SYLLABUS

M&IS 44285, SECTION 002, CRN # 15251

INTEGRATED BUSINESS POLICY AND STRATEGY

SPRING, 2012

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY – MAIN CAMPUS

PROFESSOR: Dr. David Lee Baker

Kent State University, COBA, Room # 217

CLASS TIMES:  Tuesday, 2:15 PM – 5:00 PM

MY OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday Nights, 5:00 – 6:00 PM

In our classroom.  Other dates/times arranged by prior set appointment.

E-MAIL: DLBAKER1@KENT.EDU   

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This is an upper-level, capstone course designed to give the student practical experience in Strategic Management Principles. Our class is a hybrid one, with live lectures and some case analyses in class, and with extensive online content and testing process.  This course deals with the integration of the functional areas of business in the formulation and implementation of policy.  Projects and case analysis of business situations provide students with the opportunity to apply analytical and creative problem solving skills.  The strategy class draws upon both theoretical developments and empirical findings within the field of strategic management to provide an understanding of how organizations choose to compete in a given marketplace.  It looks at why some firms succeed and grow, while others fail, and what might be done to improve a firm’s competitive position and economic performance.  The principal methods of instruction are casework along with active discussion, lecture and examination.  Active attendance and participation in every class is absolutely critical to your success in this course. 

Cogito Ergo Sum

At this level of your college career, there should be no prodding by instructors to get you to do the work on a daily basis.  This class will be run much like a graduate business class.  However, if the instructor sees people not prepared, reading the course material, cases, or assignments for the first time in class, and thereby holding up classroom progress, then it is very possible that your instructor may need to revert to more classical teaching methods, as distasteful as they may be, to make sure that all students are fully prepared.  This course is designed to accentuate and strengthen previous work in the business program, thereby providing a total business perspective.  You will see how the integrated business policy and strategy will incorporate and then build upon material which you have formerly learned in your accounting, economics, finance, international business, marketing, organizational behavior, organizational theory, philosophy (professional ethics) and psychology courses.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS:

This is one bundled, custom-designed text; this full package is required of every enrolled student:

1.     Dess 6e “Create” black and white paperback with special Kent State 4/color cover, including Connect Plus, and Glo-Bus; McGraw-Hill Publishing, ISBN:  007-792762-1.  Title: Strategic Management: Text & Selected Cases.  Authors: Gregory G. Dess, G.T. Lumpkin, Alan B. Eisner, and Gerry McNamara.  Copyright Date: 2012.  Edition: 6^th.  Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin Publishing Co., NY, NY.

OUTSIDE READING ESSENTIAL

Consider reading regularly, valuable business publications such as: The Economist (UK), Financial Times (UK), The Wall Street Journal (US), Barron’s (US), and Investor’s Business Daily (US).  Discussions will be conducted and perhaps assigned from these publications and your informed and current awareness is essential to your exemplary progress in this course.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE: This course is specifically intended to:

1.      Introduce you to the related elements of any business situation: strategic thinking, personal characteristics, influencing others, designing effective organizations, and managing change.

2.      Help you learn about a number of influential strategic management ideas, concepts, principles, and analytical frameworks.

3.      Assist you in improving your general business knowledge and aid in giving you a strong understanding of the interplay among different business areas.

4.      Cause you to apply these concepts, principles, and frameworks to real-life business cases.

5.      Guide you to be able to hone your analytical skills and practice managerial decision-making.

6.      Make it possible for you to develop the ability to structure, present, and sustain arguments in front of colleagues and clients, as well as giving you the ability to listen constructively and react to the arguments of others.

7.      Expose you to many excellent authors, both current and historical, who have made significant contributions to the subject of strategic management.

8.      Help you to learn practical skills about business strategy through experiential exercises.

9.      Make it possible for you to anticipate and plan your management role within the business world.

10.  Prepare you to be a business leader in society.

ASSIGNMENTS, PROJECTS, AND EXAMS

Your professor has given you, on the following spreadsheet, a proposed listing of the topics and chapters to be covered in each session.  This is a breakdown of how these will work:

1.     Participation/Attendance (Team and Individual): The activity, worth up to 150 points, is determined by your overall attendance and unique participation in all class activities and discussions, as well as your regular logging onto the FlashLine Website (as discussed further below, on page 5). 

2.     Case Analyses (Classroom, Team): You are to prepare each case individually and be fully prepared to discuss it in our larger classroom session. Participation will be graded by your professor.  All case questions must be answered as well.  Note, this is not in outline format, but descriptive paragraphs using the outline ideas presented in class. You must use the long-cycle method (as discussed) on this part.  The point value here, on cases, will be included in the above participation and attendance figures, as your classroom participation is essential to a complete understanding of each case.  While these may be handled completely as in-class discussions, if your professor sees entirely too many people unprepared during our class meetings, then it is at his sole discretion that these may be re-assigned to every student as a written assignment.  150 points maximum.

3.     Case Analyses (Online, Individual): These will be three (3) video cases you view, and answer questions for, individually, online.  Up to 50 points for each case; total maximum of 150 points is available for this activity.

4.     Exams (Individual): These will be three (3) predominantly multiple-choice exams (including the final exam) on concepts, terms, definitions, and examining your full understanding of the subject matter that will be held on the stated examination dates.  These will all be electronically graded type exams, and all work will be done online, closed book, individually. These will each count as points shown on each towards your final grade.  You will have exactly 80 minutes for each exam, for 50 questions. 

5.     Glo-Bus Simulation (Team): This is a team project that consists of both an in process grade, as well as a semester-end project which will be due by the end of the term, based on the criteria to be determined. There will be a presentation, as well as a paper due.  This paper should be not less than five (5) and not more than ten (10) typewritten pages, double spaced, with appropriate margins, footnotes and references, according to proper publication style guides.  Type must be in black print with a type font that must be 11 points or larger, in a clear, non-script typestyle.  This is worth up to 250 points in total, towards your grade. 

PARTICIPATION/ATTENDANCE:

For each class session it is expected that:

1.       Students will be prepared.  For a theory session this would mean that the student has read the assigned chapter(s) and is familiar with the concepts and the tools contained within the readings.  For a case study session it means having read and analyzed the case and coming to class with a prepared set of personal notes that contains your best thoughts on the subject.  Study questions are given to highlight the key issues and to guide your analyses.  Should students be unprepared for class, written assignments and/or pop quizzes based upon either the text chapters and/or cases will be assigned on the spot.

2.       Students will be active participants in class.  In theory sessions this would mean that students answer questions offered by the professor, ask their own questions, and volunteer insights or experiences about that particular topic(s).  Students may be called upon to speak about an issue.  During case analysis sessions, it means that you contribute your own ideas as well as building upon, agreeing with, or disagreeing with ideas and opinions expressed by your classmates.  You may be called upon to present your analysis or to lead a particular discussion.  You cannot be an active participant unless you are always fully prepared for each and every class.

OFFICE HOURS:  

Office hours for the semester will be held (tentatively) according to the schedule on page one of this syllabus.  Should those dates/times not work for your own calendar (due to your work and/or school schedule) please see me or email me to suggest alternative times.  I can possibly do appointments during evenings and/or weekends if absolutely necessary.  It is best to see me in class or email me first for an appointment before just stopping by as I may be with other students or faculty members and there could be somewhat of a wait.  If you are having problems in this course, please see me immediately; don’t wait until the semester ends.  It may simply be too late then to help you.

GRADING:

There will be a total maximum of 1,000 points available to determine your grade. The criteria for grading is divided and delineated as follows:

                                                                Maximum #:        Dates, Deadlines & Descriptions:

1.     Participation/Attendance:         150 points             See Syllabus Calendar

2.     Classroom Case Analyses:        150 points             See Syllabus Calendar

3.     Online Case Analyses (3)           150 points total    Deadlines: Feb. 5, March 4, April 8 (all online)

4.     Exams 1, 2 (@ 100 points ea.)  200 points total    Deadlines: Feb. 12, March 11 (all online)

5.     Glo-Bus Simulation (Process)    100 points             During Semester (Glo-Bus Simulation Progress)

6.     Glo-Bus (Final Presentation):    150 points             End of Semester (Glo-Bus Simulation Results Presented)

7.     Exam 3, Final Exam:                 100 points             Friday, May 4,  3:15 -- 5:30 p.m. (Comprehensive)

NOTE TIME AND DATE CHANGE

       Total:                                             1,000 points

To determine your overall percentage grade, divide your above total earned points by ten (10), and then use the following value guide to ascertain your corresponding final letter grade.  Scores are only rounded off (at the end of all calculations) to the nearest one-hundredth of a point.  Therefore, an earned grade near the cusp, of say 79.95 will not be able to provide you with a letter grade of a “B”.  Here is the grade chart:

A             100.00 – 90.00 points

B             89.99 – 80.00

C             79.99 – 70.00

D             69.99 – 60.00

F              Below 60.00

SYLLABUS:

While this is intended to be a strict overview of this course it is not a contract.  Things happen; accidents, emergencies, weather conditions, catastrophes, and the like, and this syllabus is therefore tentative.  As strategic business leaders you need to be flexible to change and a full understanding of that dynamic.  Your professor will give as much lead time as possible on all changes, so that you have ample time to prepare.

CLASSROOM DECORUM:

So as not to disturb classmates, your professor expects that there will be no reading or talking during lectures, as well as no eating or chewing gum during class.  Cell phones, pagers and beepers must be turned off upon entering the classroom.  If a student’s device rings during class or a test or exam the professor reserves the right to ask that student to leave the room for the remainder of that class period.  Please don’t let it happen a second time as other, stronger actions may be necessary.  Laptops are permitted, provided they are only used for classroom activities.  This is in accordance with the University policy on disruptions in the classroom.

STUDENTS’ ABSENCES, MISSED CLASSES/EXAMS:

Along the same line as things that can happen above, your professor realizes that circumstances may occur in your schedule as well that could preclude your attendance for class activities; such as serious illnesses, family emergencies/events, deaths in the family, accidents, work commitments and business travel out of town, etc.  Advance notice to me will most always be required (at the very least, suggested).  The only exceptions to this notice are serious illness or death in your immediate family.  IMPORTANT: Make-up work may be available, but for the three (3) Exams ONLY.  This means that no make-up is available for any of the following items, including, but not limited to: Quizzes, Pop Quizzes, Cases, Extra Credit, Additional Assignments, Experiential Exercises, Presentations, Projects, and/or any Participation or Attendance Points or Items.  In order to be considered for any make-up work you will first need to provide me with written, original proof of any absence to be excused, usually in the form of an original doctor’s note, original emergency room physician’s statement, and/or original hospital billing statement(s) with clear dates of treatment and/or admission.  It is not realistic to come to me after any activity or exam and then explain a situation, other than that of a dire emergency or family death, and expect to get a make-up exam.  At the very latest then, in any event, you (or your representative) must notify me no later than 48 hours after the start of any previously-scheduled missed activity.  We may offer optional extra credit work for additional points in this course.  You will be advised of this by the middle of this semester.

PRESENTATION SKILLS:

The ability to properly present topics of importance to your classmates, colleagues, clients, stakeholders, and supervisors is essential in both life and in the business world.  It is possible that, shall time permit, we will do some presentations or exercises in this vital area.  You will each be expected to present to the class, both individually and possibly as well within teams, sometime during this semester.  Please contact me early on in this course should you have any concerns about presenting in class.

GLO-BUS STRATEGY SIMULATION:

Each student is required to register for and take an active, team-based part in GLO-BUS, an online business simulation.   Registration is completed at http://www.glo-bus.com. The cost is included in your bundled textbook package.  Do NOT attempt registration until discussed in class.  The required company registration code and instructions for registration will be provided in class.  Teams, comprised of 3-5 members, will be assigned at our first class meeting and will each participate in the GLO-BUS Simulation.  The top team will receive the maximum number of TEAM points; other teams will receive points on a sliding scale based on their performance relative to the best team.  IF ALL DECISIONS AND TEAM PROJECTS ARE TURNED IN ON TIME, the lowest number of points earned will be 60, on the Process Points.  The remaining 140 maximum possible points for the simulation component will consist of potentially two individual quizzes, a strategic plan for your company, team discussion of decisions, and a potential final presentation.  Team members will evaluate themselves, as well as all other members of their team, at least once or twice this term, and this result will serve as a portion of your grade in this project. 

1. Practice round 1 deadline:                 JAN 27  (ALL deadlines occur at 11:59 pm ET on Fridays)
2. Practice round 2 deadline:                 FEB 3
3. First round deadline:                           FEB 10
4. Second round deadline:                     FEB 17
5. Third round deadline:                         FEB 24
6. Fourth round deadline:                       MAR 2
7. Fifth round deadline:                          MAR 9
8. Sixth round deadline:                         MAR 16
9. Seventh round deadline:                    MAR 30
10. Eighth round deadline:                       APR 6

EMAIL

I will use only your current Kent.EDU account for all email correspondence.  It is your responsibility to keep your account open and active, and to make sure that you always have at least 2MB of available space so that I may (if need be) send you attached documents.  When emailing me please be courteous and offer a salutation, and end with your name.  Kindly begin your subject line with this exact phrase (you may put other things after that, as need be):

                                    “Strategy, Tuesday Afternoon (-or- Tuesday 2:15 pm), at KSU Main”

As I am teaching multiple classes and sections within this semester, including that phrase in your emails helps me properly identify you without having to pour over several rosters.  I aim to answer your emails within 24 hours.  If I’m traveling and off email for a short period of time I’ll so advise in advance.

REGULARLY LOGGING ONTO FLASHLINE WEBSITE:

You will need to regularly and often log onto and read all new entries in FlashLine, My Courses, Integrated Business Policy/Strategy.  It is expected that you will log onto this site and pay very close attention to all new items posted at least twice a week.  A portion of your participation and attendance points comes from both this activity and classroom attendance and discussions in all scheduled class activities.  To save paper and avoid killing more trees, many of the items that you will need to read, study, and refer to for this course will be posted there, instead of handing them all out in class.  Many of these will be in PDF Format (Adobe Acrobat Reader).  You may print them out from the website if you so choose.  It will be imperative for you to have Adobe on your home (or office) computer(s).  This is available from a free download from their site.  Some files will be in Powerpoint, Word, and/or Excel format.  It would also behoove you to have these forms of software on your most-used computer(s); or at the very least have access to them on another computer.  Note that most (if not all) college campuses have computer labs with each of these programs and you may avail yourself of them in their labs.  If you are having problems accessing the FlashLine website please see me immediately.  Do not wait until the end of the term to explain your difficulties.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Last Day to Add Classes or Change Grading Option                                           Sunday, January 22, 2012

Last Day to Drop Course Without a Grade of “W”                                              Sunday, January 22, 2012

Last Day to Apply for December 2012 Graduation                                             Before Thursday, March 15, 2012

Last Day for Completing a Grade of “I” for the Spring 2012 Term                  Defaults at end of Fall Semester

Last Day for Withdrawing With a Grade of “W”                                                  Sunday, March 18, 2012

Before considering dropping this class please come and discuss it first with your instructor, as options may exist.

View all these policies within the KSU Registrar’s Site at: http://www.kent.edu/registrar/calendars/stu_spring.cfm

THE FOLLOWING POLICIES APPLY TO ALL STUDENTS IN THIS COURSE: 

A.      Students attending the course who do not have the proper prerequisite risk being deregistered from the class.

Students have the responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Student Tools/FlashFast) during the first two days of this current semester to ensure that you are properly enrolled in this class and section.  Should you find an error in your class schedule, you need to correct the error with your advising office no later than January 22, 2012.    If registration errors are not corrected by these dates 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.

B.      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.   In addition, it is considered to be 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.  Cheating also includes using or referencing any prior exams, tests, case analyses, presentations, projects, quizzes, and/or prepared work by others, from any prior semesters, for this course (or any other similarly taught Strategy courses at KSU).  Any discovered material of this nature will be immediately confiscated.  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.

C.      The course withdrawal deadline for this course for the Spring 2012 term is Monday, March 18, 2012.  Please keep in mind that if you are having academic difficulty then you should immediately proceed to the Undergraduate Programs Office (Room 107, COBA, or call 330-672-2872) for consultation with an advisor or a dean.

D.      University policy 3342-3-18 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 professor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through the Student Accessibility Services (contact by phone: 330-672-3391 or visit: http://www.registrars.kent.edu/disability/ for more information on registration procedures).  I expect you to notify me of this on our first day of classes. Please do not come to me the day of (or just moments before) an exam and inform me of the need for these specific accommodations.  I am simply unable to assist you at that late date.  Thank you for your understanding.

E.      Student Athletes.  If you are a student athlete and plan on traveling away to any games which may make you unavailable for classes this semester then please come and inform me of this upon your first class meeting.  That way I’m made well aware of your possible travel schedule which may interfere with our class events.

• Any questions about applying for graduation should be referred to your advisor/advising office.  Or, view: http://www.kent.edu/registrar/gradhonors/ap_proc.cfm