Students

MMBA8089 – Designing Organisations for a Digital World

2022 – Term 4, In person-scheduled-intensive, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Kristine Dery
kristine.dery@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MBA or GradDipMgt
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

In a fast-moving digital world organisational strategy and design is central to build and mobilise change capability. Designing organisations to meet ever-changing customer needs and harness rapidly developing new technologies is a critical leadership responsibility. Organisations reliant on hierarchical structures and decision-making to develop and implement strategy are often too slow for the innovation and agility required in a digital world. In contrast, organisations designed for a digital world are able to deliver innovative customer experiences by leveraging people, processes, data and technology to unlock new enterprise-wide capabilities. Understanding how to effectively design businesses for sustained success requires a focus on operational design and new ways of working.

In this unit we will examine five building blocks that contribute to business success for digital: operational backbone, digital platform, shared customer insights, accountability framework, and an external developer platform. We will examine what it takes to design, build and implement these building blocks and how they work together to transform organisations to deliver new customer and employee experiences.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Demonstrate an understanding of the role and relationship between organisational design, digital technology, and digital transformation.
  • ULO2: Evaluate and apply different perspectives for digital design using the five building blocks model.
  • ULO3: Analyse and assess organisational capability gaps and development needs to create value in a digital world.
  • ULO4: Examine and identify leadership skills critical for managing a future-ready workforce.

General Assessment Information

Late Assessment Submission Penalty (written assessments)

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern. 

For any late submissions of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration. 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Crowd-sourced learning community 30% No Refer to iLearn
Designing a Digital Offering 30% No Refer to iLearn
Digital Offering Proposal 40% No Refer to iLearn

Crowd-sourced learning community

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: Refer to iLearn
Weighting: 30%

 

Participate in class discussions and in the discussion forum.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Examine and identify leadership skills critical for managing a future-ready workforce.

Designing a Digital Offering

Assessment Type 1: Design Task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 22 hours
Due: Refer to iLearn
Weighting: 30%

 

Develop a plan for a digital offering for an organisation and make a video.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the role and relationship between organisational design, digital technology, and digital transformation.
  • Evaluate and apply different perspectives for digital design using the five building blocks model.

Digital Offering Proposal

Assessment Type 1: Project
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Refer to iLearn
Weighting: 40%

 

Develop a business case for a proposed digital innovation.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the role and relationship between organisational design, digital technology, and digital transformation.
  • Evaluate and apply different perspectives for digital design using the five building blocks model.
  • Analyse and assess organisational capability gaps and development needs to create value in a digital world.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Text: Ross, J. Beath, C. and Mocker. M (2019) “Designed for Digital: How to Architect your Business for Sustained Success” The MIT Press, Cambridge Massachusetts

Unit Schedule

Refer to iLearn for Session topics and readings

Objective: Learn how digital business models enable new value to be unlocked for customers and employees 

Digital business models are very different from traditional models

New ways of generating value are made possible by the technology and new ways of working

People and leadership have to change to unlock the opportunities made possible by digital business models

Real change will involve periods of discomfort and confusion…be prepared to lean into these and learn more about yourself

Digital businesses requires leaders to be less focused on having the answers, and better able to support your people to be asking better questions

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2022.02 of the Handbook