Year
2020
Units
9
Contact
4 x 8-hour intensive workshops per semester
Assumed knowledge
Students are required to possess the knowledge and skills that they have developed in topics thus far in the program. Students will have completed other topics in the program before undertaking this topic.
Course context
Core topic
Assessment
Assignments = 80%, Tutorial presentation = 20%
Topic description
Students learn about the internal management of organisations and the products or services produced in the public sector and undertake assignment work that reinforces their understanding of effective approaches to managing in the contemporary public sector.
Educational aims
This topic aims to:
  1. Introduce ways of conceptualising the internal management of organisations.
  2. Impart knowledge of effective human resource systems, work structures, and risk management practices.
  3. Indicate strategies for negotiating the organisation’s task environment.
Expected learning outcomes
On successful completion of this topic students should have:
  1. A sound knowledge of the context of the contemporary public sector in Australia and New Zealand.
  2. The capacity to interpret the task environment of the organisation and deploy organisational resources in the spirit of collaboration to achieve valued outcomes.. Ability to apply skills in evidence-based decision making.
  3. Greater appreciation of the complexity of organisational processes and the risks associated with them.
  4. Skills in communicating organisational strategy to superiors, peers, and subordinates in a consistent and persuasive manner.
  5. Awareness of the importance of networking across boundaries in government and levels of government to advance organisational goals.
  6. The confidence to tackle difficult problems, both independently and in teams, in a conceptually coherent and practically workable fashion.
  7. Demonstrated knowledge of frameworks to assess and manage wicked problems and crisis events.
  8. An understanding of the interface between internal and external operating contexts and how to integrate routine and non-routine managerial practices in ways that are both sustainable and ethical.
  9. Appreciation of the judgement required to lead a large, complex, public sector organisation in conditions that include unpredictable elements.