College of Business -- BA469 Course Syllabus

BA 469 is a University-approved WIC Course. As such, you will be doing a considerable amount of graded and ungraded writing in this course. The guidelines below explain the criteria adopted by the OSU Faculty Senate.

More information about WIC and services and information available to students is available at http://wic.oregonstate.edu/survivalguide. Please refer to that page before handing in any assignments.

Course Assignments and Grading

Grades will be determined as follows:

Individual Grades – 80%

Midterm Exam 20%

Final Exam 20%

Industry Analysis 20%

Case Write Ups – 2 @ 5% each 10%

Strategic Issue Summary 10%

Group Grades – 20%

Group Case Exam 10%

Strategic Plan & Presentation 10%

Final grades will be determined based on the following percentages:

A 93-100 A- 90-93

B+ 88-90 B 83-88

B- 80-83 C+ 78-80

C 73-78 C- 70-73

D+ 68-70 D 63-68

D- 60-63 F 60 or lower

Individual Grades

Midterm and Final Exams

Midterm and final exams will be a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions (probably about 60% multiple choice, and 40% short answer). For the most part, questions will come from the lecture notes. However, your text has a number of bolded terms in each chapter. Those terms are certainly fair game for multiple choice questions. As the quarter progresses, I will give you study guides to help you prepare for the exams. In general, make-up exams are discouraged. Should you have a prior conflict, please see me about arranging a mutually agreeable time to take a make-up exam. Failure to make arrangements to take the first exam in a timely fashion could result in the final exam being worth 40% of your grade, substituting for your first exam score.

Industry Analysis

Early in the quarter, each student will be assigned one of several industries chosen by the instructor. You are then required to conduct an individual external and competitive analysis of this industry. This individual paper is expected to be approximately 12 pages long and is worth 20% of your grade. Students are referred to my COB-Storage website to find more explicit instructions and expectations for this paper. Papers are due at the beginning of class on February 14, 2008. Twenty percent (20%) will be deducted for every 24 hour period the paper is handed in late. Unlike other papers in this case, the industry analysis is only graded once and can not be revised for a better grade.

I will calculate a team average for this Industry Analysis paper. Every member of the team with the highest average in each section will get 5 points add to their Industry Analysis paper.

Case Write Ups

As you will note from the class schedule, we will cover two formal cases this quarter (Napster and Nike). You are required to write up these cases, each worth 5% of your grade, for a total of 10%. These cases are due at the beginning of the class we are scheduled to discuss them. For each of these cases, you will be assigned a series of questions you will need to answer in your case write up. Each of these write ups will be 3 pages. Papers are due at the beginning of class – 20% deducted for every 24 hour period the paper is handed in late.

As part of the WIC requirement, you will offer peer reviews of other students’ case write ups. On the day the cases are due, you will exchange (not trade) cases with one member of your team. Each student will then read another’s case and give constructive feedback to their teammate. Students then have the opportunity to revise their paper based on this feedback. You are not expected to rewrite the paper, but you are expected to identify typos, mistakes in grammar, and mistakes in fact/reasoning, as well as offer suggestions for improving the prose and structure of their written case analysis. You have until the date of the Final Exam to hand in these assignments for a grade. You may rewrite your cases as many times as you like and hand them in multiple times for re-grading.

Strategic Issues Summary

You are required to identify an article related to a specific aspect of strategy. Articles from the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Business Week and alike are best suited for this assignment. You can also easily find articles related to business and strategy at Yahoo, MSN, and Google as well.

You are required to:

1) write a two-page, double spaced summary of the article. In particular, explain the article and how it relates to strategy. You will hand in this summary for grading. I will offer you feedback on this assignment, which you will them use to revise your paper if you desire. Revised papers are due the day of the final exam. You may rewrite this paper as many times as you like and hand it in multiple times for re-grading.

2) create a SHORT PowerPoint presentation (approximately 3-5 slides, about 3-5 minutes) summarizing the article for the class. You will also hand in a copy of your slides for grading.

This assignment is worth 10% of your grade. You will be graded 50% on your paper and 50% on your presentation. Ten percent of your grade will be deducted if you are not ready to present on the day you signed up. If you miss your assigned day, you are expected to present the next class session. Points will continue to be deducted (10%) until you present and complete your written summary.

Group Assignments

In-class Case Exam

On February 12th, you will work in your groups and complete a team-based case analysis. During the week prior to the in-class case exam, you will be given a case to read and prepare. On the morning of the exam, I will post a series of questions for your team to answer. Your team will use computers/laptops to answer the questions. You will have the remainder of the day to complete the exam, emailing your answers to me by the next morning. This group exam is worth 10% of your grade.

Strategic Plan – Presentation – As a team, you will conduct an analysis of a firm of your choosing. You, however, must get prior approval of your choice from me. Your research will culminate with a 20 minute presentation of your analysis, including recommendations. Your analysis and plan will be presented to the class on either March 11th or March 13th. Specific presentation days will be assigned later in the term. Teams must bring me a copy of their slides on the day of their presentation. This assignment is worth 10% of your grade.

Peer Evaluation

On the day of the final, each team member will complete a Peer Evaluation form for each member in their group. I will use these forms to calculate an individual Peer Evaluation score for every member in your group. These forms will be used to adjust individual grades on the group case exam and the strategic plan – presentation up or down by the amount warranted by your peers’ evaluation of your contribution. If your group members report you did little to no work throughout the quarter, then your grade will reflect this. Your group grades will be a reflection of the effort you invested. If your group members report you went beyond the call of duty to aid the group, then your grade might get boosted accordingly. Grades can be adjusted up and down by as much as 50%, depending on the severity or strength of your peers’ feedback.

One Minute Papers

At the end of some classes, I will ask you to write what I call a “one-minute paper.” This is an ungraded assignment, but is considered part of your class participation and the WIC requirement. In a one minute paper, you may write on a variety of topics, including 1) something you learned in class, if anything; 2) giving an example of a topic we spoke of in class; 3) asking a question or seeking clarification; 4) making a comment about class; or 5) anything else. I will read these after each class and respond, if necessary, to your comments or thoughts.

I will also assess your attendance, participation and one-minute papers throughout the quarter. Students who regularly participate will receive more credit than those students who are either not prepared or do not contribute during these exercises and assignments. While your participation and attendance are not specifically graded, final letter grades might be adjusted upwards, or downwards, (up or down a full letter grade) based upon my assessment of your level of engagement throughout the quarter. Students present every class session for the entire quarter will earn 5 bonus points on their final exam.

Academic Dishonesty

Cheating is a violation of student academic behavior standards. This may include:

a) Unauthorized assistance or communication to another through written, visual, or oral means.

b) Presentation of material which has been obtained by someone else's effort and used as part of an exam, assignment or project.

c) Unauthorized possession of course related material.

d) Plagiarism, whereby another's work is used without any indication of the source, thereby attempting to convey the impression that such work is the student's own, including the failure to credit ideas or material taken.

e) Students who assist others in any of these activities can be considered equally responsible.

When a violation of student academic behavior standards becomes known, the instructor shall take appropriate measures, including the assignment of an F for the class grade to the recommendation of further disciplinary action. This action is permitted by Academic Regulations and Procedures as described in the Schedule of Classes. I expect you to know and understand these policies and procedures. If there is any doubt about their meaning and interpretation, ask me for an explanation.

Both of the Strategic Presentations and Industry Analysis require substantial research. You are expected to use both the library and the Internet to find information about the industries/companies you are researching. You must, however, properly cite your source material. This includes a complete bibliography, as well as references imbedded into the text of the paper.

Saying “I did not know” is not considered a viable excuse because now you know. Being "sloppy" with paraphrasing or referencing are not legitimate excuses. You can’t just copy and paste sections from the work of others. You must use your own words. In general, direct quotes from other sources (which must be included in quotation marks), should not exceed 3-4 lines per quotation. If you plagiarize, then I can only assume that it was your intent to be deceitful. Do not wait until the last moment to write your papers. The temptation tends to be greatest the closer the due date arrives. If nothing else, it is better to hand in your paper a day or two late (and be penalized 20 or 40 points) than to fail the course.

See http://oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/achon.htm for more information.

Team Specials

Throughout the quarter, I will be offering a series of activities, bonuses, tasks, or assignments worth a variety of points. These may be academic (like a chapter quiz), or just something goofy (name a piece of art contest). Each team is responsible for keeping track of its own points. Each team will create their own team specials folder to keep track of these assignments. Team special scoresheet are available on my website. You can keep track of your progress there. At the end of the semester, the teams with the most points will be awarded the following awards:

First Place - Exemption from taking the final exam

Second Place - 15 points added to their final exam

Third Place - Opt out of one short answer question on the final

Everything is Relative

As you will learn in class, everything in strategy is relative. Your performance in the class is evaluated not only by some standard I set, but also by your performance relative to your classmates. What does that mean for you? It means this class is competitive. You are competing against your classmates when taking your exams, writing your papers, and doing your presentations. In other words, you might inadvertently LOWER your grade by help another classmate boost theirs. Do you own work.

SCHEDULE FOR WINTER 2008

(EXAM AND ASSIGNMENT/PRESENTATION DATES ARE FIXED; THE LECTURE SCHEDULE MIGHT HAVE TO BE REVISED BASED ON PROGRESS)

	Dates	Content	Assignment Deadlines
Week 1	Tue 1/8	Course Introduction Tale of Three Tales Chapter 1
Week 1	Wed 1/10	Robin Hood Chapter 1
Week 2	Tue 1/15	Chapter 2
Week 2	Thu 1/17	Chapter 3
Week 3	Tue 1/22	Chapter 3	Case 1
Week 3	Thu 1/24	Chapter 3
Week 4	Tue1/29	Chapter 4
Week 4	Thu 1/31	Chapter 4
Week 5	Tue 2/5		Midterm
Week 5	Thu 2/7	Chapter 5
Week 6	Tue 2/12	Chapter 5	Group Case Exam
Week 6	Thu 2/14	Chapter 6	Industry Analysis Paper Due
Week 7	Tue 2/19	Chapter 8
Week 7	Thu 2/21	Chapter 9
Week 8	Tue 2/26	Language of Leadership
Week 8	Thu 2/29	Chapter 10	Case 2
Week 9	Tue 3/4	Chapter 11, 12, 13
Week 9	Thu 3/6	Chapter 11, 12, 13
Week 10	Tue 3/11		Presentations
Week 10	Thu 3/13		Presentations
Finals	Thursday March 20 7:30AM		Final Exam – room to be announced: Deadline to revise cases.