Course Title: Strategic Thinking

Part A: Course Overview

Course ID: 013405

Course Title: Strategic Thinking

Credit Points: 12


Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

BUSM1169

City Campus

Postgraduate

630H Management

Face-to-Face

Sem 2 2006

Course Coordinator: Adriana Koulouris

Course Coordinator Phone: 9925 5925

Course Coordinator Email: adriana.koulouris@rmit.edu.au


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Admission into Master of Business Leadership or Master of Business (Human Resource Management & Industrial Relations) or equivalent


Course Description

This course aims to develop ‘ learning-to-learn’ skills in the domain of strategy and the associated processes by engaging the student in a variety of learning activities on an individual and team learning basis.

It focuses on the role of the manager and leader as a strategic thinker and provides students with some insights into, and experience of, the techniques adopted by effective managers in the workplace.

As part of the strategic process of evaluation students will assess their own individual and collective learning and insights gained throughout the program.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

On completion of the course, students will have:

Understood and applied key techniques and methods connected with holistic and systemic thinking and planning

Designed and applied strategic thinking processes which are relevant to their own professional development and organisational contexts

Created and actioned effective methods of communicating and leading initiatives in their own organisations through strategic analysis

Applied a knowledge and skill base relevant to the competencies relating to managing and leading strategically

Evaluated in an integrated manner, through a variety of techniques and methods, the learning outcomes achieved during the program.

Capacities:

To achieve a conceptual understanding and practical application, of key theories of strategy including strategic thinking, planning, implementation and evaluation.



Overview of Learning Activities

This course provides an opportunity for participants to explore the creation of strategies and opportunities through such concepts as holistic and systemic thinking. In doing so, participants are required to consider strategic issues such as opportunity creation, strategic analysis and the synthesis of solutions.

Workshops will enable participants to undergo individual and group processes that will be utilised to provide a focus for interactive and collaborative learning.

The practical experience of lecturers and of other participants, shared during interactive group discussions, will provide a rich source of real life examples of applications of strategic issues and the processes adopted for the purposes of implementation. The student’ s individual research skills are also a crucial aspect of their own learning and a significant contribution to the learning of their team members.

In summary, the course incorporates all aspects of Kolb’ s Learning Cycle, that is, Experience, Reflection, Theory and Experimentation.

In addition to the introductory workshop, there will be regular scheduled meetings of teams assisted by team consultants. In addition to the contract learning process, the aim of these meetings is to assist students in sharing theoretical resources, to seek feedback on their performance within the team, to assist with analysing critical incidents in the workplace and to apply new approaches for improvement in performance.


Overview of Learning Resources

No specific pre-reading or work is required for this course. During the start-up workshop course materials such as readings, guidelines for suggested learning sources will be distributed and discussed.

Workshop sessions are supplemented by handout/DLS material, however, in keeping with the principles of self - directed learning, it is essential that students take responsibility for note-taking of key points during the workshop.


Overview of Assessment

Assessment may be based on the following:

Individual Contract Learning Proposal

Individual Contract Learning Report

To help you to meet the assessment requirements you will receive feedback from staff and be expected to give feedback to and receive feedback from your peers.
No higher grading than a pass is awarded to assessment tasks.
All assessment tasks must be passed in order to obtain an overall pass for the course.