University of New Brunswick Saint John

University of New Brunswick Saint John Faculty of Business BUSINESS DECISION ANALYSIS I BA 1605 (01) SPRING 2013

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION Name: M. Rolyne Butler Email: [email protected] ; [email protected] Office Location: HH 305B Office Hours: Monday 7:00 – 8:00 pm, or by appointment Phone: 648-5992, use email to contact me as this phone is not set up for voice mail

COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: Business Decision Analysis I Course Number: BA 1605 (1A) Course Description: Basic probability concepts, random variables, descriptive measures, properties of distributions, statistical decision theory and Bayesian approaches are introduced. Discrete and continuous probability models and their applications to business problems are also covered. Location: HH 125 Meeting Day(s): Tuesday and Thursday Meeting Time(s): 7:00 – 9:30 pm Prerequisite(s): Math 1853 or equivalent. NOTE: Any student not having the stated course prerequisite(s) with a minimum grade of C will be removed from this course after the last day to add classes.

All students are expected to be able to use word processing and spreadsheet software.

Abbreviated class notes will be posted on http://butlersmath.wikispaces.com/; but do not include all concepts to be covered in class.

ACADEMIC PORTFOLIOS Students are strongly encouraged to create an academic portfolio, retaining all course outlines, tests and projects so that if they are transferring, applying for advanced standing, or vying for accreditation, they will have the documentation necessary and will not have to rely on the record-keeping of the institution to support such activities.

Spring 2013 Page 1 TEXTBOOKS SHARPE ET AL ; BUSINESS STATISTICS , 2ND EDITION

COURSE OBJECTIVES CHAPTERS 1 - 10

PLAGIARISM AND ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT Plagiarism includes: 1. quoting verbatim or almost verbatim from any source, including all electronic sources, without acknowledgement; 2. adopting someone else’s line of thought, argument, arrangement, or supporting evidence without acknowledgement; 3. submitting someone else’s work, in whatever form without acknowledgement; 4. knowingly representing as one’s own work any idea of another.

Examples of other academic offences include: cheating on exams, tests, assignments or reports; impersonating somebody at a test or exam; obtaining an exam, test or other course materials through theft, collusion, purchase or other improper manner; submitting course work that is identical or substantially similar to work that has been submitted for another course; and more as set out in academic regulations found in the Undergraduate Calendar.

University regulations applicable to all courses are described in the annual University Calendar. Definitions of academic misconduct, including plagiarism, are clearly defined in the University Calendar. Specifically, please consult Section VII – Academic Offences at page B.41 of the 2008-2009 Undergraduate Calendar. This information is also available in the online calendar at: http://eservices.unb.ca/calendar/undergraduate/display.cgi?tables=regulations&id=10

It is your responsibility to fully understand these Regulations and their ramifications.

ETHICAL STANDARDS The following behaviors are considered unethical:  Telling an instructor you ‘need’ a certain grade.  Asking for extra assignment(s) for the purpose of raising your grade.  Asking your grade be raised because it is very close to the next higher grade.  Asking a grade be raised because you did very well on one part of the course or grading scheme.  Asking for a higher grade because you didn’t like the grading scheme.  Asking to be allowed to turn in an assignment late – even a few minutes late – because of computer or printer problems, or any other reason.

Spring 2013 Page 2  Asking to be treated better than other students by making an exception to the rules.  Asking for any other unfair advantage in grading.

POLICIES

Attendance: A student must attend at least one class within the first six class hours, unless arrangements have been made with the Faculty of Business. Failure to adhere to this policy will result in removal from the class list. If a registered student has attended class any time within the first six hours and then decides to drop the course, it is the student’s responsibility to have their name removed from the class list. In addition, students must also comply with any of the instructor’s specific attendance requirements for the course.

Administrative Removal for Not Having Met Prerequisites: Students will be administratively ‘dropped’ from the course after the second week of the term if they have not fulfilled the prerequisite(s) for the course. Students seeking advice or review on this matter should complete a Permission and Request Form – available outside OH245 or on our advising website at: http://www.unbsj.ca/business/students/advising (click on Permission Request form on the left side of the page).

Communication with Students: In addition to the instructions regularly provided during the class period, the instructor and the Faculty of Business will make use of the UNB email system. It is each student’s responsibility to activate his/her UNB email account.

NOTE – Mail from a student’s University email account can be forwarded to another address. Visit http://www.unbsj.ca/its/students . At this site you will also find many other resources available to you as a student. If you do not wish to forward your email account, then you can access your UNB account through the web (click on webmail from the UNB homepage www.unbsj.ca). Please make sure you maintain (read, store, delete, etc.) your UNB email account regularly.

Photo ID: All students in this course are expected to have an up-to-date UNB photo ID. In addition to access to library resources and other UNB resources, this ID allows the instructor to learn your name. You will NOT be permitted to write your midterm or final examination(s) without your UNB ID. So, if you currently do not have your photo ID, please obtain one within the first two weeks of classes. These may be obtained from ITS during regular hours, Monday to Friday.

Spring 2013 Page 3 Unauthorized Materials: UNB does not permit the use of personal communication devices during test or exam periods – in particular, devices that could potentially be used to communicate with others while writing an exam, or play back prerecorded video, sound or text during an exam. Such devices include, but are not limited to, cell phones, pagers, text messaging devices, personal recording decides, PDAs, personal computers including laptops, certain types of calculators and electronic translators. Using such devices during exams will be considered an academic offence as per Section VII of the University Regulations. Exemptions may be made by a professor if a particular device is required in order to complete the exam. This information is also available in the online calendar at: http://eservices.unb.ca/calendar/undergraduate/display.cgi?tables=regulationsSubLevel1&id=30

Unauthorized photocopying of texts and published materials is an infringement of copyright. No unauthorized photocopied texts or materials are permitted to be used in the classroom or during open book examination(s).

Language: In accordance with the University Calendar, the language used during this course is English. Only assignments, quizzes, tests and exams recorded in English will be graded. See the Calendar for regulations concerning the use of French in special circumstances.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS 20 % (NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS ACCEPTED) MIDTERM EXAMINATION 30 % (TUESDAY MAY 28) FINAL EXAMINATION 50 % (TBD BY REGISTRAR’S OFFICE)

If the mid-term examination is missed with an excused absence in advance, the final exam will be worth an additional 30%. The instructor must be notified before the mid-term exam is given and the instructor will determine if it is an excused absence. If it is not an excused absence and the exam is not written, the student will receive an automatic grade of ‘F’ for the mid-term.”

Spring 2013 Page 4 GRADING SYSTEM Letter Grades: According to the University Calendar, p. B.38 or online at:

HOW GRADES http://eservices.unb.ca/calendar/undergraduate/display.cgi?tables=regulationsSubLevel1&id=34 ARE DETERMINED Grades for individual course components may fall between 0 and 4.3. Final grades will be reported as a letter grade. For your convenience, the letter grading system is provided below and online at the above link.

A+ 4.3 Excellent performance A 4.0 Excellent performance A- 3.7 Excellent performance B+ 3.3 Good performance B 3.0 Good performance B- 2.7 Good performance C+ 2.3 Satisfactory performance C 2.0 Satisfactory performance D 1.0 Less-Than-Satisfactory performance F 0.0 Failure WF 0.0 Failure

CLASS SCHEDULE Date Topics to be Covered (Tentative) May 2 Chapters 1, 2 & 3 May 7 & 9 Chapters 3, 4 & 5 May 14 & 16 Chapter 5 & 7 May 21 & 23 Chapters 7 & 6 May 28 & 30 Midterm Examination, Chapter 6 June 4 & 6 Midterm Examination June 11 & 13 Chapter 8 & 9 June 18 & 20 Chapter 10, Review Class (Questions/Answers)

FINAL EXAMINATIONS ARE SCHEDULED BY THE REGISTRAR’S OFFICE. DO NOT MAKE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS THAT COULD FALL WITHIN THE EXAM PERIOD.

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