326-328 Business Development and Strategy

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Objectives:

The aims of this subject are to introduce students to the complexity of the evolving structure and organisation of modern corporations; to compare and contrast alternative forms of business organisation; to provide an analytical structure to analyse and understand the structure and organisation of today's large firms; and to critically assess managerial strategies for firm growth. The subject provides students in accounting, economics and industrial relations with an introduction to many basic ideas and concepts employed in advanced courses in their major field of study.

Content:

This subject analyses the origins, evolution and attributes of the modern business corporation. The principal focus is on strategic decision-making by managers which determines the form of the firm's relationship with its external environment and the organisation of its internal structure. Specifically, the course investigates how managers introduce policies for vertical integration, diversification and multinational expansion and how managers implement monitoring and control mechanisms which determine the form of the firm's organisational structure. An important part of the subject examines the use of accounting techniques as control and decision-making devices to assess and act on data generated both by the firm's external environment and its internal organisation.

Australia's corporate economy is described and the issues surrounding the revitalisation of the Australian economy in a competitive world discussed.

The subject contrasts the different ways Western and Japanese firms are organised, assessing the relative merits of these alternative types of business organisation. The course explores whether the Japanese form of business organisation (such as teamwork, life-time employment, seniority wages and enterprise unions) and the close external relationships between Japanese parent firms and subcontractors and supplier are uniquely Japanese. Other organisation forms, such as strategic alliances, joint ventures and coalitions are analysed. The rise of scientific management and the evolution of segmented and internal labour markets are investigated.

Principal/agent theory and transaction and cost economics form the organising concepts for the subject.

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