Business Management Unit 3: Managing a Business

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this unit.

Course Description

Students explore the key processes and considerations for managing a business efficiently and effectively to achieve business objectives. Students examine different types of businesses and their respective objectives and stakeholders. They investigate strategies to manage both staff and business operations to meet objectives, and develop an understanding of the complexity and challenge of managing businesses. Students compare theoretical perspectives with current practice through the use of contemporary Australian and global business case studies from the past four years.

Areas of Study

Business foundations
Introduces students to the key characteristics of businesses and their stakeholders. Students investigate potential conflicts between the different demands of stakeholders on a business. They examine corporate culture and a range of management styles and management skills that may be used when managing a business, and apply these to contemporary business case studies from the past four years.

Human Resource Management

Students investigate considerations for the effective management of employees to ensure business objectives are achieved. They consider employee motivation in terms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Locke and Latham’s Goal Setting Theory, and Lawrence and Nohria’s Four Drive Theory. Using these theories of motivation and motivation strategies, students propose and justify possible strategies for employee management in contemporary business case studies from the past four years. Students study an overview of workplace relations, including the main participants and their roles in the dispute resolution process.

Operations management

The production of goods and services is a core objective of businesses. Effective management of the process of transforming inputs into outputs is vital to the success of a business, both in terms of maximising the efficiency and effectiveness of the production process and meeting the needs of stakeholders. In this area of study students examine operations management and consider the best and most responsible use
of available resources to produce a quality final good or service in a competitive, global environment.

Assessment

Outcomes	Assessment Tasks	Marks Allocated
Outcomes	(school-assessed coursework)	Marks Allocated
Analyse the key characteristics of businesses, their stakeholders, management styles and skills, and corporate culture.	Structured questions or media analysis or test.	20
Explain theories of motivation and apply them to a range of contexts, and analyse and evaluate strategies related to the management of employees.	Structured questions or media analysis or test.	40
Analyse the relationship between business objectives and operations management, and propose and evaluate strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of business operations.	Structured questions or media analysis or test.	40
Total Marks		100

Overall Final Assessment

Graded Assessment	Title	Assessment	Exam Duration	Contribution to Study Score (%)
1	Unit 3 Coursework	School-assessed		25
2	Unit 4 Coursework	School-assessed		25
3	Written Examination	November	2 hours	50