MGMT658 - Changing World of Work

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

MGMT641 Organisational Dynamics and Behaviour

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

Digital disruption, globalization and changes to the regulatory environment are fundamentally changing the way people work. Graduates of the MBA are expected to develop agile working practices to adapt to the ever-changing work landscape. In particular, they are expected to apply twenty-first century literacies appropriately based on the knowledge of current communications technologies, practices and engagement with diverse groups in society. They are also expected to engage in ongoing self- development and lifelong learning as technologies and associated literacies progress. This unit provide students with a range of skills to assist them in becoming adaptive employees working for both organizations and, at times, themselves. These skills include self-management, personal branding and resilience. The overarching aim of this unit is to teach students how to continuously develop their professional skills and relevance in an ever-changing work environment.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Demonstrate understanding of the nature of digital disruption and its impact on work practices (GA4, GA5)

LO2 - Describe key trends in digital disruption and these impact on the common good (GA2, GA5)

LO3 - Outline how careers and work identities will change in the future (GA4, GA8)

LO4 - Apply models of personal development to assist in developing resilience to change (GA5, GA9, GA10) 

LO5 - Engage effectively in personal branding (GA4, GA8, GA9, GA10) 

Graduate attributes

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession  

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include:

• Nature of digital disruption
• Trends in digital disruption
• Positive and negative impacts of digital disruption
• Workplace impacts of change
• Nature of contemporary careers
• Personality types and models
• Coping with change
• Building resilience
• Personal branding

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit takes an active learning approach which requires students to not only understand the complexity of modern work but to actively engage in activities which help make sense of disruption and change on a personal level. The unit will be undertaken using an interactive seminar approach, supplemented with online learning and facilitated online learning sessions. Students will work individually in developing their own style and collaboratively in small groups to support each other in this development. Students will also engage in peer coaching in assisting in this personal and professional development. Learning will be predominantly self-directed and academic staff will act as facilitators in this process.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment strategy for this unit is based on a progression from demonstrating knowledge about the nature of the changing nature of work, to implementing personal strategies to cope with the changing nature of work. Students will be provided with the theoretical knowledge and tools to manage the future workplace and the assessment will provide an opportunity to develop these skills in a supportive environment.

The assessment items support this strategy of developing personal attributes for a changing work environment as follows. The first assessment item requires students to analyse the contemporary and developing world of work based on the notion of digital disruption. The second assessment item requires students to critically examine how different personality types work together to assist in developing skills to manage multiple team environments across the working life span. The final assessment is focused on students being able to identify their marketable strengths and skills and be able to develop a presence which is attractive to potential employers.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Carver, C. and Sheier, M. 2017. Perspectives on Personality 8th edn. Pearson.

D’Alessndro, D. 2018 Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand on the Business Battlefield. McGraw-Hill.

Dial, M. and Storkey, C. 2017. Futureproof: How to Get Your Business Ready for the Next Disruption. Pearson, FT Press.

Goodwin, T. 2018 Digital Darwinism: Survival of the Fittest in the Age of Digitial Disruption. Kogan Page Inspire

McQuivey, J.  2013 Digital Disruption: Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation. Forrester Research, Amazon Publishing

Sidhu, I. 2016 The Digital Revolution: How Connected Digital Innovations are Transforming Your Industry, Company and Career. Pearson FT Press.

Thomas, M. 2018. The Financial Times Guide to Social Media Strategy: Boost Your Business, Manage Risk and Develop Your Personal Brand. FT Press.