Purpose
BUSN 418 is the Capstone course for a major in business management. As such, the purpose is to integrate the student’s disciplinary studies and experiences into an inter-disciplinary understanding of the business environment and how to manage an enterprise.
Course Description
Strategic Management entails making long-range plans for organizations. This course utilizes business case studies to examine corporate strategies. Students are taught the strategic management process and apply that process using a sophisticated multi-period simulation throughout the term. Decisions are made from the perspective of top management. The course is designed to integrate and apply skills acquired throughout the business core curriculum. Global strategic management and corporate ethics are also explored.
Semester Course Itinerary
WEEK
TOPICS
EVENTS & ITEMS DUE
1
What is Strategy?
Introduction; Capsim Introduction
2
Organization Design
Fortune 500 Company Survey (due COB Friday), Capsim Team Formation (due COB Friday)
3
Capsim
CPW1.2, Capsim Chapter Presentations, Capsim Tutorial (due Friday at COB), Capsim Practice Week 1 (CPW1.1), Ethics Quiz
4
Corporate Governance; Ethics
CPW1.3, CPW1.4
5
Strategic Leadership
CPW2.1, CPW2.2; Midterm (Thursday @midnight) (Resume’s Due COB Friday)
6
External Analysis
CPW2.4, CPW 2.4; CEO Meeting
7
Internal Analysis
Capsim Week 1 (CW1)
8
Competitive Advantage
CW2, Peer Review
9
Business Strategy - Differentiation
CW3, ; MFT
10
Business Strategy - Innovation
CW4; ; Midterm (Thursday @midnight)
11
Corporate Strategy – Integration and Diversification
CW5; Capsim Annual Report Outline (due Friday at COB)
12
Corporate Strategy – M&A
CW6: Capsim Annual Report (Friday at COB)
13
Global Strategy
CW7, CW8
14
Capsim Presentations
Capsim Presentations (signup TBD); Capsim Peer Evaluation, Participation Peer Evaluation (COB Friday)
Course Requirements
Assignment
Points
Percent
Capsim Preparation - Tutorial &Topic Presentation
50
5%
Module Questions (Scholar) % of average
50
5%
Quizzes (Scholar) % of average
50
5%
Mid Term Exam (2), Final
25,75,150
25%
MFT, Pre/Post Quiz
100
10%
Capsim Results Profitability per round or approved Situation Analysis Write-up
100
10%
Capsim Team Peer Evaluation
100
10%
Capsim Team Presentation Consists of Self-critique and Board of Advisors Presentations
25,75
10%
Capsim Annual Report
100
10%
Discussion, Attendance & Participation
100
10%
Total
1,000
100%
Extra Credit Potential
Capsim Team Rank (between industry; 15 for 1st, 10 for 2nd and 5 for 3rd based on total profit AND best balance score card for all classes 25 for 1st, 15 for 2nd and 10 for 3rd ); Resume, Pitch & Other Extra Credit (LSOBL, LLS).
Learning Objectives
This course will be interactive, requiring class participation. PowerPoint and simulation software will be used to facilitate lectures. During and after lecture, we will have general discussions of the material and related case studies, and/or exercises/activities that demonstrate the concepts and allow you to apply these concepts. It is imperative that you participate in the in class discussions.
The multi-period simulation will be conducted in teams. Therefore, you must learn to work in teams and to plan and coordinate your schedule to include team meetings. At the conclusion of the course you will be reviewing and grading your team mates and they will be grading you. This simulation is designed to replicate, as closely as possible, the business management environment and challenges you will face in the real world.
This course will require your commitment and focus in order to be successful. I encourage you to consider your schedule over the semester and develop a plan for completing the assignments that are constructed to help you achieve the goals of this course.
Required Simulation Account
This course uses an advanced simulation program called Capstone® from Capsim Management Simulations. Inc®. All students are required to register with for the Capstone® simulation. You do this on-line at www.capsim.com. You will be required to agree to the Capsim terms of use and will have to use either a credit card or electronic transfer for payment. Details for signing up will be given during class. The cost for the simulation is approximately $60.
Optional Reading
Rothaermel, Frank, Strategic Management 3e, McGraw-Hill.
Highly Suggested ReadingCollins, J. C. (2001). Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap... and others don't. Random House.
Tzu, S. (2009). The Art of War: The Essential Translation of the Classic Book of Life. Penguin Publishing
Christensen, C. (2013). The Innovator's Dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail. Harvard Business Review Press.
Osterwalder, A & Pigneur, Y (2010), Business Model Generation; a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. John Wiley & Sons.
Kotter, J. P. (2012) Leading Change. Harvard Business Review Press.
Mauzy, J., Harriman, R. A., & Harriman, R. (2003). Creativity, Inc: building an inventive organization. Harvard Business Press.
Trout, J. (2001). Big Brands, Big Trouble. Wiley & Sons
Welch, J., & Welch, S. (2009). Winning: The Answers: Confirming 75 of the Toughest Questions. Harper Collins.
Sinek, S. (2009). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. Penguin.
Aulet, B. (2013). Disciplined entrepreneurship: 24 steps to a successful startup. John Wiley & Sons.
Diamandis, P. H., & Kotler, S. (2012). Abundance: The future is better than you think. Simon and Schuster.
Gause, D., & Weinberg, G. (1990). Are your lights on. Dorset House.
Friedman, T. L. (2016). Thank you for being late: An optimist’s guide to thriving in the age of accelerations. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Hess, E. D., & Ludwig, K. (2017). Humility Is the New Smart: Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age. Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Recommended Reading
You should be reading at least one of the following publications on a regular basis to increase your awareness of current events in the world of business. These include Business Week, Fortune, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Inc., Investor’s Business Daily, The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and The Washington Post. Also consider radio programs such as Planet Money and Market Place. And TV shows such as The Profit and Mad Money to name a few.
Reading Assignments
What you get out of this course depends on what YOU put into it. Do not underestimate the importance of preparation for each class. Please be sure to read the assigned chapters and cases before coming to class. This means you will have completed all assigned readings and are prepared to engage in serious discussion on the chapter material and cases. You will be responsible for material from the book, class lectures, and discussions on the exams. Additional handouts/articles/assignments may be given out during the term.
Strategic Analysis of Company
You are to choose between a number of large (Russell 2000 Index) publically traded companies that will be provided in a survey. This company will be used for your Chapter Questions, Midterms and Final Exam. Choose ten (10) companies on the survey by assigning 10 to your most preferred choice and 1 to your least preferred by the end of week 2.
Module Questions
On Scholar each week are a series of questions about the company you choose to analyze. Submit to Scholar each week answers to those questions as they relate to your company.
Chapter Cases & Quizzes
Most weeks we will discuss cases or companies related to the chapter topic of that week.
There will be a quiz on Scholar at the end of the week to confirm retention of discussions and knowledge learned.
Major Field Test (MFT)The MFT is a requirement of the Luter School of Business. To graduate, you must take the exam.
Please note: The assignments, quizzes and exams are designed to both test your comprehension of the subject matter and to push you to apply the information in more realistic and challenging settings. Therefore, grading is subject to your ability to show your mastery of the subject and application of the subject to specific questions on assignments, quizzes and exams. Your ability to demonstrate this knowledge of the subject matter listed in the learning objectives will determine your grade. Other important considerations are your participation in discussions, group work and extra credit. Quiz scores, assignment scores and extra credit aid in the determination of your grade. Note that you have a limited time to make a case for a grade change. After grades have been handed out or posted, you have one week to make the case that you should have received more points because your answer was correct.
Exams
Two exams and a final exam will be assigned this semester. The exams will be essay to more closely mimic the corporate environment and will relate to the reading and/or class material and are designed to test your ability to reflect and apply retained concepts from the course. Pull from your weekly chapter submissions on Scholar relevant information to convey you understand the concepts of this course.
For the first exam, concentrate on the first four chapters of the text book, relating your Fortune 500 Company to those topics. For the second midterm, apply updates to your first midterm where appropriate and add relevant items from chapters five through eight. Your final exam will be comprehensive and must convince the department you understand the material of this class and can apply it to analyzing the strategy of a company.
Your exams should follow a report you would submit within your company. Do not exceed 6 pages for the first exam and 8 pages for the second. Do not exceed 10 pages for the final exam. Consider using a memo format or a white paper format (not a report format) focusing on upper management (CEO, CFO, COO). Use proper citations in the form of endnotes: APA is acceptable. Total page count includes figures, tables, graphs and references.
Start with an Executive Summary. Most executives will read this and either throw the paper away or continue reading. Put some extended time and effort into your summary.
Peer Reviews
Throughout this course you will be required to complete peer evaluations. The early evaluations are formative in nature. This means they are feedback to determine if there are any situations regarding group work that need to be corrected. The reviews in the last weeks of class are required and summative in nature. This means they are used for grading. Failure to complete the final review will result in zero credit. There will be Peer reviews for three items –
You will team up into groups of 4 or 5. Each team will be required to develop and hand in a team charter describing the team, the team assignments, and the team methodology for making strategic decisions, dispute resolution techniques and method for entering decisions into Capsim®.
All teams will be given control of an identically situated company in the sensor industry. You and your team will have complete control of the product development and R&D, the marketing and sales, the production and operations, and the finance functions of the company. The goal of the simulation is for you to analyze the industry and make strategic decisions to maximize shareholder value. You will have time for training and up to 4 practice rounds in the simulated industry and then 7 rounds of real competition against the other teams. Each round will last a week and represents a nominal business year. An embedded industry journal, The Capstone Courier®, is updated after each round and you will see the results of your decisions.
I expect all members of the team to participate throughout the semester and in the preparation and delivery of the presentation. Each team member will evaluate their partners’ efforts on the team. I will periodically ask for team updates during the semester and will be available to meet with your team for consultations.
Each team may have a one hour CEO meeting with me as your CEO as required (A/R). We will also meet in class. These meetings will be to review your teams’ strategy, analysis, projected decisions and progress on the team’s annual report and presentation.
There will be two sets of practice rounds then the competition rounds. The practice rounds do not count toward grading. They are for you to practice the simulation and become familiar with how it functions. The competition round does count toward grading.
Your Annual Report should be completed after round 6 and updated as required for the presentation of the Capsim challenge. Samples of annual reports are loaded on Scholar. You should try not to exceed 12 pages with your report. Use your Annual Report as the basis for your presentation. Think of the Annual Report as the written form of the presentation.
Your Presentation will last 20 minutes and be in front of two other teams along with two faculty and two board members (in addition to myself). Prior to the Board of Advisors presentation, your team is to video record your presentation and provide a written self-critique report. This report should not exceed 4 pages.
Part of the requirement is your team attend two other presentations and score the other teams presentations. The rubric for the presentation is on Scholar. Consider Guy Kawasaki’s rule for presentations.
The end goal of the simulation is to learn how businesses operate and how decisions in one area can affect others (systems thinking). The main purpose in the learning environment is to understand the team’s successes and failures. This will be accomplished two ways. First, in the competition rounds, one of your objectives is to be profitable each round. If you are not profitable, your team is to submit a detailed Situation Analysis Report of why the team was not profitable. This report should include what went well, what went wrong, why it went wrong, why it will not happen in the future and what the team is doing to recover from not being profitable. This report must include detailed analysis of the decisions that lead to the situation, detailed analysis of the decisions that will take the team out of the situation and the financial numbers and/or flow charts to back up any claims. Your report should be 4 pages or less (following the format below) and have backing data (in the form of an Excel spread sheet). This report is due in class the Monday after the simulation results are in.
Class Preparation and Participation
Classparticipation is an important ingredient of the learning experience. Please be prepared for every class, and attend regularly. The classroom should be considered a laboratory in which you can test your ability to understand and conceptualize the problems and approaches, to present your analyses and recommendations clearly and persuasively, and to raise and address broader issues surrounding the specific problem context. You should let the instructor know before class if an emergency has made it impossible for you to prepare adequately. For cases, discussion and assignment questions will be provided before class or in the cases.
Random Assignments
Surprises and unexpected or unanticipated opportunities in the business world usually mean problems or opportunities. They happen. In a growing and expanding business they happen often and without warning. During the course of the term I will assign Random Assignments that you should be able to complete in a couple of hours.
Attendance policy
Attendance is an absolute necessity to achieve the goals of this course and to succeed in business and life. Attendance will be noted.
Things are likely to come up that may make it difficult for you to make it to class (e.g. illness, doctor’s appointments, court dates, out-of-town events). Since there is no distinction between excused or unexcused absences, you should plan for the unexpected. The Luter School policy is six absences, for whatever reason, will result in an “F” for the course. I expect notification prior to missing a class or immediately thereafter. Students attending official CNU functions must notify professors prior to missing class. I apply similar criteria your future boss will. Unexcused or unannounced absences will result in 10 points each deducted from your discussion and participation grade per absence. Absences will also weigh against any team activities. There may be in class activities that are used for grading or extra credit. Those activities cannot be made up.
Late arrival is disruptive to the instructor and to your fellow students, hence it is rude. Being late is the same as not attending.
Submitting assignments without your name on the assignment or in the file name is the same as submitting late. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure these requirements are fulfilled. I print these out in black and white so look at graphs and charts in black and white before submitting.
Use of Word, Excel and PowerPoint
As seniors in college, you should have a strong command on the use of Microsoft Word. Use headings, endnotes, split paragraphs, photo, table, graph insertion techniques to create a professional looking paper.
Excel is the spreadsheet of choice in corporate America. You should be able to navigate the commands, write formulas and create charts and graphs.
PowerPoint use in corporate America considered essential. Carefully choose backgrounds, fonts, colors and presentation mode to fit the business, clients and audience.
BUSN 418 is the Capstone course for a major in business management. As such, the purpose is to integrate the student’s disciplinary studies and experiences into an inter-disciplinary understanding of the business environment and how to manage an enterprise.
Course Description
Strategic Management entails making long-range plans for organizations. This course utilizes business case studies to examine corporate strategies. Students are taught the strategic management process and apply that process using a sophisticated multi-period simulation throughout the term. Decisions are made from the perspective of top management. The course is designed to integrate and apply skills acquired throughout the business core curriculum. Global strategic management and corporate ethics are also explored.
Semester Course Itinerary
WEEK
TOPICS
EVENTS & ITEMS DUE
1
What is Strategy?
Introduction; Capsim Introduction
2
Organization Design
Fortune 500 Company Survey (due COB Friday), Capsim Team Formation (due COB Friday)
3
Capsim
CPW1.2, Capsim Chapter Presentations, Capsim Tutorial (due Friday at COB), Capsim Practice Week 1 (CPW1.1), Ethics Quiz
4
Corporate Governance; Ethics
CPW1.3, CPW1.4
5
Strategic Leadership
CPW2.1, CPW2.2; Midterm (Thursday @midnight) (Resume’s Due COB Friday)
6
External Analysis
CPW2.4, CPW 2.4; CEO Meeting
7
Internal Analysis
Capsim Week 1 (CW1)
8
Competitive Advantage
CW2, Peer Review
9
Business Strategy - Differentiation
CW3, ; MFT
10
Business Strategy - Innovation
CW4; ; Midterm (Thursday @midnight)
11
Corporate Strategy – Integration and Diversification
CW5; Capsim Annual Report Outline (due Friday at COB)
12
Corporate Strategy – M&A
CW6: Capsim Annual Report (Friday at COB)
13
Global Strategy
CW7, CW8
14
Capsim Presentations
Capsim Presentations (signup TBD); Capsim Peer Evaluation, Participation Peer Evaluation (COB Friday)
Course Requirements
Assignment
Points
Percent
Capsim Preparation - Tutorial &Topic Presentation
50
5%
Module Questions (Scholar) % of average
50
5%
Quizzes (Scholar) % of average
50
5%
Mid Term Exam (2), Final
25,75,150
25%
MFT, Pre/Post Quiz
100
10%
Capsim Results Profitability per round or approved Situation Analysis Write-up
100
10%
Capsim Team Peer Evaluation
100
10%
Capsim Team Presentation Consists of Self-critique and Board of Advisors Presentations
25,75
10%
Capsim Annual Report
100
10%
Discussion, Attendance & Participation
100
10%
Total
1,000
100%
Extra Credit Potential
Capsim Team Rank (between industry; 15 for 1st, 10 for 2nd and 5 for 3rd based on total profit AND best balance score card for all classes 25 for 1st, 15 for 2nd and 10 for 3rd ); Resume, Pitch & Other Extra Credit (LSOBL, LLS).
Learning Objectives
- Learn to apply discreet skills acquired throughout the business curriculum in a systematic and integrated fashion in order to improve business thinking and decision making. You should leave this class with a better understanding of the enterprise, its dynamics and the application of business thought. You should also feel more comfortable identifying, discussing and adjusting business strategies and assessing their impact on firm outcomes.
- Be able to integrate and apply discipline-specific concepts to formulate business strategies.
- Learn to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments and points of view - develop critical thinking skills through active class discussions, assignments and the simulation.
- Acquire skills in working with others as a member of a team through group projects and team simulations.
- Be able to analyze any Fortune 500 company through the tools outlined in this course and provide a detailed report about that company’s strategy: both past (recent) and future.
This course will be interactive, requiring class participation. PowerPoint and simulation software will be used to facilitate lectures. During and after lecture, we will have general discussions of the material and related case studies, and/or exercises/activities that demonstrate the concepts and allow you to apply these concepts. It is imperative that you participate in the in class discussions.
The multi-period simulation will be conducted in teams. Therefore, you must learn to work in teams and to plan and coordinate your schedule to include team meetings. At the conclusion of the course you will be reviewing and grading your team mates and they will be grading you. This simulation is designed to replicate, as closely as possible, the business management environment and challenges you will face in the real world.
This course will require your commitment and focus in order to be successful. I encourage you to consider your schedule over the semester and develop a plan for completing the assignments that are constructed to help you achieve the goals of this course.
Required Simulation Account
This course uses an advanced simulation program called Capstone® from Capsim Management Simulations. Inc®. All students are required to register with for the Capstone® simulation. You do this on-line at www.capsim.com. You will be required to agree to the Capsim terms of use and will have to use either a credit card or electronic transfer for payment. Details for signing up will be given during class. The cost for the simulation is approximately $60.
Optional Reading
Rothaermel, Frank, Strategic Management 3e, McGraw-Hill.
Highly Suggested ReadingCollins, J. C. (2001). Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap... and others don't. Random House.
Tzu, S. (2009). The Art of War: The Essential Translation of the Classic Book of Life. Penguin Publishing
Christensen, C. (2013). The Innovator's Dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail. Harvard Business Review Press.
Osterwalder, A & Pigneur, Y (2010), Business Model Generation; a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. John Wiley & Sons.
Kotter, J. P. (2012) Leading Change. Harvard Business Review Press.
Mauzy, J., Harriman, R. A., & Harriman, R. (2003). Creativity, Inc: building an inventive organization. Harvard Business Press.
Trout, J. (2001). Big Brands, Big Trouble. Wiley & Sons
Welch, J., & Welch, S. (2009). Winning: The Answers: Confirming 75 of the Toughest Questions. Harper Collins.
Sinek, S. (2009). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. Penguin.
Aulet, B. (2013). Disciplined entrepreneurship: 24 steps to a successful startup. John Wiley & Sons.
Diamandis, P. H., & Kotler, S. (2012). Abundance: The future is better than you think. Simon and Schuster.
Gause, D., & Weinberg, G. (1990). Are your lights on. Dorset House.
Friedman, T. L. (2016). Thank you for being late: An optimist’s guide to thriving in the age of accelerations. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Hess, E. D., & Ludwig, K. (2017). Humility Is the New Smart: Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age. Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Recommended Reading
You should be reading at least one of the following publications on a regular basis to increase your awareness of current events in the world of business. These include Business Week, Fortune, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Inc., Investor’s Business Daily, The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and The Washington Post. Also consider radio programs such as Planet Money and Market Place. And TV shows such as The Profit and Mad Money to name a few.
Reading Assignments
What you get out of this course depends on what YOU put into it. Do not underestimate the importance of preparation for each class. Please be sure to read the assigned chapters and cases before coming to class. This means you will have completed all assigned readings and are prepared to engage in serious discussion on the chapter material and cases. You will be responsible for material from the book, class lectures, and discussions on the exams. Additional handouts/articles/assignments may be given out during the term.
Strategic Analysis of Company
You are to choose between a number of large (Russell 2000 Index) publically traded companies that will be provided in a survey. This company will be used for your Chapter Questions, Midterms and Final Exam. Choose ten (10) companies on the survey by assigning 10 to your most preferred choice and 1 to your least preferred by the end of week 2.
Module Questions
On Scholar each week are a series of questions about the company you choose to analyze. Submit to Scholar each week answers to those questions as they relate to your company.
Chapter Cases & Quizzes
Most weeks we will discuss cases or companies related to the chapter topic of that week.
There will be a quiz on Scholar at the end of the week to confirm retention of discussions and knowledge learned.
Major Field Test (MFT)The MFT is a requirement of the Luter School of Business. To graduate, you must take the exam.
Please note: The assignments, quizzes and exams are designed to both test your comprehension of the subject matter and to push you to apply the information in more realistic and challenging settings. Therefore, grading is subject to your ability to show your mastery of the subject and application of the subject to specific questions on assignments, quizzes and exams. Your ability to demonstrate this knowledge of the subject matter listed in the learning objectives will determine your grade. Other important considerations are your participation in discussions, group work and extra credit. Quiz scores, assignment scores and extra credit aid in the determination of your grade. Note that you have a limited time to make a case for a grade change. After grades have been handed out or posted, you have one week to make the case that you should have received more points because your answer was correct.
Exams
Two exams and a final exam will be assigned this semester. The exams will be essay to more closely mimic the corporate environment and will relate to the reading and/or class material and are designed to test your ability to reflect and apply retained concepts from the course. Pull from your weekly chapter submissions on Scholar relevant information to convey you understand the concepts of this course.
For the first exam, concentrate on the first four chapters of the text book, relating your Fortune 500 Company to those topics. For the second midterm, apply updates to your first midterm where appropriate and add relevant items from chapters five through eight. Your final exam will be comprehensive and must convince the department you understand the material of this class and can apply it to analyzing the strategy of a company.
Your exams should follow a report you would submit within your company. Do not exceed 6 pages for the first exam and 8 pages for the second. Do not exceed 10 pages for the final exam. Consider using a memo format or a white paper format (not a report format) focusing on upper management (CEO, CFO, COO). Use proper citations in the form of endnotes: APA is acceptable. Total page count includes figures, tables, graphs and references.
Start with an Executive Summary. Most executives will read this and either throw the paper away or continue reading. Put some extended time and effort into your summary.
Peer Reviews
Throughout this course you will be required to complete peer evaluations. The early evaluations are formative in nature. This means they are feedback to determine if there are any situations regarding group work that need to be corrected. The reviews in the last weeks of class are required and summative in nature. This means they are used for grading. Failure to complete the final review will result in zero credit. There will be Peer reviews for three items –
- Group simulation (through Capsim)
- Exam Preparation (through Scholar)
- Class Participation (through Scholar)
You will team up into groups of 4 or 5. Each team will be required to develop and hand in a team charter describing the team, the team assignments, and the team methodology for making strategic decisions, dispute resolution techniques and method for entering decisions into Capsim®.
All teams will be given control of an identically situated company in the sensor industry. You and your team will have complete control of the product development and R&D, the marketing and sales, the production and operations, and the finance functions of the company. The goal of the simulation is for you to analyze the industry and make strategic decisions to maximize shareholder value. You will have time for training and up to 4 practice rounds in the simulated industry and then 7 rounds of real competition against the other teams. Each round will last a week and represents a nominal business year. An embedded industry journal, The Capstone Courier®, is updated after each round and you will see the results of your decisions.
I expect all members of the team to participate throughout the semester and in the preparation and delivery of the presentation. Each team member will evaluate their partners’ efforts on the team. I will periodically ask for team updates during the semester and will be available to meet with your team for consultations.
Each team may have a one hour CEO meeting with me as your CEO as required (A/R). We will also meet in class. These meetings will be to review your teams’ strategy, analysis, projected decisions and progress on the team’s annual report and presentation.
There will be two sets of practice rounds then the competition rounds. The practice rounds do not count toward grading. They are for you to practice the simulation and become familiar with how it functions. The competition round does count toward grading.
Your Annual Report should be completed after round 6 and updated as required for the presentation of the Capsim challenge. Samples of annual reports are loaded on Scholar. You should try not to exceed 12 pages with your report. Use your Annual Report as the basis for your presentation. Think of the Annual Report as the written form of the presentation.
Your Presentation will last 20 minutes and be in front of two other teams along with two faculty and two board members (in addition to myself). Prior to the Board of Advisors presentation, your team is to video record your presentation and provide a written self-critique report. This report should not exceed 4 pages.
Part of the requirement is your team attend two other presentations and score the other teams presentations. The rubric for the presentation is on Scholar. Consider Guy Kawasaki’s rule for presentations.
The end goal of the simulation is to learn how businesses operate and how decisions in one area can affect others (systems thinking). The main purpose in the learning environment is to understand the team’s successes and failures. This will be accomplished two ways. First, in the competition rounds, one of your objectives is to be profitable each round. If you are not profitable, your team is to submit a detailed Situation Analysis Report of why the team was not profitable. This report should include what went well, what went wrong, why it went wrong, why it will not happen in the future and what the team is doing to recover from not being profitable. This report must include detailed analysis of the decisions that lead to the situation, detailed analysis of the decisions that will take the team out of the situation and the financial numbers and/or flow charts to back up any claims. Your report should be 4 pages or less (following the format below) and have backing data (in the form of an Excel spread sheet). This report is due in class the Monday after the simulation results are in.
Class Preparation and Participation
Classparticipation is an important ingredient of the learning experience. Please be prepared for every class, and attend regularly. The classroom should be considered a laboratory in which you can test your ability to understand and conceptualize the problems and approaches, to present your analyses and recommendations clearly and persuasively, and to raise and address broader issues surrounding the specific problem context. You should let the instructor know before class if an emergency has made it impossible for you to prepare adequately. For cases, discussion and assignment questions will be provided before class or in the cases.
Random Assignments
Surprises and unexpected or unanticipated opportunities in the business world usually mean problems or opportunities. They happen. In a growing and expanding business they happen often and without warning. During the course of the term I will assign Random Assignments that you should be able to complete in a couple of hours.
Attendance policy
Attendance is an absolute necessity to achieve the goals of this course and to succeed in business and life. Attendance will be noted.
Things are likely to come up that may make it difficult for you to make it to class (e.g. illness, doctor’s appointments, court dates, out-of-town events). Since there is no distinction between excused or unexcused absences, you should plan for the unexpected. The Luter School policy is six absences, for whatever reason, will result in an “F” for the course. I expect notification prior to missing a class or immediately thereafter. Students attending official CNU functions must notify professors prior to missing class. I apply similar criteria your future boss will. Unexcused or unannounced absences will result in 10 points each deducted from your discussion and participation grade per absence. Absences will also weigh against any team activities. There may be in class activities that are used for grading or extra credit. Those activities cannot be made up.
Late arrival is disruptive to the instructor and to your fellow students, hence it is rude. Being late is the same as not attending.
Submitting assignments without your name on the assignment or in the file name is the same as submitting late. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure these requirements are fulfilled. I print these out in black and white so look at graphs and charts in black and white before submitting.
Use of Word, Excel and PowerPoint
As seniors in college, you should have a strong command on the use of Microsoft Word. Use headings, endnotes, split paragraphs, photo, table, graph insertion techniques to create a professional looking paper.
Excel is the spreadsheet of choice in corporate America. You should be able to navigate the commands, write formulas and create charts and graphs.
PowerPoint use in corporate America considered essential. Carefully choose backgrounds, fonts, colors and presentation mode to fit the business, clients and audience.
