44285-006 Spring 2013 Coleman
MIS 44285 Spring 2013
CRN 15595
Integrated Business Policy and Strategy
Kent State University
Time: Thursday 4:25- 7:05 pm
Classroom: CoBA 210
PROFESSOR: Robert Coleman
E-mail: rcolem12@kent.edu
Phone: 440-463-1811
Office Hours: Room 426. By appointment
READING MATERIALS:
Required: Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization Concepts and Cases, 10th edition, 2013, Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson
Hardcover or E-book is available but must have access to 10th edition cases
Hardcover ISBN: 1111825874
E-book(Cengagenow) ISBN/access code: 9781133495161
Supplemental readings are found on Library E reserves. Password provided in class.
Optional/Recommended: Access to contemporary business news articles through the Wall Street Journal or Business Week so current events can be included in class discussions.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The fundamental purpose of the firm is to create and sustain competitive advantage enabling it to earn superior returns for its multiple stakeholders. Strategic management provides the framework and tool set to analyze complex business situations and make optimal decisions to enable the company to win against its competition. This course will combine theoretical concepts and practical application to improve your ability to conduct strategic analysis and sharpen your executive decision making skills. It will explain how and where companies choose to compete and the critical success factors related to both strategic decision making and effective implementation. We will examine how strategic challenges and approaches are different for individual business units, corporations, and diversified international enterprises. The overall perspective taken is that of the general manager who is charged with optimizing the total organization effectiveness as ultimately measured by generating sustainable above market growth and profitability. This course will challenge you to integrate and synthesize previous learning’s from multiple business disciplines and improve your understanding of what ultimately leads to long-term business success.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
(1) Gain working knowledge of important and influential strategic management principles, concepts, models, and tools.
(2) Demonstrate ability to apply strategic management learning’s to actual business cases resulting in insightful analysis, conclusions, and recommended actions.
(3) Strengthen ability to concisely communicate your thoughts both verbally and in writing while also constructively engaging colleagues in group discussions and decision making.
(4) Develop the mindset and capability to truly think strategically when approaching critical decisions with long-term consequences.
CLASS FORMAT:
Course will consist of a combination of lectures, case analysis/discussion, case write-ups, team-led case discussions, and exams. Each week you will be assigned a chapter to read and study/discussion questions to prepare. Most weeks a new case will also be assigned. My lectures will review and extend what you have read with three primary objectives:
(1) Reinforce main concepts
(2) Discover and clarify any questions and misconceptions
(3) Explore current, real-life examples of the topic whenever possible
The cases provide actual business situations requiring the application of the concepts and tools. Cases
will be utilized in several ways as follows:
(1) There will be full class discussions with my role being the discussion facilitator guiding the process and asking questions. Students are expected to actively participate by being fully prepared, engaging in the material, and taking ownership for active class discussion.
(2) Formal case write-ups due at the beginning of class will be assigned three times and represent 20% of the overall grade. We will discuss the cases with the full class that session, but I will provide additional feedback on the write-ups the following week.
(3) Teams will be assigned and be required to present one class case discussion with all team members participating.
Discussion questions and required case analysis and deliverables will be provided when actual cases are assigned.
WORK EXPECTATIONS:
Thoughtful preparation in advance for all chapter and case discussions is critical to maximize the benefit of the group interaction and learning process. Everyone is required to prepare and bring their personal notes for each session. From time to time I will collect these and they will count toward your overall participation grade.
For each class session, you are expected to be prepared as follows:
(1) Have read the assigned chapter and case
(2) Prepared personal notes related to the study/discussion questions and case analysis (no specific format required but they will be collected randomly without notice)
(3) Actively participate in class discussions
· Ask questions
· Lead a discussion
· Contribute to a discussion
· Be prepared to be called upon
Active in-class engagement represents a significant portion of your grade. Participation credit will be evaluated based on:
· Knowledge of assigned readings
· Evidence of analysis related to cases
· Active listening and constructively challenging others
· Ability to discern facts from opinions
· Supporting conclusions with facts and analysis
You must be an active, effective, and consistent contributor to get a good participation grade by the end of the term. I will be keeping track of individual contributions with the aid of assigned seating and credit participation as follows:
Present/Prepared: 0 points. Completing the assigned work is an absolute requirement and not a source of participation credit. You must go a step further and contribute your thoughts to the class discussions.
Session Contributor: 1 point. When you contribute (voluntarily or prompted by the professor) you will get credit for the session. Be prepared and plan to contribute to every class.
Session Leader: 2 points. In exceptional circumstances you may receive additional points when you have made highly insightful contributions which have significantly enriched the discussion. Quality and not quantity of contribution is the key factor.
Your final participation score will be the sum of your points in all sessions. I will provide an indication of your score at mid-term but will not be updating it weekly.
Full term Participation points will correspond to the following grades:
13+ A
9-12 B
5-8 C
2-4 D
0-1 F
Expect to invest a minimum of six hours to prepare for each class and more when formal case write-ups or team-led case facilitation is due. The text, assigned articles, and lectures will all be key sources of exam questions so plan to read the weekly assignments.
GRADING:
Examinations: 60%
First Exam 20%
Second Exam 20%
Final Exam 20%
Case Write-Ups (3): 20%
Participation: 20%
Class Contribution 10%
Team Presentation 10%
GRADING SCALE:
Final grades will be assigned using the University plus/minus system.
4.0 A
3.7 A-
3.3 B+
3.0 B
2.7 B-
2.3 C+
2.0 C
1.7 C-
1.3 D+
1.0 D
0.0 F
CASE WRITE-UPS:
Case reports are intended to be executive summaries focused on your analysis, conclusions, and recommendations so refrain from repeating the case background and information already provided. The reader is primarily interested in you effectively answering the discussion questions by:
(1) Utilizing appropriate strategic management concepts and tools
(2) Demonstrating insightful analysis of facts to draw well-supported conclusions
(3) Presenting arguments succinctly in a clear, brief, persuasive executive summary
Format:
Include cover page with case title, your name, date
Use 1” margins and 12 font
Not to exceed five pages (including cover)
COURSE POLICIES
LATE ASSIGNMENTS:
Assignments may be turned in prior to the due date for full credit. Late work without advance arrangements due to special circumstances will receive no credit. Assignments are due at beginning of class on the date noted.
MISSED CLASSES:
Missed classes will directly impact your participation grade. In case of unavoidable absence, contact your team members for any notes and assignments.
MISSED TESTS:
It is your responsibility to be in class at the assigned date and time for each exam (unless arrangements were made in advance for an alternative time—see Test Make-up Policy below). In order to adhere to standards of professionalism and academic rigor, as well as out of fairness to students that meet course requirements, there will be no make-up tests for missed exams. The only exception to this policy might be under the rare circumstance of a last-minute emergency (i.e., accident, sudden illness, etc.)-see “unplanned absences” below.
TEST MAKE-UP:
Since tests are scheduled during regular class periods or during the exam week, there should be no time conflicts with other classes. Hence, make-up tests will be arranged only under extenuating circumstances that justify your absence. There are two types of justified exam absences:
Planned absences: If you do have an unavoidable time conflict (e.g., job interview trip, intercollegiate sports team travel), speak to me well in advance of the scheduled test date to make arrangements for an alternate time. There will be no make-up tests provided due to planned absences unless arrangements are made with me at least a week in advance of the test date. Also, no make-up test will be permitted more than one week after the regularly scheduled test date.
Unplanned absences: If an unplanned circumstance (i.e., illness or medical emergency) were to occur that makes you unable to attend an exam, you (or someone on your behalf) must get in touch with me as soon as possible, via phone or e-mail (indicating a phone number where you or the contact person can be reached). You will also need to provide a doctor’s note or other proper verification of the confining emergency. Make-up tests will be provided only if and when your inability to physically attend the scheduled exam has been established.
UNIVERSITY POLICIES
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 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 course. Repeat offenses result in dismissal from the University.
Withdrawal Deadline: For Spring 2013, the course withdrawal deadline is Sunday,March 24,2013.
Disabled Students: 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 these through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit http://www.registrars.kent.edu/disability/ for more information on registration procedures).
Enrollment/Official Registration: Students have 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 Jan 27, 2013 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 in which you are not properly registered.
Graduation: 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.
Outcomes assessment is a requirement for M&IS 44285, Business Policy/Strategy. Therefore, if you are enrolled in this course during the current semester, you must complete two outcome measures as part of your class, regardless of when you are actually graduating. More information will be shared by your professor during the summer session. Completion of the two measures is required for you to receive your final grade in M&IS 44285.
Note: Material in syllabus should be considered nominal and subject to change due to various constraints such as weather, illness, or other unexpected issues.
COURSE SCHEDULE
WEEK 1 – January 17, 2013
Read: Course Syllabus
Chapter 1, Hitt et al (10th edition)
Briefing: Course Overview
Lecture: Introduction to Strategic Management
Review Questions: (TBD)
WEEK 2 – January 24, 2013
Read: Hitt, Chapter 2
Preparing Effective Case Analysis, Hitt pg. vii – xv
Lecture: External Environment Analysis
Introduce Porter 5 Forces Model
Review Questions: (TBD)
Assign Case (MGM)
WEEK 3 – January 31, 2013
Case Discussion: MGM (full class)
Read: Michael Porter article” The 5 competitive forces that shape strategy”
Lecture: Porter 5 Forces continued
Review Questions: (TBD)
WEEK 4 – February 7, 2013
Read: Hitt, Chapter 3 and J. Barney article “Looking inside for competitive advantage”
Lecture: Internal Environment Analysis
Review Questions: (TBD)
Assign Case: (Microsoft) for written submission
WEEK 5 – February 14, 2013
Read: Hitt, Chapter 4
Case Write-up Due
Case Discussion: Microsoft (full class)
Lecture: Business Level Strategy
Review Questions: (TBD)
WEEK 6 – February 21, 2013
Read: Hitt, Chapter 5
Lecture: Competitive Rivalry/Dynamics
First Exam: (Chapters 1 – 4)
WEEK 7 – February 28, 2013
Read: Hitt, Chapter 6
Review Exam Results
Lecture: Corporate Level Strategy
Review Questions: (TBD)
Assign Case: (Reynolds)
WEEK 8 – March 7, 2013
Read: Hitt, Chapter 7 & Ecceles article “ Are you paying too much for that acquisition?”
Case Discussion: Reynolds (full class)
Lecture: Mergers and Acquisitions
Review Questions: (TBD)
Assign Case: (Best Buy) for written submission
WEEK 9 – March 14, 2013
Read: Hitt, Chapters 8 & 9
Case Write-up Due
Case Discussion: Best Buy (full class)
Lecture: International and Cooperative Strategy
Review Questions: (TBD)
WEEK 10 – March 21, 2013
Read: Hitt, Chapter 10
Lecture: Corporate Governance
Review Questions: (TBD)
Assign Case: (Navistar)
Spring Break Week- March 24-30. No class
WEEK 11- April 4, 2013
Read: Hitt, Chapter 11
Case Discussion: Navistar (full class)
Lecture: Structure and Controls
Review Questions: (TBD)
Review for Second Exam
WEEK 12 – April 11, 2013
Second Exam
Assign Case: (Ford)for team presentation
WEEK 13 – April 18, 2013
Read: Hambrick Article “ Are you sure you have a strategy?”
Review Exam Results
Team Presentations: (Ford)
Review Questions: (TBD)
Assign Case: (Netflix) for written submission
WEEK 14 – April 25. 2013
Read: Hitt, Chapter 12 & 13
Case Write-up Due: (Netflix)
Case Discussion: Netflix(full class)
Lecture: Strategic Leadership
Review Questions: (TBD)
Assign Case: (Valeant Pharmaceutical) for team presentations
WEEK 15 – May 2, 2013
Team Presentations: (Valeant Pharmaceutical)
Review for Final
WEEK 16 – Finals week May 12-17
Final Exam Date: TBD
