Master Syllabus: RMI 44601

TROYUNIVERSITY
MASTERSYLLABUS
SORRELLCOLLEGE OF BUSINESS

RMI 4460
Agency Management

TROY UNIVERSITY SCOB MISSION STATEMENT

The Sorrell College of Business (SCOB) prepares a diverse student body, drawn primarily from Alabama and surrounding states, to become successful, ethical and engaged business professionals with the knowledge to compete in the global business environment.

To achieve this our faculty, staff, and administration will:

Provide quality undergraduate and graduate education in global business through high-quality teaching;

Serve the university and engage with business and professional communities in our primary service area through individual involvement and our centers for research and outreach;

Grow and enhance the longstanding “culture of caring” for our traditional, nontraditional, military, and international students; and

Contribute to the creation of knowledge, with a focus on the scholarship of application and integration, and teaching and learning, complemented by basic and discovery scholarship in select disciplines.

TROY UNIVERSITY SCOB VISION STATEMENT

The Sorrell College of Business strives to be a renowned teaching-focused business college graduating GEEKS ready to succeed in business and life.

Prerequisites

RMI 3335 or permission of the Department Chair or Program Coordinator.

Description

The Agency Management course is designed to teach the fundamentals of establishing and operating an insurance agency or brokerage. This is a project-oriented class wherein students develop mission statements, strategic plans, marketing plans, operating plans and time charts in the areas of forming the corporation, licensing, choosing a product mix, developing markets, planning technology, staffing, training, sales, handling claims, and other administrative functions. Prerequisite: RMI 3335 or permission of department chair.

Objectives

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

  1. List and describe the essential steps in forming an insurance agency.
  2. Compare and contrast centralized and decentralized organizational structures in insurance operations.
  3. Compare and contrast specialized and multi-line product structures in insurance operations.
  4. Explain how insurance regulation constrains management thinking and agency choices.
  5. List and describe the typical methods of measuring and controlling insurance company performance, including performance-based compensation and performance benchmarking.
  6. Discuss methods of strategic thinking and planning in the context of the insurance agency.

Purpose

To provide the essential tools for running an insurance company and to offer insights into the challenges of agency management, particularly strategic management.BABA/BSBA Risk Management and Insurance major requirement.

Required Activity

This course must contain a student engagement activity with the community that relates to course content. The activity may include guest speakers, site visits, projects for the community/industry, etc…

Approved Texts

Bruckenstein, J. P., & Drucker, D. J. (2004). Tools & techniques of practice management. Cincinnati, OH: The National Underwriter Company.

Supplements

Kinder, J., Kinder, G. D., & Ivanov, V. (2002). Building the master agency: The system is the solution. Cincinnati, OH: The National Underwriter Company.

Korsgaden, T. (1998). Power position your agency: A guide to insurance agency success. Visalia, CA: Troy Korsgaden Systems.

Tibergien, M. C., & Pomering, R. (2005). Practice made perfect: The discipline of business management for financial advisers. Princeton, NJ: Bloomberg Press.

Troy University Faculty Handbook(2016): Section 3.9.2.8 [extract] — essential elements of the syllabus (somewhat modified for space):

  1. Course title
  2. Course number + section
  3. Term
  4. Instructor
  5. Prerequisites
  6. Office hours
  7. Class days, times
/
  1. Classroom location
  2. Office location + e-mail address
  3. Office telephone
  4. Course description, objectives
  5. Text(s)
/
  1. Other materials
  2. Grading methods, criterion weights, make-up policy, mid-term grade reports
  3. Procedure, course requirements
/
  1. General supports (Computer Works, writing center)
  2. Daily assignments, holidays, add/drop & open dates, dead day, final exam
/
  1. ADA statement
  2. Electronic device statement
  3. Additional services, statements
  4. Attendance/
    Absence policy
/
  1. Incomplete work policy
  2. Cheating policy
  3. Specialization requirements (certification, licensure, teacher competencies)