IB & M – 100-01/02

Fundamentals of Business   Fall  2002

 

 

INSTRUCTOR:

 

PROF. MICHAEL POULTON

Home telephone and fax: 249-5314 - anytime from 10:00am to 10:00 pm. If you get the answering machine, leave a message. My Stern Center 003  office telephone: 245-1058.  E-mail: poultonm@dickinson.edu. Meeting times:. from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm M/W/F or  by appointment at other times.  Further discussion, suggestions, constructive criticism, your concerns and, of course, compliments are always welcome;  excuses for not turning in assignments and whining about grades are not. 

 

COURSE PURPOSE:

Through CASE STUDIES, DISCUSSION, LECTURE AND CONTINUAL REVIEW OF CURRENT PERIODICALS, INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO THE VOCABULARY AND PRINCIPLES OF bUSINESS AS AN APPLIED SCIENCE AND ART.

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1. HELP STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE INTEGRATIVE NATURE OF BUSINESS - FROM SOURCING THROUGH POST SALES SERVICE

2. INTRODUCE CONCEPTUAL TOOLS TO ANALYZE AND UNDERSTAND BUSINESS DECISION MAKING, THE VARIOUS BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS, AND A COMPANY’S POTENTIAL FOR REACHING PLAUSIBLE GOALS.

3. SENSITIZE STUDENTS TO THE VALUE OF AN ORGANIZATION WIDE APPROACH TO BUSINESS WHETHER IN PRODUCING CONSUMER GOODS AND SERVICES, INDUSTRIAL GOODS AND SERVICES, OR NOT -FOR-PROFIT ACTIVITIES.

4. PROVIDE EXPERIENCE DEVELOPING REALISTIC BUSINESS STRATEGIES AND PLANS FOR THEIR IMPLEMENTATION.

5. INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO THE BASIC VOCABULARY OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES

5. EXPOSE STUDENTS TO SOME OF THE  ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS of BUSINESS.

 

TEXTBOOK AND REQUIRED READING

Red FRY, Charles STONER, and Richard HATTWICK

Business: An Integrative Approach (Irwin/McGraw-Hill, New York, NY), 2000

 

THE NEW YORK TIMES AND/OR FINANCIAL TIMES, THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD – daily. Please bring articles you find relevant to the session’s topic.

 

RECOMMENDED READING (available in my office)

 

Davidow, William and Bro, Utal

Total Customer Service: The Ultimate Weapon

Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1989

 

Porter, Michael E.

Competitive Advantage,

The Free Press, New York, 1985

(His Competitive Strategy is also a classic)

 

Champy, James and Nohria, Nitin

Fast Forward: The Best Ideas on Managing Business Change

Harvard Business Review Book, Boston, 1998

 

 

ATTENDANCE

Call me old fashioned, but, unlike some, I do keep attendance sheets.  Your presence is required and will be included in your grade if there is a question of, say, B- or a B.  Even though we will be using a text,  test questions may include things we discuss in class.  The smart attend.  Notes for each days lecture will be handed out at the end of each class.  No attendance, no notes.

 
CHEATING

Despite the fact that at this point in your education we really should not have to discuss this issue, see the Dickinson College Student Code of Conduct.  If you are caught cheating in an exam or quiz, the ramifications are far worse than simply admitting to yourself that you did not study or were in no way prepared to take it.  One quiz or exam is only part of your grade  - cheating may cost you the course or worse.  Plagiarism, too.

 

Please, hand in your own work.  The purpose of home assignments and/or exams is for you to learn.  You may find that studying together or quizzing each other helps, but I expect you to do your own analysis and thinking.   Team activities are, of course, a group affair.

 

GRADING POLICY:

 

Quizzes     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                           45%

INDIVIDUAL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS AND VOCABULARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . .          25%

TEAM WORK ASSIGNMENT PREPAREDNESS AND PRESENTATION . . . . . .  . . . . .             25%

ATTENDANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .               5%

 

.   Whatever position you take on an issue, it should be well argued. The quizzes will be worth 15%.  The questions will be several short type on specific definitions or concepts we have covered and one general concepts or issues central to this course.

 

A significant part of your grade is a team assignment (30%) for which you will be asked to develop a presentation for a group of investors who may or may not choose to invest in your small business proposal.  The proposal is both a written assignment and oral presentation (15-20 minutes).  The class will participate in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the presentation. This assignment will require some Excel as well as PowerPoint work.  Early on in the course I will show you what other’s have done.  I would also suggest that you not wait until the 11th hour to start working on this assignment. Worksheets mentioned in the syllabus will be handed out to you in advance and due the same time as homework.

 

Individual or team written assignments are to be typed, spell checked and grammatically correct on 8 ½ X 11 paper double spaced with enough margin for my comments and stapled, if necessary. No coffee, pizza, or Coke stains. Use the KISS method, that is, keep the schmooze to a minimum.   Please, use a spell checker and proof read your work.  Papers must not be longer than two pages.  Occasionally, I will ask you to visit the text’s website at www.mhhe.com\fry2e.  You should click on the Student Center. In the fry2e website you will have links to Business Week on-line, a host of other periodicals (under News Room) and some internet exercises.

We will try to cover each chapter in a classroom session.  Homework (review questions) for the current session will be due at the beginning of the next chapter session., i.e.  assignments for listed for a Wednesday’s session are due Monday. 

 

Every second day of each chapter session, I will ask you to discuss (randomly, of course) an article you read in one of the periodicals in the News Room section of text’s website (www.mhhe.com\fry2e).   You may use any of the periodicals to which the site links.  Try some of the international newspapers for a different perspective.

 

Finally, it is crucial for you to learn the vocabulary of business.  Therefore, for each chapter there will be a very short vocabulary  quiz based on terms in the book.  These are Pass/Fail, that is, 100% or nothing.  If you do not pass a quiz, you must repeat it until you do in order to proceed to the next one.   I realize this seems sophomoric, but if you cannot communicate with other business people in their lingo, you will be lost.

 

The nature of this course is participatory.  I expect questions and discussion, that is, you don’t ask, I lecture.  Every reading assignment must be done thoroughly and thoughtfully. You should come prepared to answer all questions required.

 

Business is something you encounter virtually every day - from the moment you brush your teeth in the morning to the time you set the alarm at night.  Let’s see how aware of its importance we can make you by the end of this course!

 

COURSE OUTLINE: 

 

 

Sept 2               Chapter 1               Introductions

                                                The Nature of Business

                                                Assignments: p. 24 Business Week minicase: Nike questions hand in                                            

 

Sept  4              Chapter 2          The Big Picture

                                                Assignments: p. 45 Business Week mini-case:Coke’s Vision  questions hand-in

 

 Sept 9              Chapter 3          The Scope of Business

                                                Assignments: P. 74 and 74 # 3, 5 and 6 plus worksheet hand in

                       

 

Sept  11            Chapter 4 -            Decision Makers and Decision Making

Assignments:  Team exercise p. 100 #4 FOR DISCUSSION IN CLASS

 

Sept  16            Chapter 5            Business and Its Stakeholders

                                                Case: New Boy on the Block FOR DISCUSSION IN CLASS

Assignments:  p 131 Business Week minicase: Profits questions hand in

 

Sept 18                         Quiz Chapters 1-5

                       

Sept  23            Chapter 6            Diversity

                                                Assignments:  P. 160 #4 – be prepared to answer the question of whether

Dickinson’s population reflects what you discover.

 

Sept 25             Chapter 7            Economic Forces          

                                                Assignments: p.193 Business Week minicase: Small airlines questions hand in

 

 

Sept 30             Chapter 8 -            Globalization

                                                Assignments: p. 222  # 4 and 5 hand in

 

Oct 2                Chapter 9 -            Financial Markets and Processes

                                                Team assignment:  Develop a worksheet stating the funds you think you will

need to start your business and the sources you intend to use.  Go to a local

bank to get information on borrowing requirements hand in

 

Oct 7                Chapter 10         The Legal and Regulatory Forces on Business

                                                Assignment: p. 275 Temporary Workers or Full Time Headache hand in

 

Oct 14              Chapter 12         Thinking Strategically

                                                Work assignments: Business Week minicase: Boeing questions hand in        

 

 

Oct 16             Quiz  Chapters 6 – 12

 

Oct 23              Chapter 16             Integrating Activities – Business Organization

                                                Assignment: p. 448 Developing Your Critical Thinking Skills # 1-3

 

Oct 28              Chapter 13         New Product Development

                                                Team assignment: P. 363  Exercise 2 reference your business and get twenty                                             completed questionnaires from fellow students. Hand in results

                                               

Oct 30              Chapter 14            Customer Communications

                                                Team assignments:  Exercise p. 381 #2 Reference your business Be prepared

to present your communications mix to the class on November 4th

 

Nov. 4               Chapter 15             Acquisition and Use of Resources – What Do We Need To Start?

Assignments: Team Assignment – using the spread sheet provided you, make an extensive list of all the equipment you will need to start your business. Prices should be real.  Hand in print out.

 

Nov 6                Special Session                         

                       

Nov 11              Chapter 18            Budgeting – Finding Out What You Have and What You Need

                                                Assignments:  Complete sheet one and two of the Excel spread sheet provided

You. Bring your team’s disk with you to class.  Hand in print out.

 

Nov 13              Chapter 18         Balance Sheets – What You Have and What You Owe

                                                Assignments:  Complete sheet four of the Excel spread sheet provided

                                                you.  Bring your team’s disk to class.  Hand in print out.

 

Nov 18              Chapter 18 -      Income Statements and Cash Flow Analysis – What is Coming In and What is

             Going Out?  What Does It Take to Stay Afloat.

                                                Assignments:  Complete sheet four of the Excel spread sheet provided

                                                you.  Bring your team’s disk to class.  Hand in print out.

 

Nov 20             Chapter 19             Promoting Change and Renewal – Where Do We Go From Here?

                                                             

Nov 25             Quiz Chapters 13 – 19

 

Dec 2                Team Presentations

 

Dec 4                Team Presentations

 

Dec 9                Team Presentations

           

Dec 11              Course Summary