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University of Rhode Island

College of Business Administration

Strategic Management BUS 445 (Secs. 2 and 3) Spring 2010

Classes: M, W, F: 10:00 to 10:50 (Ballentine 115)

` M, W, F: 12:00 to 12:50 (Ballentine 114)

Instructor: Silvia Dorado Email: Phone: 874 5747

Web site: http://www.cba.uri.edu/dorado/

Office: Room 229 Office hours: M, W, and F: before or after class or by appointment.

Course Materials:

Textbook: Strategic Management (Instructor Silvia Dorado-Banacloche). Primis custom book. ISBN 978-0390-18671-3. It is available for purchase in the bookstore. You can download from the web http://ebooks.primisonline.com/eBookstore/index.jsp. It is the 2nd on the list of custom books (the one which does NOT have the name of Bogdan Prokopovych).

Writing guide (required reading and usage for all written assignments). Munter, M. 1999. Guide to Managerial Communication. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 7th or 8th edition). There is an online version (MUCH CHEAPER) which you can download from http://www.coursesmart.com/0132424266

Cases: We will be using three cases. You can download them from http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/access/4626284

Simulation: Each student must subscribe to the CAP-SIM online simulation at www.CAPSIM.com. (CAPSIM HELP LINE: 888-472-7554).

Once you subscribe, the CAP-SIM “Participants Guide” can be downloaded. We will be working with 2 industries and each industry has a different registration number. I will arbitrarily divide the class into two groups once we know the total number of students enrolled.

The Industries for Sec. 2 (10:00 to 10:50) are C35610 and C35611.

The Industries for Sec. 3 (12:00 to 12:50) are C35608 and C35609.

Course description:

Are good strategy-making and good strategy-execution the key ingredients of company success? Most business people seem to agree, so the mission of this course is to explore the basic concepts and tools of strategic analysis, and to drill you in the methods of crafting a well-conceived strategy and executing it competently.

Courses in strategic management are meant to help you get a better handle on the big picture by looking at an enterprise in its entirety—including the industry and competitive environment in which it operates, its long-term direction and strategy, its resources and competitive capabilities, and its prospects for success. They help you to apply and synthesize what you have learned in prior business courses.

Dealing with the grand sweep of how to manage all the pieces of a business makes business policy an integrative, capstone course in which you reach back to use concepts and techniques covered in previous courses. For perhaps the first time, you’ll see how the various pieces of the business puzzle fit together and why the different parts of a business need to be managed in strategic harmony for the organization to operate in winning fashion.

Learning goals:

·  Master knowledge of the strategic management process.

·  Skill in the evaluation of strategic fit in changing competitive environments.

·  Master knowledge of strategy analysis techniques.

·  Ability in integrating functional areas in management decision making.

·  Review knowledge and skill in the identification of the moral dimensions of management practices.

Course format:

This course will accomplish these learning objectives through a diverse mix of methods and activities, including

  1. Lectures and class discussions of case studies.
  2. In-class group exercises that will help you deepening your understanding and clearing up questions about the material covered on the lectures.
  3. Quizzes and exams that will encourage you to keep up with the readings.
  4. A simulation, which pushes you to role-play as the top managers of a company in a competitive environment.
  5. Written assignments and presentations which will push to reflect about your performance in the simulation and how the concepts that we are covering through the textbook can help you to improve it.

Learning objectives emphasized in this course

·  Gain factual knowledge

·  Develop competent business writing and oral communication skills

·  Contribute productively to a team

·  Gain practice on how to take decisions on the face of ambiguous and uncertain information

·  Cultivate a professional demeanor

CAPSIM Simulation (HELP LINE# 888-472-7554)

You will need an email address and the above SimID or “C number” on the first page of this syllabus in order to register for your game and class. Your “registration number” is NOT the SimID; you will not have a registration number until AFTER you register with CAPSIM and pay the fee. Each student should have his/her own CAPSIM registration and email address. If you make a mistake while registering for CAPSIM and can’t correct it yourself, then simply call CAPSIM at 888-472-7554 for help.

“Playing” CAPSIM

Participation in CAPSIM consists of running a company in the electronic sensor industry. The class will be divided into two industries each with 5 management teams of 3 members competing among themselves and with a computer (I’ll adjust depending on the number of students enrolled). The game is played in 3 series of 8 rounds (rehearsal, practice, and competition). The rehearsal round is the first one played and must be completed by the date established in the schedule of classes. The second (practice) and final (competition) series are played in teams each of the 8 rounds must be completed by the date established in the schedule of classes.

You will find that all of the normal financial/accounting data and documents a real firm would have will be available to you for your CAPSIM company as it progresses through both the practice rounds and then after I restart the game, the 8 years of competition. Further, there will be a lot more information for you beyond simply accounting and finance data. In CAPSIM, lack of data is not a problem.

How well your company performs in CAPSIM is simply a matter of (1) how much research and effort each of your team members puts into the CAPSIM exercise, (2) how well your organization of your team can bring all your team members’ collective experience and knowledge to bear on running your CAPSIM firm, and (3) how effectively you can implement the strategy your team has formulated. CAPSIM’s performance measure feature will be used to assign a grade between 0 and 1000 to each individual’s (first series of 8 rounds) team’s performance.

CAPSIM teams

Each team will have 4 (5) members. I will assign students to industries and teams considering the list of students enrolled. If you are absent the first day of class you should talk with me to find out your industry and team.

Teams will be assigned products and requested to assume the following three roles: Marketing Manager, Production Manager, and Financial Manager. Chief Executive Officer and R&D responsibilities can be delegated to a member of the team or shared among the members. Factors to consider when distributing roles are the expertise and interests of members, and logistics such as members’ flexibility of schedule (good for the CEO) and proximity to one another (out-of-class meetings will most likely be necessary). You have to write a letter that explains why you are the best person for the job (see “job letter” assignment).

Teams will be identified by their CAPSIM company name (Andrews, Baldwin, Chester, Digby, or Erie); Ferris will be managed by a computer during the practice round but may be managed by students during the competition rounds. Throughout the course, all team projects, both within and outside of CAPSIM, will be conducted by CAPSIM company teams (the words “team,” “group,” “CAPSIM company,” and the like are synonymous).

You will be required to file, with me, decision logs where you would specify your contribution to the team. I would use these logs to take decisions regarding team assignment (during the practice rounds) and grade (during the competition rounds.

Academic Standards: The course is governed by URI’s regulations and procedures regarding Academic Standards, Cheating, Plagiarism, and Documentation of Written Work. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism and what are a professor’s explicit duties relative to student cheating, please read sections 8.27.10 – 8.27.20 of the URI Academic Regulations at: http://www.uri.edu/facsen/8.20-8.27.html

Course evaluation

Grading: I grade considering the following distribution: A (>9.0), A- (9.0 – 8.5), B+ (8.5 – 8.0), B (8.0 – 7.0), B- (7.0 – 6.5), C+ (6.5 – 6.0), C (6.0 – 5.0), C- (5.0 – 4.5), D+ (4.5 – 4.0), D (4.0 – 3.5), D- (3.5 – 3.0) F (<3) —grades will be round up to the next category (e.g. 8.5 will be graded as A-)

List of assignments (see schedule of classes for deadlines)

Assignments / Grade
Exams
·  Pop-quizzes (at least 3) (10 points)
·  Midterm (20 points)
·  Final (one part will be a take home due during finals week) (40 points) / 70 points
Class engagement (throughout)
·  Attendance (10 points),
·  Class participation (7.5 points)
·  Team-based in-class work (7.5 points) / 25 points
Simulation
·  CAPSIM rehearsal 8 rounds (individual score). Pass or Fail (825 points or better). (5.0 points).
·  CAPSIM practice (group score). Pass or Fail (350 points or better (10.0 points).
·  CAPSIM competition rounds (group score) (25 points),
850 points or more: A
800 – 849: A- 450 – 549 C
750 – 799 B+ 400 – 449 C-
650 – 749 B 350 – 399 D+
600 – 649 B- 250 – 349 D
550 – 599 C+ 244 or lower F
·  Contribution to team work (individual score) (5 points) / 45 points
Team mid course presentation to the board (group score) / 20 points
Written assignments
·  Introductory assignment (TBD) (10 points)
·  Strategy formulation reports (30 points)
·  Required (each team member writes one)
o  Situation analysis
o  Outline your strategy
o  Analysis of your competencies
o  Financial structure policy
o  Analysis of the competition / 40 points
Total / 200 points

Special needs: Any student with a documented disability is welcomed to contact me as early in the semester as possible so that we may arrange reasonable accommodations. As part of this process, please be in touch with Disability Services for Students office at 330 Memorial Union or at 874-2098.

Exams (70 points or 35% of final grade)

Pop-quizzes (10 points or 5% of your final grade). We will have pop-quizzes throughout the semester to help evaluate the engagement of all including those who prefer to remain quiet during class time. The course schedule already specifies a couple of dates in which I plan to run pop-quizzes. It is likely that I will run more pop-quizzes than those scheduled. The intention is to provide you with a grade based incentive for you to keep up with the readings.

Midterms (there are 2 and each is worth 20 points or 10% of final grade). There will be two midterms and no final during the semester. The first midterm will include about 50 multiple-choice and true/false questions and 2 short (1 paragraph) essay-questions.

The second midterm will be like the first one but will also include a take home section due by the date and time scheduled for the final exam of this class. The take home part will involve a reflection on CAPSIM considering what you have learned in this course. It will not be a multiple choice exam but will require that you write an essay following the writing guide of the course.

Class engagement (25 points or 12.5% of your final grade)

Grading for class engagement follows my teaching philosophy which guides me to think that you will take out of this class as much as you put in.

Attendance (10 points): Attending class is critical to learning. One of the primary reasons for meeting to learn business policy in the classroom (rather than learning the material alone) is that it offers you the opportunity to share your experiences and learn from your colleagues.

A class attendance form will be handed out at the beginning of each class which requires your signature. Missing 6 or more classes (2 weeks) will half your attendance grade (from 10 to 5). After that you will lose, first, 1 point out of your attendance grade, and then 2 points. If you miss 6 or more classes (3 weeks) your attendance grade will be “0.”

Please don’t be late. Arriving on time is a form of respect towards other students and the instructor. Late arrivals disrupt the class. Habitual lateness to class may be penalized through your individual class participation grade.

If a student does miss a class, s/he is responsible for obtaining any notes, handouts, assignment changes, or administrative notices, preferably from the course web site or another student. Missing a class or tardiness will not be accepted as an excuse for not knowing changes in administrative course details.

This year because of concerns with the spread of the H1N1 flu stream the university suggests that any of us who develops flu-like symptoms should stay home until the fever has subsided for 24 hours. So, if you exhibit such symptoms, please do not come to class. I will only consider this excuse if you notify me by calling 874 -5747, writing to of your status before your absence, or bringing a medical note after if you fail to notify me ahead of time. I will then work with you to ensure that course instruction and work is completed for the semester.

Individual participation (7.5 points): I will evaluate participation in class discussions based on contemporaneous notes about the quality of each student’s contribution.

Group participation through in-class team work (7.5 points)It depends on the quality and engagement on team class work during class time. We will have multiple in-class work activities. I will compile them, go over them, and grade them excellent (shows preparation and engagement in the task), pass (they did the job) or fail (careless, last minute and/or incomplete write up). You can turn them in later but it is preferable that you turn them in at the end of the class in which they are assigned.

CAPSIM participation (45 points or 22.5% of final grade)

Individual rehearsal rounds (5 points or 2.5% of final grade) Experience shows that students perform better in the CAPSIM competition when they have thoughtfully completed the individual rehearsal rounds. It also shows that unless it is graded most of you never do it.