AGB450 Agricultural Business Risk and Investment (8)

The subject addresses the application of financial business management, economic and risk management principles to decision making in agribusiness and agricultural systems. Major areas of study include: agribusiness management and decision making principles; managing risk and decision making under uncertainty; historical and projected agribusiness productivity and financial analysis; benchmarking & best practice analysis; analysing and acquiring capital resources; and accounting for sustainability and environmental agribusiness assets. The subject also develops a framework on how to assess and measure risk, and formulate strategies to reduce it from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. The influence of the decision maker through individual bias and decision making heuristics are also examined.

Availability

Session 1 (30)
On Campus
Wagga Wagga Campus
Online
Wagga Wagga Campus

Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: AGB450. Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.

Subject Information

Grading System

HD/FL

Duration

One session

School

School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences

Assumed Knowledge

AHT231 Agricultural Finance and Business Management

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
  • be able to demonstrate how to develop and apply basic principles of management and decision making in relation to agribusiness
  • be able to demonstrate how to develop and apply principles of historical and projected performance analysis for agribusinesses
  • be able to carry out benchmarking and best practice analysis of individual agribusiness and understand industry expectations, including the consideration of environmental assets and agribusiness sustainability
  • be able to demonstrate how to carry out formal procedures of capital investment appraisal in agriculture and be able to interpret the answers of these analyses;
  • be able to identify the sources of risk to an agribusiness and their management implications
  • be able to define risk, differentiate between risk and uncertainty, and explain and detail the key variables influencing risk
  • be able to understand and examine the roles of qualitative and quantitative analysis in risk management
  • be able to apply techniques for the assessment of risk and develop strategies to enhance decision making under uncertainty

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:
  • Agribusiness system performance analysis
  • Comparative analysis and an introduction to productivity and efficiency analysis
  • Agribusiness decision making and risk management
  • Activity and innovation analysis, and agribusiness activity optimisation
  • Capital Investment Appraisal
  • Modelling and measuring risk using qualitative and quantitative techniques
  • Analysing and accounting for risk in decision analysis

Indicative Assessment

The following table summarises the assessment tasks for the online offering of AGB450 in Session 1 2019. Please note this is a guide only. Assessment tasks are regularly updated and can also differ to suit the mode of study (online or on campus).

Item Number
Title
Value %
1
Analysing risks and returns
20
2
Analysing agribusiness strategies and investments
25
3
Investment appraisal and comparison
15
4
Written exam
40

The information contained in the CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: October 2020. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.

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