This course is about the development of leadership through practice. Ultimately, leadership is about what you do, not what you know. Your effectiveness as a leader is assessed by the behaviours you consistently manifest across time, not by the theoretical concepts in your head. For this reason, our orientation is behavioural: what does best practice leadership look like and how can you get better at doing it? Our face-to-face time will, to the largest extent possible, be focused on building your effectiveness at constituent leadership behaviours. We will do this by creating an environment where you will repeatedly practice these behaviours, receiving specific feedback from peers, coaches and faculty to accelerate your development. These behaviours originate from empirically based theories of leadership. Our intention with this course is for you to gain a solid grasp of these theories before class starts so that we can spend the maximum time possible building your effectiveness at these behaviours during class.

Growth remains central to the concerns of CEOs and investors alike. Yet the increasing incidence of disruptive change has created a new world in which competitive advantage is much more transient than in past decades, making consistent growth harder to achieve. In this new world strategic agility has become the cornerstone of business sustainability. This unit examines how organisations can reshape their business models in response to changes in technology and market structure and explores the circumstances in which opportunities exist to actively shape the environment through proactive business model innovation. The unit provides practical experience at applying relevant concepts, techniques, and frameworks to real-world situations in order to generate innovative strategic responses to dynamic 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 crossroads 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 are enabling fresh approaches to strategic marketing.

This unit draws a parallel between modern organisations and the broader social environment in which they operate. It demonstrates how global, technological and demographic trends are re-shaping modern workplaces and highlights the importance of inclusive leadership in managing people. Students build experience in leading change in organisations and develop a better understanding of the dynamics of organisational culture, power and influence and the role of diversity. Students develop this understanding by critically reflecting on their own work contexts, and through real-world case studies focus on the implementation of a change management program addressing significant workforce and leadership diversity challenges. By the end of this unit of study, students are better equipped to drive organisational performance and get the most from the people they manage.

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.

The Leading Project Management unit of study equips students with the knowledge and skills to affect successful organisational change by leading efforts to improve project management practice in their organisations. The unit provides an understanding of project management methodologies that are deployed by organisations (including PMBOK) - their body of knowledge and their management. The effective leadership of projects and of the organisational change that ensues from their implementation is the focus of this unit. Through a number of key industry speakers, the unit develops an understanding of the complexities of managing projects and programs (groups of projects) - with particular attention on why projects frequently fail. Successful project outcomes that are critical to the survival and growth of todays businesses depends on good project leadership. The Leading Project Management unit of study equips students with the knowledge and skills to affect successful organisational change by leading efforts to improve project management practice in their organisations. The unit provides an understanding of project management methodologies that are deployed by organisations (including PMBOK) - their body of knowledge and their management. The effective leadership of projects and of the organisational change that ensues from their implementation is the focus of this unit. Through a number of key industry speakers, the unit develops an understanding of the complexities of managing projects and programs (groups of projects) - with particular attention on why projects frequently fail. Successful project outcomes that are critical to the survival and growth of todays businesses depends on good project leadership.

Technology is an integral part of every business organisation Technology is both the subject of managerial activity as well as a necessary tool for managers in performing their work Considering that technology is seen as a solution to as well as a source of various business problems there is a need to evaluate the main assumptions that underlie how technology is understood and employed by managers With a strong emphasis on modern information and communication technologies ICT this unit critically examines current managerial thought about technology from multiple perspectives This unit equips students with a balanced understanding of the nature and role of technology in organisations and enables them to manage with technology more effectively Learning involves handson inclass activities case study analysis and classroom discussions

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.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation are fundamental to our increasingly global economy. Every single large company in the world, started with one person and one valued idea. New businesses are created every day. Not all of them succeed in raising venture capital to fund their launch or, indeed, their journey and growth. New ventures and ideas can obtain funding from a variety of sources, each with different motivations, mechanics and agendas. This unit explores the financing of new ventures through sourcing, structuring, negotiation, value creation and exit from the perspectives of both an entrepreneur and investor. This is a highly interactive, cross-disciplinary unit which will include significant spreadsheet modelling, term sheet preparation and both individual and group pitches.

This unit is an intensive unit focused on the themes of social entrepreneurship and cultural competence. The traditional lines between private, public and non-profit sectors are being blurred by the emergence of social enterprise and shared value. That is, social entrepreneurs are finding ways to build impact models that either break even financially, or even make a profit. They have done so by engaging innovative business models to solve social and environmental problems on local and global levels. Students study these themes within the context of working in teams on a real social enterprise business problem. At the end of the unit students have developed a working knowledge of the ideas of building hybrid business models, innovation by restriction, and an appreciation for culture in the context of entrepreneurship. Students reflect on how the key themes and lessons can be applied to their existing personal and professional environments.

This unit equips students with an in-depth understanding of strategic frameworks, including their commercial application. The unit provides students with an enhanced understanding of the four main strategic framework categories, namely: (i) profitability frameworks, (ii) situational frameworks, (iii) mergers and acquisition frameworks, and (iv) capacity change frameworks. These strategic frameworks are delivered via an intensive teaching mode, using a case-study based delivery method. The unit exposes students to five Australian economic sectors, ensuring that MBA candidates understand how strategic frameworks can be applied in different contexts. This unit provides students with an opportunity to develop a multi-level perspective to complex commercial issues, apply theoretical concepts in multiple business sectors and integrate the business community in the delivery of the unit.

Healthcare is now one of the largest employers and sectors in the Australian economy. Approximately two thirds of its funding comes from government, while two thirds of services are provided by the private sector. This unit explores this complex mix, building an understanding of the inter-relationships among the players in the industry, public and private. The unit considers the financial and regulatory environment in which providers operate and identifies the main business models used by different players in the industry, including service providers, private insurers, employers, and government regulators. The unit draws on expert lecturers, international comparisons and case studies to give an understanding of the incentives and constraints that shape strategies to create value in health care. By the end of the unit students have an understanding of the 'eco-system' of health care; are able to navigate the regulatory and technological aspects of business in the health sector; are able to identify and evaluate public and private business strategies and business plans in the main health care sectors.

Public expectation is shifting, with society calling upon business to contribute to solving the global challenges of our time - from environmental issues such as climate change to social problems including economic inequality and slavery. The concept of 'shared value' is gaining momentum, whereby organisations aim to solve such issues profitably, generating value for both shareholders and society. This unit of study provides students with the tools and frameworks to assist businesses of the future create long term shared value and positive impact. Through case studies, students develop perspectives on creating shared value in practice, including understanding the role of purpose, culture, governance, innovation and partnering for collective impact, and the emergence of ESG reporting and investing as a market factor reinforcing these themes. Students are exposed to international human rights principles and relatedframeworks and explore ways to develop inclusive business models and practices that create long-term shared value. Students are challenged to think creatively and expansively, incorporating and integrating learnings from a broad range of disciplines as well as theories and frameworks from other MBA units such as systems thinking, change management, effective collaboration, partnering and ethical decision making.

In this unit, students confront the challenge facing truly pioneering companies which is to develop customer-centric products and services that are aligned with the company strategy. This unit recreates the intense, team environment of a business unit undergoing innovation. Students integrate the skills, knowledge and experience acquired throughout the MBA Program to bring a real prototype to market. The prototype may take the form of a product (software or physical) or service. Design thinking methodologies are applied to demonstrate understanding of the challenges facing strategy implementation. Students work in teams with tight milestones. To do this successfully, students must use the skills gained throughout the MBA program and critically reflect on the implications and impact of their learning.