IAB402 IT Consulting and Leadership
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | IAB402 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | IAB204 OR (192cps in SV03 or SV04 or IV04 or IV05 or MV05 or MV06 or BV06 or BV07 or EV08 or EV07) OR (Admission to IN20 or IN27 or IN31 or IV53 or IV57 or IV54 or IV59 or IV55 or IV52 or IV56 or IV51 or IV58 or IV60) |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $1,192 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $4,704 |
| International unit fee | $5,640 |
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2026, Gardens Point, Internal
| Unit code: | IAB402 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | IAB204 OR (192cps in SV03 or SV04 or IV04 or IV05 or MV05 or MV06 or BV06 or BV07 or EV08 or EV07) OR Admission to IN20 or IN27 or IN31 or IV53 or IV57 or IV54 or IV59 or IV55 or IV52 or IV56 or IV51 or IV58 or IV60 |
| Coordinator: | Ignatius Chukwudi | ignatius.chukwudi@qut.edu.au |
Overview
In IAB402 IT Consulting and Leadership, you will gain an appreciation of the management of consulting practices and an understanding of the consulting sector generally. Leveraging skills/knowledge in developing business requirements analysis to identify systems problems or opportunities and specify solution-approaches, Business Analysts and other IT professionals must be able to convincingly communicate these (problems, opportunities, requirements, solution-approach) to managers, colleagues and clients in the form of a proposal. Many roles benefit from such specialised proposal writing and communication capabilities. Organisations are increasingly moving to flatter, project-oriented team structures, akin to consulting firms. A better appreciation of the consulting process will benefit you working in these modern organisations as IT professionals. The unit will provide information on establishing a consulting practice and techniques to engage clients successfully.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Discuss Information Technology Consulting frameworks and practices that support IT consulting professionals and their professional activities..
- Analyse a real-world client problem or opportunity using appropriate methods and analytic tools to ensure that different perspectives, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, are incorporated into IT strategy and management practices.
- Ideate potential solutions for a client using innovative approaches, and systems and design thinking skills to address complex IT consulting challenges.
- Demonstrate autonomy and responsibility in creating a comprehensive client proposal with clear recommendations that will assist in decision-making processes within a client firm.
- Apply oral communication skills to communicate effectively in consulting-style presentations and engagement meetings within a competitive team environment while adapting to new challenges and technologies.
- Collaborate with others in a team environment to manage a consulting project through the application of the principles and practices of consulting and engagement and personal review techniques.
Content
This unit presents the tactical and strategic issues in Information Technology consulting and Leadership, particularly client engagement and management. Client engagement focuses on identifying a client, identifying an IT requirement, responding to that issue and obtaining agreement to move the client to action phases in the IT Consulting and Management Lifecycle.
This unit emphasises Information Technology (IT) related work, particularly Information Systems (IS), as IS constitutes a substantial portion of consulting activity and cuts across all areas of business expertise. The unit examines the dynamics of IS consulting and management within the context of large consulting firms. It familiarises you with the consulting engagement lifecycles and a consulting firm's strategic and operational environment.
You are also exposed to consulting management issues such as capability planning, marketing, strategic positioning, and client engagement techniques. There is a concentration on engagement, including how to organise a proposal, steps in structuring a client-consultant meeting, consulting presentation techniques, tendering and contracting issues, negotiation and exposure to consultants working in large and small firms.
Learning Approaches
This unit is available for you to study on-campus or online. The unit revolves around the IT consulting process. Theory and concepts addressed in the lectures and reading materials combined with practical application developed in the tutorials come together in a compulsory full-day, Saturday workshop at which students, organised into client and consultant teams, interact to arrive at a client choice of consultant proposal. Reflection on this workshop experience will demonstrate the application of ideas encountered in the readings and classroom discussion. In tutorials, you will practise skills to enhance your chances of securing consultant engagements.
The tutorials are skills-based, and they develop presentation, meeting, and proposal writing techniques. These tutorial exercises build on the content of the lectures, supported by the readings. The lectures are descriptive content covering practical and theoretical IT consulting concepts.
The teaching staff are all trained consultants who work or have worked in the industry. Other practising consultants also contribute to this unit.
The workshop is a grand simulation of a competitive tender for IS consulting work. Consulting teams will compete in streams of 5 to win the tender, awarded by a Client team. This workshop is based on normal industry practice.
You can expect to spend between 10 - 15 hours per week on average involved in preparing for and attending all scheduled workshops, completing assessment tasks, and undertaking your own independent study to consolidate your learning.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Individual feedback is provided to you on your performance in the tutorial exercises. Based on the weekly lectures, textbook content and Q&As, structured feedback on presentation, meeting and negotiation techniques is provided during each tutorial. Your peers also provide some feedback during these processes. This feedback from participating in weekly practical activities will help you to build an essential consulting practice toolkit.
Feedback on a mini-proposal will be provided by staff to assist you when writing your final workshop proposal. As well as the teaching staff, you will gain insight into the workshop experience through feedback from the client team, including a reflective discussion session following the workshop where all are debriefed on the experience.
You can obtain feedback on your progress throughout the unit through the following mechanisms:
- Ask the teaching staff for advice and assistance during lectures and practical sessions
- Formative advice on your workshop consulting proposal
- private consultation with teaching staff.
Assessment
Overview
Assessment is based on formative participation in the development of consulting skills, summative assessment of those skills within the workshop and individual assessment of your knowledge of consulting concepts and practices within an examination.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Mid-Semester Exam
During this examination, you will apply critical thinking techniques to consulting scenarios and then demonstrate their application of meeting, negotiation, proposal writing and presentation techniques when providing solutions.
This exam (non-invigilated) will be taken online. The exam is designed to assess your understanding of key IT Consulting and Leadership concepts through a set of written tasks. You will be required to provide written responses to a series of questions. Each question will ask you to explain, describe, analyse, or discuss specific concepts/problems based on the topics covered in the unit from weeks 1 - 6.
Assessment: Mini Proposal
Mini Proposal - as a consulting team, produce a brief proposal in response to a client request.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Major Proposal
Consulting Workshop
In response to a tender, students will present the report of a consulting proposal (developed prior) during the Saturday consulting workshop.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Risk Assessment Statement
All commencing FoS students are required to complete the Mandatory Safety Induction
There are no extraordinary risks associated with the classroom/lecture activities in this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.IN01 Bachelor of Information Technology
- Demonstrate a broad theoretical and technical knowledge of well-established and emerging IT disciplines, with in-depth knowledge in at least one specialist area aligned to multiple ICT professional roles.
Relates to: ULO1, Mid-Semester Exam - Critically analyse and conceptualise complex IT challenges and opportunities using modelling, abstraction, ideation and problem-solving to generate, evaluate and justify recommended solutions.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO3, Mini Proposal, Major Proposal - Integrate and apply technical knowledge and skills to analyse, design, build, operate and maintain sustainable, secure IT systems using industry-standard tools, technologies, platforms, and processes.
Relates to: ULO3, Mini Proposal, Major Proposal - Demonstrate initiative, autonomy and personal responsibility for continuous learning, working both independently and collaboratively within multi-disciplinary teams, employing state-of-the-art IT project management methodologies to plan and manage time, resources, and risk.
Relates to: ULO4, ULO6, Mid-Semester Exam, Mini Proposal, Major Proposal - Communicate professionally and effectively in written, verbal and visual formats to a diverse range of stakeholders, considering the audience and explaining complex ideas in a simple and understandable manner in a range of IT-related contexts.
Relates to: ULO5, Mini Proposal, Major Proposal - Critically reflect, using a human-centric approach, on the social, cultural, ethical, privacy, legal, sustainability, and accessibility issues shaping the development and use of IT, including respecting the perspectives and knowledge systems of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, ensuring IT solutions empower and support people with disabilities, and fostering inclusive and equitable digital technologies that serve diverse communities.
Relates to: Mini Proposal, Major Proposal
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2026, Online
| Unit code: | IAB402 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | IAB204 OR (192cps in SV03 or SV04 or IV04 or IV05 or MV05 or MV06 or BV06 or BV07 or EV08 or EV07) OR Admission to IN20 or IN27 or IN31 or IV53 or IV57 or IV54 or IV59 or IV55 or IV52 or IV56 or IV51 or IV58 or IV60 |
Overview
In IAB402 IT Consulting and Leadership, you will gain an appreciation of the management of consulting practices and an understanding of the consulting sector generally. Leveraging skills/knowledge in developing business requirements analysis to identify systems problems or opportunities and specify solution-approaches, Business Analysts and other IT professionals must be able to convincingly communicate these (problems, opportunities, requirements, solution-approach) to managers, colleagues and clients in the form of a proposal. Many roles benefit from such specialised proposal writing and communication capabilities. Organisations are increasingly moving to flatter, project-oriented team structures, akin to consulting firms. A better appreciation of the consulting process will benefit you working in these modern organisations as IT professionals. The unit will provide information on establishing a consulting practice and techniques to engage clients successfully.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Discuss Information Technology Consulting frameworks and practices that support IT consulting professionals and their professional activities..
- Analyse a real-world client problem or opportunity using appropriate methods and analytic tools to ensure that different perspectives, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, are incorporated into IT strategy and management practices.
- Ideate potential solutions for a client using innovative approaches, and systems and design thinking skills to address complex IT consulting challenges.
- Demonstrate autonomy and responsibility in creating a comprehensive client proposal with clear recommendations that will assist in decision-making processes within a client firm.
- Apply oral communication skills to communicate effectively in consulting-style presentations and engagement meetings within a competitive team environment while adapting to new challenges and technologies.
- Collaborate with others in a team environment to manage a consulting project through the application of the principles and practices of consulting and engagement and personal review techniques.
Content
This unit presents the tactical and strategic issues in Information Technology consulting and Leadership, particularly client engagement and management. Client engagement focuses on identifying a client, identifying an IT requirement, responding to that issue and obtaining agreement to move the client to action phases in the IT Consulting and Management Lifecycle.
This unit emphasises Information Technology (IT) related work, particularly Information Systems (IS), as IS constitutes a substantial portion of consulting activity and cuts across all areas of business expertise. The unit examines the dynamics of IS consulting and management within the context of large consulting firms. It familiarises you with the consulting engagement lifecycles and a consulting firm's strategic and operational environment.
You are also exposed to consulting management issues such as capability planning, marketing, strategic positioning, and client engagement techniques. There is a concentration on engagement, including how to organise a proposal, steps in structuring a client-consultant meeting, consulting presentation techniques, tendering and contracting issues, negotiation and exposure to consultants working in large and small firms.
Learning Approaches
This unit is available for you to study on-campus or online. The unit revolves around the IT consulting process. Theory and concepts addressed in the lectures and reading materials combined with practical application developed in the tutorials come together in a compulsory full-day, Saturday workshop at which students, organised into client and consultant teams, interact to arrive at a client choice of consultant proposal. Reflection on this workshop experience will demonstrate the application of ideas encountered in the readings and classroom discussion. In tutorials, you will practise skills to enhance your chances of securing consultant engagements.
The tutorials are skills-based, and they develop presentation, meeting, and proposal writing techniques. These tutorial exercises build on the content of the lectures, supported by the readings. The lectures are descriptive content covering practical and theoretical IT consulting concepts.
The teaching staff are all trained consultants who work or have worked in the industry. Other practising consultants also contribute to this unit.
The workshop is a grand simulation of a competitive tender for IS consulting work. Consulting teams will compete in streams of 5 to win the tender, awarded by a Client team. This workshop is based on normal industry practice.
You can expect to spend between 10 - 15 hours per week on average involved in preparing for and attending all scheduled workshops, completing assessment tasks, and undertaking your own independent study to consolidate your learning.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Individual feedback is provided to you on your performance in the tutorial exercises. Based on the weekly lectures, textbook content and Q&As, structured feedback on presentation, meeting and negotiation techniques is provided during each tutorial. Your peers also provide some feedback during these processes. This feedback from participating in weekly practical activities will help you to build an essential consulting practice toolkit.
Feedback on a mini-proposal will be provided by staff to assist you when writing your final workshop proposal. As well as the teaching staff, you will gain insight into the workshop experience through feedback from the client team, including a reflective discussion session following the workshop where all are debriefed on the experience.
You can obtain feedback on your progress throughout the unit through the following mechanisms:
- Ask the teaching staff for advice and assistance during lectures and practical sessions
- Formative advice on your workshop consulting proposal
- private consultation with teaching staff.
Assessment
Overview
Assessment is based on formative participation in the development of consulting skills, summative assessment of those skills within the workshop and individual assessment of your knowledge of consulting concepts and practices within an examination.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Mid-Semester Exam
During this examination, you will apply critical thinking techniques to consulting scenarios and then demonstrate their application of meeting, negotiation, proposal writing and presentation techniques when providing solutions.
This exam (non-invigilated) will be taken online. The exam is designed to assess your understanding of key IT Consulting and Leadership concepts through a set of written tasks. You will be required to provide written responses to a series of questions. Each question will ask you to explain, describe, analyse, or discuss specific concepts/problems based on the topics covered in the unit from weeks 1 - 6.
Assessment: Mini Proposal
Mini Proposal - as a consulting team, produce a brief proposal in response to a client request.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Major Proposal
Consulting Workshop
In response to a tender, students will present the report of a consulting proposal (developed prior) during the Saturday consulting workshop.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Risk Assessment Statement
All commencing FoS students are required to complete the Mandatory Safety Induction
There are no extraordinary risks associated with the classroom/lecture activities in this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.IN01 Bachelor of Information Technology
- Demonstrate a broad theoretical and technical knowledge of well-established and emerging IT disciplines, with in-depth knowledge in at least one specialist area aligned to multiple ICT professional roles.
Relates to: ULO1, Mid-Semester Exam - Critically analyse and conceptualise complex IT challenges and opportunities using modelling, abstraction, ideation and problem-solving to generate, evaluate and justify recommended solutions.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO3, Mini Proposal, Major Proposal - Integrate and apply technical knowledge and skills to analyse, design, build, operate and maintain sustainable, secure IT systems using industry-standard tools, technologies, platforms, and processes.
Relates to: ULO3, Mini Proposal, Major Proposal - Demonstrate initiative, autonomy and personal responsibility for continuous learning, working both independently and collaboratively within multi-disciplinary teams, employing state-of-the-art IT project management methodologies to plan and manage time, resources, and risk.
Relates to: ULO4, ULO6, Mid-Semester Exam, Mini Proposal, Major Proposal - Communicate professionally and effectively in written, verbal and visual formats to a diverse range of stakeholders, considering the audience and explaining complex ideas in a simple and understandable manner in a range of IT-related contexts.
Relates to: ULO5, Mini Proposal, Major Proposal - Critically reflect, using a human-centric approach, on the social, cultural, ethical, privacy, legal, sustainability, and accessibility issues shaping the development and use of IT, including respecting the perspectives and knowledge systems of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, ensuring IT solutions empower and support people with disabilities, and fostering inclusive and equitable digital technologies that serve diverse communities.
Relates to: Mini Proposal, Major Proposal