24163 DeRubertis

Principles of Management - Class Information

A.     COMMUNICATION: Students are encouraged to communicate in person, by phone or email. However, information provided in class will not be repeated.  

·      Email: (preferred method of communication) Please allow 36 hours for a response.

·      Phone:  leave a message for me.

·      Office Hours:  Appointments are encouraged and will be given preference to students who “drop-in” during posted office hours.

When making contact – if you are communicating via email or leaving a message on voice mail please be sure to provide your name, the name of the course in which you are enrolled, your class section and your contact information (phone/email).    

When emailing, please email me directly at the above email addresses - not through Blackboard Learn - if you desire a timely response. 

Also make sure to check your KSU email and Blackboard Learn for communications from me at least every other day.  FYI, due to FERPA regulations, I cannot communicate grades or course-related materials to non-KSU email addresses.  

B.   REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AND CLASS MATERIALS:  

Management, Competing and Collaborating in a Competitive World, 11e, Bateman and Snell, McGraw Hill, Student Value Edition with Connect Plus

Bundled with the textbook is a Student Access Code for the McGraw-Hill Higher Education (MHHE) Connect Plus system. The MHHE Connect Plus system will be used for completing exercises and exams.

This text is available in paperback and as an E-Book. You can find order information on Blackboard.

C.   COURSE OBJECTIVES:  Overall Course Objectives are to:

1.       Trace and explain the development of management thinking, examine and understand current management thinking.

2.       Explain the various functions of management, the managerial design process, and discuss that process from globally and culturally diverse perspectives.

3.       List, define and discuss various leadership styles, and analytical & quantitative techniques for planning and control.

4.       Define the basic motives of humankind and be able to discuss applications of this knowledge in providing a motivated environment in the workplace.

5.       Discuss the major multicultural diversity and global issues in management and apply the management theory and topics to current, real world organizations and issues.

D.   PURPOSE: Principles of Management is an introductory course in Management and Organizational Design where leading contributions in this area are reviewed and practical implications are developed. 

E.   PREREQUISITE:  Sophomore standing (completion of 30 hours).  Students that do not have the proper prerequisites risk being deregistered from the class.  If in doubt please consult the Course Catalog or the advisors at the Undergraduate Programs Office.

F.    COURSE ORGANIZATION:  This course is presented as a blended learning environment.  This means that I make use of use in-class lecture as well as online applications outside of class to present additional materials, complete homework and exams.  

Class time will focus on practical application and reinforcement of the text material. This will be accomplished through the use of lectures, discussions, PowerPoint presentations, videos, guest speakers and online demonstrations. 

Class time will not simply be a rehash of the text material.  All students are expected to have read the assigned chapters and complete the LearnSmart Exercises before class in order to be an active participant during class.

G.  EXPECTATIONS:  All students are expected to:

1)      Attend class

2)      Arrive for class on time

3)      Not cause disruptions during class

4)      Participate in class discussions

5)      Submit homework assignments by the assigned due dates – no exceptions

6)      Conduct themselves as a business professional

H.  GRADING AND GRADING SCALE

I.        Attendance                  22 sessions @ 5 points each                           110                  22%

J.        LearnSmart HW          18 assignments @10 points each                   180                  36%

K.      Writing Component      3 assignments w/varied points                       50                  10%

L.       Exam                             4 exams @ 25 points each                            100                  20%

M.   Final Exam                    1 final exam@ 80 points                                 60                  12%

 TOTAL:                                                                                                     500                  100%

                    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

A       93% or greater (465-500)                               C+        77% - 79.99% (385-399)

A-      90% - 92.99%   (450-464)                                C          73% - 76.99% (365-384)

B+     87% - 89.99%   (435-449)                                C-         70% - 72.99% (350-364)

B       83% - 86.99%  (415-434)                                 D          60% - 69.99% (300-349)

B-      80% - 82.99%  (400-414)                     F          0% -    59.99% (<299)

Note: Grading is subject to minor modifications at the discretion of your instructor

N.     PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT:

Final grades will be determined based on your performance on participation, current event business writing assignments, Connect assignments, tests and a final exam. The following point values are available for each element:

1.      ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION:  Attendance for this class is required and attendance will be taken each scheduled session.  If you must miss class, you must contact me before class (by phone, e-mail, in person, etc.).  Your attendance will be excused only if you have a university-approved reason. 

Note: If you have more than 4 excused absences, or more than 2 unexcused absences, you will not receive an A in the course regardless of your cumulative point average. 

Students are also expected to come to class prepared by studying the reading assigned for that day, completing other homework activities and reviewing their notes from previous classes.  Students should expect to allocate three hours of outside work for each hour of class on average over the semester.  Although there will be some week-to-week variation, the course is designed so that workload should be fairly even throughout the semester, as long as students do not procrastinate.

The active involvement of all students is expected during discussions.  Participation can take many forms, including asking questions that clarify the class material, making points about the topic based on outside experience, providing well-reasoned comments on the topic based on the learning points in the class, and volunteering for special exercises. 

To assist in knowing who is participating, name cards will be distributed the first session and attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class period.

2.      LearnSmart CONNECT HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS: There will be 16 “LearnSmart” exercises throughout the course.  They are meant to give hands-on exposure or practice in key topic areas.  All of the exercises will be conducted outside the class, by using a computer. Due dates for all exercises are in the course outline. No late assignments will be accepted and deadlines will not be extended.

Before the posted deadlines, you must log into the McGraw-Hill Connect Plus system and complete exercises for chapters specified in your course outline.  In an attempt to improve your exercise scores, you are free to resubmit each exercise as often as you wish, provided each submission occurs by the posted deadline. You are more than welcome to use your calculator, textbook, and any course notes you feel will help, but you are expected to complete the work WITHOUT any assistance from another person.

3.      WRITING ASSIGNMENTS:  The College of Business requires that writing skills components be added to business courses given the importance of writing in general as well as in the business world.  Thus a writing requirement is included in this class.  This writing component is required of all Principles of Management (POM) sections and will be graded uniformly over all sections.

There are three (3) writing assignments that will be due during the semester.  The writing assignments are designed to help you become more proficient in business writing.  To get you started, there is an online tutorial on business writing posted on Blackboard Learn which you can review to understand more about the difference between business and academic writing.   The first assignment is a formal e-mail or memo, the second a business letter and the third will be an executive summary.  Each assignment will be available on the Sunday of the prescribed week and will be due on the following Saturday at noon. (see Blackboard for details)

The three writing assignments will account for 10% of your total grade and should be taken seriously. They will be graded by a grader using a rubric which will be visible to you on Blackboard.  Grading will be as follows; 10 points for assignment one, 15 points for assignment two and, 25 points for assignment three.  There will be opportunities to redo the first two assignments if you receive a grade below 72.5%. Your maximum grade on a redo will be limited to 82.5%.  Students are expected to learn and improve their writing during the semester. Therefore, no redo will be allowed on the third

4.      EXAMS AND FINAL EXAM:  Four multiple-choice exams over text and lecture material and one final exam will be given during the semester.

The four exams are anywhere, anytime and will be open-book, open-notes, and not cumulative.  Test questions will be drawn from textbook, lectures, class discussions, cases, and exercises.

A final Exam will also be given, is also anywhere, anytime, anyplace and will be open-book, open-notes, BUT is cumulative. 

All tests and the final exam are to be taken within the window provided. If you miss an exam due to a legitimate reason (e.g., illness, death in the immediate family), a make-up exam will be provided (you will be required to provide an official university excuse to be eligible for a make-up exam).  If you do not provide a legitimate excuse, no make-up exam will be granted.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT:  If you experience problems with Blackboard Learn which prevent you from submitting any work or assignment, you must contact the Instructor via the email address indicated above (not through Learn) PRIOR to the deadline to discuss alternative solutions.  Problems with Learn do not excuse late submissions.

KSU Helpdesk – http://www.kent.edu/is/helpdesk/index.cfm

Blackboard Learn Orientation – http://ondemand.blackboard.com

IMPORTANT POLICIES

1.      ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENTS: 

Students have a responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Student Tools on FlashLine) 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 Sunday, September 7^th, 2014 to correct the error.  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 for which you are not properly registered.  Please check the registrar’s website for complete details.

2.      ACADEMIC HONESTY: 

All work related to this class is to be done individually! 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.   In addition, it is considered cheating when one cooperates with someone else in any such misrepresentation.  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 for the course.  Repeat offenses may result in dismissal from the University.

3.      STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: 

University policy 3342-3-01.3 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for classroom adjustments through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit http://www.kent.edu/sas/index.cfm for more information on registration procedures).

4.      COURSE WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE: 

Please note that the last day to drop this class is Sunday, November 3^rd, 2014.

5.      EXCUSED ABSENCE FOR UNIVERSITY SPONSORED ACTIVITIES:

Documentation must be presented for signature of Professor DeRubertis prior to the excused absence date. A copy of the documentation must be left with Professor DeRubertis.

6.      SYLLABUS CHANGES:

Instructors reserve the right to change the syllabus or attached Class Schedule upon providing verbal notice in class, via email, and/or posting an updated version on the class site in Vista. Check to make sure you have the most up to date version by checking the date at the top.

5.      GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS:

If you are eligible to graduate, it is your responsibility to apply for graduation before the set deadline (May Graduation: Apply before September 15th | August Graduation: Apply before December 15th | December Graduation: Apply before March 15th). If you apply after the deadline you will be assessed a $200 late fee. Please see your academic advisor as soon as   possible if you are uncertain as to your progress toward graduation.  To apply for graduation complete the following steps: Log onto your Flashline account 1. Click on the Student Tools tab, 2. Look in the Graduation Planning Tool Box, 3. Click on Application for Graduation (If an error message appears, you must contact your advisor.)

The schedule below is tentative and the instructor reserves the right to make changes. 

COURSE CONTENT OUTLINE