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BUS3600 Business case development - Semester 2 , 2008

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Unit leader :

Ian Martin

Lecturer(s) :

Clayton

  • Ian Martin

South Africa

  • To be advised

Malaysia

  • To be advised

Introduction

Welcome to BUS3600 Business Case Development for Semester 2, 2008. This 6 point unit is core to the Bachelor of Business Systems in the Faculty of IT. The unit has been designed to provide you with the fundamental of business improvement and the opportunity to develop and present a business case in a team.

Unit synopsis

This unit provides students with the fundamentals of business improvements that will enable them to investigate, develop and present business cases. It involves learning and applying performance measurement including benchmarking, business process analysis, business modelling, business reengineering and quality management concepts. Practical group projects also involve problem solving techniques, team working and the presentation of business cases. These practical case studies contribute to the final assessment of this unit.

Learning outcomes

  • Core knowledge in the areas of performance measurement, business processes, business analysis and modelling, business process reengineering, quality management.
  • Ability to recognize where problems are amenable to solution and which problem solving and decision-making techniques are the most appropriate ones to use for business case development.
  • Basic skills in problem solving in a small team environment,
  • Verbal and written presentation skills.
Due to significant changes to course demand over the last five years, the Faculty has restructured all coursework courses. During this restructure the Faculty has been mindful of changes in theprofession and has consulted with relevant professional associations and senior IT executives. The new programs have been accredited by the Australian Computer Society.

Workload

  • Two hour lecture.
  • One hour tutorial.
  • A minimum of one to two hours of personal study time per one hour of contact time.

Unit relationships

Prerequisites

Before attempting this unit you must have satisfactorily completed a business systems computing unit at first or second year level or equivalent.

Relationships

BUS3600 is a core unit of the Bachelor of Business Systems degree.

You may not study this unit and FIT3103 in your degree.

Continuous improvement

Monash is committed to ‘Excellence in education' and strives for the highest possible quality in teaching and learning. To monitor how successful we are in providing quality teaching and learning Monash regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. Two of the formal ways that you are invited to provide feedback are through Unit Evaluations and through Monquest Teaching Evaluations.

One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through Unit Evaluation Surveys. It is Monash policy for every unit offered to be evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys as they are an important avenue for students to "have their say". The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

Student Evaluations

The Faculty of IT administers the Unit Evaluation surveys online through the my.monash portal, although for some smaller classes there may be alternative evaluations conducted in class.

If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to http://www.monash.edu.au/unit-evaluation-reports/

Over the past few years the Faculty of Information Technology has made a number of improvements to its courses as a result of unit evaluation feedback. Some of these include systematic analysis and planning of unit improvements, and consistent assignment return guidelines.

Monquest Teaching Evaluation surveys may be used by some of your academic staff this semester. They are administered by the Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ) and may be completed in class with a facilitator or on-line through the my.monash portal. The data provided to lecturers is completely anonymous. Monquest surveys provide academic staff with evidence of the effectiveness of their teaching and identify areas for improvement. Individual Monquest reports are confidential, however, you can see the summary results of Monquest evaluations for 2006 at http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/cheq/evaluations/monquest/profiles/index.html

Improvements to this unit

New material was addded in 2007.

Unit staff - contact details

Unit leader

Mr Ian Martin
Lecturer
Phone +61 3 990 55806
Fax +61 3 990 55159

Lecturer(s) :

Mr Ian Martin
Lecturer
Phone +61 3 990 55806
Fax +61 3 990 55159
To be advised

Teaching and learning method

  • The approach to teaching and learning in this unit is to reinforce the lecture topics with practical assignments and real case studies. The particular emphasis is on simulating the business environment by working in teams to develop and present case studies, orally and in writing.
  • Students are nominated in teams of six by their tutors to provide a mix of students in each team (local, foreign, industry based learning stream, coursework stream, male and female students).  Normally there are three distinct teams in each tutorial. The student teams then work on a group assignment and a separate case study.
  • The assignment requires a literature search of topics covered in the lectures and a two to three thousand word written report.
  • Case studies are provided to the different teams and business cases for change and improvement are developed during the semester in concert with the lecture topics. The teams orally present their business cases in the lecture theatres to the assessors (tutors and lecturers) and their peers. The teams also submit a twenty page written business case report.

Timetable information

For information on timetabling for on-campus classes at all Australian campuses please refer to MUTTS, http://mutts.monash.edu.au/MUTTS/

  • Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit.
  • This feedback may take the form of group feedback, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance your learning.
  • It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem that is affecting your study. Semesters are short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.

Tutorial allocation

Students should register for tutorials using Allocate+.

Communication, participation and feedback

Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This may take the form of group feedback, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions (on line and in class) as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance your learning.

It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem that is affecting your study. Semesters are short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.

Unit Schedule

Week Topic References/Readings Key dates
1 Introduction BCD Textbbok Chapter 1 July 15
2 Business Processes & Modelling BCD Textbook Chapter 3 July 22
3 Human Factors in Change BCD Textbook Chapter 7 July 29
4 Measuring Performance BCD Textbook Chapter 2 August 5
5 Business process reengineering BCD Textbook Chapter 4 August 12
6 BPR/Change Mgmt Case Study BCD Textbook Chapter 8 August 19
7 BPR & IT Case Study BCD Textbook Chapter 6 August 26
8 Quality Management BCD Textbook Chapter 5 September 2
9 Internal and External Strategies   September 9
10 To be decided   September 16
11 Case Study Presentations BCD Textbook Chapter 9 September 23
Mid semester break
12 Case Study Presentations BCD Textbook Chapter 9 October 7
13 Summary and Review   October 14

Unit Resources

Prescribed text(s) and readings

  • Prescribed Text: Business Case Development (2002) published by Pearson Education Australia, ISBN 1 74009 406 9, Yen Ping Cheung and Ian Martin.
  • Prescribed Text: Reengineering the Corporation (2001) published by Nicholas Brealey, ISBN 1 85788 097 8, Michael Hammer and James Champy.
  • Text books are available from the Monash University Book Shops. Availability from other suppliers cannot be assured. The Bookshop orders texts in specifically for this unit. You are advised to purchase your text book early.

Recommended text(s) and readings

  • Bhuvan Unhelkar, 2005, Practical Object Oriented Design, Thomson Social Science Press, ISBN 0-17-012299-9.
  • Porter M E, 1985, Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, The Free Press, ISBN 0-684-84146-0.
  • White and Bruton, 2006, The Management of Technology & Innovation, A Strategic Approach, ISBN 0-324-14497-0.
  • Grose M, 2003, Why First Borns Rule The World and Last Borns Want To Change IT, Random House, ISBN 978-1-74051-198-8.
  • Handouts and recomendations at lectures.

Required software and/or hardware

There is no software requirement.

Equipment and consumables required or provided

Students studying off-campus are required to have the minimum system configuration specified by the Faculty as a condition of accepting admission, and regular Internet access. On-campus students, and those studying at supported study locations may use the facilities available in the computing labs. Information about computer use for students is available from the ITS Student Resource Guide in the Monash University Handbook. You will need to allocate up to 3 hours per week for use of a computer, including time for newsgroups/discussion groups.

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

This unit information outlining the administrative information for the unit.

The BUS3600 website on MUSO where the lecture slides, assignment, case studies and past exam papers will be posted.

Library access

The Monash University Library site contains details about borrowing rights and catalogue searching. To learn more about the library and the various resources available, please go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au.  Be sure to obtain a copy of the Library Guide, and if necessary, the instructions for remote access from the library website.

Monash University Studies Online (MUSO)

All unit and lecture materials are available through MUSO (Monash University Studies Online). Blackboard is the primary application used to deliver your unit resources. Some units will be piloted in Moodle. If your unit is piloted in Moodle, you will see a link from your Blackboard unit to Moodle (http://moodle.monash.edu.au) and can bookmark this link to access directly. In Moodle, from the Faculty of Information Technology category, click on the link for your unit.

You can access MUSO and Blackboard via the portal: http://my.monash.edu.au

Click on the Study and enrolment tab, then Blackboard under the MUSO learning systems.

In order for your Blackboard unit(s) to function correctly, your computer needs to be correctly configured.

For example:

  • Blackboard supported browser
  • Supported Java runtime environment

For more information, please visit: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/downloadables-student.html

You can contact the MUSO Support by: Phone: (+61 3) 9903 1268

For further contact information including operational hours, please visit: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/contact.html

Further information can be obtained from the MUSO support site: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/index.html

Assessment

Unit assessment policy

  • The unit is assessed with two assignments and a two hour closed book examination.
  • To pass the unit you must pass the exam and achieve no less than 50% of possible marks.

Assignment tasks

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Assignment 1

    Description :

    Business Process Modeling exercise

    Weighting : 10%

    Criteria for assessment :

    The specific tasks and marking criteria will be distributed at the appropriate time during the semester.

    Due date : August 22

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Case Study Presentation

    Description :

    Each team of six students will present their business case for 15 minutes to the assessors and their peers in week 11 or 12.

    Weighting : 12%

    Criteria for assessment :

    • Content of presentation.
    • Quality of slides presented.
    • Continuity or flow of presentation.
    • Participation of group members in presentation.
    • Adherence to presentation time limits.
    • Clarity of speech in presentation.
    • Exceptional features of presentation.

    Due date : September 23 or October 7

    Remarks ( optional - leave blank for none ) :

    The tutors will determine the date of each group's presentation.

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Case Study Written Report

    Description :

    A twenty page written report to include the following:

    • Executive summary.
    •  Introduction.
    • Problem statement.
    • Approach/methodogy.
    • AS-IS model.
    •  Benchmarking.
    • Alternative solutions considered.
    • TO-BE model.
    • Proposal/business case.
    • Implementation and conclusion.

    Weighting : 18%

    Criteria for assessment :

    • Executive Summary.
    • Objective, introduction, problem statement.
    • Business Case Development methodology.
      • SWOT analysis.
      • AS-IS analysis.
      • Benchmarking.
      • Alternative solutions reviewed.
      • Reengineering, process changes, TO-BE analysis.
      • Recommendation and justification.
      • Implementation plan, change management.
    • Presentation of report.

    Due date : October 10

Examinations

  • Examination

    Weighting : 60%

    Length : 2 hours

    Type ( open/closed book ) : closed book

    Remarks ( optional - leave blank for none ) :

    • Normally in two sections.
    • Section A composed of 60 multiple choice questions. Students are asked to answer all questions.
    • Section B composed of five short answer questions. Students are asked to answer four of the five questions.

Assignment submission

Students should submit the assignment in building 63 box 3 by 3pm with the appropriate cover sheet correctly filled out and attached.

Students should submit the case study written report in building 63 box 3 by 3pm with the appropriate cover sheet correctly filled out and attached.

Assignment coversheets

Faculty of Information Technology GROUP ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

University and Faculty policy on assessment

Due dates and extensions

The due dates for the submission of assignments are given in the previous section. Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are seldom regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.

Requests for extensions must be made to the unit lecturer at your campus at least two days before the due date. You will be asked to forward original medical certificates in cases of illness, and may be asked to provide other forms of documentation where necessary. A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission.

Late assignment

Assignments received after the due date may be subject to a penalty of one mark per day late. Assignments received later than one week after the due date will not normally be accepted.

Return dates

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Assessment for the unit as a whole is in accordance with the provisions of the Monash University Education Policy at http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/assessment/

  • We will aim to have the case study presentation results available to you one week after your presentation.
  • The case study written report results will be available with the final results and the written report will not be returned to you.

Plagiarism, cheating and collusion

Plagiarism and cheating are regarded as very serious offences. In cases where cheating  has been confirmed, students have been severely penalised, from losing all marks for an assignment, to facing disciplinary action at the Faculty level. While we would wish that all our students adhere to sound ethical conduct and honesty, I will ask you to acquaint yourself with Student Rights and Responsibilities (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/about/committees-groups/facboard/policies/studrights.html) and the Faculty regulations that apply to students detected cheating as these will be applied in all detected cases.

In this University, cheating means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in any examination or any other written or practical work to be submitted or completed by a student for assessment. It includes the use, or attempted use, of any means to gain an unfair advantage for any assessable work in the unit, where the means is contrary to the instructions for such work. 

When you submit an individual assessment item, such as a program, a report, an essay, assignment or other piece of work, under your name you are understood to be stating that this is your own work. If a submission is identical with, or similar to, someone else's work, an assumption of cheating may arise. If you are planning on working with another student, it is acceptable to undertake research together, and discuss problems, but it is not acceptable to jointly develop or share solutions unless this is specified by your lecturer. 

Intentionally providing students with your solutions to assignments is classified as "assisting to cheat" and students who do this may be subject to disciplinary action. You should take reasonable care that your solution is not accidentally or deliberately obtained by other students. For example, do not leave copies of your work in progress on the hard drives of shared computers, and do not show your work to other students. If you believe this may have happened, please be sure to contact your lecturer as soon as possible.

Cheating also includes taking into an examination any material contrary to the regulations, including any bilingual dictionary, whether or not with the intention of using it to obtain an advantage.

Plagiarism involves the false representation of another person's ideas, or findings, as your own by either copying material or paraphrasing without citing sources. It is both professional and ethical to reference clearly the ideas and information that you have used from another writer. If the source is not identified, then you have plagiarised work of the other author. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that is insulting to the reader and grossly unfair to your student colleagues.

Register of counselling about plagiarism

The university requires faculties to keep a simple and confidential register to record counselling to students about plagiarism (e.g. warnings). The register is accessible to Associate Deans Teaching (or nominees) and, where requested, students concerned have access to their own details in the register. The register is to serve as a record of counselling about the nature of plagiarism, not as a record of allegations; and no provision of appeals in relation to the register is necessary or applicable.

Non-discriminatory language

The Faculty of Information Technology is committed to the use of non-discriminatory language in all forms of communication. Discriminatory language is that which refers in abusive terms to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or nationality, ethnic or language background, physical or mental ability, or political or religious views, or which stereotypes groups in an adverse manner. This is not meant to preclude or inhibit legitimate academic debate on any issue; however, the language used in such debate should be non-discriminatory and sensitive to these matters. It is important to avoid the use of discriminatory language in your communications and written work. The most common form of discriminatory language in academic work tends to be in the area of gender inclusiveness. You are, therefore, requested to check for this and to ensure your work and communications are non-discriminatory in all respects.

Students with disabilities

Students with disabilities that may disadvantage them in assessment should seek advice from one of the following before completing assessment tasks and examinations:

Deferred assessment and special consideration

Deferred assessment (not to be confused with an extension for submission of an assignment) may be granted in cases of extenuating personal circumstances such as serious personal illness or bereavement. Information and forms for Special Consideration and deferred assessment applications are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html. Contact the Faculty's Student Services staff at your campus for further information and advice.