BUSINESS 100: INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS – Spring 2011

BUSINESS A100: INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS – Spring 2011 Please keep this document for reference throughout the semester.

Professor: Vena Garrett ([email protected]) Office Hours: By appointment

Publisher’s website: www.mhhe.com/ub9e contains PowerPoint® slides, self-study quizzes, videos, and more

COURSE DESCRIPTION: A survey of the many dimensions of business with a focus on careers, organization, management, marketing, legal aspects, international business, business climate, financial operations, the banking system, and investments.

STUDY LEARNING OUTCOMES: The student will be able to: (1) Identify, define, and analyze the characteristics of successful business organizations including the principles of marketing, management, funding, ownership, and internal and external environments. (2) Apply the principles of business through the use of case studies and/or research projects with minimal instructor input. REQUIRED MATERIALS (1) Selected Chapters from Understanding Business, 9th Edition, Nickels, McHugh, and McHugh (McGraw-Hill 2010). ISBN-10: 0-07-740741-5 (2) E-mail, Internet access, and calculator; stapler; paper clips (3) The Wall Street Journal, which will be used for case studies, papers, projects, and class discussions on current events. See professor or subscribe at http://subscribe.wsj.com/semester for lowest rates. (4) ParScore(four) Form No. F-289-PAR-L (red) for exams and #2 pencil, good eraser OTHER RESOURCES: (1) Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in your Twenties and Thirties, Beth Kobliner (Fireside: a Division of Simon & Schuster, 2009) (2) Investment information in simple, clear terms at www.investopedia.com

CLASSROOM POLICIES: Cell phones must be turned off and out of your sight. No texting. No laptops, iPods, iPads or other electronic devices. No hats. Violation of this policy will result in being dropped from the class. No food, drink (except bottled water) or children are permitted in the classroom. Professional, business- like behavior is expected. Disruptive behavior of any kind, including more than three absences, will result in being dropped from class. Discussions with other students are to be held outside of class, except for in-class group activities. Students are expected to return from break on time.

Seat Assignment: All seats are assigned. If you want to change your seat, see the instructional assistant whose office is between the classrooms, after the second week of class.

EXAMS: All exams are multiple-choice. Use the red ParScore Form No. F-289-PAR-L. No make-up exams are given. Instead, your lowest exam score will be dropped. If you miss an exam, that will be the exam score dropped. Although you can earn up to 200 points on exams, your grade will be determined by your three (3) highest scores (possible 150 pts) and the project (possible 150 pts), plus extra credit and other random opportunities to earn extra credit (if you are not in class to receive such opportunities, you cannot participate).

The exams will cover textbook reading assignments and class lectures. Students should attend class lectures, study carefully each assigned chapter in the textbook, use self-tests and other study aides provided at the publisher’s website, and stay abreast of current business news. Questions regarding textbook material not covered in the lecture may appear on the exams. *NOTE: A photo ID is required for all exams*

PROJECT (150 points max.) due Week 13 (first week in May): Many businesses try to raise funds with new stock offerings called initial public offerings (IPOs). Go to www.tdameritrade.com, www.schwab.com, www.investors.com, www.wsj.com, www.bing.com, and type “recent IPOs” in the Search site box. Do not choose a mutual fund for this project. Instead, find two corporate IPOs (do not use General Motors) that have been offered during the past two years. Track the history of each company from its inception to the present, including: (1) names and backgrounds of company founders; (2) when and how the company was first started; (3) the company’s process of going public; (4) the stock price performance of each IPO from its introduction to its present price; (5) the main factors for their success or failure since the IPO and the main reason for their success or failure in the next year; (6) whether you would buy the stock (why or why not) and what you learned from developing these two case studies.

Each case study is to be written separately following this format: At the top right-hand side of the first page of each report type the following information, indenting and aligning as shown: Your Name: Last name, first name OCC ID Number: 00000000 BUS A100: Tuesday (or Mon-Wed) IPO Company: XYZ Corporation Date of IPO: 5/17/09

The body of the report will have six paragraphs, each with its own heading: Company Founders, Start-Up, Going Public, Stock Price Performance, Factors for Success/Failure Now and in the Future, Personal Observations. These paragraphs summarize items (1-6) from above. The last page of the report consists of the bibliography followed by copies of the research material.

Compose the entire report yourself; do not use quotes from your research. Use spell check and grammar check to avoid losing points for misspelled words or bad grammar, and footnote (use Header and Footer” under View in Word) referenced material. Copies of articles, showing date of publication and source, and a bibliography (http://www.asij.ac.jp/middle/lib/BibliographyFormat/Bibliography%20Format.htm) of all referenced materials are to be attached to each report. Do not submit the report in a binder or report cover. Simply staple reports separately and clip the two reports together.

EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS: The assignments given below are due on the date indicated and will not be accepted late. Each assignment is to be written separately following this format: At the top right- hand side of the first page of each assignment type the following information: Last name, first name OCC ID Number BUS A100 Tuesday (or Mon-Wed) Assignment # Due date Each assignment must be original work. In other words, do not submit the same work for two or more assignments. Use spell check and grammar check to avoid losing points. Following directions is key to earning maximum points on each assignment. Incomplete assignments receive zero points.

ASSIGNMENT #1 — Due Week 3 Title: Introduction to The Wall Street Journal Purpose: Introduces students to the organization of the Wall Street Journal so that they can more easily locate specific information or content. Assignment: Select two days of the week and read the headlines of every article in each section of the newspaper. Typically, there are three sections: A, B, and C. Based on the headlines, state the specific aspects (such as economic, financial, environmental, marketing, or personal finance) of the global business environment that each section appears to represent. Cite at least five headlines from each section on each day (total of 30 headlines) to support your conclusion. One way to approach this assignment is to read the headlines in each section and look for a common theme. Organize the summary by Section A, Section B, Section C followed by the headlines from that section, the page number on which the headline appears, and the global business aspect represented by the headlines in that section.

Level of student difficulty: Easy Grade points: 5

ASSIGNMENT #2 — Due Week 5 Title: Assessing Student Knowledge of Economic and Business Terminology

Purpose: To ascertain the level of understanding of business and economics terminology routinely used to report global economic and business events.

Assignment: Identify five business terms that are familiar to you; find one term in an article using five different days of the paper. Include, in parenthesis following the term, the title of the article, the date, section, and page number. Explain what each term means and how it is used in the article. Identify five business terms that are unfamiliar to you. Research the meaning of each term and explain how it is used in the article. Organize this assignment under Familiar Terms and Unfamiliar Terms.

Level of student difficulty: Easy Grade Points: 5

ASSIGNMENT #3— Due Week 7 Title: Introduction to the U.S. Stock Exchanges and Stock Price Reporting

Purpose: To acquaint students with the results of daily stock market activity. It also requires or enhances the use of Excel for preparation of the charts and graphs for submission.

Assignment: (1) Select two Nasdaq-traded stocks and two New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stocks that begin with the same letter as your last name. Prepare a five-day stock chart using the daily closing prices for the four stocks and construct a graph of the results for each stock. (2) Research the two stock exchanges and in a short paragraph summarize the similarities and differences between the two major marketplaces for trading stock. Why do you think a company would choose one exchange over the other for listing its stock?

Level of student difficulty: Easy to Medium Grade points: 5 ASSIGNMENT #4 — Due Week 9 Title: Economic and Business Statistics: What Do They Mean?

Purpose: To familiarize students with commonly reported economic and business statistics and what they purport to represent.

Assignment: Select five economic or business statistics reported in the Journal, using at least three different editions of the paper. Statistics include CPI, PPI, unemployment data, home sales and many others. Include, in parenthesis following the statistic, the title of the article, the date, section, and page number. Prepare a one- paragraph summary for each statistic, identifying what the statistic purports to represent and why this statistic is important to those studying the global economic and business environment of the 21st Century.

Level of student difficulty: Easy to Medium Grade points: 7

ASSIGNMENT #5 — Due Week 11 Title: Who, What, When, Why and the Ripple Effect

Purpose: Trains students to anticipate the related effects of a specific economic or business event.

Assignment: Select one article from three different days of the week. Include the title of the article, the date, section, and page number. For each of the three articles: *Who: Identify the individual, company, industry or government entity *What: Identify the primary economic or business event reported. °When: Define the relevant time period related to this event. *Why: Explain why the event reported in this article is important. *Ripple Effect: Assess the impact of this event, that is, what are the related things that will be affected by this event?

Student difficulty: Medium Grade points: 10

PAPERS/PROJECTS/ASSIGNMENTS: All are due at the beginning of class on the date indicated. To avoid technical problems, such as a printer malfunction or a computer virus, complete all work early. If you can’t make it to class, have someone deliver your work. Do not e-mail assignments. There are no exceptions to this policy, so please don’t ask.

FINAL GRADE CALCULATION based on top three test scores and project, plus extra credit: Final Grade Minimum % Cumulative Points A 90% 270 - 300 B 80% 240 - 269 C 70% 210 - 239 D 60% 180 - 209 F 0% 0 - 179

WITHDRAWAL POLICY If you decide to withdraw from this class, you must initiate your withdrawal through the college records office. If you quit attending class and do not officially drop the class, you will receive an F grade for the semester. ACADEMIC HONESTY: Exams are monitored. Any student(s) suspected of cheating on an exam will receive zero points for that exam. See the Student Handbook for complete details on the college's academic honesty policy.

Reading and Exam Schedule (May be changed by Instructor, if required)

Week#/Week In-Class Discussion Assignment beginning Topics 1 — Jan. 31 Introduction and Purchase book Course Overview Register at Publisher’s website: www.mhhe.com/ub9e Subscribe to Wall Street Journal: in class or www.wsjstudent.com

2 — Feb. 7 Doing Business in Global Markets Read and study Ch 3 before class Print Ch 3 PowerPoint slides (ppts) from publisher’s website and bring to class for note- taking 3 — Feb. 14 Working within the Legal Read and study Bonus Chapter A at back of Environment textbook before class; print PowerPoint slides (ppts) and bring to class for note-taking

4 — Feb. 21 How to Form a Business; and Read and study Ch 5 and Ch 6 before class; Entrepreneurship and Starting a print ppts and bring to class Small Business 5 — Feb. 28 Understanding Accounting and Read and study Ch 17 before class; Financial Information print ppts and bring to class Exam #1 on Chapters A, 3, 5, 6

6 — Mar. 7 Financial Management Read and study Ch 18; print ppts and bring to class

7 — Mar. 14 Securities Markets Read and study Ch 19; print ppts and bring to class

8 — Mar. 21 Money, Financial Institutions, Read and study Ch 20; print ppts and bring to Federal Reserve class

March 28 SPRING BREAK NO CLASSES IN SESSION 9 — Apr. 4 Marketing: Helping Buyers Buy Read and study Ch 13 before class; print ppts and bring to class Exam #2 on Chapters 17, 18, 19, 20 10 — Apr. 11 Developing and Pricing Read and study Ch 14 before class; Goods and Services print ppts and bring to class

11 — Apr. 18 Distributing Products Read and study Ch 15 before class; print ppts and bring to class

12 — Apr. 25 Using Effective Promotions Read and study Ch 16 before class; print ppts and bring to class 13 — May 2 Management and Leadership; Read and study Ch 7 and Ch 8 before class; Adapting Organizations to Today’s Print ppts and bring to class Markets Exam #3 on Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16 Projects due 14 — May 9 Human Resources Management: Read and study Ch 11 before class; Finding and Keeping the Best print ppts and bring to class Employees 15 — May 16 Dealing with Employee- Read and study Ch 12 before class; Management print ppts and bring to class Issues and Relationships 16 — May 23 Course Wrap-up and Final Exam Exam #4 on Chapters 7, 8, 11, 12 Bring Scantron, pencil, and eraser.