MGMT309 - Governance Risk and Operations Management

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

MGMT213 Organisational Analysis

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

Governance of governmental, for-profit and not-for-profit organisations necessitates that requirements of society (the laws and regulations) are met as part of delivering organisational outcomes. Having a good understanding of the features, powers and responsibilities of the governance arrangements including risk and operations management is highly important to managers. If students are able to do this, they will have the knowledge and understanding of governance concepts, structures, frameworks and theories underpinning governance, risk and operations management, approaches and techniques of improvement and how to apply practical tools to organisational problems 

The aim of this unit is to provide knowledge and understanding of how to recognize and analyse specific governance, risk and operational problems and to propose responsible and sound solutions. 

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 - Analyse the key concepts, frameworks and theories of governance relevant at the individual, organisational, and societal level (GA2, GA5)

LO2 - Critically evaluate the role of governance in different organisational contexts drawing on ethical perspectives (GA3, GA5) 

LO3 - Participate as an individual and as a member of a team, in researching and creatively applying governance, risk and operations frameworks and tools to generate responsible and practical solutions to business and organisational problems (GA5, GA7)

LO4 - Analyse the key concepts, frameworks and theories of risk and operations management from both local and global perspective (GA5, GA8)  

Graduate attributes

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

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

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

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

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

Content

Topics will include:

• introduction to governance, risk and operations management 
• governance structures: governmental, for-profit and not-for-profit organisations 
• distinguishing strategic matters from operational matters 
• concept of risk application of risk management techniques and tools 
• risk management at the operational level 
• operations management principles and operations functions and processes 
• approaches and techniques of improvement: Six sigma and lean production management
• application of practical tools and generate solutions to business problems 
• governance at the individual, organizational, and societal level 
• governance and ethical perspectives 
• autonomous and collaborative reporting of quality management 
• trends in governance, risk and operation management

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit takes an enquiry-based learning approach to guide students in the development of knowledge associated with evidence-based decision-making. Students are able to explore the knowledge base underpinning governance, risk and operations management in a series of on campus workshops. These workshops are designed to support students to actively participate in the development of this knowledge both individually and collaboratively. By participating in these workshops, students will systematically develop their understanding of the critical aspects of governance, risk and operations management and develop their capability to generate responsible solutions to business problems. This unit takes an experiential approach to support students in developing the skills required to effectively governance, risk and operations management by sharing stories and insights and reflecting on experiences. This approach is designed to interest students who prefer to learn within a social environment and builds in expert support for skills development. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to complete and submit three graded assessment tasks and achieve an aggregate mark of at least 50%. Marking will be in accordance with a rubric specifically developed to measure students’ level of achievement of the learning outcomes for each item of assessment. Students will also be awarded a final grade which signifies their overall achievement in the unit. The assessment strategy for this unit allows students to sequentially develop their knowledge and skills of governance, risk and operations management to the point where, as part of a group, they can present a quality management solution for an organisation. To develop this level of capability, students will demonstrate their knowledge of governance through a critical report, and apply practical tools and generate a solution to a business problem through a case study. Students will further develop their understanding when apply their knowledge and understanding by presenting their findings and recommendations in the final assessment task.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Ansell, C & Torfing, J 2017, Handbook on theories of governance, Edward Elgar Publishing. 

Belvedere, V & Grando A 2017, Sustainable operations and supply chain management, John Wiley and Sons.

Gephart, RP, Mill, CC & Helgesson, KS 2018, The Routledge companion to risk and crisis management, Routledge. 

Hopkin, P 2018, Fundamentals of risk management: understanding, evaluating and implementing effective risk management, 5th Edn, Kogan Page Publishers.

Jacobs, FR and Chase, RB 2020, Operation and supply chain management, 16th Edn, McGraw Hill.

Psaros, J 2017, Governance, sustainability and ethics, Pearson.

Slack, N, Brandon-Jones, A & Johnston, R, 2019 Operations management, 9th Edn, Pearson.