Food and Fibre Case Studies II (AGRC2000) addresses strategic issues for agribusinesses along the food supply chain. The course provides the basis for understanding, critically analysing and communicating the complex and multi-faceted issues that characterise agribusiness management. This course is the second in a series of three capstone courses that together form an important part of the Agribusiness degree. The first capstone course is Food and Fibre Case Studies I (AGRC1012) and the third capstone course is Food and Fibre Case Studies III (AGRC3000).
Understanding financial performance is critical as (a) profit is one of the major drivers for agribusinesses as they work to generate the greatest possible returns from their resources, and (b) sustainability needs to pay to be sustainable. Moreover, almost all decisions involve an element of risk or uncertainty as hardly any situation exists where the outcome from a decision is known with perfect certainty. Given this backdrop of the importance of understanding financial performance in a risky environment, businesses require strategies and problem-solving approaches to get from where they are to where they would like to be. This course is part of the process of students developing skills in understanding financial performance, risk, and strategic thinking.
You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:
AGRC1012
For course content: (1) schedule using Calendly, (2) call on the phone, or (3) drop by in-person. For accurate and timely administrative support, contact directly the AGFS Student Administration team by phone at +61 7 5460 1321 or via email at agriculture@enquire.uq.edu.au.
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
This course aims to increase student knowledge of key concepts related to financial performance, risk management, and approaches for strategic thinking relevant to the operation of agribusinesses. Key financial concepts relate to cash flow for liquidity, profit for efficiency, and the balance sheet for wealth, and cash flow analysis under a variety of scenarios. Key risk management concepts relate to types of risk, measuring and managing risk, decision trees, expected payoffs, and decision criteria under risk. Strategic thinking relates to stakeholders in the business and several approaches are used to increase knowledge of strategic thinking including the use of different evaluation matrices.
In this course, a series of lectures introduce key concepts related to financial performance (cash flow, profit, and wealth), risk, and strategic thinking. In parallel to these lectures are a series of tutorials that are used to apply to real-world scenarios these key concepts from the lectures, using the case study approach. The course requires students to use both quantitative methods, such as cash flow and profit and loss analysis in Excel, and qualitative methods such as using strategic thinking to develop growth strategies for businesses. Each week, different learning objectives are used to provide benchmarks of learning expectations.
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Apply financial management concepts relevant to understanding agribusiness contexts and performance.
LO2.
Apply risk management concepts relevant to understanding agribusiness contexts and performance.
LO3.
Evaluate strategies that aim to improve agribusiness performance through the case study approach.
LO4.
Create recommendations that address the challenges and opportunities agribusinesses encounter.
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quiz |
Quiz
|
30% |
20/08/2024 2:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation | Case study report | 30% |
1/10/2024 2:00 pm |
| Examination |
Final Exam
|
40% |
End of Semester Exam Period 2/11/2024 - 16/11/2024 |
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.
20/08/2024 2:00 pm
You must submit your Assessment task using the correct link in https://learn.uq.edu.au/. You should also retain an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit. Legal Declaration: By submitting your work via this submission link, you formally declare that (1) it is your own original work, and no part of the work has been copied from any other source or person except where due acknowledgement is made; (2) no part of the work has been previously submitted for assessment in this or any other institution; and (3) you have read the UQ Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Policy (https://ppl.app.uq.edu.au/content/3.60.04-student-integrity-and-misconduct ) and understand its implications. It is a student's responsibility to check their assessment has been submitted correctly and is markable (such as a video is viewable, or all the text is in the file submitted). Course staff do not routinely check and inform individual students if their assessment has not been submitted or is not markable. For online assessments that are timed, regularly (1) save your work, (2) take timestamped photos or screenshots of your progress, preferably showing your name or student number.
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Assessment deadlines are firm and must be met. Late submission without permission or non-submission of assessable work will result in penalties being applied. Late submission of assessment will only be granted for documented medical reasons, accident, bereavement, jury service and other circumstances allowed in the UQ Policies and Procedures Library (PPL). See 6.1 Assessment Related Policies & Guidelines for links to the University Guidelines and Applications for Extensions.
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item, or one grade per day if graded on the basis of 1-7, or equivalent penalty if an alternative grading approach is used, will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point any submission will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is recorded from the time the submission is due.
Extensions refer to section 6.1 Assessment Related Policies and Guidelines > Applications for Extensions.
Submission of an Extension of Assessment Due Date (EADD) should be completed online through your My Requests tab via my.UQ Dashboard before the due date of the assessment item.
1/10/2024 2:00 pm
This assessment is to write a case study report that is organized as an evaluation scenario case. This is an independent and individual assessment.
Unless specifically indicated during the semester by the course coordinator, marks and feedback from this assessment will be available within two weeks of the assessment’s due date.
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
You must submit your Assessment task using the Turnitin link at https://learn.uq.edu.au/. You should also retain an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit. Legal Declaration: By submitting your work via this submission link, you formally declare that (1) it is your own original work, and no part of the work has been copied from any other source or person except where due acknowledgement is made; (2) no part of the work has been previously submitted for assessment in this or any other institution; and (3) you have read the UQ Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Policy and understand its implications. It is a student's responsibility to check their assessment has been submitted correctly and is markable (such as a video is viewable, or all the text is in the file they submitted). Course staff do not routinely check and inform individual students if their assessment has not been submitted or is not markable.
You may be able to apply for an extension.
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Assessment deadlines are firm and must be met. Late submission without permission or non-submission of assessable work will result in penalties being applied. Late submission of assessment will only be granted for documented medical reasons, accident, bereavement, jury service and other circumstances allowed in the UQ Policies and Procedures Library (PPL). See 6.1 Assessment Related Policies & Guidelines for links to the University Guidelines and Applications for Extensions.
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item, or one grade per day if graded on the basis of 1-7, or equivalent penalty if an alternative grading approach is used, will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point any submission will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is recorded from the time the submission is due.
Extensions refer to section 6.1 Assessment Related Policies and Guidelines > Applications for Extensions.
Submission of an Extension of Assessment Due Date (EADD) should be completed online through your My Requests tab via my.UQ Dashboard before the due date of the assessment item.
End of Semester Exam Period
2/11/2024 - 16/11/2024
| Planning time | 10 minutes |
|---|---|
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Calculator options | Any calculator permitted |
| Open/closed book | Closed Book examination - no written materials permitted |
| Exam platform | Paper based |
| Invigilation | Invigilated in person |
You may be able to defer this exam.
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 34 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score of 0% to 34% for all assessment items |
| 2 (Fail) | 35 - 46 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score of 35% to 46% for all assessment items |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 47 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: A cumulative score of 47% to 49% for all assessment items or a cumulative score of 50% or greater for all assessment items and less than a passing mark in the end-of-semester exam. |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score of 50% to 64% for all assessment items |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score of 65% to 74% for all assessment items |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score of 75% to 84% for all assessment items |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score of 85% to 100% for all assessment items |
Course Grading Hurdles:ﾠ
To pass the course students must (1) achieve a passing mark in the final exam, and (2) achieve an overall mark for the entire course assessments of 50% or greater.
If a student obtains an overall percentage greater than the cut-offs set to achieve a 4 or higher for the course based on marks from a combination of progressive assessment and the final exam and the student does not score a passing mark in the final exam, they are unable to achieve a grade higher than a 3 (failing grade) for the course.
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Please note the following when writing your assignments
You must not re-use past work from previous assessments in your assignments.
TurnItIn Assignments
TurnItIn Assignments that are required to be submitted through TurnItIn, must only be uploaded to the assessment specific Turnitin link on the relevant course Blackboard site.ﾠIf you submit any version of your assessment item to any alternative Turnitin link, this is considered cheating, and you will be held liable for this action.
Results
Unless specifically indicated by the lecturer involved, every attempt will be made to have the results for progressive assessment tasks available within 3 weeks of submission. For items of assessment submitted in the last 2 weeks of the semester, the results will be available before the day of your end of semester examination in the course, unless otherwise indicated by the Course Coordinator. Results and feedback availability for progressive assessment will be announced via the course Blackboard site.ﾠ
Re-mark Applications -ﾠrefer to the ﾠUniversity's Re-mark Policyﾠto check on your eligibility.
Before applying for a remarkﾠstudents should consider the following:
Remark applicationsﾠwill notﾠbe considered without first having contacted your course Co-ordinator.
Deferred information can be located on theﾠmy.UQﾠwebsite
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
AGRC2000 Blackboard Site - Blackboard is the main method of communication.
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 (22 Jul - 28 Jul) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 1 Lecture on (1) course introduction and administration, (2) case study approach, and (3) profit (income statement). Tutorial to apply this week's lecture content to assess profit on a sheep farm. |
Week 2 (29 Jul - 04 Aug) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 2 Lecture on wealth (balance sheet) for assessing financial performance. Tutorial to apply week's lecture content to assess profit and wealth on a sheep farm. |
Week 3 (05 Aug - 11 Aug) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 3 Lecture on cash flow, and combining profit, wealth, and cash flow. Tutorial to apply week's lecture content to assess profit, wealth, and cash flow on a sheep farm. |
Week 4 (12 Aug - 18 Aug) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 4 Tutorial to apply concepts of profit, wealth, and cash flow to assess current financial performance. |
Week 5 (19 Aug - 25 Aug) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 5 Time allocated to completing take-home exam assessment. |
Week 6 (26 Aug - 01 Sep) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 6 Overview of case study report assessment requirements. Lecture on case study approach and SWOT. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content to assess growth strategies for a vegetable production business. |
Week 7 (02 Sep - 08 Sep) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 7 Lecture on (1) contemporary and ongoing issues and (2) strategy matrices. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content to identify growth strategies and financial performance for a crop-livestock farm. |
Week 8 (09 Sep - 15 Sep) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 8 Lecture on risk, decision trees, and payoffs. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content to understand risks for a hemp start-up business. |
Week 9 (16 Sep - 22 Sep) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 9 Field trip or guest lecture. (Depending on availability of host or guest, date of activity may be moved to a different week.) |
Week 10 (30 Sep - 06 Oct) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 10 Lecture on decision criteria under uncertainty and risk. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content to explore decision making under uncertainty and risk for a horse hay trading and contracting business. |
Week 11 (07 Oct - 13 Oct) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 11 Lecture on sustainability, competitive forces, and stakeholder theory. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content to decision making in a genetically modified potato supply chain. |
Week 12 (14 Oct - 20 Oct) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 12 Field trip or guest lecture. (Depending on availability of host or guest, date of activity may be moved to a different week.) |
Week 13 (21 Oct - 27 Oct) |
General contact hours |
Teaching week 13 Time allocated for a session on (1) preparing for the final exam and (2) completing the SECaTs. |
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.