units

AZA3764

Faculty of Arts

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This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 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.

Monash University

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

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

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

South Africa School of Social Sciences

Coordinator(s)

Ms Marianne Louw

Offered

South Africa

  • Second semester 2016 (Day)

Synopsis

The unit explores consulting as a process by which an individual or firm assists a client to achieve a stated outcome in the complex South African markets of corporate communication and public relations. The unit considers a consultant as someone who has expertise in a specific area or areas and offers unbiased opinions and advice for a fee. The opinion or advice is rendered exclusively in the interests of the client. Activities and practices include the provision of information, assessment, analysis, recommendations and implementation strategies.
The scope of the unit is explicitly practical in its orientation. It addresses the question: How can you turn your knowledge and abilities into a successful career outcome as a consultant in the communication industries?
Apart from the consideration of how to set up a consultancy, develop marketing strategies and proposals, it also includes skills that are valued in industry such as reporting, presentation, and media relations skills.
The unit includes fieldwork excursions, presentations by guest lectures, and case study approaches drawing on the experience of selected individual professional consultants in South Africa. Reading will accompany lectures and practical fieldwork tasks. Students will be expected to formulate and (with assistance) work on their own consultancy/intern project. Related topics include the creation and supervision of teams; use of specialists, information technology, media skills, publishing and other topics related to the consulting industry in South Africa.

Outcomes

At the completion of the unit candidates should have an understanding of:

  1. The role of the consultant or contract worker in the communication industries in South Africa and globally.
  2. The nature and organisation of work in the communication industries in South Africa and globally.
  3. Problem-solving skills pertinent to work in the communication industries in South Africa and globally.
  4. Reporting, presentation and media skills appropriate to the communication industries in South Africa and globally.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 80%
Exam: 20%

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. A 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.

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Prohibitions

ATS3764