BUSINESS POLICY AND STRATEGY: M&IS - COURSE #44285
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND SYLLABUS
Tuesday
and Thursday, 9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., Room 108 BSA, Section 004,
Tuesday
and Thursday, 10:45 p.m. – 12:00 p.m., Room 108 BSA, Sections 001 & 002
Term: Fall 2002
Instructor: Professor Karynne L. Turner
Room A419
College of Business
Office
Phone: 330-672-1151
Fax:
330-672-2953
E-mail: kturner@bsa3.kent.edu
Office hours: Tuesday:
Wednesday: 10:00
a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Other
times by appointment
Web Page: http://mismain/bsa.kent.edu/users/turner/public
Text: Thompson
and Strickland: Strategic Management, 12th Edition (required)
Text
Website: www.mhhe.com/business/management/thompson12e
Suggested: Concept-Tutor
for Thompson Strickland 12th Edition
The Wall
Street Journal or Business Week
Prerequisites: M&IS
24163, BMRT 11009, ADMS 24163, ADMS 34163 & an officially accepted upper
division senior in the
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Course Overview
The
emphasis of this course is on developing a general understanding of the
administration of business firms from
the point of view of top management.
The course emphasizes application of theory-based knowledge to real
world situations through the use of lecture and case studies. The course is divided into discussions of:
1.
the role of strategic management -
Chapters 1 & 2
2.
analyzing the industry and macro environment -
Chapter 3
3.
analyzing the internal resources of the organization - Chapter 4
4.
business level strategies -
Chapter 5
5.
strategies for global markets -
Chapter 6
6.
strategies for the Internet -
Chapter 7
7.
industry, internal situation and strategy -
Chapter 8
8.
corporate level (diversification) strategies -
Chapters 9 & 10
Class Objective
The goals
of this class are 1) to learn about how firm’s develop their strategy and 2)
help you make the transition from college to work. Because of this, professionalism and
integrative thinking are emphasized. By the end of the course, you
should:
·Have an understanding of the range
of generic strategic decisions that are
faced by
most organizations.
·Be able to utilize the concepts
learned in other classes (i.e., NPV, market
analysis,
breakeven analysis, ratio analysis, etc.) to generate information used for
strategic problem solving.
·Evaluate a set of strategic
alternatives for an organization given conditions in
its internal and external environment and select the most appropriate
course of action using the appropriate strategic management concepts and
analytical tools.
Class Policies
·
Absences/Make-ups: There are no excused absences from your
assigned Oral case Presentation, or quizzes without a written excuse from a
doctor or other authority. If there
is a serious scheduling conflict, please let me know at least two weeks in
advance prior to the date of the quiz.
In the unlikely event that you must miss a quiz and have a written
excuse from a doctor or other authority, the make-up will be an essay quiz that
is to be taken upon your return to class, no more than a week following the
scheduled quiz date. In addition, the
grade may be lowered by one full grade. All assignments (for example extra credit,
hand-outs for Oral Case presentations)
are due at the start of class, i.e., 9:15 a.m. for the 9:15 section and 10:45
a.m. for the 10:45 a.m. section. No assignments will be accepted after
the start of class or after the date that it is due.
·
Honor Code
Information: No case write-ups, exams, or student's notes from current
or previous business school students should be consulted in doing your case
analysis. You can, however, consult your
notes and reading materials as well as information in the library. Any material quoted directly or paraphrased
should be referenced in your written and oral cases. Plagiarism is a serious infraction and will
be dealt with accordingly. All honor
code violations will be referred to the appropriate college and university
channels.
Evaluation and Grading Procedures:
Your grade in the course will be
based on objective and subjective criteria.
Grades will be based on the following:
Points
Quiz 1: 220
Quiz 2: 250
Quiz 3: 250
Group Oral Case Presentation: 150
Class Participation: 100
Group Peer Evaluation: 30
Percentage Points Letter Grade
100
to 90 1000
– 900 A
89 to 80 890 – 800 B
79 to 70 790 – 700 C
69 to 60 690 – 600 D
< 60 < 600 F
1.
Quizzes: The quizzes are intended to test
knowledge acquisition, comprehension, and application. Quiz material will be
from the chapter readings and cases covered prior to the exam. Quizzes are closed book and closed notes.
2. Oral Group Case Presentation: The class
will be divided into groups. There will
be no more than 6 persons in each group and no less than 4. Your group will be
responsible for one Powerpoint Oral case presentation to the rest of the class
on the date indicated in the syllabus.
Your group will be required to follow the format in Appendix A of this
Syllabus. A copy of the Powerpoint
handouts is due from both groups at the beginning of the class. The case presentation should be a
comprehensive analysis of the facts of the case, the application of concepts
learned in the lecture portion of class, and outside research on the firm
and/or industry. Appendix B of this Syllabus lists a set of questions specific
to the particular cases. Your case grade will be based on the quality of the group's work. Your grade will rest upon 1) your group’s
ability to ANALYZE information to make strategic decisions and 2)
your ability to provide sound and rational arguments to support the decisions
you made. It is equally as important to
provide a good argument, as it is a good decision. In addition, the group should be prepared to
discuss what has happened with the company or industry since the time of the
case. The presentation is 20 minutes maximum with 5 –10 minutes for questions
from the class. Business/Business casual
attire is mandatory. No hats, gum,
sneakers.
EVERYONE in the class is expected
to be prepared for all the cases. IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED, THE CASE
DISCUSSIONS WILL NOT BE VERY INTERESTING. YOUR PARTICIPATION GRADE WILL BE
LOWERED IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DISCUSS THE CASE. Just reading a case is not enough. Most cases have financial or quantitative
data, which can offer significant insight and add substantially to your
understanding of what is going on.
Often, from looking at the financial data, the reader finds out that all
is not as it seems. ALWAYS LOOK AT and
ANALYZETHE NUMBERS. Use the spreadsheet
of the figures for each case on my website.
5. Extra Credit: Extra
Credit will be incorporated into the course during the semester, at the
discretion of the instructor. All extra
credit must be typewritten. No
handwritten assignments will be accepted.
Since, I DO NOT GRADE ON THE
CURVE for any assignment, i.e., quizzes, case presentations, and extra
credit, each student has a chance of earning an “A” for the course.
College of Business
Administration Policies
A.
Students
attending the course who do not have the proper prerequisite risk being
deregistered from the class.
B.
Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in
classes. You are advised to review your
official class schedule during the first two weeks of the semester to ensure
you are properly enrolled in this class and section. Should you find an error in your class
schedule, you have until Friday, September 13, 2002 to correct it with your
advising office. If registration errors
are not corrected by this date and you continue to attend and participate in
classes for which you are not officially enrolled, you are advised now that you
will not receive a grade at the
conclusion of the semester for any class in which you are not properly
registered.
C.
Academic
Honesty: Cheating means to misrepresent
the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests,
papers, projects, assignments) so as to get undeserved credit. The use of the intellectual property of others
without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic offense. It is the University's policy that cheating
or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or course. Repeat offenses result in dismissal from the
University.
D.
For Fall 2002,
the course withdrawal deadline is Saturday, November 2, 2002. Withdrawal before the deadline results in a
"W" on the official transcript; after the deadline a grade must be
calculated and reported.
E.
Students with
disabilities: In accordance with
University policy, if you have a documented disability and require
accommodations to obtain equal access in this course, please contact the
instructor at the beginning of the semester or when given an assignment for
which an accommodation is required. Students
with disabilities must verify their eligibility through the Office of Student
Disability Services (SDS) in the Michael Schwartz Service Center (672-3391).
COURSE OUTLINE: MIS 44285
(Preliminary and Subject to Change
at the discretion of the Instructor)
Week 1
Aug 27: Introduction to the course, The Strategic
Management Process
Review
Group
Selection
Sept 5: Industry and Competitive Analysis
Industry Focus:
Automotive Manufacturing Industry
Week 3
Sept 10: Library
Presentation on Company and Industry Research in the Library
MEET
IN THE LIBRARY
Sept 12: Industry and Competitive Analysis
Chapter 3 (continue)
Case: Daimler-Chrysler
Merger (A)
Week 4
Sept 17: Case: Daimler-Chrysler
Merger (A) (continue)
Evaluating Company Resources and Competitive
Capabilities
Sept 19: Evaluating Company Resources and
Competitive Capabilities
Chapter 4 (continue)
Video
on The Value Chain
Week 5
Sept 24: Case: Dell
Computer Corporation in 2000
Sept 26: Case: Dell Computer Corporation in 2000 (Continue)
Week 6
Oct 1: Oral Case Presentation 1: Giuseppe’s Original Sausage
Company
Groups
1 and 2 Oral Presentations
Oct 3: Review for
Quiz 1
Chapters
1 – 4 and Cases
Week 7
Oct 8: Quiz 1
Oct 10: Business Strategies: Strategies for Competing based on Strengths and
Opportunities
Week 8
Oct 15: Tailoring Strategy to Fit Specific Industry
and Company Situations
Oct 17: Open
Week 9
Groups 3
and 4 Oral Presentations
Emerging
Markets: Focus on China (Video)
Week 10
Nov 5: Oral
Case Presentation 3: The Chinese Fireworks Industry
Groups 5 and 6 Oral Presentations
Nov 7: Oral Case Presentation 4: Peapod, Inc. and the
Online Grocery Business
Groups 7 and 8 Oral Presentations
Nov 12: Peapod Case Discussion
Review
Quiz 2
Chapters 5 –8 and Cases
Nov 15: Quiz
2
Week 13
Nov 19: Strategy and Competitive Advantage in a Diversified
Company
Nov 22: Evaluating the Strategies of Diversified Companies
Week 14
Nov 26: No Class – Prepare for
Presentations on December 3rd and 5th
Nov 28: No Class - Thanksgiving
Week 15:
Dec 3: Oral Case Presentation 5: Campbell
Soup in 2000 Additional
Data
Groups 9 and 10 Oral Presentations
Dec 5: Oral Case
Presentation 6: Black and Decker Corporation in
2000
Groups 11 and 12 Oral Presentations
Week 16:
Final: Chapters 9, 10 and Cases
APPENDIX
A: ORAL GROUP PRESENTATION GUIDELINES*
* Please be prepared
to answer the questions specific to the case from Appendix B.
1. INTRODUCTION: 5
POINTS
What is (are) the firm’s major/core business (es) and
product line(s)?
What are the key issues for the
focal firm or individual?
2. MACRO ANALYSIS: 15
POINTS
Select two economic and two social trends or issues that are
relevant to
your
firm and its industr(ies).
Why
are they relevant?
What are the implications of the information that you have
chosen to
report
on for the company and its industry?
3. INDUSTRY/COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS: 25
POINTS
What industry does this firm compete in?
Who are the major competitors and why are they major (e.g.,
market share, financial position, breadth of product line, etc.)?
What are the “standard” industry product/services?
Which of the five forces impact the industry the most?
What
are the major segments of the industry?
What
are some of the dominant industry characteristics?
What
are some of the driving forces in the industry?
What
are some of the key success factors for the industry?
Is
the industry attractive? (e.g., trends in the growth rate, profitability, etc.)
4. STRATEGY ANALYSIS:
(Case Presentations 1 - 4 ONLY) 25 POINTS
A. Business Level
Briefly describe and identify the firm’s business level
strategy.
What are the key elements of its strategy?
How is the firm creating value in
its value chain?
What does a financial
analysis of the firm say about the effectiveness of the strategy? Use at least
3 to 5 years of financial data and some means of comparison. Perform Financial Ratio calculations and
analysis.
B.
SWOT
Using your analysis from 3 and 4a what does a SWOT analysis
reveal?
4. STRATEGY ANALYSIS: (Case
Presentations 5 and 6 ONLY) 25
POINTS
Corporate Level
Briefly describe and identify the firm’s corporate level
strategy.
What type of
synergies (fits) if any is the company able to realize between the business
units?
How would you rank
the business units? (specify the criteria you are using to rank the business
units, e.g., sales proportion, profit proportion, resource allocation, profit
potential, etc.) Give actual percentages.
Are there any key strategic
alliances? Why are these alliances key?
What are the trends in the firm’s
corporate strategy?
APPENDIX
A: ORAL GROUP PRESENTATION GUIDELINES (Continue)
5. ALTERNATIVES 15
POINTS
What
are some SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM strategic alternatives for the central
player? Identify pros and cons for each
alternative. GIVE SPECIFICS FOR THE CENTRAL PLAYER (firm or
individual). Each alternative must
be mutually exclusive and viable.
6. RECOMMENDATION 5
POINTS
Determine
which recommendation is the best alternative for the central player (firm or
individual). Why is this the best
alternative?
7. OTHER FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO PRESENTATION
GRADE
A. Linkages between different components 25
POINTS
How
well does each aspect of the presentation flow or relate to the other aspects?
For example, does the financial analysis support your
recommendation, does your alternatives consider the key issues, the macro
analysis, industry analysis, firm analysis, etc.
B. Financial and Quantitative data to
support analysis 25 POINTS
Did you include financial and quantitative data for the
various parts of the presentation (e.g., ratios, market share, growth rate,
cost data, etc.)?
Do you have outside financial and quantitative research to
support your analysis?
C. Presentation Style 10
POINTS
Does
the presentation slides have proper grammar, spelling, etc.?
Is the presentation visually appealing?
-
There should
be page numbers on the slides.
-
DON’T JUST USE
CAPTIONS ON THE SLIDE – HAVE RELEVANT INFORMATION. Think of the slides as something that the
firm’s management will later refer to in order to make a decision. DON’T HAVE LONG SENTENCES – This is a
presentation, not a paper. A good
presentation is one that balances between just using captions and long
sentences.)
-
Financial and
quantitative information must be written on the slides. Do not speak numbers to the audience without
having the numbers on the slides. The
audience will not remember numbers.
-
Use citations
for outside research.
There should be more than just one or a few members of the
group answering questions and the questions should be answered adequately
Treat the audience as if they are the top management members
of the firm who have an understanding of the company and industry. (DON’T
PRESENT THE CASE AS IF IT IS A CLASS ASSIGNMENT, present the case as if you
were presenting to the CEO of the company)
EVERY
GROUP MEMBER DOES NOT HAVE TO PRESENT, BUT SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER
QUESTIONS. THE GRADE WILL REST UPON
THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT DO PRESENT.
EVERYONE IN THE GROUP WILL GET THE SAME GRADE.
Handouts of the presentation
should be provided for the Professor and the class. The professor’s copy should have 1 slide per
page. The copies for the class
(approximately 45 copies per class) may have 3-6 slides per page. Please
make sure that the handouts are visible and readable.
Grading for Cases
Excellent = 135 – 150 points --- exceptional work beyond expectations using all the appropriate concepts, performing the necessary qualitative and quantitative analysis that exhibits thorough analytical thinking and incorporation of class concepts, presenting relevant information, and providing valid, insightful and realistic alternatives.
Good = 120 - 134 --- appropriate use of most of the class concepts and a good analysis exhibiting understanding of the class concepts with reasonable alternatives.
Marginally Acceptable = 105 – 119 --- flawed use of class concepts and a lack of a thorough analysis resulting in alternatives that are faulty.
Poor = 0 – 90 --- too many errors regarding the concepts, lack of analysis and unreasonable alternatives based upon the analysis.
Appendix
B: The MOST Relevant Chapters to the
Case and Specific Case Questions
Case: Robin Hood
1.
What problems did Robin Hood have? What issues need to be addressed?
2.
Do Robin Hood and the Merrymen need a new mission?
New objectives? A new strategy?
3.
What strategic options does Robin Hood have? What are the pros and cons of each option?
4.
What strategy would you recommend to Robin Hood to
deal with the problems/issues he confronts?
5.
What actions need to be taken to implement the
recommended strategy?
Case: DaimlerChrysler Merger (A) – Chapters 1 –3
Case: Dell Corporation – Chapters 3, 4
Case: Giuseppe’s Original Sausage Company – Chapters 3,
4
Case: Cannondale Corporation – Chapters 5, 8
Case: The Chinese Fireworks Industry – Chapters 3, 6
Case: Peapod, Inc. and the Online Grocery Business –
Chapters 5,7, 8
Case: Campbell Soup – Chapters 9, 10
Case: Black and Decker – Chapters 9, 10
Appendix C: Group Member’s Non Contribution Form
This form is available from the
instructor only and should be used when a team member’s contribution to the
project is deemed unacceptably low by all the other members on the team. Unacceptably low means that if you were
grading the individual, he or she would receive a D or F. Use the following
standards to help determine if your group should use this form:
q
The team member’s contribution is unacceptably low in
quality or quantity.
(documentation required – a one to two sentence
handwritten explanation)
q
The team member does not show up for meetings, or
shows up unprepared and does not e-mail assignments as requested.
(documentation is required, e.g. – dates, attendees,
e-mails, etc.)
q
The team member is hindering the team’s ability to
make satisfactory progress toward a timely completion of the case assignment.
(documentation required)
q
The other members have followed the steps of
progressive discipline:
1.
Coaching the non-contributor, encouraging involvement
and attempting to remove the obstacles for that person.
2.
Issued an oral warning that despite coaching the
member is still not satisfying their responsibilities.
3.
Issued a written warning that the member is still not
contributing (copy to the Instructor)
(documentation of each step is required)
If your team finds itself in this situation, you should
request a Non-Contribution form from the instructor. All contributing members of the team must
sign the form and all documentation must be included in order to be
binding. If the form is submitted with
proper documentation and signatures, the non-contributing member will receive 0
points for this assignment and taken off the team.
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UNDERSTANDING OF COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Please make sure that you read the entire syllabus before signing and
turning in this Understanding of Course Requirements sheet.
I have read the entire syllabus and I understand
and agree to the course requirements.
___________________________________ ___________________________________
Printed
Name Signature
___________________________________
Date