BA 407H
Seminar in Business Research
Fall 2008

CRN 18449, 8-8:50 a.m. Tuesdays,

Moss Adams Conference Room, Bexell Hall 326

1 credit

Seminar Coordinators:
Jack Drexler 206 Bexell Hall
jack.drexler@bus.oregonstate.edu 737-4276
Roger Graham 204 Bexell Hall
roger.graham@bus.oregonstate.edu 737-4028

Office Hours:
Drexler: by appointment
Graham: Monday and Wednesday 10:00 – 11:00; Wednesday 1:30 – 2:30

Course Materials: Readings will be provided:

Enforced Prerequisites: Honors College Approval

Students with Disabilities: "Accommodations are collaborative efforts between students, faculty and Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD). Students with accommodations approved through SSD are responsible for contacting the faculty member in charge of the course prior to or during the first week of the term to discuss accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for accommodations but who have not yet obtained approval through SSD should contact SSD immediately at 737-4098."

Course Description: The College of Business seeks to encourage faculty – student collaboration in research and to engage students in the study of issues related to business. BA 407H supports College of Business Honor’s College students by providing exposure to research faculty and to research projects in the College of Business. Therefore, students should view this course as an opportunity to form relationships with research faculty and to develop research ideas for their Honor’s College thesis.

BA 407H will be operated in a seminar format. College of Business researchers will present their research and encourage discussion with students.

BA 407H Learning Objectives: The primary learning objectives of this course relate to the acquisition of knowledge about business research. Specifically, students will

1. be able to identify current issues relevant to business research topics, and

2. develop an appreciation for the range of business research topics and methods.

3. be able to design a research study.

Course Requirements: Final determination of course requirements will be made the first class session. What we currently envision is attendance and participation (30 percent of grade), four one-page summaries of the eight research papers presented in class (40 percent of grade), and a one to two page research proposal (30 percent of grade). Templates for the written assignments will be provided.

Grades will be assigned based on your total points earned during the term as a percentage of total points possible: A’s 85 – 100%, B’s 75 – 84%, C’s 65 – 74%

Classroom Rules: Be respectful, exercise integrity, be honest, provide help and support whenever you see a need.

In addition, all Oregon State University student conduct requirements apply. The OSU student conduct requirements are accessible at http://oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/achon.htm

Tentative Schedule

Week1

Tuesday Sept 30: Introduction: Topics – the University system, the importance of business research, the types of research, business disciplines they will be seeing.

Week 2

Tuesday Oct 7: Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship Robert Garrett will present his dissertation. “Quantitative Work on Internal Corporate Venturing.”

McGrath, R.G., Keil, T., & Tukiainen, T. 2006. Extracting value from corporate venturing. MIT Sloan Management Review, 48(1): 50-56.

Week 3

Tuesday Oct 14: Professor of Marketing Jim McAlexander will present “Alternative ways of knowing.”

John Schouten and James H. McAlexander (1995), "Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers," Journal of Consumer Research, 22 (June) 43-61.

Week 4

Tuesday Oct 21: Assistant Professor Jimmy Yang

Week 5

Tuesday Oct 28: Assistant Professor Dayna Simpson will present “Exploring the difference between symbolic and substantive implementation of ‘green’ corporate practices.”

Williams, Alex. (2008) That Buzz in Your Ear May Be Green Noise. The NewYork Times.

Week 6

Tuesday Nov 4: Assistant Professor Zhaohui Wu: Conducting inductive case studies: Understanding the how and why questions about organizations.

Week 7

Tuesday Nov 11: Associate Professor Rene Reitsma will present “Visualization of Information Spaces with Voronoi Diagrams; Engineering and Human Subjects Testing.”

Reitsma, R., Trubin, S. (2006) Weight-proportional Information Space Partitioning Using Adaptive Multiplicatively-Weighted Voronoi Diagrams. Paper presented at the 12^th Americas’ Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), Acapulco, Mexico.

Week 8

Tuesday Nov 18: Associate Dean Jack Drexler:

West, M.S., Drexler, J.A., Jr., McKee-Ryan, F.M., King, N.J., and Hsieh, P.H. Electronic (E-)Recruiting: Manager Perceptions of the Advantages and Disadvantages and a Comparison by Firm Size. Proceedings of the South West Academy of Management, April, 2008.

Week 9

Tuesday Nov 25: Professor Roger Graham will present his research on the value of comparative accounting procedures.

Week 10

Tuesday Dec 2: Student presentation of research proposals

Research proposals due Friday December 5^th by 12 noon.