Global Strategic Management (MGTS3301)

Students will be assessed on their teamwork and case analysis skills in the seminars scheduled Week 5, Week 6, Week 7 and Week 8. These seminars will follow the format of a Management Team Meeting. Students will be allocated to teams will play a role on the management team of the case company. During the seminar, the management team will be asked to evaluate and make recommendations on the case company's business-level and corporate-level strategies and future directions. Students will be assessed on their preparation for and participation in the Management Team Meeting and the quality of the strategic advice their team provides to the case company as the output of their meeting.

Schedule of case organisations:

Week 5 – Myer

Week 6 – Wesfarmers

Week 7 – Canva

Week 8 - Qantas

You will have FOUR opportunities to be assessed on your performance and your BEST THREE marks out of 10 will count towards your final mark for the course (3 x 10% = 30%). Students who are absent for a week of assessment will receive a mark of zero. A student who has legitimate grounds for an absence from an assessment week under the University's assessment policy must contact the course coordinator prior to, or within 24 hours of, the missed assessment and must provide appropriate supporting documentation.  

Pre-Seminar

Students review the foundational course content (lecture slides/recording or text chapter) and read the AI generated analysis of the case organisation’s external environment (PETSEL and Porter’s Five Forces) and internal environment (VRIN). Students should edit the document to improve on it. An instruction sheet on what to do is posted on Blackboard. Your edited document is to be submitted through Blackboard prior to the seminar.

PLEASE NOTE: A student who fails to submit their preparatory edited analysis prior to commencement of class will not be able to participate in the in-class assessment activity with their team and will receive a mark of zero for that week.

In-Seminar

At the start of the assessable team meetings, students will be allocated to a team, which represents a Management Team of the case company. Students will join their Management Team at their team’s assigned table. In the first phase, Management Team members will report key insights from their edited versions of the AI generated analysis to develop a team position on the external environment and internal organisation of the case company. At the end of this first phase, management teams will be asked to report their team’s external and internal analysis in a whole class debrief facilitated by the seminar coordinator as the basis for further strategic analysis.

In the second phase, the seminar coordinator will allocate specific analysis tasks to students playing each role and will facilitate each Management Team to work together to apply course theory to evaluate decision making alternatives for the case company. Facilitators will move around the various Management Teams to (i) probe for more theoretically grounded reasoning to deepen learning of course material, and (ii) assure that individual students are contributing to their team’s Management Team Meeting. The seminar coordinator will also facilitate whole-class debriefs at regular intervals in which Management Teams will be asked to report on and defend their evaluations of alternative courses of action for the case company.

PLEASE NOTE: A student who submits a preparatory case worksheet but does not remain for the entirety of the in-class assessment will receive a mark of zero for the assessment.

AI Statement:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) are emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Textbooks often portray strategy as a-political (without politics). However, this is a misleading impression. Organisations represent a complex environment, featuring a mix of actors with different motivations, levels of influence, and bases of power. These dynamics are most apparent during periods of organisational restructuring, where textbook models of best practice in organisational design are often rendered impossible by clashes between different actors motivated by competing interests. Students will be introduced to a hypothetical organisation, Millennium Airlines, which is restructuring to ensure its ongoing competitiveness in the face of challenging circumstances in its external and internal environment. Using information about the organisation and theory on organisational politics and structure, students will recommend a restructure which accounts for political realities of the organisation by completing:

1. a zoom-style format (only) video brief to a member of the organisation's Executive which justifies their recommended structure
2. a hierarchical diagram (only) of an ideal structure for the organisation
3. a hierarchical diagram (only) of a recommended structure for the organisation

Please note:

1. Video briefs must be in a face-to-face, zoom-style format. They are not to include images of PowerPoint slides. Videos containing images of PowerPoint slides will not be taken into consideration when marking this assignment. 
2. Any additional information (e.g. paragraphs and further explanations) submitted with the hierarchy diagrams will not be taken into consideration when marking this assignment. 
3. There is no need to submit a script to accompany your video.

AI Statement:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) are emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

As you reach the culmination of your University degree, this assignment gives you the opportunity to use the knowledge you've gained in this course to reflect and plan. Integrating theory on (1) strategy as practice; (2) vice and virtue in character; and (3) on strategy as storytelling, you will reflect on your time at University and in your personal life. Which of your previously taken-for-granted assumptions have been challenged during your time at UQ? What character vices contributed to your challenges? What character virtues helped you out of your problems? Does your personal journey look like a hero’s quest or an entrepreneurial adventure? What character traits do you want to change / hone / improve? And what does this mean for your future as a Strategist?  

This reflective piece will assess:

1. your ability to apply theory on strategy as practice for outlining your lived experience of university and life
2. your ability to apply theory on strategy as storytelling for outlining your story as a compelling hero’s journey or entrepreneurial adventure
3. your ability to apply theory on virtue and vice in character to outline plans for changing / honing / improving yourself.

To do this, you will be required to present your reflection and plan in one of the following formats:

• 1,000 word written reflective assignment
• Infographic diagram or Instagram picture collage including recorded audio explanation (up to 6 minutes)
• Video diary or collection of short TikTok-style videos (up to 6 minutes)

AI Statement:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) are emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.