Program Overview

BUSN304 - Working with Diversity and Conflict

Year

2021

Credit Points

10

Campus Offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Prerequisites

Completion of 80 cp

Incompatible

BUSN202 Professional Ethics

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

Diversity and inclusion in organisations are not just window dressing to tick boxes in corporate compliance, but contribute to the achievement of strategic business objectives and increase effective decision making and innovative problem solving. All organisations must also manage the potential conflict that comes from complex interactions between staff, customers, and stakeholders of various diverse backgrounds in a globalised economy. Conflict management is an essential skill that managers need to enable functional and inclusive teams within the workplace.

This final year capstone unit draws on the knowledge and skills developed over the course of a student's program of study. Students will explore exemplary diversity and conflict management practices as they relate to both the workplace and the wider society. Students will develop knowledge of demographic, cultural, social and organisational diversity. Based on the principles of solidarity, this unit provides a business-case for diversity and conflict management and how it contributes to corporate social responsibility.

The aim of this unit is to develop knowledge, expertise and understanding of diversity, conflict, and the effective management of these to contribute to the mastery of their business disciplinary study.

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

• LO1: Evaluate diversity management policies and practices of an organisation in your primary field of study and propose recommendations for greater inclusion
• LO2: Synthesise and propose holistic solutions to improve organisational diversity and inclusion based on principles of solidarity
• LO3: Appraise and evaluate the concepts, theories, principles and models of conflict management in the context of workplace and society
• LO4: Critically reflect on and evaluate the theories, principles and models of diversity and inclusion management to develop greater self-awareness in the context of workplace and society
• LO5: Develop communication strategies, conflict management techniques and problem-solving skills through effective collaboration

Graduate Attributes

• GA1: Demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity
• GA2: Recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society
• GA4: Think critically and reflectively
• GA5: Demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession
• GA7: Work both autonomously and collaboratively
• GA8: Locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information

Content

Topics will include:

• Introduction to organisational diversity and inclusion: business case and social justice perspectives
• Diversity: a global and Australian legal perspective
• Working with human diversity: diversity dimensions and discrimination
• Ethical diversity
• Leadership
• Diversity and conflict management as a form of corporate social responsibility
• Inclusive intercultural communication
• Critical self-awareness building using self-assessment models and tools
• Unconscious bias and building respect for human diversity
• Conflict: definition, types, sources and management
• Holistic organisational diversity management: an integrated approach
• Revision

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

This unit takes an enquiry-based learning approach to guide students in the development of knowledge associated with managing diversity and conflict. Students are able to explore the knowledge base underpinning international management in a series of workshops. These workshops are designed to support students to actively participate in the development of this knowledge both individually and in groups. By participating in these workshops, students will systematically develop their understanding of the critical aspects of managing diversity and conflict and how to design solutions to contentious diversity-based conflict issues. This unit takes an experiential approach to support students in developing the skills required to effectively manage diversity and conflict by sharing stories and insights and reflecting on experiences. This approach is designed to interest students who prefer to learn within a social environment and builds in expert support for skills development.

Mode of Delivery

This unit is offered in different modes. These are: "Attendance" mode, "Blended" mode and "Online" mode. This unit is offered in three modes to cater to the learning needs and preferences of a range of participants and maximise effective participation for isolated and/or marginalised groups.

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to complete and submit three completed assessment tasks and must achieve an aggregate mark of at least 50%. Marking will be in accordance with a rubric specifically developed to measure students' level of achievement of the learning outcomes for each item of assessment. Students will be awarded a final grade that signifies their overall achievement in the unit.

Overview of Assessments

• Assessment 1: Critically evaluate the diversity policy of an organisation within a primary business field of study and propose recommendations for greater inclusion (30%)
• Assessment 2: Video case study presentation (30%)
• Assessment 3: Reflective portfolio (40%)

Representative Texts and References

• Bendl, R, Bleijenbergh, I, Henttonen, E & Mills, AJ (eds) 2016, The Oxford handbook of diversity in organizations, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Chen, L 2017, Intercultural communication, De Gruyter, Boston.
• Daft, R 2018, The leadership experience, 7th edn, Cengage Learning, Boston.
• DuBrin, AJ 2016, Leadership: research findings, practice, and skills, 8th edn, Cengage Learning, Boston.
• Eunson, B 2015, Communicating in the 21st Century, 4th edn, John Wiley and Sons, Milton.
• Mensi-Klarbach, H & Risberg, A (eds) 2019, Diversity in organisations: Concepts and practices, 2nd edn, Red Globe Press, London.
• Livermore, DA 2016, Driven by difference: how great companies fuel innovation through diversity, American Management Association (AMA), New York.
• Mor-Barak, M 2017, Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace, 4th edn, SAGE, Los Angeles.
• Özbilgin, M, Bartels-Ellis, F & Gibbs, P (eds) 2019, Global diversity management a fusion of ideas, stories and practice, Springer, Switzerland.
• Steers, R, Nardon, L & Sanchez-Rundle, C 2017, Management across cultures, 4th edn, Cambridge University Press, UK.