M
& IS 44285 SECTION 031
POLICY/STRATEGY
SUMMER
III 2003
DR.
JAY WEINROTH
Course
Syllabus
OFFICE
HOURS, ETC.
My office is on 4th floor of
the
PURPOSE
OF COURSE
M & IS 44285 is the required
"capstone" course for all students graduating with a BBA from the
INFRASTRUCTURE
INFORMATION
1. Registration. You must be officially registered and
paid up for tuition on the registrar's records to receive a grade for any
course on your transcript. Students who are not duly registered in any course
by the registrar's deadline will be automatically deregistered and will not
receive an official grade until the problem is corrected. For any questions,
see the Undergraduate Programs Office in BSA 107. July 15 is last day to avoid
late penalties for tuition payment.
2. Last day to withdraw from an individual course in Summer
III 2003 without penalty is August 2.
3. Disabilities. Any student with a disability as
recognized by the university office of Student Disability Services is entitled
to have special needs provided for. Please notify me immediately if this
applies.
4. Grade grievance. If you believe that you have been
graded unfairly in any course, there is an official university policy with
specific procedures to be followed. The first step is always to talk with your
instructor about the problem. Otherwise the various university officials will
send you back to follow this first step. Note that the office of the University
Ombudsman, Greg Jarvie, provides advice for you in these matters.
5. Cheating. Cheating includes copying another student's
work as your own or allowing someone else to do this, and turning in material
that you have copied from a source other than your own words without
acknowledging this by quotation marks and a citation of the source. Penalties
provided by university policy for this infraction can be a failing grade for
the assignment, a failing grade for the course, and disciplinary action.
6. Missed class and/or assignments. You are expected to
attend all sessions of this class. If you miss a quiz, you will not be allowed
to make up that quiz unless you have an appropriate excuse, including the
unfortunate events of illness documented by a doctor's written statement, death
in the immediate family, or other events as determined by the instructor. Note
that you are allowed to drop one of your seven quiz grades so this amounts to
one allowed unexcused quiz missed. In keeping with the length of a five-week
course, team written assignments will have the grade dropped by ten points for
each day late, including weekends.
TEAMS
Student teams will be formed on our first
day of class, based on the students' academic majors or minors -- Accounting,
Business Management, Computer Information Systems, Economics, Finance, Human
Resource Management, Marketing, Operations Management. To have teams of proper
size we will merge some of these categories. Work on the material of the course
will be done in teams throughout the five weeks, but all grades received will
be for individual work.
BASIS
OF GRADE
The following grading scale will be used:
90 and above = A
80 and above = B
70 and above = C
60 and above = D
below 60 = F
Rounding will be
up for decimal values at or above 0.5 and down from decimal values below 0.5.
If the class average for any quiz is below 75, everyone's grade will receive
extra points to bring the class average to 75. No curve adjustments will be
made for the distribution of final grades.
Your grade consists of 100 points, as
follows:
TWO-DAY UNITS
Your textbook is
subtitled Concepts and Cases. Each of the chapters in the book presents
concepts -- leading ideas, principles, procedures -- for the management of an
organization. The second half of the textbook presents rich, detailed accounts
of various cases involving real world organizations. In this class we will
study some of this generous supply of learning material in seven two-day units.
Each unit will involve a textbook chapter (concepts) and a textbook case. From
the start the chapter material will provide you with insights and ideas for
dealing with the related case, and this will increase for you as we progress
through more material.
The following
structure will apply to each of our two-day units.
TEAM PRESENTATIONS
During the last week
of class, each team will do two in-person presentations, analyzing a case from
the textbook and giving their recommendations for a competitive strategy. Two
specific cases will be picked by the class, from any of the cases in the
textbook not already assigned for study. Each team will give a presentation on
each of these two cases. The analysis to be followed will use as many of the
concepts from the chapters we have read and as many techniques we practiced for
the cases reviewed in class as fit into a coherent and convincing presentation.
Presentations will be done using powerpoint slides.
Teams are responsible for their own powerpoint work,
but may ask the instructor for help if needed. Each member of the team is
responsible for her or his own part of the powerpoint
presentation and the analysis that goes into that part of the presentation.
Each team member will give the talk related to his or her part of the
presentation. Presentations will be graded based on:
o
Effective
examination of the strategic problem at issue from the perspective of the
team's management function,
o
accuracy of
the material,
o
use of
relevant concepts and principles,
o
clarity,
o
creativity,
o
the clear
identification and examination of a central strategic question,
o
presentation
and cost-benefit evaluation of alternative solutions and
o
demonstration of
the preferred solution/strategy.
PROGRESS REPORTS
At the assigned
dates each team will turn in Progress Report # 1 and Progress Report # 2. These
are to be turned in on disk as Word files. Both reports will have as their
heading the team's management function and the case being analyzed. Progress
Report #1 is on the first case to be presented and Progress Report # 2 is on
the second case to be presented. Each individual team member's part of the
report is to be identified under her/his name. In your progress report you give
an extensive outline of what your powerpoint
presentation is going to be --
o
the strategic
focus your team is taking on this case from the perspective of your team's management
function,
o
the important
facts,
o
the major
issues,
o
a number of
concepts applied (vision, mission, objectives, competitive conditions, short
and long range strategies, industry structure, strengths and weaknesses, niche,
e-considerations, etc., etc., etc.),
o
the
alternative strategic solutions you are considering, and
o
anything else you
regard as important.
SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETINGS, ASSIGNED
|
Unit |
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
|
0 |
Monday,
July 14 Introduction -- identification of teams |
|
|
1 |
Tuesday,
July 15 |
Wednesday,
July 16 Case
# 4 -- Giuseppe's Original Sausage Company QUIZ 1 |
|
2 |
Thursday,
July 17 Chapter
Two -- Establishing Company Direction CLASS PICKS TWO CASES FOR END-OF-TERM PRESENTATIONS |
Monday,
July 21 Cases
# 2 & 3 -- The Daimler-Chrysler Merger QUIZ 2 |
|
3 |
Tuesday,
July 22 Chapter Three -- Industry and Competitive Analysis |
Wednesday,
July 23 Case
# 5 --The Chinese Fireworks Industry QUIZ 3 |
|
4 |
Thursday,
July 24 Chapter Four -- Evaluating Company Resources &
Competitive Capabilities |
Monday,
July 28 Case # 1 --Steve Case, QUIZ
4 PROGRESS REPORT # 1 |
|
5 |
Tuesday,
July 29 |
Wednesday,
July 30 Case
# 13 --Callaway Golf Company QUIZ 5 |
|
6 |
Thursday,
July 31 Chapter Seven -- New Business Models & Strategies for the Internet Economy |
Monday,
August 4 Case
# 8 -- Peapod, Inc. & the Online Grocery Business QUIZ
6 PROGRESS REPORT # 2 |
|
7 |
Tuesday,
August 5 Chapter Eleven -- Building Resource Strengths & Organizational Capabilities |
Wednesday,
August 6 Case
# 11 -- eBay: King of the Online Auction Industry QUIZ 7 |
|
Non-unit |
Thursday,
August 7 |
LAST WEEK OF CLASS -- SCHEDULE WILL BE POSTED FOR TEAM PRESENTATIONS! |
UPDATED MATERIALS
INCLUDED HERE WILL BE STUDY QUESTIONS FOR ASSIGNED CHAPTERS,
QUESTIONS FOR ASSIGNED CASES, AND TEAM WRITTEN PROGRESS REPORTS
FOR Monday, JULY
14 -- some questions on Chapter One:
1. Explain differences between Vision,
2. What is it have a strategy versus not to have a
strategy? Can any organization really not have a strategy? What is the focus of
an organization's strategy for your team's management function?
3. What are the "three big questions" of
strategic management? How do these apply to your team's management function?
4. How is a business model different from a strategy? How
does this apply to your team's management function?
5. Page 8 -- examples of Strategic Visions and Company
Missions -- which is the best? Which is the worst? Why?
6. Page 11 -- examples of Strategic and Financial
Objectives -- what is the difference between the two? Which is the best? Which
is the worst? Why?
FOR Tuesday,
JULY 15 -- study questions for Case # 4:
1.
What is Giuseppe Sausage
Company's strategy?
·
High quality
·
Distinctive taste
·
Broad product line
·
Pricing a few cents above
upper end competition
·
Niche player
2.
What is the nature and
strength of the competitive forces confronting
Giuseppe in the
·
Rivalry is strong -- 25 to
30 major sausage brands!
·
Leverage of suppliers is
weak
·
Power of buyers is strong --
must have distributor support
·
New entrants is moderate --
newbees probably will match any growth in demand
·
Substitute products is
strong -- high-fat food -- sausage for dinner has limited appeal
·
Overall -- difficult to make
this a highly profitable business -- niche player does not seriously impact the
larger companies
3.
What do you see as Giuseppe
Sausage Company's competitive strengths and weaknesses?
·
Sales increase since 1994
·
Broad product line
·
Excellent on health
inspections
·
Top sellers -- chicken
sausage and original sausage
·
No accurate accounting system
·
Entirely dependent on Joe's
marketing skills, which he may not have
·
Strong competition
·
Small market share after
seven years = 2% of local market!
·
Very dependent on top 3
customers -- casino, american seafood, seesel's
·
Not achieving economies of
scale -- look at COGS
4.
What problems do you see at
this company? Should Mr. Cotrone be pleased with the progress gthe company is
making? Why or why not? Why has it taken the company seven years to get this
far?
·
88 different products!
·
COGS jumped in 96 and 97
·
No clear strategy!
5.
Is the company in good
financial shape? Why or why not?
·
Top two customers total over
75%of total sales
·
35 products had sales of
less than 130 lbs.
·
10% of the products account for
50% of sales -- 70% of products do not generate sales even equal to normal
batch size
·
Break-even point was reached
in 97 -- future strategies need to exceed this
·
Accounts receivable and
inventory are increasing faster than sales
·
Average collection period
increased from 24 days in 94 to 43 days in 97
6.
If Mr. Joe Cotrone continues
to operate Giuseppe's Original Sausage Company as he h as to date, what
financial results can he expect over the next 3 years? Do you think this is
acceptable?
·
Look at % change in income
statement items--
|
|
94-95 |
95-96 |
96-97 |
|
Sales |
19% |
26% |
22% |
|
COGS |
-8% |
44% |
44% |
|
Gross Profit |
57% |
12% |
-1% |
·
What is the future
implication of these numbers?
·
Even if costs can be
controlled and sales increased, in theory, is there the necessary customer base
for such expansion?
·
Finance and accounting folks
should do some financial ratios for us in future
7.
What recommendations would
you make to Mr. Joe Cotrone? If he follows your recommendations, what
improvement in financial performance can he expect?
·
GET THEIRS FIRST!!!
·
Computerized financial
management
·
Relationship with one or
more brokers
·
Mail order and good web site
·
Establish minimum order size
·
Credit card sales only
·
Keep best selling products
in inventory and produce speciality only on order (note this totally reverses
Joe's image)
·
Get involved in local
festivals, etc.
·
CLOSED IN NOV 99
Study questions for chapter
two – class on July 17..
1. Examine the mission statements of Cardinal Health, JDS Uniphase, and
Russell Corporation, Mc-Graw-Hill, FDX, Pfizer, Inc., Ritz-Carlton, Apple
Computer, Gillette, presented on pages 34-38.
Critique these for (a) incorporation of the focus on how will we make a
profit rather than will we make a profit, (b) addressing the necessary 3
questions, appropriate scope (broad or narrow).
Which statements clearly capture or reflect specific innovative
competitive strategies, and which ones fail to do so.
2. Pick the mission statement from the group referenced in question 1 that
you find the most promising. Use your
imagination to answer the six questions at the top of page 39 in order to
generate Strategic Vision statement for the company. Make specific use of insights from the
management function addressed by your academic major wherever possible.
3. What is an inflection point and what is its importance. Explain the history of inflection points for
the Intel Corporation.
4. Examine carefully the discussion on pages 43-44 of strategic versus financial
objectives. Consider then the problem of
the pressure on managers for short-term financial performance at the expense of
strategic investment – get the quarterly stock prices up and then jump ship to
the next promotion elsewhere! Address
this issue from the perspective of your academic major’s functional area of
management.
5. Explain with an example the statement in your text that the
Objective-setting process must be top-down, not bottom up. What light does the perspective of your
academic major’s functional area of management shed on this idea?
6. Study the statement on page 65 concerning the company’s ethical
strategy, and give some thought to what is implied by the combination of this
published statement and the infamous recent history of this company. What impact does this issue have on your academic major’s
functional area of management?
Study questions for Cases 2 & 3 – The DaimlerChrysler Merger –
Monday July 21
1. What is your assessment of DaimlerChrysler’s mission and purpose? How important is the listing of the
corporation’s shared beliefs and values?
Is the new mission something that former Chrysler employees ought to
accept and commit to being a part of?
Can former Daimler –Benz employees buy-in to the new mission?
2. Have DaimlerChrysler co-chairmen Bob Eaton and Jurgen Schrempp
established clear goals for the new corporation? If so, are they adequately linked to the
corporation’s mission? Are they measureable? Do they specify a deadline for
completion? Are DaimlerChrysler’s objectives
lacking in some way? Explain.
3. Evaluate DaimlerChrysler management’s approaches and actions to
integrate the operations of the two companies.
Will they result in the achievement of DaimlerChrysler’s objectives or
do you see them as not going far enough or being inadequate?
4. How well has DaimlerChrysler management implemented its plans for
integration of the two companies? Have
there been implementation challenges? Is
there evidence that management’s approach to strategy execution is
working? Why or why not?
5. Explain how DaimlerChrysler management has evaluated performance during
the
merger and taken corrective
actions where necessary? Have
management’s efforts been satisfactory?
Why or why not?
6. What are your recommendations to make the merger work? What additional
issues and
initiatives should Daimler Chrysler management consider?
Click on links
below:
Black &
Decker Progress Report
Black & Decker
Progress Report 2