Postgraduate - UnitMGX5680 - Managerial problem solving and decision making

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

print version

6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Business and Economics
Organisational Unit	Department of Management
Offered	Caulfield First semester 2015 (Off-campus) Caulfield First semester 2015 (Evening)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Robyn Cochrane

Synopsis

This unit focuses on enhancing students' understanding of problem solving and decision making processes in management practice, from a critical perspective on managerial thinking and action as an art of practical wisdom and sound judgment.
Through interactive group work, role play, case studies and situational exercises, students will apply analytical reasoning and adaptive-creative methods of decision making to successfully manage organisational problems. Specific tools and techniques will be used to illustrate the complexity of managers' roles in defining problems; generating, evaluating and implementing solutions; balancing rationality and intuition; and making group decisions.

Outcomes

The learning goals associated with this unit are to:

interpret organisational phenomena effectively, in order to define problems and identify decision-making situations
analyse patterns and relationships in problem solving and decision making processes
identify and evaluate problem contexts, explanations and alternative solutions
recognise and avoid errors in reasoning and decision-making
identify implicit assumptions, constraints and biases in problem solving and decision making, and develop strategies to effectively communicate these to stakeholders.

Assessment

Within Semester Assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Robyn Cochrane

Co-requisites

Students must be enrolled in one of the following courses: 0105, 0319, 2099, 2778, 1065, 3801, 1506, 2643, 2642, 0200, 0201, 0028 or 1822 or seek Chief Examiner's approval before undertaking this unit.