Agrifood Strategy & Competitiveness (AGRC3023)

Course overview

Based on agribusiness and food industry case studies, this course examines strategic issues underpinning competitiveness.

AGRC3023 is an integrative course. This means that it requires you to use knowledge and skills from this course and from courses studied previously and to apply that knowledge to real world problems and situations. Merely memorising or describing is not enough! In this course you must develop the skills used by professional managers - critical thinking and creativity, as well as a professional level of presentation.

Major changes are taking place in the way businesses, industries and nations compete. This is giving rise to a need to think differently about how strategy is developed, and how we can best move from a competitive to a collaborative model, informed by a culture of innovation as the core of sustainable uniqueness for the firm. ‘Business as usual’/‘more of the same’ strategies are high-risk in a business environment that is rapidly and continuously changing. They can quickly lead to irrelevance in the marketplaces of tomorrow.

Strategic management is critical to survival in business. The world of commerce is increasingly dynamic and complex. It is essential that managers in an environment of global competition have an understanding of the principles of business strategy and are able to apply these principles across the range of management responsibilities - including production, sales, finance and human resources.

This course is an opportunity to integrate discipline skills learnt in specialist courses and to analyse specific applications of strategic management in the field of agribusiness.

Course requirements

Incompatible

You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:

AGRC7043 (co-taught)

Course contact

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

 Lecture and tutorial sessions are designed to be delivered in person.

Aims and outcomes

The broad aim of this course is to improve students' ability to understand and analyse the strategic management of agribusiness firms. Specifically, the course aims to: 

• Introduce the nature and importance of strategic management in agribusiness firms
• Explore the concept of competitiveness and show its relationship with strategic management
• Through the use of case studies, both live and written, show how principles of strategic management are applied in practice to improve competitiveness and sustainability in agribusiness firms
• Give students an opportunity to undertake a strategic analysis of an agribusiness firm

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

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.

Assessment details

Strategic plan proposal - video presentation

• Online

Mode

Oral

Category

Presentation

Weight

15%

Due date

25/08/2025 2:00 pm

Task description

Submission guidelines

You must submit your assessment task, in Blackboard, via the correct submission link by the submission deadline. You should also retain an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit. Legal Declaration: By submitting your work via this website, 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 Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy (https://policies.uq.edu.au/document/view-current.php?id=149) and understand its implications. 

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Submission of an Extension of Assessment Due Date (EADD) should be completed online through your My Requests tab via my.UQ Dashboard, in accordance with the University's Assessment Procedure (located in the Policies and Procedures section of this course profile) which outlines the requirements for requesting extensions to assessment due dates. Extensions require the correct evidence/documentation to support the requested length of time of the extension.

Late submission

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.

For example, a report worth a maximum of 40 marks, submitted 28 hours late will attract a penalty of 8 marks, calculated as 2 periods of 24 hours x 10% x 40 marks.

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). 

Strategic plan - Report

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation

Weight

25%

Due date

21/10/2025 2:00 pm

Task description

Submission guidelines

You must submit your Assessment task, in Blackboard, via the Turnitin link by the submission deadline. You should also retain an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit.

Legal Declaration: By submitting your work via this website, 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 Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy (https://policies.uq.edu.au/document/view-current.php?id=149) and understand its implications. 

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Submission of an Extension of Assessment Due Date (EADD) should be completed online through your My Requests tab via my.UQ Dashboard, in accordance with the University's Assessment Procedure (located in the Policies and Procedures section of this course profile) which outlines the requirements for requesting extensions to assessment due dates. Extensions require the correct evidence/documentation to support the requested length of time of the extension.

Late submission

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.

For example, a report worth a maximum of 40 marks, submitted 28 hours late will attract a penalty of 8 marks, calculated as 2 periods of 24 hours x 10% x 40 marks.

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). 

Final Exam

• Hurdle
• Identity Verified
• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Examination

Weight

60%

Due date

End of Semester Exam Period

8/11/2025 - 22/11/2025

Other conditions

Secure.

See the conditions definitions

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Exam details

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

Course Grading Rules and Assessment Hurdles

Grades 4 – 7 -ﾠTo achieve a grade 4 or higher for this course you must achieve a cumulative mark for all assessment greater than 50% and a passing mark in the end of semester exam.ﾠ

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

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Should you fail a course with a grade of 3, you may be eligible for supplementary assessment. Refer to my.UQ for information on supplementary assessment and how to apply. 

Supplementary assessment provides an additional opportunity to demonstrate you have achieved all the required learning outcomes for a course.  

If you apply and are granted supplementary assessment, the type of supplementary assessment set will consider which learning outcome(s) have not been met.  

Supplementary assessment can take any form (such as a written report, oral presentation, examination or other appropriate assessment) and may test specific learning outcomes tailored to the individual student, or all learning outcomes. 

To receive a passing grade of 3S4, you must obtain a mark of 50% or more on the supplementary assessment. 

Additional assessment information

Please note the following when writing your assignments 

You must not re-use past work from previous assessments in your assignments. 

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

All reported work must be done by the individual student. Assignments that look and sound alike will be reported as plagiarism – a serious offence at UQ. Please note the university’s policy on academic integrity and plagiarism which can be accessed at Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy / Document / Policy and Procedure Library

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. If 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. 

Feedback in this course

Feedback is welcome in this course as any information on how students find this learning experience is constructive. Please use the course evaluation process which will occur in the last few weeks of semester.

Re-mark Applications – refer to the University's Re-mark Policy to check your eligibility.

Learning resources

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.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Other course materials

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Additional learning activity information

Learning resources will regularly be reviewed, and updated or additional resources will be made available under relevant weekly learning folder.

Policies and procedures

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:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments for Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.