Course Coordinator:Noel Tracey (ntracey@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course provides you with an appreciation of the managerial skills necessary to develop and manage a small business. After an introductory overview of small business in Australia the course presents a range of topics critical to small business success including strategy development, financial management, sustainability (SDGs), marketing, HRM and operations management. Additionally, by completing this course you will be able to better evaluate the feasibility of business ideas, appreciate the realities of finding venture capital, and prepare business plans for business growth.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Interactive online learning activities. | 1hr | Week 1 | 11 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Scheduled face to face workshops. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 11 times |
| Online | |||
| Learning materials – Interactive online learning activities. | 1hr | Week 1 | 11 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Scheduled online workshops (Recorded). | 2hrs | Week 2 | 10 times |
300 Level (Graduate)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Mapping Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | Professional Standard Mapping * Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business | |
| 1 | Critically apply theoretical concepts and discipline knowledge to practical small business scenarios |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker |
PC3, PC3.1 |
| 2 | Demonstrate competent development of comprehensive and cohesive management plans and practical solutions aimed at enhancing business growth opportunities. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Engaged |
PC3.1, PC6.2 |
| 3 | Demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of the need to take a socially responsible and sustainable approach to business decisions |
Ethical Sustainability-focussed |
PC4, PC4.1 |
| 4 | Demonstrate effective collaboration and team work in a business context. |
Empowered Ethical Engaged |
PC2.1
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| 5 | Demonstrate effective oral and written business communication skills |
Knowledgeable Empowered |
PC1.1, PC1.2 |
| CODE | COMPETENCY |
| Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business | |
| PC1.1 | Written Communication |
| PC1.2 | Oral Communication |
| PC2.1 | Teamwork |
| PC3 | Creative and Critical Thinking |
| PC3.1 | Problem Solving |
| PC4 | Community Consciousness |
| PC4.1 | Social Responsibility and Sustainability |
| PC6.2 | Discipline Knowledge |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
BUS104
Not applicable
Not applicable
It is anticipated that all students will have good written and verbal communication skills.
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Weekly online quizzes will be provided to ensure students receive formative feedback throughout the trimester. Additionally, weekly workshop questions will provide students with additional learning opportunities and direct feedback in relation to their progress and understanding of course content.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Oral | Individual and Group | 50% | 15-minute presentation |
Week 7 | Online Submission |
| All | 2 | Report | Individual | 50% | 2,000 words (+/-10%) |
Week 12 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Small Business Analysis Video Presentation | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The purpose of this task is to develop critical thinking skills and a socially responsible approach to business development, whilst enhancing professional business oral presentation, communication, and collaboration skills. |
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| Product: | Oral | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | This assessment will be performed as part of a 3 person team. You will be required to deliver a 15 minute video presentation that relates to the in-depth analysis of a small business/new venture. Further details are available on Canvas. This task is being used for measuring assurance of learning towards Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation. It assesses Program Learning Outcomes 2.1: (Demonstrate effective management and collaboration in teams in a business context.) |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Applying technologies |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Small Business & New Venture Report | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The purpose of this task is to develop enhanced professional business analytical and written communication skills. You will analyse and interpret a small business/new venture context of your choice, to identify, operationalise and justify suitable enterprise development strategies and measures. Please refer to Canvas for further information. |
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| Product: | Report | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | This is an individual assessment. Individuals are required to provide one electronic copy of the report. This task is being used for measuring assurance of learning towards Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation. The following Program Learning Objective will be assessed: PLO1.1: Written Communication - demonstrate effective written communication skills in a small business/new venture context. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Information literacy |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Recommended | Justin G. Longenecker,J. William Petty,Leslie E. Palich,Frank Hoy | 2022 | Small Business Management | 20 | Cengage |
You must have good written and verbal communications skills.
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
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