BUS 4853: Business Policy
BUS-4853 Summer II 2012, 8:00-9:50am (McCool 109)
Instructor: Hanqing “Chevy” Fang.
Office location: 313F
Office hours: Tuesday & Thursday 10:00-11:00 am, or by appointment.
Email:
Text: Required.
1, Barney, J.B., & Hesterly, W.S. 2010. Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage (concepts only) (3rd. ed.). Prentice Hall.
2, Capstone Simulation at www.capsim.com, Student Manual distributed in class.
Exam: July 11th, July 18th, July 25th and August 2nd . Check Course Schedule for your assigned final exam time.
THE BASICS
Course Rationale: The purpose of this course is to help you understand the “big” strategic decisions that managers make – i.e., what those decisions are, why managers make them, and the consequences of different courses of action. The course is unique in that we look at the firm as a whole, rather than through a particular functional lens.
Learning Objectives: Upon completion, you should be able to: (1) define competitive advantage, describe ways that firms gain both short-term and long term competitive advantages, and identify the source of a firm’s competitive advantage, (2) list the major forces that shape an industry and describe how each force influences the performance of industry participants, (3) define the two major business-level approaches to competitive advantage and explain how they help overcome industry threats, (4) define how each of the major corporate-level strategies relate each to competitive advantage.
Course Description: Class time is organized primarily around dynamic lectures and discussion. Your physical and mental presence is critical to your success in this class. I will do my best to make sure that what is offered in class helps you master the material. This course makes extensive use of the MyCourses web site (http://mycourses.msstate.edu). Please check that site frequently.
Office Policy: There are two ways to reach me. I prefer email over any other contact methods. I maintain an open door policy during my office hours posted above..
Academic Honesty Policy Note: Plagiarism or academic dishonesty will result in disciplinary sanctions consistent with the rules and regulations of Mississippi State University (see AOP 12.07 Academic Misconduct), and the sign above my head. Please note that violations of this Academic Honor Policy will not be tolerated. In particular, incidents of plagiarism of any type and/or cheating on assignments, exams, or quizzes will be rigorously pursued. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWING THE ACADEMIC HONOR POLICY. Please ask me to clarify anything you do not understand.
Grading: Your grade will be based on the following:
Exams: There will be four exams. The format for the exams is multiple choices and matching. Exams will be taken in class and you must attend each exam. Make-up exams will only be offered in extreme cases, with documentation (see Classroom Attendance policy, below) and may temporarily result in a grade of “incomplete” being issued as your interim grade. The final exam will be at least ½ cumulative. Of exams 1,2, and 3, I will drop your lowest score. The highest two exams will be counted as Exam 1 and Exam 2 in the grading rubric. Exam 4 (the final exam) may not be dropped.
Quizzes: Quizzes are designed to help you on your exams. They will include questions asked on previous classes’ exams. Expect between 10-20 questions per exam. These quizzes are electronic and will be posted on the course website inside MyCourses. You will have the option to take the quiz as many times as you’d like, and I will count your highest score earned. YOU MUST TAKE THE EXAM NO LATER THAN MIDNIGHT OF THE TUESDAY BEFORE THE EXAM. I will not be able to take “late” quizzes, so it is vital you take this on time. You must notify me of computer problems in advance of the midnight deadline.
Capsim:
Registering: Students must sign up and purchase the Capsim simulation software. The software can be downloaded from www.capsim.com . Once there, click “register”. After that, you will be asked to enter an industry ID. Students should pay attention to their assigned industry ID. Make sure you sign up for the right one! You will have class time to make “decisions” in each of 8 rounds, but it might be necessary to also meet outside class with your team.
Simulation Performance: These points are allocated according to your simulated company's performance. You will choose the performance criteria that you wish to be graded against along with your decisions in round four (due July 16th).
The scale that I use to determine simulation grades is the sum of your last three years’ relative scores (years 6, 7, and 8). I take a weighted average that factors your ranking in each of the measures your team selects. Consider this example: for one of three performance measures your team selects, your points would be calculated as followed. Assume you earned 5 out of 6 possible points and that you chose to weigh that measure as 1/3rd (33.3%) of your total score. 5/6 points = .83; .83*33.3 = 27.4 points. You would repeat this process with the other 2 measures you selected, and then you would add the points together to get your total simulation performance score. I will use either your points in each measure or your ranking against other teams in that measure, whichever is highest.
Presentations: Your team will perform a brief, < 20 minute presentation to the class as if you were presenting to the board of directors on your company’s health. You will discuss past strategy, strategy moving forward, key financials, marketing assessment, etc., using language learned in class. More details will be announced as the date for the presentations draws closer.
Participation: Participation has an indirect affect on your grade. Statistically, the students who answer questions and offer their perspectives in class are the ones who earn the highest grades in the class. Broadly speaking, I will consider each student’s participation if they are within 1 point of the next letter grade (e..g, 79.5 or 79.1). In other words, I don’t round up grades, but I may make exceptions in the cases of students that frequently participate. To optimize the chances that you might qualify for a class participation boost if your grade is in the “bubble”, please read up on the day’s business news prior to class. If you are not in class, you should not expect to receive discussion points for that day. Further, if you are not in class while an in-class extra credit activity is conducted, you will not receive credit for that assignment.
GRADING RUBRIC
Grade Composition: Grade Scale:
Exam 1 100 90-100% A
Exam 2 100 80-89.99 B
Final Exam 100 70-79.99 C
Quizzes 100 60-69.99 D
Capsim 0-59.99 F
Simulation 50
Presentation 40
Peer grade 10
Total 500
*Grades will not be rounded
Class Attendance: I will not formally take attendance in class. I expect regular attendance, however. One of the purposes of this class is to prepare you for the business environment. In most jobs, employees will be terminated for poor attendance. Consequently, there are only 17 lecture classes it is very important to attend each class unless it is not physically possible. For a class like this, the university policy is that students are permitted to miss up to 2 unexcused absences without penalty. You should use that as a guideline. I do reserve the right to reduce your grade if it is clear that your absences are excessive. If you are going to miss class, please make sure you make arrangements with someone else in class to find out what you missed. For excusable type absences only, you may make an arrangement with me in advance of the absence to come to my office and copy notes from my master slides. Note that any days you miss will cause you to miss valuable team meeting time, and that could affect your peer evaluation grade and also may adversely affect your team’s grade on the Capsim project.
COURSE SCHEDULE
COURSE SCHEDULEJuly 2nd / July 3rd / July 4th / July 5th / July 6th (LT)
Course Introduction / Lesson 1:
What is Strategy?
Capsim Introduction
**REGISTER FOR CAPSIM IN THE WEEKEND**
July 9th (LT) / July 10th (LT) / July 11st / July 12nd (LT) / July 13rd
Lesson 2:
External Environment
Quiz 1 available
Capsim: Round 1 due / Lesson 3: Internal Capabilities
(part one)
Quiz 1 due before midnight / Exam 1: Lessons 1, 2, and 3 part one
Meet in teams after exam. / Lesson 3: Internal Capabilities (part two)
Capsim: Round 2 due / Lesson 4:
Cost Leadership
Capsim: Round 3 due
July 16th (LT) / July 17th (LT) / July 18th / July 19th (LT) / July 20th
Lesson 5: Product Differentiation
Quiz 2 available / Continue Lesson 5
Quiz 2 due before midnight
Capsim: Round 4 due / Exam 2: Lessons 3 part two, 4, and 5
Meet in teams after exam.
Capsim: Round 5 due / Lesson 6: Vertical Integration
Capsim: Round 6 due / Lesson 7: Corporate Diversification
July 23rd (LT) / July 24th (LT) / July 25th / July 26th / July 27st
Lesson 8: The Upper Echelons
Capsim: Round 7 due
Quiz 3 available / Continue Lesson 8
Quiz 3 due before midnight / Exam 3: Lessons 6, 7, and 8
Meet in teams after exam.
Capsim: Round 8 due / Lesson 9: Strategic Alliances / Lesson 10: Mergers & Acquisitions
July 30th / July 31th / August 1st / August 2nd / August 3rd
Capsim Presentations
Quiz 4 available / Continue Capsim Presentations
Quiz 4 due before midnight / Special Topics / Wrapup / Final Exam Review / FINAL EXAM
8-11am
Course schedule subject to change. Check course web site regularly.
(LT) = Bring laptops to class these days to complete Capsim decisions in class.
Capsim decision deadlines are at midnight unless otherwise announced in class.
Name /Home town / Email / Major /
Expected Graduation / Jobs held
1. What is the best company of 2011 or 2012? Why?
2. What is the worst company of 2011 or 2012? Why?
2