BUS Subjects

This course will aim to educate students on how to effectively communicate within today’s fast paced business environment. Within this course students will be able to identify challenges and overcome obstacles to successful business communication through the approaches of both verbal and non-verbal communication. The assessment for this course will be one full semester. Please ensure to read this Course Syllabus carefully to understand when specific assignments and readings are due.  

This subject introduces students to the legal environment in which corporations, not-for-profit organizations, and churches operate. It covers legal principles, Australia’s legal system, criminal law, tort law, contract law, corporation law, church and not-for-profit law, and workplace law.

Unit Content

Outcomes

1. Explain the legal system in Australia and identify the sources of law;
2. Evaluate contemporary public issues from a legal perspective;
3. Describe the legal environment of business;
4. Develop key business law skills;
5. Discuss the legal responsibilities and risks of doing business in Australia;
6. Develop an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of Australian regulatory environment, including from a Christian perspective;
7. Describe and explain the legal regulation of companies;
8. Identify and explain the key features and purpose of contract law.

Subject Content

1. Legal principles
2. Australia’s legal system
3. Criminal law
4. Tort law
5. Contract law
6. Corporations law
7. Consumer law
8. Church and Not-For-Profit law
9. Workplace law

This subject introduces students to the approach and theoretical tools of contemporary mainstream economics.  It sets economics in its historical, ethical and theological contexts.  There will be a special study of the economics of religious behavior and institutions.

Unit Content

Outcomes

1.    Ability to explain basic economic concepts, including:

• Scarcity, opportunity cost, marginal analysis;
• Supply and demand;
• Market efficiency and market failure;
• Cost-benefit principle;
• Forecasting;
• Growth, employment, and fluctuations;
• Real vs nominal;
• International Trade

2.    Skill in applying basic economic concepts to a public policy issue;

3.    Skill in applying basic economic concepts to a business problem.

Subject Content

1. Introduction to Economics
2. Supply and Demand
3. Elasticity
4. Externalities and Public Goods
5. Discussion of Assignment
6. Production and Costs
7. Market Structures
8. Competition, Monopoly, Monopsony.
9. Labour Markets,
10. Inequality and Poverty.
11. Macroeconomics.
12. Money, Interest Rates and the Financial System.
13. Growth and Business Cycles
14. Inflation
15. Unemployment
16. Monetary and Fiscal Policy
17. International Trade
18. Exchange Rates
19. Economics of Religion
20. Religious Economics

This subject introduces students to the concepts of business and accounting information systems and aims to instill an appreciation of how technology can be used to assist business, without the technology becoming an end in itself. In particular, it aims to generate an awareness of the importance of information to decision making, how to provide such information and ensure its usefulness to the decision-makers, and organizational risk and governance.

Unit Content

Outcomes

1. Explain the role and purpose of business information systems;
2. Describe the role of accounting information systems;
3. Demonstrate the practical use of accounting systems to capture and manage information;
4. Describe and apply information control concepts as they relate to accounting information;
5. Describe how effective information and knowledge management contributes to organizational efficiency and competitive advantage;
6. Describe and discuss contemporary ethical issues and practices associated with the collection, use, and retention of business information;
7. Demonstrate an understanding of the basic forms of business information and how it is collected, stored, and managed;
8. Explain the relationship between information management systems and organizational risk.

Subject Content

1. How organizations use and manage information
2. Global business and information management
3. Effective information management and organizational competitive advantage
4. Ethical issues associated with information management systems
5. Types of information management systems
6. Organizational IT capacity and effective information management
7. MIS technologies
8. Accounting Information Systems
9. AIS: Subsidiary ledgers and controls
10. Auditing and governance of accounting information systems
11. Building better information management systems
12. Security and risk management

This subject lays a foundation for business studies, introducing students to mathematical and statistical methods used in business.

Unit Content

Curriculum Objective

TBA

Outcomes

1. Describe the role of statistics in contemporary business. This includes consideration of the ethical responsibilities of the researcher; 
2. Explain key statistical concepts, methods of data collection and data analysis techniques;
3. Critically analyze, summarise and present data using appropriate data analysis techniques. This includes drawing conclusions at appropriate reliability levels from statistical reports;
4. Identify the specific needs for data analysis and its role in NGOs and NFP organizations; 
5. Demonstrate skills in analyzing data, such as estimation, comparison of frequencies, variance, regression and correlation, time series analysis and forecasting.

Subject Content

1. Introduction to economic and business statistics
2. Charts and Graphs
3. Describing distributions
4. Probability and discrete random variables
5. Mean and variance as expectations
6. (Using discrete random variables)
7. Normal distribution  
8. Samples from a population  
9. The shape of a sampling distribution
10. Hypothesis testing of one population mean
11. Hypothesis testing of two population means
12. Linear regression
13. Linear regression extensions

Unit Content

Curriculum Objective

TBA

Outcomes

1. Explain the importance of the time value of money, risk and return and cash flow when making informed business decisions;
2. Explain and apply the principles of Discounted Cash Flow analysis;
3. Demonstrate an understanding of financial planning and control within an organization;
4. Discuss how organizations make investment and distribution decisions;
5. Capacity to reflect critically on the wider ethical and theological issues in business and by discounted cash flow decision making;
6. Apply the mathematics of finance to analyze and solve business problems in a variety of commercial and NFP settings. The analysis methods will include the time value of money, risk and return analysis, discounted cash flow, capital budgeting with NPV & IRR, as well as bond and share valuation, with a focus on contemporary Excel applications.

Subject Content

1. Introduction to financial management
2. Time Value of Money (TVM)
3. Application of TVM
4. Financial Planning and Analysis 
5. Risk and rates of return
6. Introduction to valuation
7. Introduction to Capital Budgeting
8. Capital Budgeting II – cash flow/projects
9. Capital Budgeting III - incorporating risk
10. Financial decision making in the government and NFP sectors 
11. Managing the cost of capital   

TBA

Australian corporate law is an essential element to be understood for the operation and management of companies, which is the basis of BUS250 Corporations Law. The subject covers business structures, the effect of incorporation, Director’s and Officer’s duties, internal governance of corporations and good corporate governance. These skills and knowledge can be applied to the For-Profit and Not-For-Profit sectors equally. Students will look carefully into the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and into the operation and role of the corporate watchdog (ASIC).

Unit Content

Outcomes

1. Identify and explain the regulatory environment for companies in Australia, including the significance of the concept of a separate legal entity;
2. Describe the nature and impact of the doctrine of a separate legal entity;
3. Describe and critically evaluate the differences between company types and their legal structures;
4. Describe and discuss replaceable rules and the company constitution of the Corporations Act that govern company administration and management;
5. Identify and describe the roles and responsibilities of company directors and shareholders;
6. Demonstrate a broad understanding of the Corporations Act 2001 and its role, while being able to identify and critically discuss the relationship between the Corporations Act and the company’s operations, including being able to explain the procedures for formation, fundraising, corporate governance, takeovers, insolvency and winding up of a company.

Subject Content

1. The Australian regulatory framework for companies
2. Types of companies and the Corporations Act (2001)
3. Constitutions and replaceable rules
4. Corporations and external party relationships
5. Promoters and pre-registration contracts
6. Fundraising and sources of finances
7. Share capital and dividends
8. Corporate governance
9. Directors’ duties and shareholder functions and operations
10. Statutory remedies for members
11. The Australian financial reporting system and disclosure
12. Takeovers and corporate insolvency

This course develops the student’s ability to apply practical financial decision making to personal and business decisions. Gain an understanding of how the global financial system operates, the risks associated with capital markets, financing major works, valuing a business and distributing profit. Students will know how to raise capital and finance debt with a socially responsible strategic approach. Understanding Business Finance is critical to the long term success of any organization and the material in this course will give students the understanding to make wise financial decisions.

Unit Content

Curriculum Objective

This course develops the student’s ability to apply practical financial decision making to personal and business decisions. Gain an understanding of how the global financial system operates, the risks associated with capital markets, financing major works, valuing a business and distributing profit. Students will know how to raise capital and finance debt with a socially responsible strategic approach. Understanding Business Finance is critical to the long term success of any organization and the material in this course will give students the understanding to make wise financial decisions.

Outcomes

1. Describe and discuss the types of financial decisions a financial manager will be required to consider in the finance and treasury functions of an organization;
2. Identify and explain basic financial risks and risk management concepts;
3. Identify optimal project selection and be able to apply investment decision rules & capital budgeting analysis;
4. Discuss and evaluate how organizations are financed and consider the concept of optimal capital structure and the factors influencing their determination;
5. Explain the theory of capital markets and demonstrate an understanding of the operation of Australian capital markets;
6. Describe and discuss the methodologies for valuation of financial instruments;
7. Discuss how organizations make distribution decisions.

Subject Content

1. Time Value of Money & Investment Decision Rules
2. Capital Budgeting
3. Australian Capital Markets
4. Risk and Return
5. Cost of Capital
6. Equity Valuation
7. Debt and Equity Financing
8. Capital Structure & Payout Policy
9. Derivatives
10. Risk Management and Socially Responsible Investment strategies.

TBA

Taxation is a very important area of government activity. It impacts upon the directions and efficiency of the economy and ultimately affects the distribution of income in society and provides parameters within which government spending programs can be maintained. In addition, we as individuals have an obvious need to understand the tax laws and their implications for our personal decisions. This is also true for businesses. Given that taxation is an area with one of the largest amounts of legislation and legislative change, and a large number of reported decisions and administrative rulings, the unit is required to provide a high level of understanding which also has to be achieved in the short space of one semester’s study. Nevertheless, because the law changes so frequently, the key aim is not to give a static picture of the legal provisions in the semester in which you are studying this area, but rather to use that material to develop dynamic skills that will allow you to find, understand and utilize the provisions that are operative whenever you have a particular taxation issue to consider.