Bellarmine University
Course Syllabus 2006-2007
W. Fielding Rubel School of Business
MBA 701: Economic Analysis Techniques(Fall Semester 2006 – section KM)
Dr. Frank Raymond (502) 452-8487 /
Office Location: 012-I Horrigan Hall
Office Hours: 5:30-6:30 p.m., Mondays
12:00-2:00 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays, and by appointment
All sessions meet in W.L. Lyons Brown Library, Room B-10
(unless notified otherwise)
Course pre-requisites: none
Course co-requisites: none
Catalog Description: This course exposes the leader to the domestic and global economic environments facing organizations.
Course Learning Outcomes:
1. Students will improve their individual skills in listening, writing, and public speaking.
2. Students will gain a deeper understanding of economic incentives as they relate to markets, finance and government.
3. Students will develop a better understanding of how these factors affect the domestic and global economic environments facing organizations.
Course Methodology: The learning outcomes stated above will be achieved through a number of pedagogies including:
· Lecture/Discussion: The discussion and sharing of knowledge, experiences, opinions and ideas sharpens analytical skills, improves judgment, and enhances conceptual skills. Assigned readings will be covered in class to varying degrees. In some instances the basic concepts and theories will be addressed in detail while in others additional examples, applications, and extensions of the material will be presented or solicited. Whatever the degree or amount of lecture, students are expected to be actively involved.
· Team-based project tasks: Through various team-based projects, students will learn how to analyze business decisions within particular economic and political environments. It is hoped that through these experiences students will gain practical experience to apply in the future. These assignments also allow students to improve their written and oral communication skills.
· Individual assessments and assignments: The ability to make practical and effective business decisions requires intimate knowledge of the competitive environment in which your particular business operates. These individuals assignments are designed to help students learn to analyze and impact market outcomes. The assignments also allow students to improve their written communication skills.
Required Reading Materials: (Cases)
1. Asymmetric Information: Market Failures, Market Distortions, and Market Solutions,
HBS #9-797-100
2. Game Theory and Business Strategy, HBS #9-705-471
3. World Oil Markets, HBS #9-702-030
4. No-Nonsense Guide to Measuring Productivity (HBR On-Point Enhanced Edition)
HBR #3596
5. Singapore’s Trade in Services: HBS #9-796-135
6. Reading the Balance of Payments: HBS #9-705-025
7. The Asian Financial Crisis: Indonesia and the Currency Board Proposal: Center for Asian Business Cases, School of Business Univ. of Hong Kong, Case #HKU093
8. Emerson Electric Company: Darden #UVA-F-0771
9. 1-800 Buy Ireland: HBS #9-799-132
10. Global Strategy Lessons from Japanese and Korean Business Groups, Business Horizons, Indiana University #BH072
11. Hitting the Wall: Nike and International Labor Practices, HBS # 9-700-047
12. Freeport Indonesia, HBS #9-796-124
Required Reading Materials: (Books - must be purchased separately.)
13. Dolan, E.G. and F.E. Raymond, Economic Analyses and Techniques for MBAs,
Horizon Publishing, 2006.
14. Roberts, R., The Choice, Prentice Hall, 2001.
Required Reading Materials: (Handouts - occasionally these and possibly other brief articles, primarily from the Wall Street Journal and Economist, will be distributed, read and analyzed in class.)
15. Profit and the Public Good, The Economist, Jan. 20, 2005
16. Monopoly Power over Money, The Economist, Nov. 18, 1999
17. Eleven Into One May Go, The Economist, Oct. 15, 1998
18. The Euro Is No Cure-All, The Economist, April 28, 2005
Bellarmine University Mission Statement
Bellarmine University is an independent Catholic university serving the region, nation and world by educating talented, diverse students of all faiths and many ages, nations, and cultures, and with respect for each individual’s intrinsic value and dignity. We educate our students through undergraduate and graduate programs in the liberal arts and professional studies, within which students develop the intellectual, moral, ethical and professional competencies for successful living, work, leadership and service to others. We achieve these goals in an educational environment committed to excellence, academic freedom, and authentic conversations not dominated by particular political or other single perspectives and thus to thoughtful, informed consideration of serious ideals, values, and issues, time-honored and contemporary, across a broad range of compelling regional, national and international matters. By these means, Bellarmine University seeks to benefit the public interest, to help create the future, and to improve the human condition.
Grading Elements / Assessment:
(Percentages) / (Points)Letter
Grade
/ Verbal Descriptor / G.P.A Equivalent / Lower Limit / Upper Limit / Lower Limit / Upper LimitA / Excellent / 4.00 / 93.0% / to / 100.0% / 930 / to / 1,000
A- / Excellent / 3.67 / 90.0% / to / 92.9% / 900 / to / 929
B+ / Commendable / 3.33 / 87.0% / to / 89.9% / 870 / to / 899
B / Commendable / 3.00 / 83.0% / to / 86.9% / 830 / to / 869
B- / Good / 2.67 / 80.0% / to / 82.9% / 800 / to / 829
C / Satisfactory / 2.00 / 73.0% / to / 79.9% / 730 / to / 799
F / Failure / 0.00 / 00.0% / to / 72.9% / 0 / to / 729
There are 1,000 points possible in this course. To receive a grade of “A” a student will need to earn at least 930 points, a “B” will require at least 830 points, and a “C” will require 730 points. In the MBA program grades of “D” are not given. A student who earns fewer than 730 points will not pass the course.
Points are assigned as follows:Graded Component / Type / Course
Learning
Outcome / Due Date / Max.
Points
· Professionalism (each student will receive a “current status grade” and feedback near the midpoint of the term sent to their Bellarmine student e-mail account). / Individual / #1, #2 / Ongoing / 200 pts.
· Predicting Market Fluctuations / Individual / #1, #2 / October 2nd / 150 pts.
· Macro-Finance / Individual / #1, #2 / November 6th / 150 pts.
· Final Project Proposal / Team / #1, #2, #3 / November 13th / 50 pts.
· International Finance / Team / #1, #2, #3 / November 20th / 125 pts.
· FDI / Team / #1, #2, #3 / December 11th / 325 pts.
Note to Students: Professors typically approach graduate courses differently than undergraduate ones. This can result in an initial culture shock for those MBA students using their undergraduate experience as a benchmark. In graduate study more emphasis is placed on students drawing connections among discussions and experiences in class, with teammates, and from assigned reading materials – with less oversight. As a result, on some occasions articles or other readings assigned for a class session will not be directly discussed. Instead, class time may be spent extending and/or drawing tangential information into the discussions. It doesn’t mean that the assigned readings are unimportant rather, it places more responsibility for considering the information and integrating it with existing knowledge into your hands (with help from the professor and other students). Put another way, many professors tend to take the approach (paraphrasing Zen teachings) “you can lead a grad student to knowledge, but you can’t make them think.”
Academic Honesty Policy: Bellarmine University is an academic community. It exists for the sake of the advancement of knowledge; the pursuit of truth; the intellectual, ethical, and social development of students; and the general well being of society. All members of our community have an obligation to themselves, to their peers and to the institution to uphold the integrity of Bellarmine University. In the area of academic honesty, this means that one’s work should be one’s own and that the instructor’s evaluation should be based on the student’s own efforts and understanding. When the standards of academic honesty are breached, mutual trust is undermined, the ideals of personal responsibility and autonomy are violated, teaching and learning are severely compromised, and other goals of the academic community cannot be realized.
I strongly endorse and will follow the academic honesty policy as published in Bellarmine’s Catalog 2005-2007 (pp. 55-56) and in the 2006-2007 Student Handbook (pp. 17-20); both documents are available online via the student portal on the University’s intranet. Students must be fully aware of what constitutes academic dishonesty; claims of ignorance cannot be used to justify or rationalize dishonest acts. Academic dishonesty can take a number of forms, including but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, aiding and abetting, multiple submissions, obtaining unfair advantage, and unauthorized access to academic or administrative systems or information. Definitions of each of these forms of academic dishonesty are provided in the academic honesty section of the 2006-2007 Student Handbook. All detected instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Provost, and sanctions will be imposed as dictated by the policy. It is generally assumed that graduate students fully understand what constitutes Academic Dishonesty. Thus, no leniency of penalty will be applied in cases involving graduate students, and the harshest penalty (dismissal from the University) may be imposed upon report of the first offense, if deemed appropriate by the Academic Vice President.
1.) Initial sanctions for instances of academic dishonesty may be imposed by the instructor of the appropriate dean. The choice of penalty ranges from a minimum penalty of failing the assignment or test to failing the course itself.
2.) Following initial sanctions, all cases of academic dishonesty will be reported by faculty to the Provost of the University, who has the authority to determine a more stringent penalty for the reported act of academic dishonesty, depending, in part, on the student’s previous record of academic dishonesty. The student will be required to have a conference with the dean of his/her college, or the dean’s designee.
3.) On the second offense during the course of a student’s academic career at Bellarmine University, as a minimum additional penalty, the Provost will immediately suspend the student for the semester in which the most recent offense took place.
4.) On the third offense, the Provost will immediately dismiss the student from the University.
Bellarmine University Non-Discrimination Policy: Bellarmine University admits qualified students of any age, sex, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, and national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, sexual orientation, race, disability, color, religion, or national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs. Bellarmine University is an Affirmative Action-Equal Opportunity employer.
Disability Services: Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Disability Services Coordinator. Please do not request accommodations directly from the professor. The Disability Services Coordinator is located in the Counseling Center (ground floor, Bonaventure Hall), phone 452-8480.
Curriculum Content:
Ethical and legal responsibilities in organizations and society. / Financial theories, analysis, reporting and markets. / Creation of value. / Group and individual dynamics in organizations. / Information technologies. / Statistical data analysis and management science / Domestic and global economic environments. / The required skills of management. / Capacity to lead. / Capacity to apply knowledge. / Capacity to adapt and innovate. / Communication skills. / Analytic skills. / Basic computer skills. / Reflective thinking skills.701 / x / © / ©
702 / x / © / ©
703 / x / ©
704 / x
705 / x / © / © / © / ©
706 / x / ©
707 / x
708 / x / x / ©
709 / x / © / x / ©
710 / x / x / x / © / ©
711 / x / x / x / x
720 / x / x
© General Knowledge and Skill Areas
O Learning Experiences in Management Specific Knowledge Areas
Note: Areas noted above are subject to change as the MBA curriculum evolves.
Attendance Policy: The University requires students who will be absent from class while representing the University to inform their instructors in two steps. During the first week of the course, students must meet with each instructor to discuss the attendance policy and arrangements for absences related to University-sponsored events. Second, students must provide the instructor with a signed Student Absentee Notification Form, available via the student portal on the University intranet, at the earliest possible opportunity, but not later than the week prior to the anticipated absence. The Student Absentee Notification Form does not serve as an excused absence from class. Your instructor has the final say about excused and unexcused absences and it is the student’s responsibility to know and abide by the instructor’s policy.
All students are expected to attend all classes. If you are unable to attend a class session due to a valid reason (as evaluated by the instructor), e-mail them ahead of time, as soon as you are aware that you will be unable to attend a class. In order to be excused, an absence must be arranged with the instructor prior to the absence. Absences that cannot be arranged beforehand due to emergencies must be cleared up at the earliest possible opportunity.
All absences are treated in the same manner. Unless the work is made up, missing a session will result in a 7% (approx. 1/14) deduction in the student’s final professionalism grade. If a class includes two sessions, the deduction is 14%, etc.. Moreover, failure to notify the instructor within one week concerning an absence is considered unprofessional behavior, and may result in a further deduction of the professionalism grade. Students may make up part of the missing work by submitting a 4-5 page written synopsis of the missed material within two weeks of the class in question. This will reduce the penalty for missing a class to a 1% deduction from the final professionalism score. Upon request, I will provide any missed handouts to you upon your return but you will be responsible for obtaining any missed notes from classmates and coming to office hours or making an appointment to clear up any questions you have (if necessary). The written synopsis of any missed class is due no later than two weeks after the class is missed, or by the date of the final session, whichever is sooner. Late synopses will be accepted prior to the final session, but with an additional 2% deduction for each additional week for which it is late. For example, a synopsis that is received 15 days after the missed class will carry a 3% deduction from the final professionalism score.