Students

BUSA8031 – Business Analytics Project

2024 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Hamed Jafarzadeh
hamed.jafarzadeh@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
MGMT8040 and BUSA8000
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit provides a platform for students to exercise the knowledge and skills that they have gained in previous units in the Master of Business Analytics. The major component of the unit is a project, where students will actively engage with a significant problem or set of problems in the area of analytics. Group work engages students in the challenges of interpersonal communication, task allocation, coordination and control. Students will gain an insight into the analytical problems faced by organisations and be able to contextualise their graduate capabilities into the final business project. The unit will consider key issues, concepts and frameworks of analytics ethics, and social responsibility, and how these can be applied to policy and practice. The class is conducted through lectures, workshops and discussions where students will develop an analytical solution around the client partner's specified information-based problem. Throughout the unit, the emphasis is on the analysis process: identifying information needs, acquiring the necessary information, interpreting it and using it as the basis for strategic recommendations.

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: Successfully work in teams and reflect on teamwork strategies in achieving group objectives.
  • ULO2: Recognise and apply different perspectives on organisation problems in order to best frame possible solutions.
  • ULO3: Design and conduct an organisational and industry analysis to assess and resolve contextual constraints of a client organisation.
  • ULO4: Deliver an effective and well-justified data analytic solution.
  • ULO5: Examine Business Analytics contribution to individuals, organisations and society and predict the ethical implications relating to the use of data analytics for these stakeholders.

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
Personal Report 30% No Week 4
Client briefing report 20% No Week 8
Client Report and Presentation 40% No Week 13
Participatory Task 10% No Ongoing

Personal Report

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: Week 4
Weighting: 30%

 

Students will write several reports and reflect on their learning experience across their Master of Business Analytics and demonstrate their skills in topic related to business analytics such as data analysis, teamwork, and ethics.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Successfully work in teams and reflect on teamwork strategies in achieving group objectives.
  • Deliver an effective and well-justified data analytic solution.
  • Examine Business Analytics contribution to individuals, organisations and society and predict the ethical implications relating to the use of data analytics for these stakeholders.

Client briefing report

Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 8
Weighting: 20%

 

Students will provide a report on their individual interpretation of the briefing, recognition of potential problems and perspectives on potential solutions, for the client organisation.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Recognise and apply different perspectives on organisation problems in order to best frame possible solutions.
  • Deliver an effective and well-justified data analytic solution.
  • Examine Business Analytics contribution to individuals, organisations and society and predict the ethical implications relating to the use of data analytics for these stakeholders.

Client Report and Presentation

Assessment Type 1: Project
Indicative Time on Task 2: 45 hours
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 40%

 

Students will be required to work in teams on a client organisation issue. Students will be required to: 1) Submit a short group progress report on their progress to date, any issues that have been dealt with and the likely outcomes of their analysis, in the weeks preceding the Client Report and Presentation. 2) Write a professional group report for the client organisation. 3) Deliver a formal presentation to the client organisation. Each student will be individually assessed for their presentation skills (worth 10%).

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Successfully work in teams and reflect on teamwork strategies in achieving group objectives.
  • Recognise and apply different perspectives on organisation problems in order to best frame possible solutions.
  • Design and conduct an organisational and industry analysis to assess and resolve contextual constraints of a client organisation.
  • Deliver an effective and well-justified data analytic solution.

Participatory Task

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 10%

 

Students will be required to participate activities in class.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Recognise and apply different perspectives on organisation problems in order to best frame possible solutions.
  • Deliver an effective and well-justified data analytic solution.
  • Examine Business Analytics contribution to individuals, organisations and society and predict the ethical implications relating to the use of data analytics for these stakeholders.

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

1.5 hours lecture and 1.5 hours workshop/tutorial as per the University timetable. All in-person.

No specific mandatory textbook. Lecture slides and the reading material will be released on iLearn throughout the semester.    

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 connect.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 the Service Connect Portal, 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 2024.02 of the Handbook