WSU Department Name

Syllabus

WSU Department Name Business Administration

WSU Course Number & Listing BSAD: Introduction to Business (3 Credit Hrs.)[WSU Course Listing, and Number]

High School: [High School Name] WSU Concurrent Adjunct Instructor: [High School Name] High School Course Name: [Concurrent High School Course] [School Year]

Concurrent Adjunct Instructor’s Office Hours [WSU Adjunct Instructor’s office hours]

Concurrent Adjunct Instructor’s phone and email [WSU Adjunct Instructor’s phone and email]

Prerequisite High School Courses if any [Prerequisite High School Courses if any]

WSU Course Description: Relation of business managers and firms to contemporary society and the global economy. Topics include human values and ethics in the workplace, multiculturalism, social responsibilities of business, business functions, and general principles of effective business operation.

WSU Required Textbook & Materials:  Brau, Jim, & Fawcett, Stan, Introduction to Modern Business: The Art and Science of Creating Customer Value, (Salt Lake City: MyEducator), 2014. (You will register online at MyEducator.com).  The Wall Street Journal (Within first week of class, subscribe at www.wsj.com/studentoffer)  The Economist on-line edition (www.economist.com). You can read three articles per week for free

If you want to know what I am reading to prepare for class, you can follow me on Twitter at [Twitter Account]. I will draw many class discussion questions as well as test questions from my daily scanning.

 Socrative-Download Socrative app for free. We will use Socrative in almost every class. o Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.socrative.student&hl=en. o Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/socrative-student/id477618130?mt=8

WSU Learning Objectives:

Business is a dynamic and vital wealth generator in today’s modern economy. This course will expose you to all of the major functions in business. Our goals are to …

1. Provide a thorough overview of business for all students, whether you are interested in a field of business as a career or are simply interested in learning a little about how modern businesses world. Learning the fundamentals of business is important to any student in any major.

2. Cultivate an engaging learning environment to help you decide whether a career in business makes sense for you or which area of business will provide the career opportunities you are seeking.

Business majors receive some of the highest salaries of all graduates (computer science/information technology and engineering are also top-paying majors). Why do managers get paid the “big bucks”? Answer: To make “big” decisions. You make “big” decisions when you “see” problems early, employ critical reasoning, and perform rigorous quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify and recommend a solution. Although it is typically early in your university studies, we will practice these skills every day.

Teaching Philosophy: Education is about building habits, developing skills, and gaining the understanding to be articulate, grounded decision makers. Education is not memorizing facts—Google has commoditized facts. Three philosophies guide everything that I do in designing and teaching a class:

 Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will learn. –Confucius  We are what we repeatedly do, excellence is not an act but a habit. –Aristotle  Preparation Precedes Power –Unknown Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, described the learning process and key learning outcomes as follows:

Taking in information is only distantly related to real learning. It would be nonsensical to say, ‘I just read a great book about bicycle riding—I’ve now learned that.’ … Through learning we re- create ourselves. Through learning we become able to do something we never were able to do. Through learning we reperceive the world and our relationship to it. Through learning we extend our capacity to create, to be part of the generative process of life. There is within each of us a deep hunger for this type of learning.”

My goal is to help you become indispensable. To achieve this goal, you need to be 1) prepared before class and 2) proactively engaged during all class activities throughout the semester.

Workload Policy: The workload expectation across most U.S. universities “is three hours of work per week per credit hour for the average student who is appropriately prepared; much more time may be required to achieve excellence.”

Office Hour Policy: Office hours provide one-on-one time to answer questions, discuss relevant issues and talk about important career options. I encourage you to come by and meet with me throughout the semester. I expect you to come prepared. If you would like to make a specific appointment, talk with me to arrange a time.

Course Grading:

A=Excelleent B=Very Good C=Satisfactory D=Let’s not go there!

Course requirements include… Grades will be assigned as follows: Assessment: A 920-1,000 C 740-769  Midterm Exams (200 each) 600 A- 900-919 C- 700-739  Final Exam 250 B+ 870-899 D+ 670-699 Experiential Learning Activities: B 840-869 D 600-669  Written Assignments 150 B- 800-839 D- 500-599 Total 1,000 C+ 770-799 E 0-499 *These point totals are set so that you know exactly what the standard is. Any curving will be done on a test-by-test basis. Assess your goal now and reach it by earning the needed points throughout the semester.

You will receive the grade that you earn. The time to begin investing in your skills—and grade—is now. Consistent effort throughout the semester will mitigate the end-of-semester cramming. If you wait until the end of the class to start to build the habits and skills that are the focus of our class assignments, it will be too late. A few years ago, I saw the following quote, which I believe you will find to be helpful as you progress in your career as a teacher leader.

A teacher who rewards an average performance with a mark of distinction is false to the trust of his or her students. Evaluations are the signposts and milestones on the road of growth. Inaccurate markers can only lead us to a wrong destination or persuade us to rest complacently in the shade of a mediocre valley when we are still a far journey form the summit of excellence.

I invite you to take ownership of your education.

Course Requirements: MIDTERM EXAM: The three midterms will be composed 33 multiple-choice questions. Each midterm will be available in the testing center for three days. We cover a lot of ground in a short period of time. The midterms give you a chance to review at key points throughout the semester. They also spread risk.

Each midterm should take 60-90 minutes. Please plan accordingly. Testing center lines can be long for those who wait until the last minute or the end of the day to take a test.

FINAL EXAM: The final is comprehensive and consists of 50 multiple-choice questions. The final will be available the first three days of finals week.

The final should take 90-120 minutes. Please plan accordingly. Testing center lines can be long for those who wait until the last minute or the end of the day to take a test.

Please remember that there are four reasons for test: 1) to motivate you to come prepared to class, 2) to invite you to review and synthesize the material, 3) to reiterate key points (remember, a coach teaches at every opportunity), and 4) to evaluate your learning. My interest is in the first three.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: Sprinkled throughout the course you will be required to sumbit 6 one-page papers. These short papers address a variety of business topics. Preparing each of the papers will require you to personally do some business-related research—online, at your favorite restaurant, and in your personal financial records. The paper topics are as follows:  Paper #1: A professional code of conduct—Use Fair Labor Association website as a guide.  Paper #2: Customer Satisfaction Evaluation—Collect data using Delight/Horrow interview guide.  Paper #3: Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article summary—Pick any article of interest.  Paper #4: What is the production cost of your favorite restaurant meal?  Paper #5: WSJ topic scan and synthesis—Pick any theme that appears repeatedly in WSJ.  Paper #6: Preparing a personal retirement plan.

Because of the large number of students who take BSAD 1010, it is not practical to grade each submitted paper for completeness, content, grammar, and style. So, the grading is quite simple. When you submit your paper in Canvas, you will be asked whether or not the following statement is true:

“I have personally done the research required for this writing assignment. I have also personally written the paper. As appropriate, I have discussed ideas with friends, family and fellow students, but this paper represents my own work.”

If you honestly answer, “Yes” to this question, you receive full credit.

Note: This is a business class. I believe in ethical decision-making and I am big on accountability. Accordingly, to make you accountable for your response to the question above, I will randomly select 25 papers to confirm that they are complete, well written, and logically reasoned. Those unlucky students who answer “Yes” and are subsequently found to have submitted an unsatisfactory paper will receive a “0” and have the opportunity to meet with me to give an in-person explanation. Two Final Thoughts:

POINT #1: APPROACHES TO LEARNING. My experience in 25 years of teaching business is that students learn and retain the material the best if they systematically learn key principles, review them, use them, and then build on them with new principles. Thus, the students who will best retain what they learn in BSAD 1010 are those who start from the very first day and methodically read before coming to class, participate actively in small- group discussions, review for and take the mid-term exams, complete the five written assignments, and then cap it all off by studying for the final exam. These students will better understand how to apply what they learn and will retain that understanding longer than students who cram for the final exam in order to temporarily shove some question-answering skills into their skulls. Therefore, I have set up BSAD 1010 to consistent, beginning-to-end effort. All points are equal. The 25 points are available on your first written assignment are worth exactly as much as 25 points on the final exam. I reward steady effort throughout the semester because I believe that consistent and persistent effort is the best way to learn and retain business principles.

POINT #2: ETHICS. There are many ways to cut corners or cheat your way to a university degree. Most cheating methods require collusion with another person. In recent years, the frequency of cheating has increased. So that you can properly weigh the risks and rewards (there really aren’t any) of cheating, here is a description of the potential punishments for a person who engages in cheating in BSAD 1010: 1) Failing grade in the class, 2) immediate expulsion from all Goddard School classes, and 3) referral to the Weber State Student Affairs Office for possible University action. Of course, each cheating case is dealt with individually, and students who voluntarily confess are typically treated with more leniency.

WSU Course Evaluation As a concurrent student, you are given the privilege of evaluating this course. This is an anonymous evaluation which allows you an opportunity to express your opinions of the course and the instructor.

WSU Student Code of Conduct Download the WSU Student Code of Conduct at: www.weber.edu/concurrent/students/CodeOfConduct.aspx

Introduction to Modern Business Tentative Schedule

Date Readings Topic Due Dates [Date Welcome: Building the skills to land your dream job ] [Date Topic 1 Why do companies exist? ] [Date Topic 2 What do mangers do? Leadership ] [Date Topic 2 What do managers do? Indispensable Decision Making Paper #1: Code of Conduct ] [Date Topic 2 What do managers do? Ethical Decision Making ] [Date Topic 3 Business Structure ] [Date Review for Midterm #1 ] [Date Topic 4 Marketing: The Value Mix ] [Date Topic 4 Marketing: Social Marketing Paper #2: Customer Satisfaction Evaluation ] [Date Topic 5 New Product Development ] [Date Topic 5 New Product Development ] [Date Topic 6 Purchasing: Sourcing the Goods ] [Date Topic 6 Purchasing: Sourcing the Goods ] [Date Topic 7 Operations Management: Producing the Goods Paper #3: Production Cost of favorite meal ] [Date Topic 7 Operations Management: Producing the Goods ] [Date Topic 8 Logistics Management: Delivering the Goods ] [Date Topic 8 Logistics Management: Delivering the Goods ] [Date Review for Midterm #2 Paper #4: Wall Street Journal Review ] [Date Topic 9 Human Resources ] [Date Topic 9 Human Resources ] [Date Topic 10 Information Technology ] [Date Topic 10 Information Technology ] [Date Topic 11 Performance Measurement ] [Date Review for Midterm #3 Paper #5: WSJ Scan and Synthesis ] [Date Topic 12 Accounting: Keeping Score ] [Date Topic 12 Accounting: Keeping Score ] [Date Topic 13 Financial Management: Assessing the Health of the Firm ] [Date No Class Thanksgiving—Share something cool you’ve learned about modern business with your family ] [Date Topic 13 Financial Management:Estimating an Investment’s Value Paper #6: Personal Retirement Plan ] [Date Topic 14 Business Plan Design ] [Date Finals Week ] For definite exam dates please check Canvas and announcements in class  This tentative schedule provides you an overview of the course. The real-time schedule will be communicated via Canvas. Many day-to-day details, including class summaries, will be managed via Canvas. You are responsible for all information shared in class and via Canvas, even if you cannot attend.

 Presentations will be evaluated using four criteria—content, organization, professionalism, and creativity. Each of these factors increases or decreases the impact of your presentation.