Sound leadership is more important than ever for today's organisations and is therefore a major component of this MBA programme. To date, leadership has not been particularly well-taught because of the over-emphasis of the descriptive characteristics of certain celebrity leaders and the under-emphasis of training and practicing as leaders. This unit of study teaches leadership in a fundamentally different way through training and developing students on specific leadership skills in small groups. The emphasis is on learning by doing so that students receive regular and ongoing feedback on their leadership competencies such as motivating, listening, receiving feedback, team work, delegating and confronting. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with a breadth and depth of fundamental leadership skills which they will be able to apply on a daily basis in their workplace. There will also have a sound grasp of how these leadership skills relate to a body of knowledge from classical and contemporary theories of leadership.

The increasing incidence of disruptive change has created a new world of strategy. To compete effectively, managers need to be adept at identifying shifts in market needs, be able to develop innovative solutions to these needs and to rapidly execute, and if necessary abandon, new strategies. In other words they need to be strategically agile. In this unit of study you will examine how organisations can reshape and rethink their business models in response to changes in technology and market structure, key factors associated with successful rapid implementation of strategic responses to changes in market conditions and how the effective use of information can help enhance strategic agility. With significant input from leading industry figures, this unit of study will give you hands on and practical experience at applying theory to real world situations and at identifying innovative strategic responses to shifts in market conditions.

One of the most significant developments associated with the digital revolution is the increased availability of data. For managers and leaders in contemporary organisations, the ability to effectively analyse and draw useful inferences from data is critical. It is also important that managers can communicate complex interrelationships found in the data to senior management in a way that maximises the possibility that it can lead to favourable and sustainable change. Access to and use of data is critical to organisations in their need to effectively respond to a more volatile economic and financial environment, and Government intervention and regulation.
Superior data analytic and modelling capabilities are increasingly seen as a source of competitive advantage, both for business and for employees working within business. This unit of study can deliver this competitive advantage in at least six distinct ways - (1) it will reveal the type of "internal" data that an organisation must compile for effective decision making; (2) it will identify the "external" data that must be used in combination with the internal data, and where that external data is sourced; (3) it will analyse the tools and modelling techniques that can be used to draw timely and relevant insights from a range of different forms of data; (5) it will examine how these tools and modelling techniques can be practically applied across a range of organisational settings; and (6) it will demonstrate how any findings should be communicated to time poor senior management. As part of this unit of study students will be given the opportunity to work with real world data sets and case studies, and to apply those data sets to their own and other organisations.

This unit of study will provide students with insight and understanding of the role that financial management can play in developing and executing effective strategies for change. Drawing on research in finance and management accounting, this unit of study will give students an understanding of key financial management tools and techniques that can be used to drive and support change and give them the opportunity to apply these financial management tools to real world case studies. In addition, students enrolled in this unit of study will have the opportunity to gain practical insights from leading industry practitioners, including CFOs, into the financial management practices they use in their organisations.

A hallmark of great management is the ability to analyse a situation, make a solid case for a decision and then communicate it persuasively. Those three skills are crucial for effective thought leadership and management. In this unit of study, you will improve your understanding of logical reasoning and rhetoric by developing a better understanding of the use of evidence, by identifying the common fallacies that appear in public and private discussions and debate, and how to argue by analogy. You will also develop your critical communication skills, by learning how to craft vibrant and clear communications that will resonate with your target audiences.

Marketing is at a cross roads in its evolution. Today, marketing strategy is less about focusing on the competition and more about innovating and collaborating within a broad network of relationships. These changes mean a fresh approach to every aspect of marketing - using customer insights, creating value, designing market offerings and implementing marketing strategies. This foundational unit provides a novel approach to strategic marketing, incorporating many practical frameworks with exemplars drawn from a wide variety of managerially relevant contexts.
By the end of this foundational unit, students will have a clear perspective of how marketing relates to other functional areas of the business and they will have a good working knowledge of some practical tools and frameworks to assist them as managers. They will also understand the implications of how marketing is changing, especially in terms of a new generation of technologies that is enabling fresh approaches to strategic marketing.

This unit draws a parallel between modern business organisations and other complex social environments, enabling you to understand how factors such as interests, backgrounds, preferences, experiences and perspectives of the people you manage creates a working environment. You will develop this understanding by critically reflecting on your own organisation, and through real-world case studies, focusing on the implementation of change in an organisation with significant workforce and leadership diversity. By the end of this unit of study, you will be better equipped to drive organizational performance, and get the most from the people you manage.

This 12 credit point unit of study is a two week intensive international module in which you will have the opportunity to study and work in a different country. While the focus of the modules will vary according to location, some of the key themes that are likely to be addressed in the international module include the leadership and management challenges of entering new markets, managing across cultures and regulatory environments, identifying and realising new opportunities and management and coordination challenges in multinational firms. As part of the module you will be working in a small team to provide strategic advice to an organisation. At the end of the module you will be asked to present detailed analysis and recommendations to this client. To support your project work you will work with leading academics and industry experts on the ground in the country in which the module takes place.

This 12 credit point unit of study provides students enrolled in the MBA the opportunity to focus in depth on an issue of strategic importance for your organisation. Working with an academic advisor and an internal sponsor, you will identify a clearly defined issue of significance for your organisation, conduct original research and present your findings and recommendations to a panel of senior executives in your organisation. The unit of study will allow you to apply the skills and insights you have developed in other units of the MBA and to demonstrate your ability to apply these to practical issues facing your organisation.

The University of Sydney Business School has close relationships with many of the world's leading universities and business schools and regularly hosts some of the world's leading academics and thinkers. This elective unit of study is designed to leverage this resource and to provide our MBA students access to cutting edge and state of the art contemporary international thinking on management and leadership. In many instances this unit of study will be delivered by international experts and thought leaders from leading universities around the world who are visiting the University of Sydney Business School. The topics covered in this unit of study will vary from year to year to reflect the expertise available.

The University of Sydney Business School has close relationships with many of the world's leading universities and business schools and regularly hosts some of the world's leading academics and thinkers. This elective unit of study is designed to leverage this resource and to provide our MBA students access to cutting edge and state of the art contemporary international thinking on management and leadership. In many instances this unit of study will be delivered by international experts and thought leaders from leading universities around the world who are visiting the University of Sydney Business School. The topics covered in this unit of study will vary from year to year to reflect the expertise available.

Not every decision in business seems rational to an outside observer; and sometimes, a seemingly irrational decision makes sense when you consider it from a different perspective. This unit of study will equip you with the skills to make sense of business decisions, by understanding the decision-making process with a focus on negotiations. The unit of study is delivered using specific examples from international strategy, such as mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures. You will develop skills through experience, and learn useful analytic frameworks to further your understanding of negotiation and decision-making.

Any business or organisation is concerned with delivering value to its customers or clients, and the 'operations' of a company are the direct processes that a company uses to create value. Operations Management is the task of managing these processes. There is tremendous variety in operations, whether this is handling phone calls at a call centre, manufacturing cardboard from recycled paper, running room service in a hotel or dealing with passengers in an airline. This unit is about the fundamentals of operations management, covering both service industries and manufacturing. The aim is to provide a set of frameworks and concepts that can be applied in any company. All managers, even if they do not work in an operations function, will gain from understanding operations terminology, being able to contribute to key operations debates, and being able to see the operations of the company in a strategic context.

Building on the foundations delivered in the core MBA unit Leadership Practice and Development, you will learn best-practice techniques in human performance optimization and talent management, through hands-on and problem-based learning. This unit will deliver a solid understanding of how to improve your skills in individual and team coaching, mentoring, performance metrics and performance feedback and development. The topics covered include the nature of the coaching conversation; ethical use of coaching; how to set coaching goals that align with both organisational and individual needs; how to structure effective coaching conversations, as well as the core coaching micro-skills needed to facilitate employee engagement and performance enhancement. You will also develop an understanding of concepts and practices associated with managing individual and team performance, including performance-linked values, perceptions and affects, performance metrics, goal-setting, behavioural assessment, performance evaluation, review meetings, effective provision of negative feedback, and individual-level performance planning and development. You will be assessed through the preparation of a reflective case study of 'real-life' performance coaching sessions in your workplace, and an audit report on the current performance management system in that workplace.

When the tools of management change, strategic approaches must change too. Though managers have become keenly aware that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media technologies can be pivotal for gaining competitive advantage, few companies have comprehensive strategies that incorporate these capabilities. This course will offer frameworks for leveraging these technologies to stoke conversations, co-create experiences and stories, and build engaging relationships with consumers. This unit focuses on ways social technologies can be harnessed, and also on ensuring that these tactics are incorporated into the organization's overarching marketing strategy, emphasising the need to acknowledge ongoing technological change, and how to use effective management structures to ensure that your organisation is adaptable enough to adjust, and innovate, to stay ahead.