Students

AFIN8011 – Business and Global Environmental Change

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

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Grace Lepone
grace.lepone@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(Admission to MActPrac or MFin or MSusDev) or ACST6003 or AFIN6013 or ECON6049 or ECON8091
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit is designed to give students a comprehensive understanding of the sustainability challenges facing organisations, and to highlight business risks and opportunities that are emerging as a consequence of global environmental change. Furthermore, the unit is designed to enable students to challenge the status quo of "business-as-usual" and to search for innovative solutions to some of the pressing issues impacting organisations, including changes in ecological parameters through climate change, more frequent and/or severe extreme weather events and natural resource scarcity. The unit seeks to use frame-breaking approaches to problem solving and the development of organisational strategies.

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: Explain the range of challenges organisations are facing resulting from changing environmental conditions.
  • ULO2: Critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of policy development related to sustainability and climate change.
  • ULO3: Consider the rational and process for undertaking a greenhouse gas/carbon emission and energy audit.
  • ULO4: Use a framework to help identify the innovation and response needs of an organisation.
  • ULO5: Work productively in a group to prepare and present a research project.

General Assessment Information

The table below provides a summary of the assessment tasks you are required to complete for this unit. Details of each task are provided in the links below. The assessment tasks are key learning activities for the unit. If you are unclear about anything in the task details, please ask the teaching staff sooner rather than later.

 

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.   

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Individual Research Report 50% No Week 13
Individual Reflective Writing 10% No Week 12
Group Report 30% No Week 11
Quiz 10% No Week 5

Individual Research Report

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 27 hours
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 50%

 

Students will undertake research on an agreed topic and produce a research report. The report should not exceed 3,500 words.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain the range of challenges organisations are facing resulting from changing environmental conditions.
  • Critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of policy development related to sustainability and climate change.
  • Consider the rational and process for undertaking a greenhouse gas/carbon emission and energy audit.
  • Use a framework to help identify the innovation and response needs of an organisation.

Individual Reflective Writing

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 6 hours
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 10%

 

Students will be required to complete an individual reflective writing piece.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain the range of challenges organisations are facing resulting from changing environmental conditions.
  • Critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of policy development related to sustainability and climate change.
  • Consider the rational and process for undertaking a greenhouse gas/carbon emission and energy audit.
  • Use a framework to help identify the innovation and response needs of an organisation.

Group Report

Assessment Type 1: Project
Indicative Time on Task 2: 19 hours
Due: Week 11
Weighting: 30%

 

Students will form groups to work on a research project and produce a group report.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain the range of challenges organisations are facing resulting from changing environmental conditions.
  • Critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of policy development related to sustainability and climate change.
  • Consider the rational and process for undertaking a greenhouse gas/carbon emission and energy audit.
  • Use a framework to help identify the innovation and response needs of an organisation.
  • Work productively in a group to prepare and present a research project.

Quiz

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 3 hours
Due: Week 5
Weighting: 10%

 

Please use the quiz result as an indicator of whether you are progressing satisfactorily in the unit.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain the range of challenges organisations are facing resulting from changing environmental conditions.
  • Critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of policy development related to sustainability and climate change.

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

The units are delivered over 6 full day sessions on study weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 11 and 13. Studetns are expected to attend class both in the morning and in the afternoon on Thursdays of those weeks. 

Learning materials are provided on iLearn. 

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