MGB236 Identifying and Managing Risk

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Gardens Point, Internal

Overview

Developing an understanding of risk management, in theory and practice, is essential for ensuring resilient and sustainable organisations. Effective risk management outcomes result from the analysis of uncertainties embedded in human knowledge, systems of management and processes in commerce, and from implementing mitigation strategies generated to address these factors. This unit seeks to develop students managerial toolkit with current Risk Management models and current national and international risk standards. All forms of organisations face and manage risk in different ways, and this unit shares insights for managing risk in an array of private, public, and entrepreneurial contexts. 

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Describe and illustrate the concepts and frameworks used in risk management and their application in the public and private sectors both domestically and internationally.
2. Investigate and report how uncertainty, vulnerability as well as social and systems complexity impact on our capacity to assess and manage risk.
3. Analyse options for implementing risk mitigation strategies to a range of critical organisational case studies.
4. Demonstrate skills in professional communication.

Content

Learning Approaches

The teaching and learning strategies applied in this unit are intended to maximise your involvement and engagement with the concepts that are being presented and to provide opportunities for you to develop thinking and practical skills in a supportive environment. The unit is designed to promote and assess your understanding of the core concepts covered and not just your ability in rote learning and recitation. The unit incorporates a range of interactive lectures, tutorials, and online learning resources to ensure adequate time is devoted to skills development and theory while also familiarising students with self-directed learning, which will become an important aspect of working life once students graduate. 
 
Lectures and tutorials are structured to provide a dynamic learning environment to promote a mixing of theory and critical and analytical applications to real world cases. Lectures include a range of activities: such as guest speakers from entrepreneurial organisations sharing their insights, case studies, desktop simulations and practical risk walk-throughs. Learning activities are designed to provide students with a forum to discuss the application of key literature/readings to real world settings, and tutorials provide instructions and activities that step students through the assessment tasks set for the unit. Canvas resources have been designed for self-directed learning with respect to key readings, case reviews, revision activities, etc., and are supported by the lecture and tutorial program throughout the semester. 
 
This unit uses text authentication tools via Canvas that assists students to develop the academic skills required to correctly use and cite reference material as well as to check citations and determine possible instances of plagiarism. You will be required to submit draft and/or final versions of one or more assignments using these text authentication tools. Your Unit Coordinator will provide detailed information on how the software will be used in this unit. 

COVID-19 restrictions may require changes to the planned Learning Approaches described here.  Students should refer to the unit Canvas site for the latest information. 

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Students will receive feedback in various forms throughout the semester, which may include: 

• Informal: worked examples, such as verbal feedback in class, personal consultation 
• Formal: in writing, such as checklists (e.g. criteria sheets), written commentary 

• Direct: to individual students, either in written form or in consultation 
• Indirect: to whole class 

Assessment

Overview

Assessment in this unit is structured around authentic risk management work outputs, including the developing of corporate threat register entries, developing risk management templates for projects, and exercising risk management and crisis management decision making techniques.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Risk Assessment

The purpose of the first assessment item is for students to apply an internationally recognised standard for managing risk (ISO:31000) to investigate and evaluate a particular threat to an entrepreneurial organisation. To do this, students will be assigned an organisation and context to research, and then populate and submit a corporate threat register template with their research and critical thinking, and explain the threat register entry in a brief video to report on the potential vulnerability for an organisational system - in doing so, a risk rating for the threat will be communicated to the organisation. 

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Risk Management Template

The purpose of the second assessment item is for students to gain an understanding of the challenges of applying risk models and standards to a real world context. Building on the risk analysis created in Assessment 1, students will design a template for a risk management plan, adapted to the context of their assigned organisation. In doing so, students improve the organisation's preparedness for managing disturbances to operations and/or corporate management. To do this, students are required to apply the Business Continuity Management Standard (AS/NZS:5050) as a central framework to create a risk management plan template and demonstrate how the template can be used to provide pragmatic treatment strategies for their assigned organisation to manage risk.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Crisis Management Simulation

The purpose of the final assessment item is for students to critically reflect on key learnings about the effectiveness of risk management models and frameworks for managing crisis when implemented in practice. Building on the contexts explored in Assessment 1 and Assessment 2, students are required to implement a crisis or risk management model to make practical decisions during a crisis simulation. The simulation, which commences in Week 11, requires students to make a series of decisions to navigate a crisis event in the context of the entrepreneurial organisation covered in Assessments 1 and 2, and requires students to reflect on their sense making and reasoning for each decision made. At the conclusion of the simulation, students will evaluate their effectiveness for making decision in high tempo operations, and share their reflections via a 10-15 minute video presentation in Week 13.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

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.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Requirements to Study

Requirements

No additional requirements.

Costs

No additional costs.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with the workshops in this unit. You should, however, familiarise yourself with evacuation procedures operating in the buildings in which you attend classes and take the time to view the Emergency video.