Course coordinator
Consultation by appointment. To make an appointment, please email r.adhikari@uq.edu.au.
Based on agribusiness and food industry case studies, this course examines strategic issues underpinning competitiveness.
Agrifood Strategy and Competitiveness 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.
You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:
AGRC3023 (co-taught)
This course is jointly-taught with:
Tutorials are separate for AGRC3023 and AGRC7043.
Consultation by appointment. To make an appointment, please email r.adhikari@uq.edu.au.
Lecture sessions are designed to be delivered in hybrid mode (simultaneous on-campus for internal students and online via Zoom for external students). These sessions will not be timetabled for external students, but they can attend the lectures scheduled for internal students via live Zoom. Students can complete the tutorial activities online or in class per their enrolment mode. Dedicated online drop-in sessions will be available, upon request, to external students who wish to discuss their learning progress. The drop-in session dates and times will be available on the course BB site, and these additional sessions will not be recorded. Guest lecture sessions are integral to this course to bring industry insights into the classroom. Depending on the availability and practicality, the guest lecture delivery mode would remain flexible, and their schedules could change with short notice, which will be announced via the course blackboard site.
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:ᅠ
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Demonstrate a critical understanding of core principles and a wide spectrum of concepts and tools for strategic planning and management in applied situations.
LO2.
Apply strategy analysis tools and frameworks to formulate strategic plans for agribusinesses.
LO3.
Critically evaluate various components of a business strategy to achieve competitiveness.
Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
---|---|---|---|
Role play/ Simulation |
Capsim Capstone - Competition Rounds
|
20% |
12/08/2024 - 11/10/2024
Students must submit their simulation decisions on the Capsim Capstone platform by a specific time and date each week, which will be announced on Blackboard. |
Paper/ Report/ Annotation | Strategic plan - Report | 30% |
21/10/2024 4:00 pm |
Examination |
Final Exam
|
50% |
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.
12/08/2024 - 11/10/2024
Students must submit their simulation decisions on the Capsim Capstone platform by a specific time and date each week, which will be announced on Blackboard.
This is a group task for internal students. External students are also encouraged to take this task in a group, but if their individual circumstances (such as work commitments, time zone differences, etc) do not permit them to undertake the task in a group, they should consult with the course coordinator and can perform the task individually.
In this task which runs over several weeks, students evaluate various components of a business strategy and make tactical decisions across functional business areas, such as research and development, marketing, finance, production, and HR, through a series of simulated decisions made each week from Week 4 to Week 11.
Students will have up to 7 days to make and submit their decisions for the weekly competition rounds. The weekly submission schedules cannot be extended for individual group. The last saved activity on the simulation platform will automatically be recorded and considered as submitted once the scheduled deadline is over.
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
No extensions will be allowed for the Group Work unless the whole group is affected by reasons acceptable for an extension. In such circumstances, every group member would need to apply for an extension of the same duration.
21/10/2024 4:00 pm
This is an individual task (worth 30%). This assignment requires students to develop a strategic plan for an Australian agribusiness selected by themselves. The task involves analysing the existing strategy landscape, formulating a strategic plan, and communicating the plan in the form of a written report, with the aim of shifting the agribusiness's strategic orientation from the red ocean to the blue ocean strategy. A detailed description of the task will be available on the course Blackboard.
This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI tools.
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 UQ Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Policy (http://ppl.app.uq.edu.au/content/3.60.04-student-integrity-and-misconduct) and understand its implications.
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.
End of Semester Exam Period
2/11/2024 - 16/11/2024
The final exam will assess students' understanding of the theoretical knowledge on strategy and competitiveness and its application to agribusiness firms.
The exam will be an on-campus exam. Have your UQ student ID card available for all your exams.
Planning time | 10 minutes |
---|---|
Duration | 120 minutes |
Calculator options | (In person) Casio FX82 series or UQ approved , labelled calculator only |
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 | Description |
---|---|
1 (Low Fail) |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 0 – 34% |
2 (Fail) |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 35 – 46% |
3 (Marginal Fail) |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: 47% - 49% |
4 (Pass) |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 50% - 64% |
5 (Credit) |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 65% - 74% |
6 (Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 75% - 84% |
7 (High Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 85% - 100% |
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 of 50% or greater 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 is available for this course.
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.
Please note the following when writing your assignmentsᅠ
You must not re-use past work from previous assessments in your assignments.ᅠ
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 -ᅠᅠrefer to the ᅠUniversity's Re-mark Policyᅠto check on your eligibility.
Before applying for a remarkᅠstudents should consider the following:
Remark applications will not be considered without first having contacted your course Co-ordinator.
Deferred and Supplementary assessment (including Deferred Mid-Semester Examinations)
Deferred and Supplementary information can be located on the my.UQ website
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.
Course 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 |
Lecture |
Course Introduction and overview |
Week 2 |
Lecture |
Perspectives on strategy - General Competitive Strategy (GCS) vis-a-vis Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) |
Tutorial |
Capsim capstone - Introduction and team setting |
|
Week 3 |
Case-based learning |
Application of blue ocean strategy by Australian agribusiness: case introduction |
Tutorial |
Capsim capstone - Primer |
|
Week 4 |
Lecture |
Strategy analysis: Tools and framework -I (with a focus on Red Ocean Strategy) |
Tutorial |
Analysis of red ocean strategic landscape and simulation rehearsal |
|
Week 5 |
Seminar |
Capsim Capstone - Debriefing - Guest/Recorded presentation |
Week 6 |
Lecture |
Strategy analysis: Tools and framework -II (with a focus on Blue Ocean Strategy) |
Tutorial |
Application of blue ocean strategic tools and framework and reflection on simulation performance |
|
Week 7 |
Lecture |
Strategic plan - mission, vision and objectives |
Tutorial |
Strategic planning process and strategic plan (Agribusiness focus) and reflection on simulation performance |
|
Week 8 |
Lecture |
Balance scorecard - measures that operationalise strategy |
Tutorial |
Balance scorecard - Metrics and indicators for the selected agribusiness and reflection on simulation performance |
|
Week 9 |
Lecture |
Strategic foresight and scenarios Guest Presentation |
Tutorial |
Strategic foresighting exercise and reflection on simulation performance |
|
Week 10 (30 Sep - 06 Oct) |
Lecture |
Strategy and agrifood competitiveness |
Tutorial |
Strategic foresighting (contd..) and agrifood competitiveness and reflection on simulation performance |
|
Week 11 |
Lecture |
Agribusiness competitiveness: Australian Perspective |
Tutorial |
Measuring competitiveness of agrifood industry |
|
Week 12 |
Lecture |
Agribusiness competitiveness: Developing country Perspective |
Tutorial |
Measuring agribusiness competitiveness and reflection on Capsim Capstone Simulation |
|
Week 13 |
Lecture |
Course Recap |
Tutorial |
Preparing for final exam |
Learning resources will regularly be reviewed, and updated or additional resources will be made available under relevant weekly learning folder.
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.