BAD 64185 Spring 2006 Bohan

BAD 64185-002, BAD 64185-900, and BAD 64185-600 

Business Strategy

Spring Semester 2006,   Tuesday, 7:20pm to 10pm

Instructor:  Rick Bohan

E-mail:   rbohan@voyager.net  (Best way to contact me!)

Office:  Student Union Food Court

Office Hours:  Tuesday, 7:00pm to 7:20pm or by appt.

Phone:  Home – 440-247-8211 (“At the tone, leave a message…)

                Cell – 216-409-9046 (Use this only when it’s urgent…it uses up my minutes!) 

Course Objectives:

·         To develop your capacity to think strategically about a company, its present business position, its long-term direction, its resources and competitive capabilities, the caliber of its strategy, and its opportunities for gaining sustainable competitive advantage.

·         To build your skills in conducting strategic analysis in a variety of industries and competitive situations and, especially, to provide you with a stronger understanding of the competitive challenges of a global market environment.

Course Description:

Business Strategy is a big picture course. It cuts across the whole spectrum of business and management. The center of attention is the total enterprise–-the industry and competitive environment in which it operates, its long-term direction and strategy, its resources and competitive capabilities, and its prospects for success.

Throughout the course, the spotlight will be trained on the foremost issue in running a business enterprise: “What must managers do, and do well, to make the company a winner in the game of business?”  The answer that emerges, and which becomes the theme of the course, is that good strategy-making and good strategy-execution are the key ingredients of company success and the most reliable signs of good management. The mission of the course is to explore why good strategic management leads to good business performance, to present the basic concepts and tools of strategic analysis, and to drill you in the methods of crafting a well-conceived strategy and executing it competently.

Instructional Philosophy:

There is a body of knowledge to learn but the most important development takes place when you read about, think about, consider, discuss, ponder, discuss some more, analyze, and debate the theories and concepts and their application.  SO….you will be expected to PARTICIPATE IN CLASS!  There will also be a fair amount of writing.  Along the way, I’ll stay in touch with each of you so as to encourage, nag, assist, coach, counsel, teach,, and advise you.

Required Reading: 

There is no required text but there will be a number of readings throughout the semester.  All of these readings are on electronic reserve.  Here are the instructions for getting into electronic reserve (if you have problems, get in touch with the library:

Go to   http://reserves.library.kent.edu/eres/default.aspx

Click on  Electronic Reserves: Documents and Course Materials

Use the search bar on the page that comes up to search on the course name, number, or my name.

The password is strategy26. 

Course Requirements and Grading:

Here’s how the grading will go.

First Paper                             25 points

Written Cases                       30 points (10 points each)

Participation (including

 Four Case Preps)                 30 points

Final Case Study Report     15 points

Total                                       100 points

The First Paper is a ten-page paper with an assigned topic.

The Written cases are analyses of three of the cases (your choice) of five to eight pages.

The Case Preps are one or two pages of notes from your reading of the case. You can think of them as notes that you’d use in preparation for an intelligent discussion of the case. 

The Final Case Study report is a five to eight page analysis of one of the cases.

For each of the essay exams and the research paper, here’s how I’ll figure the grade:

Overall quality of the content (Well organized, college-level language and syntax, good use of and attribution of outside resources…other than paper-writing services, of course.) – 40%

Use of concepts and material from the text and class – 40%

Punctuation, spelling, grammar, that sort of thing – 20%

Standards of proper English apply to all written assignments, and exams.  In addition to content; spelling, grammar and flow of ideas will be used to evaluate any written work product.

Here’s how I’ll score you for the semester:

A = 89.5 to 100 points

B+ = 86.5 to 89.0 points

B = 82.5  to 86.0 points

B- = 79.5  to 82.0 points

C+ = 76.5 to 79 points

C = 72.5  to 76 points

C- = 69.5 to 72.0 points

D = 60 to 69 points

F = Below 60 points

I’ll give out the research paper question well in advance of the due date.  I will be happy to review rough drafts of papers before the due date to provide advice and feedback. 

Notice that, even if you made perfect scores on all the assignments, you couldn’t make an A if you sat in the back of the class and didn’t say a word all semester.  PARTICIPATION IS IMPORTANT! 

The following policies apply to all students in this course:

Attendance:  Regular class attendance is expected. You should come to class prepared to discuss the assigned topic. If you are unable to attend a class or exam, you should consult with me individually in advance of class. The University Health Service will verify treatment due to illness or injury only when the Health Center has rendered a service to you. In other words, no make-up exams will be allowed without a medical excuse from the Health Center or your physician.

Enrollment:   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 9, 2005 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.

Course withdrawal: The course withdrawal deadline is November 6, 2005. Withdrawal before the deadline results in a "W" on the official transcript; after the deadline a grade must be calculated and reported.

Getting to class, turning exams and research papers in and other important stuff:  I don’t take attendance but I do make it a point to get to know students by name.  As such, I’m good about keeping track of your participation and you can’t participate if you aren’t there.  Also, the material from class is entirely your responsibility and, if the past is any indication, I’m very likely to bring up topics in class that can’t be found in the readings or anywhere else for that matter but I’ll still expect to see them referred to in the essays. I’ll help you in any way I can but I don’t lecture from notes so don’t bother to ask me for notes from classes you might have missed. (You can, however, get in touch to find out if I introduced any startling new models or concepts.)  Missed exams shouldn’t be a problem because they’ll all be take-home essay exams and will be given out well in advance of due dates.  As such, you would need an EXTREMELY good reason not to turn a paper in on time and the reason would have to be accompanied by proof (such as a doctor’s  note).  And the time to tell me that you have extenuating circumstances that make it difficult for you to turn in a paper on time is not  two days after it’s due.   If you can’t turn a paper in on the due date…turn it in early.  If you know you’re not going to be able to get it in on time, let me know as soon as you know!

I strive to make the whole exam/research paper experience fairly “student friendly”.  If you run into extraordinary problems, I can be reached via Email and Telephone (including voice mail).  Please make use of these communication channels for missed Exams, etc.    In general, though, I expect everything to be turned in ON TIME!  I will take points off your Participation Grade for late papers. 

I’m going to report grades on May 15, the Monday after the last day of exams (when your final essay is due).  No materials will be accepted after I’ve reported grades.  If you know that you’re not going to be able to get an assignment in by then due to extraordinary circumstances and want an incomplete grade, you had better get in touch with me early.  And May 13 is not early.

Academic Honesty:  Cheating means to misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work so as to get underserved 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 a dismissal from the University.

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 in the Michael Schwartz Student Services Center (672-2972).

Note: This syllabus may be changed and/or updated throughout the semester.  I will announce all changes in class - it is your responsibility to make sure you attend class and are aware of any changes.

Other Important Matters:

Course Outline