SYLLABUS
NATURE AND OBJECTIVE OF THE COURSE The purpose of this course is to assist the student in developing the necessary analytical ability, attitudes and decision making skills required of the business manager in a changing environment. The student will gain experience in the application of various tools and disciplines in the solution of managerial problems, the development of corporate strategies, and the development of strategies, policies, and programs to implement the corporate strategy chosen. Hopefully, the student will acquire judgment with respect to when and how the various tools and analytical techniques should be applied. Assigned Readings, business case analysis and an on-line business simulation game (http://www.bsg-online.com/) will be used to achieve the above objectives. SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES TO BE ACQUIRED: Learning outcomes expected include:
2. An understanding of the importance and problems of implementation of policy and strategy in their business organizations.TYPE OF INSTRUCTION Management 527 will be taught as a Web course. Case analysis and discussion and the playing of a business simulation game as well as computer based instruction, both written and audio, and e-mail are employed in course instruction. Student teams may be utilized for in class case analysis and presentations and the business simulation. Students must have and maintain a current e-mail address. Failure to maintain a current e-mail address may result in being dropped from the class. E-MAIL REQUIREMENTS
All students must have an e-mail address. Should you not furnish the instructor with a home or office e-mail address your university e-mail address (first four letters of your last name and last four digits of your social security number) will be used . Home or office e-mail addresses must be furnished to the instructor in an e-mail in the following prescribed form: subject line of e-mail must use the course prefix and number, i.e. Mgt527 and the first line of the body of the e-mail must contain you name (last name first) and your e-mail address in this prescribed format: "Mohundro, Charles" <charles.mohundro@tamut.edu>. You must use quotation marks and the greater-than and less-than signs as indicated. Also include both your home and office telephone numbers, including area code, on the line below your name with non local calls indicated with a (ld) after the number.
Students are required to follow file naming and e-mail subject line protocols which are set forth in "Portfolio Instructions" on the web and Submission Format Requirements below. Failure to do so will result in the non acceptance of require work.
You must be identifiable from e-mail address. Your address does not have to contain your complete name, however a reasonable person (your instructor) must be able to determine who sent the e-mail after looking at the class roster. Foxylady@xxx.com, PGISGIRL@XXX.COM, TISDFLASH@xxx.com or brokendownpickup@xxx.com will not work. Your address should, no must, be professional in this course. You can adjust the address that you now use, assuming that it does not contain you name in some fashion, by placing "your name" between quotation marks immediately before you address and your e-mail address proper between the less than and greater than signs (< >). The use of quotation marks around your name is usually optional. Example: "Charles Mohundro" <charles.mohundro@tamut.edu>. On my e-mail program I can change my address by looking under "Tools" and "Options". Your e-mail will likely be different. You can probably find directions for your particular e-mail program by looking under its "Help" function. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS Internet browsers are necessary to access the course material on WebCT online. Internet Explorer (IE) version 5.0 or higher (with the exception of IE 5.5 with Service Pack SP installed and version 6.0) is supported. Results with other browsers are unpredictable. Internet Explorer should have Java and JavaScript enabled, Cache set to reload page and file name extension made visible. Directions are given to accomplish these adjustments at http://webct.com/exchange/viewpage?name=exchange_browser_tuneup#preparing. Install only the Acrobat plug-in for this course. Web pages are designed to be viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer. The use of other browsers may cause formatting difficulties and result in pages being difficult or impossible to read. Internet Explorer is a free download. All submissions must be in Microsoft Word format. You may find that ad/pop-up blocker programs on your computer must be disabled for all of the screens in WebCT to work properly. Audio files are in the MP3 streaming format and are designed for Microsoft Windows Media Player. Other audio players may or may not work properly. One should not attempt to save the audio file but to open the file from its current location when directed by Media Player so that streaming will work properly. Windows Player should be set to "View" the control screen in "compact" format to listen to and properly view any related material. EVALUATION AND GRADE DETERMINATION Grades are based on
the quality of the following:
Points Earned
COURSE ETHICS You are expected to do your own work in this course and not to give or receive any unauthorized aid or assistance. No aid, human or otherwise, is permitted in taking the online chapter quizzes or the field examination and in the preparation of the research assignment. (This includes data collection, organization and the writing of the paper. You may however receive editing assistance on the paper should you desire. Remember that editing is not the writing of the paper. Papers written by someone other that you and/or internet copies are expressly prohibited). TAMUT utilizes the services of TURNINIT.COM to assist in the prevention of plagiarism. You should review the definition of plagiarism found at http://www.turnitin.com/research_site/e_what_is_plagiarism.html and be sure that your work in no way runs afoul of University rules relating to academic dishonesty and plagiarism (please refer to the University official catalog and sections dealing with academic dishonesty and the student code of conduct therein). You are expected to work together and share ideas and the workload in the preparation of the team analyses. The final exam may be a take home case analysis. If this is the case you may use any non human assistance you desire in taking the exam. Class notes, checklist, text outlines, slides, and other material that you have personally prepared are permissible. Powerpoint slides, text books and other text publisher provided materials are permissible. Any company materials found in the library or on the web or other materials found on the web, except previous case analyses, are permissible. Any human assistance (other than team members specifically assigned for the final exam) in any manner whatsoever or the use of previous case analyses for the assigned company, from whatever source derived, is expressly prohibited and would be a violation of course ethics. Copies of previous semester case analyses or case analyses found on the web, should any exist, are expressly prohibited and to use them will place you in violation of course ethics. You may use any company data that you may acquire. You may be requested to submit the following signed pledge on any assignment "I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this assignment or any assignment in this course". A failure to submit the sign pledge, if requested, or other course ethics violation will result in zero for that particular assignment, at a minimum, and may result in being dropped from the course. Nothing in this course ethics statement should prevent students from studying together or discussing any assignment in the normal and accepted academic manner. The intention is that each student will do his/her own work and will not use any analyses, should any exist, in making their analysis (team or individual). READING QUIZ DEADLINES *Quizzes must be taken over the web during prescribed times. Any failure to take a quiz during its prescribed time period will result in a zero for that particular quiz. No make up quizzes will be given. Be sure that you read the quiz deadlines correctly. Usually the ending date for a quiz is stated "To January 10, 2003, 00:00". This means that you can take the quiz until that time--which means that you take the quiz anytime until midnight January 9 . YOU CANNOT TAKE THE QUIZ ANYTIME ON JANUARY 10. SUBMISSION FORMAT REQUIREMENTS All required submissions (individual case analysis/assignments, research assignment, portfolio and final exam case analysis) must be in the format indicated in the instructions. Each shall be in an individual Word document file and attached to a transmittal e-mail (only one attachment per transmittal). The transmittal e-mail must contain a specified subject line. The attachment file must be named in a specified manner as well. The subject line and the attachment file must be identical (except for the file extension). Please see the instructions at the bottom of the Schedule page for submission instructions. I receive some 4,000 e-mails in a particular semester and the rigid submission requirements are necessary so that I can give you an automated acknowledgement of submission receipt and find your submissions for grading purposes. A failure to submit in the require manner will result in a letter grade reduction for the submission if am able to find it or a zero in the event that I am not able to locate it. READING ASSIGNMENT 1Chapters 1-13 of the text and the PowerPoint lectures contain review and reference material that should be read by each student as the Schedule indicates. The Schedule page controls the flow of the course and can be found off the home page. Quizzes (via the web) are required over this material. All chapter quizzes must be taken on line. Failure to take two or more quizzes will result in zero points for all chapter quizzes in computing total course points. Students must score at least 50 percent on nine or more quizzes to receive a grade in the course.. Much of the material will likely have been covered in previous management and organization theory courses. The general areas of strategy formulation should be read and studied at some length in preparation for application of the principles of strategy formulation to later case analysis. I would suggest that you prepare a short summary of the key points in each chapter for your future reference. 2Case Analysis Students/student teams will conduct several case analyses and/or written case assignments throughout the semester and submit the assignments per the date indicated on the Schedule Page for the assigned case. The instructor's analysis of the case will likely be placed on the web after each discussion period. Each student or student team will complete a self evaluation of their submission in light of the other teams' analyses, if made available, and instructor's analysis (if team assignments are made the self evaluation will be made by the team). Failure to timely submit the case assignments (within 24 hours of the date and time specified) will result in a letter grade reduction for the assignment. Case assignments submitted 24 hours beyond the date and time specified will not be accepted. Students must receive a grade greater than zero on all case assignments to receive a grade in the course. Each student will include a copy of their case assignments and self evaluation of each assignment (or copy of their team's case assignment/analysis and team self evaluation) in a single portfolio file and submit the entire portfolio of their semester's work near the end of the semester (see schedule for deadline for submission). Please see assignment submission instructions as well as portfolio submissions found on the Information Page off the course Home Page. When team assignments are scored, generally each team member will receive the team grade. However the failure of one or more team members to actively participate in the preparation of the assignment may result in a lower score (or no score at all) for the offending member(s). The Journal of Organizational Leadership and Business (JOLB) publishes outstanding student work product completed in the business and leadership curricula at TAMUT. The aim of JOLB is to provide the University community, prospective employers, students, and the community at large with examples of outstanding work product of business students at TAMUT. Outstanding case analysis and write-ups may be consideration for submission to the Journal for publication. Please contact me or refer to the JOBL's Student Submission Page for further details. 3FIELD EXAMINATION The field exam is a comprehensive examination over the customary courses in the business curriculum and covers the general areas of management, accounting/finance, marketing, economics, law and international business. You are advised to review the content of all the courses that you have taken (or presently taking) in your program. In order to pass the course you must take the exam on one of offering dates indicated in the Schedule. Your score on this examination will be used, as indicated above, in the calculation of your course grade. 4The Business Simulation Game The Business Strategy Game is a completely online exercise where teams of students run an athletic footwear company in head-to-head competition against companies run by other class members. Company operations parallel those of actual athletic footwear companies. Just as in the real-world, companies compete in a global market arena, selling branded and private-label athletic footwear in four geographic regions — Europe-Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. The market in which companies operate is expected to grow at a moderate rate. The challenge for each company’s management team is to craft and execute a competitive strategy that results in a respected brand image, keeps their company in contention for global market leadership, and produces good financial performance as measured by earnings per share, return on equity investment, stock price appreciation, and credit rating. All companies begin the exercise on the same footing from a global perspective — with equal sales volume, global market share, revenues, profits, costs, product quality and performance, brand recognition, and so on. Company managers have wide strategic latitude in staking out a market position and improving their performance. 5Final Examination The final exam may consist of both questions over the assigned textual material and/or a case analysis. The case analysis portion may be either an individual or a team project. If a case analysis write up is assigned, Instructions for the submission of the write-up are found in "Exams" off of the Information page. A case analysis could also employ objective multiple choice question over the case. The particular format will be announced later in the semester. The final exam is due on the date specified in the schedule and no extension of time will be given. In the event that the final exam is a case analysis write up, submissions past the date and time indicated in the instruction for submission will not be accepted. Students must score at least 70 on the final exam to receive a passing grade in the course regardless of their accumulated course point total. 6STUDENT HOME PAGE Students will create a home page within WebCT which will contain at a minimum a photograph (approximately 2x3), their areas of special interest, and e-mail address. The page may contain other appropriate data as well. Should the student already have a home page elsewhere that contains the above minimum data, and no inappropriate data, a simple link in the WebCT student home page will be sufficient. COMPUTER COMPETENCIES REQUIRED Students
are expected to have computer skills and/or be able to perform the
computer related tasks as indicated below. In the event that you do not possess these skills it is
highly recommended that you take MIS301- Microcomputer Applications in
Business. Microsoft
Word: 1.
Keyboard efficiently. 2.
Copy, cut and paste material within a document and from one
document to another. 3.
Save files under a designated name 4.
Set proper page margins 5.
Insert page breaks, bookmarks, and pictures. 6.
Create hyperlinks within a document and to Internet sites. 7.
Use heading styles and frames to create a linked table of
contents 8.
Use bookmarks and hyperlinks to create a linked table of contents. 9.
Properly document formatting using fonts, paragraph format, bullets
and numbering. 10.
Create and use appropriate tables when necessary. 11.
Use spell check and thesaurus. E-mail:
Send and receive e-mail with file attachments.
Internet:
1.
Access the Internet. 2.
Use Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. 3.
Download and install software from the Internet. 4.
At least minimum ability to navigate the Internet. Windows
operating system:
1.
Use general operations effectively including Windows Explorer
and/or My Computer 2.
Effectively manage files on drives (copy, move, delete, create
folders), and control of desktop environment Microsoft
Excel: 1.
Use basic tools such as copying, pasting, cut, edit, print, page
setup, and format appropriately. 2.
Create/use database functions, queries, and conditional formatting 3.
Import text files 4.
Enter data 5.
Import and export data 6.
Create/use formulas including relative addressing 7.
Organize data 8.
Sort data 9.
Generate charts PowerPoint:
(students
should be able to create impressive presentations that utilize more than
templates and defaults):
WebCT: students should be able to navigate content modules, discussion, homepage, and presentations. Please refer to Student Resources and the Student Guide to WebCT at http://www.tamut.edu/webcourses/index.php?pageid=37. for
initial WebCT instructions.
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