Leaders and managers need to know how to manage the operations and budgets of their teams, departments and organisations in order to achieve sustainable outcomes. There are greater demands these days for more efficient operations, leaner staff numbers and increased reliance on systems and processes. There is also an expectation that managers will need to achieve their budgets and improve their service delivery within their budgetary allocations. As managers, they are to oversee, design and redesign, and control the budget and processes of client services.
This unit will allow students to explore the areas of financial, accounting and operations management without being professional accountants. They will explore the budget cycle process, accounting and finance concepts, financial statements and how to read and obtain informative data from a balance sheet. This unit will also guide the students to evaluate financial management decision making processes including the preparation and presentation of cash flow statements and budgets. Practical case studies and scenarios including from not-for-profit sector will be utilised in this unit. In the same way, the students will be expected to focus on practical applications of the above concepts in the assessments.
The students will develop core capabilities for making management decisions related to budgets and resources competence to manage systems and operations.
Module A – Introduction to Budgeting and Planning. Module B – Financial Accounting Basics. Module C – Financial data tools and Statements. Module D – Setting and Managing Budgets. Module E – Operational and Strategic Planning. Module F – Monitoring and Managing Operations.
Unit code: LE9008Z
Unit status: Approved (New unit)
Points: 18.0
Unit level: Postgraduate Elective
Unit discipline: Leadership
Delivery Mode: Blended
Proposing College: School of Professional Practice - Leadership
Show when this unit is running| 1. | Interpret various principles and conventions, and the legislative and legal requirements of accounting, budgeting and operational management for profit and/or not for profit organisations |
| 2. | Evaluate the different types of data that is routinely available for analysis of organisational systems, and how this data may be analysed in decision-making, planning and reporting processes |
| 3. | Outline the management of budgetary process when making decisions relating to the allocation of different resources in the organisation to enhance efficiency and effectiveness |
| 4. | Facilitate operational management within the budgetary, political, and regulatory constrains |
| 5. | Design and implement a business plan for a project, department or a new service |
| 6. |
This is an elective unit in the Graduate Certificate in (Transformational) Leadership, Graduate Diploma in Leadership and Master of Leadership
All learning material including video lectures and practitioner interviews are accessible on the Learning Management System asynchronously. The learning material are divided up in six modules with specific topics in each module. Students will need to attend a weekly webinar on a weeknight to engage with the tutor and discuss the learning material and assessments. The students will also need to attend two intensive days on the second and fourth Saturdays of the Teaching Period that will be run as workshops to discuss the topics and engage with supplementary learning material and practical exercises and scenarios relevant to the topics of the unit.
Brigham EF, Ehrhardt MC, Financial Management: Theory & Practice, 15th Edition, Cengage, 2017. ISBN-13: 9781305632295
| Type | Description | Word count | Weight (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forum - Discussion and Reflection Forum | A series of online discussion forums where students are set a task to research, or a video to watch, an interview to conduct, or an article to read. They will need to discuss what they have learned in 200 words. Then they are required to critically review two other student's forum posts by writing about 100 words. |
1000 | 20.0 |
| Case Study - Case Study | The students will be asked critically analyse a specific organisational case study, evaluate the financial and budget data and tools used, analyse the decisions made based on the different data sets and then construct a report of their findings with recommendations for improvement. They will present their projects both orally and in a written format. |
2000 | 40.0 |
| Project Report or Project Journal - Operational / Financial Plan | The student will be asked to develop an operational or business plan based on real-life situation and real data. If this is not possible, then a case study would be required. The student will need to provide justifications for the actions, decisions and directions taken in the business plan based on the theoretical and practical frameworks covered in this unit. A reflection piece will also need to be provided as to the learning gained from this exercise. |
2000 | 40.0 |
Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 30 Oct, 2023
Unit record last updated: 2023-10-30 10:05:49 +1100