Students

COMP8780 – Enterprise Management

2025 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor, Lecturer
Dr. Peter Busch
Contact via Email
4 RPD 284
TBD
Lecturer, Teaching Associate
Dr Stephen Smith
Contact via Email
4 RPD, 362
TBD
Teaching Associate (TA)
Mr. Arthur Tsang
Contact via Email
TBD
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
COMP6770 or Admission to MEngMgt
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit examines strategic planning processes and management and how information technology enables organisations to conduct business in radically different and more effective ways. It covers topics including competitive positioning, business information and technology, strategy development and deployment, innovation and technology as a mechanism for competitive advantage, outsourcing as a strategy, marketing, and presentation (written and oral) skills.

Learning in this unit enhances student understanding of global challenges identified by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) Decent Work and Economic Growth; Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

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: synthesise an innovative enterprise strategy for IT strategic planning.
  • ULO2: apply information systems models and methods to analyse the Impact of IT on industries, markets and organizations.
  • ULO3: comprehend the impact of IT leadership on innovation, outsourcing and enterprise level strategic change.

General Assessment Information

Late Assessment Submission Penalty

From 1 July 2022, Students enrolled in Session based units with written assessments will have the following university standard late penalty applied. Please see https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/assessments for more information.

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 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern.

For any late submission 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.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted

In this unit, late submissions will accepted as follows:

• Assignment 1 - YES, Standard Late Penalty applies

• Assignment 2 - YES, Standard Late Penalty applies

Assessment tools and submission

Marking rubrics are used for assignments

Assignments are submitted on iLearn and Turnitin

Assessments are marked as soon as practicable - typically within a couple of weeks.

The exam may take place via a pink paper or online. Where a special consideration for an exam has been submitted and accepted a supplementary exam is available some weeks after the initial exam.

To pass this unit you must:

  • Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
IT Initiatives Report 20% No 12/09/2025
IT Opportunities Group Assessment 30% No 17/10/2025
Examination 50% No 10-28th November

IT Initiatives Report

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 12/09/2025
Weighting: 20%

 

An individual report on the latest technologies as identified by Gartner or other firm. Students choose one topic from recent and future trends.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • synthesise an innovative enterprise strategy for IT strategic planning.
  • apply information systems models and methods to analyse the Impact of IT on industries, markets and organizations.
  • comprehend the impact of IT leadership on innovation, outsourcing and enterprise level strategic change.

IT Opportunities Group Assessment

Assessment Type 1: Case study/analysis
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: 17/10/2025
Weighting: 30%

 

This major assignment requires students to work in groups of 4 and to choose an ASX200 company. As the CIO of this enterprise, your role is to assess technology trends and suggest to the other directors ways to strategically leverage IT. The students will also present their group project (as a group but individually within that group) later in session. When submitting their group assignment, the slides for the group presentation will be submitted at the same time.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • synthesise an innovative enterprise strategy for IT strategic planning.
  • apply information systems models and methods to analyse the Impact of IT on industries, markets and organizations.
  • comprehend the impact of IT leadership on innovation, outsourcing and enterprise level strategic change.

Examination

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 50 hours
Due: 10-28th November
Weighting: 50%

 

An examination on material covered over the semester.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • synthesise an innovative enterprise strategy for IT strategic planning.
  • apply information systems models and methods to analyse the Impact of IT on industries, markets and organizations.
  • comprehend the impact of IT leadership on innovation, outsourcing and enterprise level strategic 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

Prescribed Text

The following text will be used extensively.

Whittington, R., Regner, P., Angwin, D., Johnson, G., Scholes, K., (2020) Exploring Strategy Text and Cases 12e, Pearson.

Unit Material

Our iLearn site will be used for storing lectures, references and assignment submission at: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/.  

All assignments are accessed from iLearn and submitted through iLearn.

Lectures commence in week 1.

Note that the SGTA classes commence in week 2.

Supplementary Final Exam

If you receive special consideration for the final exam, a supplementary exam will be scheduled at a date set by the faculty. By making a special consideration application for the final exam you are declaring yourself available for a resit during the supplementary examination period and will not be eligible for a second special consideration approval based on pre-existing commitments. Please ensure you are familiar with the policy prior to submitting an application. Approved applicants will receive an individual notification one week prior to the exam with the exact date and time of their supplementary examination.

Methods of Communication

We will communicate with you via your university email and through announcements on iLearn. Queries to convenors can either be placed on the iLearn discussion board or sent to the unit convenor via the contact email on iLearn.

COVID Information

For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to Coronavirus on the Macquarie website. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during semester. If there are any changes to this unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.

 

Unit Schedule

Unit Schedule

Week

Lectures

References

SGTA

1 Busch

The New CIO Leader; Strategy Drives Digital; CIO Agenda; AR/VR/MR; AI and ML

Augmented Analytics; Internet of Things; Blockchain; RPA; Industry Disruption 

Broadbent and Kitzis; MIT Sloan; Gartner, 2019

Gartner, 2018

No SGTA

2 Busch

Introducing Strategy; Macro-environment Analysis Whittington et al. 1; 2

TA's

3 Busch

Industry and Sector Analysis; Resources and Capabilities

Whittington et al. 3; 4

Case 1

TA's

4 Busch

Stakeholders and Governance; History and Culture

Whittington et al. 5, 6

Case 2:

TA's

5 Busch

Business Strategy and Models; Corporate Strategy

Whittington et al. 7, 8

Case 3:

TA's

6 Smith

International Strategy; Entrepreneurship and innovation

Whittington et al. 9, 10

Case 4

TA's

7 Smith

Mergers, acquisitions and alliances; Evaluating strategies

Whittington et al. 11, 12

Case 5:

TA's

Assg 1 due

8 Smith

Strategy development processes; Organising and strategy

Whittington et al. 13, 14

Case 6:

TA's

Mid Semester Break 20th September - 6th October

9 Smith

Leadership and strategic change; The practice of strategy

Whittington et al. 15, 16

Case 7:

TA's

10 Smiith

Risk Management

Assignment Review

Ass 2 due

11

Guest lecturer (in class or online - TBD)

 

Individual/Group presentations (10% of the group assignment) - online

Busch, Smith and TA's marking

12

Individual/Group presentations (10% of the group assignment) - online

Busch, Smith and TA's marking

 

Individual/Group presentations (10% of the group assignment) - online

Busch, Smith and TA's marking

13 Busch and Smith Revision Lecture (Busch and Smith)   No SGTA

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/

Academic Success

Academic Success 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.

Changes from Previous Offering

Drs. Busch and Smith will be be the lecturers.. Mr. Arthur Tsang returns as an SGTA instructor.

We will have a guest lecturer in week 11. 

We will start assignment 2 presentations in week 11 and these will continue in week 12. All students will present together as a group,  but will each need to present their portion of the group assignmnet individually. Students will be marked individually.

We value student feedback to be able to continually improve the way we offer our units. As such we encourage students to provide constructive feedback via student surveys, to the teaching staff directly, or via the FSE Student Experience & Feedback link in the iLearn page.

 

Standards

Standards

Four standards, namely HD, D, CR, P summarize as many different levels of achievement. Each standard is precisely defined to help students know what kind of performance is expected to deserve a certain mark. The standards corresponding to the learning outcomes of this unit are given below:

 

Grade

LO1

Strategic thinking and Planning

LO2

Impact of IT

 

LO3

IT Leadership

LO4

Skills Acquisition

HD

Demonstrated deep knowledge and understanding of IT Strategic Planning models and methods and the ability to apply them to real world problems and situations. Demonstrated ability to link strategy to business planning with innovative thinking and to develop an IT Strategic and Business Plan and Portfolio that will support the delivery of business strategy.

Demonstrated deep understanding of the impact of IT on industries, markets and organisations, through the design application and analysis of business models,  and the development,  explanation and selling of  inspirational IT Business cases.

 

Demonstrated deep understanding of the application of IT Decisions rights models,  and management frameworks, leadership of change and the nexus between planning and execution as enabled by outstanding leadership capability.

Consistently demonstrated, effective leadership of the group, including planning, directing, delegating, guiding, supporting, influencing, persuading and inspiring.  Consistently able to manage ones own workload, deliver on time and set a good example to the group. Consistently excellent verbal and written communication skills of a high order. Consistently demonstrated understanding of analytical models and methods and ability to apply them appropriately, creatively and intelligently, with imagination and flair.

D

Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of IT Strategic Planning models and methods and the ability to apply them to real world problems and situations. Demonstrated ability to perceive the link between strategy and business planning and to follow the steps to develop an IT Strategic and Business Plan and Portfolio.

Demonstrated understanding of the impact of IT on industries, markets and organisations, through the design, application and analysis of business models,  and the development of IT Business cases.

 

Demonstrated understanding of the application of IT Decisions rights models, and management frameworks, and the leadership of change.

Demonstrated, effective deputy leadership of the group, including supporting the leader in planning, directing, delegating, guiding, supporting, influencing, persuading and inspiring the group. Able to manage ones own workload, deliver on time and set a good example to the group. Consistently good verbal and written communication skills of a high order. A good demonstrated understanding of analytical models and methods and ability to apply them appropriately.

CR

Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of some IT Strategic Planning models and methods and some ability to apply them to real world problems and situations. Ability to follow the steps to develop an IT Strategic and Business Plan and Portfolio.

Demonstrated understanding of some of the impacts of IT on industries, markets and organisations, through the design, application and analysis of some business models. Ability to demonstrate an understanding of the steps involved in the development of IT Business cases.

 

Demonstrated understanding of the application of some IT Decisions rights models, and of at least one IT management framework.

Ability to step up when offered minimal guidance and encouragement, willingness to work with a buddy to support and lead them and to take direction. Able to manage ones own workload, deliver on time and not let the group down. Verbal and written communication skills that support consistent comprehension of meaning and demonstrate understanding of material read. A demonstrated understanding of some analytical models and methods and some ability to apply them appropriately. Ability to apply some creative thinking to problems.

P

Demonstrated ability to develop a strategy map. Demonstrated ability to develop an IT Strategic Plan and Business Plan. Demonstrated knowledge of what is contained in an IT portfolio.

Demonstrated understanding of the impact of IT as a basic business enabler and of the content and purpose of in IT Business Case.

.

Demonstrated understanding of the concept of IT Decision Rights. Demonstrated understanding of the basic components of at least one IT Management framework

Willingness to attempt to demonstrate leadership skills in the group. Ability to be self directed and self responsible and reliable. Ability to write coherently in simple point form sentences and make oneself understood verbally, limited ability to apply analytical models and creative thinking skills.

 

Grading

At the end of the semester, you will receive a grade that reflects your achievement in the unit

  • Fail (F): does not provide evidence of attainment of all learning outcomes. There is missing or partial or superficial or faulty understanding and application of the fundamental concepts in the field of study; and incomplete, confusing or lacking communication of ideas in ways that give little attention to the conventions of the discipline.
  • Pass (P): provides sufficient evidence of the achievement of learning outcomes. There is demonstration of understanding and application of fundamental concepts of the field of study; and communication of information and ideas adequately in terms of the conventions of the discipline. The learning attainment is considered satisfactory or adequate or competent or capable in relation to the specified outcomes.
  • Credit (Cr): provides evidence of learning that goes beyond replication of content knowledge or skills relevant to the learning outcomes. There is demonstration of substantial understanding of fundamental concepts in the field of study and the ability to apply these concepts in a variety of contexts; plus communication of ideas fluently and clearly in terms of the conventions of the discipline.
  • Distinction (D): provides evidence of integration and evaluation of critical ideas, principles and theories, distinctive insight and ability in applying relevant skills and concepts in relation to learning outcomes. There is demonstration of frequent originality in defining and analysing issues or problems and providing solutions; and the use of means of communication appropriate to the discipline and the audience.
  • High Distinction (HD): provides consistent evidence of deep and critical understanding in relation to the learning outcomes. There is substantial originality and insight in identifying, generating and communicating competing arguments, perspectives or problem solving approaches; critical evaluation of problems, their solutions and their implications; creativity in application.

In this unit, your final grade depends on your performance in each assessment item. For each task, you receive a mark that combines your standard of performance based on each learning outcome assessed by this task. Then the different component marks are added up to determine your total mark out of 100. Furthermore, it is a requirement that you participate in the class discussions.

Obtaining a grade higher than a Pass (P) in this unit will require a student to obtain (in addition to the above):

  • the required total number of marks (Credit - 65, Distinction - 75, High Distinction - 85).

Unit information based on version 2025.03 of the Handbook