Department of Computing

Local Navigation

Unit Outline: MPCE360

Semester 1, 2008. (Version-19Feb08)

Convenor: Peter Busch

Prerequisites: 40cp and GPA of 2.00

Students should read this unit outline carefully at the start of semester. It contains important information about the unit. If anything in it is unclear, please consult one of the teaching staff in the unit.

Course Objectives

The objective of this course is to provide you with an understanding of the principles and practices of management and, in particular, critical issues involved in the exploitation of new technology and the management of technology. Key aspects to be covered include:

1) Planning;

2) Issues involved in exploiting new technologies: including intellectual property rights, raising venture capital and negotiating the rights to new technologies;

3) The development of business plans;

4) The development of organisation structures, quantitative analysis methods and control systems to support organisational objectives; and

5) The issues of power and ethics in organisations.

The course plan is organised around the four recognised management functions; planning, organising, leading and controlling. In addition, the course is aimed at providing you with: 1) experience in the application of the management techniques discussed in lectures and tutorials; and 2) exposure to some of the critical issues facing organisations attempting to exploit technologies to their maximum potential. To this end, considerable emphasis will be placed on practical work (based on realistic business situations) and on presentations from guest speakers invited from industry.

Finally, you should not underestimate the potential value of this course, as many prospective employers will be liable to place as much (if not more) value on your views of the role of technology within the wider organisation as on your technical knowledge itself..

Assessment

The course will consist of lectures, tutorials and group sessions (practical sessions). Three assignments, arising out of group session work will be undertaken. Further details and guidance on assignments will be given during tutorials and group sessions. Assignments will be based on group session exercises, and assignments 1 and 2 will be group work (i.e. the group will submit one assignment only). For assignment 3, however you are required to submit (and will be marked on) your own individual report.

A final exam will be held at the end of semester. You are expected to have read the specified chapters from the course text prior to each lecture and will be examined on material covered in these chapters. Material covered in tutorials and group sessions (which are meant to reinforce concepts presented in lectures) will also be examined, as will the presentations from industry speakers.

Marks for each course segment, together with assignment submission dates, are as follows:

Assignment:

Marks

Submission Date

1. Draft proposal

0

4pm Tuesday 1 April (week 6)

2. Detailed proposal

25

4pm Tuesday 6 May (week 9)

3. Individual report

5

4pm Tuesday 27 May (week 12)

4. Group presentation

10

4-6pm Tuesday 27 May and 3 June (weeks 12, 13)

5. Final exam

60

100

 Sometime in June

A satisfactory performance in all of the above segments, as well as satisfactory participation in group sessions is required to achieve a passing grade. If you miss (or are late for, or leave early from) group practical sessions in weeks 3 to 13, you will be penalised on marks for assignments 2, 3 and the group presentation as follows:

Number MissedPercent lost
120
240
360
4 or more100

You are reminded that University Rules will be applied without reservation in relation to late assignments, plagiarism and failure to meet stated course requirements.

Teaching Staff

Role Name Email Room Office hours
Convenor, Lecturer Peter Busch busch@ics.mq.edu.au E6A320 Monday 2-4, Fri 4-6
Lecturer Bill Dalgliesh wdalglie@ics.mq.edu.au - -

Classes

Each week you should attend 2 hours of lectures, a one hour tutorial and a two hour practical. For details of days, times and rooms consult the timetables webpage.

Note that Practicals commence in week 2, and Tutorials commence in week 2 .

You should have selected a tutorial and a practical at enrolment. You should attend the tutorial and practical you are enrolled in. If you do not have a class, or if you wish to change one, you should see the enrolment operators in the E7B courtyard during the first two weeks of the semester. Thereafter you should go to the Student Centre.

Please note that you will be required to attend most of the tutorials and hand in prepared work each week. Failure to do so may result in you failing the unit or being excluded from the exam.

Required and Recommended Texts

You are required to obtain a copy of the following text:

Additional reading that you may find useful for this unit:

Unit Web Page

The web page for this unit can be found at http://online.mq.edu.au/pub/COMP360. Note that the majority of the unit materials are publicly available while some material requires you to log in to WebCT to access it.

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Each week you should:

Lecture notes will be made available each week but these notes are intended as an outline of the lecture only and are not a substitute for your own notes or the textbook.

Timetable and Venues

Lectures: Tuesday 6 to 8pm E7B 100
Practicals: Tuesday 4 to 6pm E5A 131
Tuesday 4 to 6pm E6A 133
Tutorials: Tuesday 10am E7B 164
Tuesday 11am X5B 132

Course Schedule

Week

Lecture (2 hours)

Tutorial (1 hour)

Practical (2 hours)

Text

1

26/2

(Tues)

What is management?

The Management environment.

Introduction to the activities/project (BD)

 

 

Ch 1

2

4/3

Introduction to negotiation

Planning and resources

Market positioning (BD)

Understanding groups and teams. Text Ch 14

 

Activity 0: Moon exercise

Ch 8

3

11/3

Organisational structure (BD)

Video: Porter on strategic planning

Activity 1: Negotiation exercise. (See website for activities 1 to 6.)

Ch 10

4

18/3

Risk – decision theory (BD)

 

Cash flow

Activity 2: Identifying a market opportunity.

Ch 6

Pp 217-222

5

25/3

Project management #1:

(BD,PB)

 

Activity 3: Developing an initial proposal.

 

6

1/4

Project management #2:

(BD,PB)

Forecasting

Activity 4: Building the Organisation; develop organisation structure; long and short term.

Recruit MD.

Assignment 1 due: Preliminary Business Plan (0%)

 

7

8/4

Commercialisation

(link to risk)

(BD)

Forecasting exercise

 

Activity 5: Refine your estimates.

 

Mid Semester Break: 11th April to 27th April

8

29/4

Ethics, power and politics,

Change management (BD)

Project Management

Activity 6: Project planning and management; detailed planning (budgets, markets etc)

 

Ch 5,12

9

6/5

Motivation,

Leadership (BD)

Ethics

Assignment 2 due: Final Business Plan (25%)

Ch 15, 16

10

13/5

Guest Speaker (TBA)

(BD)

 

 

 

11

20/5

Guest Speaker (TBA)

(BD)

 

Presentation session (1)

 

12

27/5

Communication, Operations and Value Chain management (BD)

Motivation and leadership

Presentation session (2)

Assignment 3 due:

Group dynamics essay (5%)

Ch 17, 19

13

3/6

Summing up and exam revision (BD, PB)

Communication

Presentation session (3)

 

Examinations

The university examination period in First Half year 2008 is from 11-27 June.

You are expected to present yourself for examination at the time and place designated in the University Examination Timetable. The timetable will be available in Draft form approximately eight weeks before the commencement of the examinations and in Final form approximately four weeks before the commencement of examinations.

You are advised that it is Macquarie University policy not to set early examinations for individuals or groups of students. All students are expected to ensure that they are available until the end of the teaching semester, that is the final day of the official examination period.

The only exception to not sitting an examination at the designated time is because of documented illness or unavoidable disruption. In these circumstances you may wish to consider applying for Special Consideration. Information about unavoidable disruption and the special consideration process is available on the web (PDF).

If a Supplementary Examination is granted as a result of the Special Consideration process the examination will be scheduled after the conclusion of the official examination period. For details of the Special Consideration policy specific to the Department of Computing, see the Department's policy page.

Plagiarism

Please refer to the Department of Computing Plagiarism Policy for the definition of plagiarism, advice on avoiding it and the penalties in place if you are found to have submitted plagiarised work.

University Policy on Grading

Academic Senate has a set of guidelines on the distribution of grades across the range from fail to high distinction. Your final result will include one of these grades plus a standardised numerical grade (SNG).

On occasion your raw mark for a unit (i.e., the total of your marks for each assessment item) may not be the same as the SNG which you receive. Under the Senate guidelines, results may be scaled to ensure that there is a degree of comparability across the university, so that units with the same past performances of their students should achieve similar results.

It is important that you realise that the policy does not require that a minimum number of students are to be failed in any unit. In fact it does something like the opposite, in requiring examiners to explain their actions if more than 20% of students fail in a unit.

Student Support Services

Macquarie University provides a range of Academic Student Support Services. Details of these services can accessed at http://www.student.mq.edu.au.

The Department of Computing provides a First Year Liaison Officer to help deal with non-unit related issues that you might have as a first year student at Macquarie. If you are falling behind in your work or having problems that interfere with your studies, please ask to see the Liaison officer: Ros Ballantyne, email ros at ics.mq.edu.au, telephone 98509513.

Staff-Student Liaison Committee

The Department has established a Staff-Student Liaison Committee at each level (100, 200, 300) to provide all students studying a Computing unit the opportunity to discuss related issues or problems with both students and staff.

For each meeting, an agenda is issued and minutes are taken. These are posted on the web at:

Details of the regular meeting dates will be posted on the unit home page. Anyone with an interest in Computing units may attend. This includes staff involved in the teaching and administration of the units, and all students currently taking a Computing unit at that level. There are formal Liaison Committee representatives for each unit who attend to present the views of the student body; all students are welcome and are encouraged to attend.

The meetings are usually held in the Department of Computing Meeting Room, E6A357.

To forward agenda items or get in touch with your representative, send an email to m360liaison@ics.mq.edu.au.

If you have exhausted all other avenues, then you should consult the Director of Teaching (Dr Steve Cassidy) or the Head of Department (Assoc. Prof. Bernard Mans). You are entitled to have your concerns raised, discussed and resolved.

Copyright & Site information

  • CRICOS Provider No 00002J, ABN 90 952 801 237
  • Authorised by: HOD