Online MBA Course Structure

The Academic Integrity Module will introduce you to academic integrity standards, so you’re informed about how to avoid plagiarism and academic misconduct.  You’ll complete four parts that cover academic misconduct and academic integrity decisions, such as cheating, plagiarism and collusion.  You’ll learn about the text-matching tool, Turnitin, that is used at La Trobe, how to get help and where to go to develop referencing skills.

In partnership with Mercer, Critical Skills for Success begins by examining the workforce of the future and how to navigate the transition to executive leadership. You explore self-leadership, leading others and leading for results, as well as ways to personalise your leadership development through our MBA program. You will explore contemporary capabilities identified by industry leaders.

Examine the theory and practice of modern management in contemporary organisations. and critically evaluate current thinking on organisational design, strategy, and managing employees and operations to adapt to the current world of work. Through application of different philosophical perspectives to practical case studies, you will explore the opportunities and constraints in designing innovative, flexible, and adaptive organisations that promote sustainable economic growth and productive employment. You will assess and apply management theories and practices to optimise changes in organisational design and culture that fosters equality (UN SDG 5) and employee well-being (UN SDG 3).

In this subject you will gain a critical understanding of the role and functions of accounting information in business decision making. These include the use of information in external financial reports as a basis for evidence-based financial judgements and how managers use a range of internal financial and non-financial information to make strategic decisions. Independently and with others, you will work on various activities including case studies to become a judicious user of accounting information. You will also explore the role of accounting and associated reporting of broader ethical and social issues.

This subject is designed to provide you with knowledge and skills in financial management. The central theme deals with advanced understanding of the basics of internal financial management and how financial policy affects risk and profitability in the growth of a firm, and hence the value of the firm. You will consider the management finance, potentially its goal of maximization of the value of the firm, through management of three key decision areas, being valuation, financing and dividend payout. In turn, this requires a consideration of the requisite debt and equity financing and the need for efficient management of working capital to ensure adequate liquidity and timely cash flows.

You will be provided with a solid foundation of contemporary marketing concepts designed to assist you in making critical marketing decisions. Particular emphasis is placed on assessing marketing trends and the associated strategic and tactical frameworks that give rise to the formulation and implementation of marketing plans. You will draw on your experience as a manger to undertake a review of a marketing case study and deploy marketing tools to solve a real-world marketing problem.

Other components of the Masters of Business Analytics program have developed a students hard/technical skills. This unit will develop the soft skills that are necessary for successful analytics in practice. The unit will address competencies such as Issue Identification, Problem Structuring, Method Selection, Data Gathering, Conducting Analysis, Developing Conclusions and Recommendations, Structuring Written Materials, Oral Communications, and Presentation Skills. Each student is expected to learn and experience these skills through a real-world project affecting our local community.

In this subject you will explore the evolving role of business in society through the lens of responsible leadership. Taking a multi-level perspective, you will critically analyse the intersection of social responsibility with a range of approaches to leadership, including stakeholder theory and shared leadership. Working individually and with other students you will evaluate contemporary organisational leaders and yourself against leadership frameworks; and you will critically reflect on how organisations, leaders, and managers can more effectively ‘avoid harm’ and ‘do good’.

This subject provides a contemporary approach to strategy formulation and implementation. The emphasis is on design-thinking and creative ideation for solving problems and strategy execution in a rapidly changing global environment. Independently and with others, you will explore and apply concepts that offer a basis for solving complex strategic issues facing organisations. You will conceptualise and validate solutions to a problem using an evidence -based analysis.

In this subject, you will be provided with an overview of the new and emerging field of global corporate governance. Numerous corporate failures and environmental disasters in recent times have provided a surge of interest in ensuring companies reflect not only regulatory standards but also conduct their operations to reflect community and society norms. By the conclusion of this subject you should be able to add value to your organisations through your understanding of corporate governance in a global context and of the role of the board of directors and management. Working independently, and working together with others, you will learn about corporate governance through solving business problems and develop ethical, critical thinking and problem solving skills required to add value to organisations.

In this subject you will develop your ability to critically assess the role of values, ethics and diversity in contemporary organisations. You will also be provided with an opportunity to reflect on your role as a leader in terms of values, ethics and the diversity in society. Through the use of ethical theories and real-world scenarios, you will develop your abilities to re-frame organisational practices in their ethical context and to include ethical considerations in organisational decision-making. The concept of workplace inclusion is introduced and evaluated with particular regard to the most pressing demographic issues in the Australian and global contexts, and informed by theories of human rights, just distribution, respect and equality. A selection of other relevant topics (e.g., conflict within teams, the future of work) will be introduced, shaped by current research, current events and your interests.

In a highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment, effectively managing human capital is essential for an organisation’s success, and is increasingly part of an organisation’s strategy development and implementation. People and Culture (P&C) and Human Resource Management (HRM) is often a distinct unit within an organisation, but it is also increasingly integrated within the general management role. Thus, effective general managers must be able to retain talent, manage staff wellbeing and enhance employees’ productivity. In this subject, you will explore contemporary HRM concepts for leading and implementing people and culture strategies that contribute to organisational sustainability, productive employment and decent work for all (UN SDG 8). You will be encouraged to critically examine how current people and culture practices can be applied in the general management context.

As the fourth industrial revolution connects people and industries throughout the world, managers and organisations must increasingly navigate issues related to globalisation, regionalisation and environmental analysis, as well as assess political risk, culture and diversity, and global corporate responsibility. In this subject you will analyse and critique the interconnected issues of strategy, structure, culture, and people management in international business operations.

Entrepreneurship is a symbol of business tenacity and achievement. Once the province of small business, leading edge corporate activity now involves an infusion of entrepreneurial thinking into large organisational structures. This change represents a response to the growing number of new and sophisticated competitors in the global market, as well as recognition that firms continue to lose some of their most talented people, who leave to become small business entrepreneurs. In this subject you will examine the entrepreneurial perspective, which frequently combines leadership, innovation and the assumption of risk beyond security. You will then work through the challenges involved in transforming an innovation or an idea for a vibrant business venture.