John Sperling School of Business

Class Syllabus
BCOM/230 / 1

John Sperling School of Business

Class Syllabus

BCOM/230

Business Communications for Accountants

Course Prefix and Number: / BCOM/230
Course Title: / Business Communications for Accountants
Course Schedule: / 11/30/10 – 01/17/11
Course Location/Times/Newsgroup: / Online:
Required Course Materials / Links to course materials and electronic resources for each week of class are located on the page of the student Website. Content is divided by weeks.
Instructor’s Name: / Gary Foote
Telephone: / 706-354-7531 8:00 to 5:00 PM Eastern Time
University of Phoenix E-mail Address: /
Alternative E-mail Address: /
Availability: / 8:00 to 5:00 PM Eastern Time

Where to Go to Class: Your Course Forums

Main: This is the main forum for the class and is where discussion is conducted. It has read-and-write access for everyone.

Chat-Room: This is a read-and-write access forum. It is designed as a place to discuss issues not related to the course content. This is the forum to which we will send our bios.

Course-Materials: This is a read-only forum, which means you can read messages here but cannot send any. This is where I will post the course syllabus and materials.

Learning-Team-A, B, C, D and E: These five Learning Team forums will be used as workrooms for the learning teams. You will be assigned to one of these learning teams.

Individual Forum: You will see one forum with your name on it. This is a private forum, shared only by you and me, the facilitator. Your classmates won’t have access to this forum. This is where you will post some of your individual assignments, and where I will post your feedback. You can also ask questions here. However, if you have general questions about instructions of assignments, please post those in the Main forum, since other students may benefit by that exchange as well.

Welcome!

My name is Gary Foote and I am looking forward to working with you as the class facilitator and instructor. You can find out more about me in my Biography below and I will also send it separately. Please feel free to call me Gary.People in business that you want to correspond with are usually very busy people and it takes a bit of an art to learn how to write your letters, memos and emails in a way to capture their attention and get your point across. Over the next five weeks we will learn the in and outs of what is needed to write these items in a way that will get you the results you want which is for them to read it first and understand what you are looking for quickly.

In this syllabus, you will find out what is expected of you, how assignments are weighted for grading purposes and what you need to accomplish to get your grade. I am very fond of accounting and I love what I do. Ihope to shed some of that experience to you and give you the information you will need to become good managers.

Instructor Bio

Hello,I am looking forward to meeting all of you and working with you in this course.

My name is Gary Foote. You can call me Mr. Foote, but when I hear that I look around to see my father, so please call me Gary.

I am currently the Manager of Financial Analysis World Wide for Noramco (a subdivision of Johnson & Johnson). I have a varied career path that has taken me all over the world. It started two days after I graduated from Layton High School in Utah. I first left for Marine basic training in San Diego and learned how to be an infantry soldier. I liked the physical aspect of this, but I wanted something that challenged my mind more, so I transferred to the Air Force and became an aircraft technician (crew chief) on F-16 aircraft.

I worked as a technician for the next four years. That period took me all over Europe, allowing me to see many exciting spots such as Spain, Germany, Turkey and England. I then got my orders to Moody AFB, Georgia. There I worked for the Deputy Commander of Maintenance as a Deficiency Analyst. This gave me the schedule I needed to allow me to attend college.

I first started college basically with the intention of just meeting a lot of girls. This turned into a competition with some friends for the best grades and then a mission to just make it out before I got orders. Four years later at 11:00 o’clock in the morning I walked across the stage and picked up my degree in Accounting. That same night at 6:00 PM, I said, “I do” to my wife in a church about a mile a way. Yes, that was a day to remember.

I decided to follow my new career path in accounting and left the Air Force and my military family. My young bride (Kelli), Cinder (our rabbit) and I headed west for my new job as a cost accountant for NCR Corporation in Ogden Utah. I obtained my CMA certification while I was there and then was promoted to an accounting manager position at a plant in Tennessee. We were back on the road again.

While in Tennessee I obtained my Masters in Business (MBA) and was promoted to Manufacturing Accounting Manager. Four months later we had our first child. Her name is Kaitlyn and she is the joy of my life. One day not to long after Kaitlyn was born; I got a call from an executive recruiter. Johnson & Johnson had an opportunity for me as a Plant Controller in Alabama. We decided to take Johnson & Johnson up on this opportunity and relocate to just outside Mobile Alabama. This move put us very close to my wife’s parents so everyone was pretty happy.

The plant that I was a Controller at produced a product called Sucralose. You all may know it better by its brand name Splenda. I started there when the plant site was nothing more than a field. I worked through the construction accounting, to putting accounting systems in place and then tying in our plant with all of the Johnson & Johnson worldwide procedures.

The plant was sold about a year ago to a British company named Tate & Lyle. I wanted to stay with J&J so they transferred me to my current position in Athens GA as World Wide Manager of Financial Analysis for Noramco. Since then, I have taken over the head finance position of the site and total responsibility for Noramco Sox related items. I love my job, my field of work and I have learned volumes about accounting and business in general. I look forward to sharing this knowledge and experience with you as a facilitator in our class and learning from your knowledge and experience as well.

Course Description

This course introduces students to the foundations of communication in a business accounting setting. Students are exposed to various topics related to interpersonal and group communications within the context of applications to the accounting field. Students will develop skills in the forms of written communication, including memos, e-mails, business letters, and reports. Other topics include communication ethics, collaboration, information utilization, critical thinking, and professional competence and values.

Course Topics & Objectives

Week One: Organizational Culture and Communication

• Use the tools available to University of Phoenix students.
• Explain the relationship between organizational culture and organizational communication style.
• Explain how adapting the message to the audience affects business communication.

Week Two: Group Communication

• Describe barriers to group communication.
• Describe techniques to enhance group communication.
• Identify the role of conflict in group communication.

Week Three: The Influence of Leadership on Group Communication

• Explain the effects of leadership style on group communication.
• Compare the influence of different sources of power on group and organizational communication.

Week Four: Information Utilization and Communication

• Compare different forms of communication and their use in business communication.
• Identify relevant information for communication with a specific audience.
• Create appropriate forms of communication to meet the needs of a given audience.

Week Five: Formal Communication

• Analyze the role of ethics in business communication.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of a business communication.

Course Materials

Beebe, S., & Masterson, J. (2006).Communicatingin small groups: Principles and practices (8thed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Leisker, R.V., Flatley, M.E., & Rentz, K. (2008).Business communication: Making connections in a digital world (11thed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Robbins, S.P., & Judge, T.A. (2009).Organizational behavior (13thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

All electronic materials are available on your student website.

Software

Wiley’s CPA Review v. 13.0

Weekly Point Values

Week One
Individual Assignment: Behavior and Communication Paper / 50
Week Two
Individual Assignment: Memo Review / 90
Week Three
Learning Team Assignment: Group Communication Paper / 130
Week Four
Individual Assignment: Influencing Group Communication Paper / 90
Learning Team Assignment: Communication and the Audience / 140
Week Five
Individual Assignment: Evaluating Business Communication / 100
Individual Assignment: Final Examination / 200
All Weeks
Participation& Discussion Questions / 200
Assignment Totals
Individual / 730
Learning Team / 270
Point Total / 1000
All Assignment should be posted to the Assignment workbook. The link can be found on your resource page.
CLASS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Class Policies can now be found on the eCampus page for this class. I have expanded on some of the procedures of the class like participation, discussion questions, weekly summaries etc. So please read down through these to make sure you know what is expected in this class.
Please review and be aware of all policies.
Participation
Participation is different from attendance. To receive full participation credit you will be expected to contribute to the class discussion in the MAIN forum in a substantive way four out of seven days each week. (Please note that posting assignments and posting DQ answersdo not count for class participation.) “Substantive” postings relate to real world issues, build on the ideas of others, suggest alternative ideas, and even constructively disagree with other ideas. Simply posting “I agree” will not be considered “substantive” participation. Posting fewer than four days will result in a reduction of your discussion points.
Please note that both quantity and quality are important considerations when it comes to participation.For example, a message which says simply, "I agree," does not constituteparticipation, because it does not add anything of substance to the discussion.
To earn full participation points, you mustadd something of substance to the discussion 4 out of 7 days per week—this would consist of new ideas,your perspectives, pointed follow-up questions, etc. You will find it is much easier to keep up with an Online class when you are logging in and participating regularly.
Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score.
Participation and Discussion Question Grading
Discussion question responses will not count towards the class participation requirement and will be evaluated separately.
Weekly Summaries
Weekly summaries will not be required in this course.
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Discussion question responses will not be required during the final week of the course. The final week will be dedicated to completing the final assignments listed below.
Expectations for Discussion QuestionResponses
Discussion question responses should be at least 200-300 words. For discussion question responses in the Main forum, please post responses to the threads provided. To respond, highlight the appropriate thread, click on Reply, type your response, and send.Please do not start a new thread for the weekly discussion questions in the Main forum.
Unlike your formal written assignments, I do not require that your discussion question responses adhere to specific formatting requirements. However, please make sure to proofread carefully. Grammar and spelling errors may impact the grading.
I expect your discussion question responses to reflect critical thought. Whenever possible, please try to relate the course content to real-world applications from your work experience.
Attachments
Please do not use attachments in the Main forum. Post DQ responses in the body of OLS messages.Please post formal assignments in your Individual forum as attachments–Microsoft® Word documents or PowerPoint® slides.
Learning Teams
University of Phoenix students are expected to work effectively in diverse groups and teams to achieve tasks. They must collaborate and function well in team settings as both leaders and followers. They should respect human diversity and behave in a tolerant manner toward colleagues and peers.
You will be assigned to a Learning Team during the latter part of week #1. If you have any preferences for team members, please send an e-mail to my University mailbox and let me know. Because teamwork projects areoutcome-based,all members of your learning team will earn the same grade. I will be monitoring the small group newsgroups, and I will ask that team provide a brief summary of any communication heldoutside the newsgroup--e.g. ifyou hold conference calls, work in a real-time chat room, or in any other wayget together outside the OLS (Online Learning System) environment. Please do not use any of these other communication tools unless everyone in your group agrees to the method and to the schedule. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Learning teams are meant to be a collaborative process. I expect everyone to equally contribute to the research, writing and editing processes. When everyone has reviewed the work, it can be posted to the main folder. I reserve the right to record different grades to team members if work is not deemed to be substantially equal.
If you experience difficulties working with your team, you are expected to resolve them within the team if possible. However, please feel free to contact me for guidance if you have concerns in this area.
In order to create structure for your Learning Team, you will complete a Learning Team Charter during Week 1. The form for this charter is provided in a separate message in the Course-Materials forum.
Late Assignments
Late assignments will be penalizedwith a 10% grade deductionfor each day late, unless youhave made prior arrangements with me.Deadlines will be defined as 11:59 p.m. EST. No assignment will be accepted that is more than 4 days late. If you know you will be offline the day an assignment is due, please make sure to post it early. Anytime youfeel that you might be falling behind in the course, it is best to contact me to discuss your situation. As noted in the first message posted in the Main forum, no assignments can be accepted after the final day of class.
If you have an assignment completed by the deadline but are unable to post it in the forum for technical reasons, you can send it to me by email to demonstrate that it was completed on time. However, you must post the assignment in the forum once that becomes available.
Academic Integrity
By virtue of membership in the University’s academic community, students accept a responsibility to abide by the Student Code of Academic Integrity, which is a part of the Student Code of Conduct. A link to the Code can be found on the Center for Writing Excellence Web site or by logging into eCampus and then clicking the following URL:

Confidentiality and Proprietary Information
One of the cornerstones of the University of Phoenix learning model is the practical application of theoretical concepts. You are encouraged to share your personal and professional experiences as a means to integrate knowledge by reflecting on its application. However, it is important to note that we all are bound by confidentiality in this class. To assure that we can have a free and open discussion in which you may elect to discuss your company and its policies and procedures as they apply to the course material, I expect each person to respect the confidentiality of what your classmates are willing to share with us. At the same time, I ask that each of you exercise good judgment in what you choose to share and avoid disclosing non-public or competitively-sensitive information.
It is University of Phoenix policy that students and faculty membersmust not share present or past employer information that is considered to be proprietary, confidential, company-sensitive, or protected trade secrets. Students are encouraged to examine their organization's limitations on sharing information externally.
Students and faculty members may appropriately choose to illustrate lessons from their experience that might challenge these boundaries, without identifying specific employers or individuals by name.
If you have any questions about any of the information contained in this syllabus, or about any other aspect of this class, please do not hesitate to ask!
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Academic Resources
Coursework in this class must uphold the high standards of academic integrity established by the University of Phoenix. Consequently, when you are conducting research for an assignment, the majority of your sources should be peer-reviewed academic journals, such as those you find in the University Library or in the additional readings on the rEsource page for this course.
PLEASE NOTE: Internet searches will often take you to non-academic information resources such as Wikipedia.com, Ask.com, Encarta.msn.com, Infoplease.com, etc. You may supplement your research with these sources, but keep in mind that the information you find there may not be accurate, since it does not come under a formal oversight or peer-review process.
While you may use and cite non-academic resources such as Wikipedia when working on assignments, you may not rely on them exclusively. The majority of your sources should be peer-reviewed academic journals. Further, remember that you are responsible for the accuracy of any facts you present in your assignments and therefore should confirm the veracity of information you find on non-academic sources through further research.
GRADING
Feedback
Each week, I will provide grades or scores and comments on assignments within 7 days of when they were submitted. I will post your feedback in your Individual forum. After I post feedback each week, I will post a notification in the Main forum.
Grading Formula
Points / Grade
950+ / A
900-940 / A-
870-899 / B+
840-869 / B
800-839 / B-
770-799 / C+
740-769 / C
700-739 / C-
670-699 / D+
640-669 / D
600-639 / D-
<599 / F

Final Week Requirements