structures; potential pricing and non-pricing strategies; the possible stance of government; and implications of international influences. The emphasis is on practicality. Topics are taught via a simplified summary of concepts and examples of real life situations.

This unit studies various aspects of macroeconomic policy making in an open economy. It extends macroeconomic theory contained in undergraduate Macroeconomics to provide an understanding of the working of an open economy and its institutions. Unit available for masters only.

This unit is concerned with microeconomic policy development in an open economy setting. It applies and extends microeconomic theory to provide an understanding of the principles governing the formulation of international trade and industry policies. The unit reviews traditional and recent models of the behaviour of firms in international economics. It also overviews the traditional and strategic theories of trade performance and the design, formulation and implementation of trade policy. Unit available for masters only.

This unit provides detailed knowledge of monetary theory, evidence and policy in an open economy context, analysing concepts underlying the study of monetary economics. An advanced approach toward understanding money, finance and banking process is taken. Monetarists and Keynesian view on the role of money are compared and contrasted with particular reference to how variations in the quantity of money impact on nominal output. It examines the theoretical underpinnings of monetary policy and analyses the empirical evidence over the last 20 years from an open economies perspective. The historical performance of financial aggregates in open economies is examined. Unit available for masters only.

One of the fundamental activities undertaken by managers in an organisation, either individually or in a group, is decision-making. Accordingly, the major objective of this unit is to gain a better understanding of what decision-making is, how decision-making occurs, and whether or not information technology can assist or hinder decision-making performance. In terms of what decision-making is, the unit will review some of the classifications made on decisions, such as structured and unstructured decisions, and the effects that these types of decisions have on decision-making. In particular the use of information technology to assist both structured and unstructured decisions will be investigated, as well as various models of decision-making. The impact of different management styles on decision-making, and its process, either for a single decision-maker or a group of decision-makers will be examined. In applying information technology, the use of decision tools as well as the development of decision support systems and other types of systems that may be used by management within a decision-making context, such as knowledge based systems are considered. This includes issues such as the relevance of the type of information system to the decision-making context, decision model development and management, and the importance of the interaction between the decision-maker and the decision support or other type of information system. The recent emergence of executive information systems and their use and relevance in the decision-making environment of senior corporate managers will also be covered. Practical examples of decision support systems will be examined. Finally current issues within DSS will be covered such as executive information systems and computer mediated communication within an organisation.

In this unit candidates learn the different machinations by which power is applied in organisations: decision-making processes come to be understood as frequently complex and uncertain procedures. Through the examination of such issues as empowerment, organisational crises and whistle blowing, candidates learn to analyse and critique the decision-making processes within organisations. In particular, candidates examine the power relations among the different constituencies of organisations that can impact on decision-making. They examine the roles of clients, stakeholders and minority interest groups, and how their push for power changes organisations.

Courses in organisational behaviour usually concentrate on the responses of organisational participants to the stimulus of organisational phenomena such as structure, technology and management processes. Such an approach has been heavily influenced by behaviourist and humanistic psychology and functionalist sociology, and suffers from the limitations of these approaches. Given the social formation of organisations, an interactionist approach is offered. The interactionist model holds that meaning lies both within society and within individuals. Meaning is inculcated in individuals through the processes of socialisation. The individual, however, is by no means passive and seeks to impose meaning on organisational phenomena. Group behaviour is explained in terms of shared provinces of meaning as individuals collectively confront their life situations. The implications of such interactions for organisations are explored.

This unit introduces new concepts and understanding from an international management perspective, and seeks to synthesise concepts, understanding, skills and knowledge developed already in the masters program. The unit critically examines major approaches to contemporary international theory and practice, and offers an awareness of emerging political, cultural and social issues affecting management in the global arena.

This unit examines the nature and roles of the learning organisation. It examines ways of implementing a learning environment where employees are encouraged to critically examine organisations. This unit also considers ways in which organisations can capture and transfer knowledge and learning within the organisation and among strategic partners.

Overview: The themes are the core issues of strategic management-formulation, implementation, competitor analysis, management roles and strategic thinking. Particular areas for analysis include: the contexts for strategy development; strategic capabilities; missions, goals and strategies; strategy accommodating structures, cultures and values; the impact of competitor analysis on strategy; routines to control strategic processes; and evaluating strategic management in entrepreneurial and non-profit contexts.

The main objective of this unit is to provide an introduction to operations management, and to be the role of operations in an organisation, not only as an important element of corporate strategy but also as a means of enhancing customer value. This unit will introduce students to a range of quantitative techniques, to enable them to analyse problems in operations management and make decisions or recommendations based on the interpretation of their analysis and other strategic considerations. A series of cases will be used to provide simulated experience in the management of operations and to explore the interaction of the operations function with other functional areas.

This unit provides the philosophy, tools and computerised techniques for effectively managing large projects and programs in any organisation. Topics include project definitions and examples, research and development, benefits and costs of project management, personnel policies, the mechanics of project planning, developing networks, network validation, scheduling and control, resource analysis and control, cost analysis and budgetary control, and training.

This unit provides the concepts, tools and techniques needed in purchasing and materials management. It includes purchasing policy and strategy, organising and staffing in purchasing and materials functions, supplier selection and evaluation, price/cost analysis, negotiation skills, inventory management, value analysis and standardisation, purchasing in the international market, government purchasing, and legal aspects of purchasing. Topics include purchasing's role and objectives; purchasing in a dynamic worldwide economy; purchasing strategy and policy; the basic purchasing policy; information technology in purchasing; organising and staffing in a purchase department; purchasing responsibility for quality; supplier selection; development and evaluation; purchasing in the international market; price/cost analysis; the art and science of negotiation; the legal aspects of purchasing; inventory management; purchasing's responsibility for inventory, transportation, purchasing planning and forecasting; value analysis/standardisation, purchasing's role in capital expenditures; measuring purchasing performance; retail, institutional and government purchasing; electronic data interchange.

This unit will provide an introduction to quality management principles, quality management systems and the quality tools and techniques needed for creating customer value and improving competitiveness and organisational effectiveness.

Performance measurement provides firms, managers and employees with a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation and its business processes. Performance measures are also a good way for communicating a firms strategy throughout the organisation. Furthermore, performance measurement is the first step in planning and implementing quality and productivity in an organisation. This unit aims to provide an understanding of the principles and practices of performance measurement and it role in enhancing organisational effectiveness.

The unit aims to provide an understanding of the concepts and techniques for managing logistics activities and warehouse effectively. Topics include the role of logistics in the economy and firm, development of logistics management, integrated logistics management concept, channels of distribution, customer service, transportation systems and mathematical models, documentation for exports and imports and government regulations, designing warehouse layout, material handling systems, storage techniques for locating and reducing costs, automated warehouse, barcode systems and uses in warehouse management, paperless warehouse, order processing and information systems, decision support systems for logistics management, logistics performance, managing material flow- logistics/manufacturing interface, logistics/marketing interface, and the strategic logistics plan-global logistics.

This unit is designed to provide participants with an understanding of the strategic management of technology. It is relevant to managers, engineers, technologists and scientists with current or future responsibilities for managing technological change and innovation. The unit content focuses primarily on strategic technology management at the firm level, though some time will be spent on global issues of technological change that impact on strategic management. Unit material covers two broad themes, one, the identification of global technology trends and strategies, and the forecasting, selection, integration and commercialisation of new technologies within the firm's product range, and two, the selection and implementation of new technologies to assist in improving productivity and efficiency within the firm's operations. Unit available for masters programs only.

This unit provides the philosophy, tools and computerised techniques required for instituting quality control in business processes. Topics include definition of quality control, quality assurance and total quality, control charts for variables, theory of probability, control charts for attributes, acceptance sampling, life testing and reliability, process capability improvement, and Taguchi methods for quality improvement.

This unit provides an understanding of the concepts and techniques for conducting research in commerce in quantitative and qualitative modes. Research methodology and statistical tools are integrated into this unit with an emphasis on models, methods and data analysis using SPSS for windows software. Topics include research design, concept of variables and measurement, data collection methods and types of data, survey methods design and administration, basic commands in SPSS for data entry, manipulation and analysis, different types of analysis -- bivariate analysis, testing hypothesis, parametric and non-parametric tests, multivariate analysis, factor analysis, discriminant analysis and clusters analysis, qualitative data analysis and triangulation.

This unit surveys the quantitative approach to management problems. Topics covered include decision theory and analysis, forecasting, inventory control models, linear programming, queing models, network and project management techniques.

The unit builds on the basic statistical concepts introduced in first year, and also prepares students for broader application of statistics for those majoring in science or business. Topics include some common probability distributions; revision of hypothesis testing; analysis of categorical data; analysis of variance; simple and multiple linear regression analysis and correlation; some nonparametric methods; and fundamentals of time-series analysis.

This is an intermediate level unit in statistics modelling and forecasting, focusing on applications of linear regression and forecasting techniques to various real-life problems. Topics include: review of simple linear regression and correlation - model assumptions, method of least squares, inferences (confidence intervals and tests of hypotheses), the ANOVA table, test for lack of fit; the multiple regression model - confounding and interaction in multiple regression; polynomial regression models; indicator (dummy) variables and model building; logistic response function; regression diagnostics; residual analysis, multicolinearity, detection of outliers, identification of influential observations, autocorrelation and some remedial measures for autocorrelation; time-series modelling and forecasting - components of time series, forecasting using smoothing techniques, forecasting using regression models, autocorrelation and auto regressive models.

This unit covers the Australian judicial hierarchy, the doctrine of precedent, the different nature of judicial, non-judicial and quasi-judicial functions, the limits of federal and state legislative powers, the basic principles governing the contract of employment, the compulsory conciliation and arbitration systems at state and federal level. Whenever possible, general principles concerned with sources of law and the nature of the legal system are illustrated and developed by reference to substantive law relevant to employee relations. For example, principles of statutory interpretation are examined in the context of a study of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) and the doctrine of precedent is examined by analysing the modern development of the vicarious liability of employers for the wrongful acts of their employees.

This unit deals with the law and policy concerned with unlawful discrimination in Australia. The various grounds of unlawful discrimination in federal and NSW state legislation are examined together with the procedure for investigating and determining complaints. It deals with the promotion of equal opportunity goals through affirmative action programs and their limitations; and the nature of and legislative strategies for dealing with sexual harassment. The wide range of anti-discrimination laws and the emergence of private justice systems and equal opportunity grievance procedures to deal with complaints either as a preliminary or as an alternative to statute-based procedures.

This unit examines major occupational and health legislation in Australia, especially in New South Wales. The arbitrary and inadequate nature of standard setting in the early systems of safety regulation is compared with later legislative models. The nature and limitations of current legislative strategies are illustrated by a series of selected issues relating to contemporary health risks in workplaces. Continuing problems of enforcement, sanctions and the adequate identification of hazards and protection are examined.

This unit provides an introduction to the theory and practice of alternative dispute resolution, and to some of the related legal and ethical issues. It examines the nature of disputes and conflicts, the major areas in which disputes arise (including interpersonal, family, neighbourhood, commercial, communal, and environmental) and the broad range of processes which can be applied in seeking settlement of resolution (including mediation, conciliation, arbitration, and adjudication). The basic principles of dispute resolution are approached from a practical perspective to enable students to identify cases in which an alternative to traditional judicial processes may be most effective.

This unit provides an introduction to the theory and practice of mediation (including related ethical and legal issues) but is essentially designed to provide students with basic training in the skills required for mediation. Although some basic material is provided in lectures, the emphasis is on workshops focussing on the development of interpersonal skills and on role-plays.

This unit provides a theoretical overview and instruction in the practical processes of dispute resolution in the workplace. The aim of the unit is to develop the student's skills and understanding in applying the theory and practice of dispute resolution within the workplace. The workplace is the focus of a range of types of disputes which, while sharing common characteristics with many other disputes, have particular qualities related to the context of the employment relationship, including legal and economic constraints and workplace culture. Consideration will also be given to multi-party workplace disputes, and the influence of external parties on workplace disputes. The unit will be particularly concerned with the application of dispute resolution methodology for the restoration of effective workplace relationships and the avoidance of litigation. This is not a unit in industrial relations or employment law but it provides an introduction to the principles of employment law and legislation which relates to the workplace dispute resolution.