BUS BA 3630.03: CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS Cluster Program,
TUESDAYS, AUTUMN SEMESTER 2015
A.COURSE SYLLABUS
Coordinator: Vasu Unnava, Ph. D.
Office Hours: By Appointment
& Special Hours
Email:
unnava.2@ osu.edu
Office:
Telephone:
URL:
Cell Phone:
544 Fisher Hall
(614) 292 3212
Carmen.osu.edu
(614) 425 4572
Course Material:
Course Readings will be made available in the class room by our business partners or will be posted on
CARMEN website. Check CARMEN for weekly readings.
Supplementary Online Resources:
1. Free online course from COURSEA website on “Foundations of Business Strategy” by Prof. Michael J.
Lenox: https://class.coursera.org/strategy101-001/lecture
2. CPG IndustryTrends: http://www.cpgtrends.com/
3. Information on jobs in CPG industry: http://www.cpgjobs.com/
4. http://www.cpgmatters.com is a website focusing on CPG brand building through retail channel.
Course & Objectives:
Consumer Packaged Goods Industry Cluster, like other cluster programs offered at Fisher, is a two-semester
sequence. The first semester will be spent on familiarizing you with the various issues faced by companies
operating in this industry. In the second semester, you will work on group projects that address some current
problems faced by the sponsoring companies. When you complete the two-semester sequence, it is expected
that you will have significantly greater understanding of the consumer packaged goods industry, and that you
will be an attractive candidate for potential job openings in companies operating in this industry. Because the
focus is on the industry as a whole, the course will be interdisciplinary. You will learn about current issues in
the consumer packaged goods industry that span almost all areas of management (e.g., marketing, supply
chain, finance, human resources etc.).
Class Format: Tuesdays, 7:05 pm to 9:05 pm
All class sessions will feature presentations from executives of CPG businesses like Kroger, P&G, and The JM
Smucker Company. These presentations are designed to illustrate important issues in CPG industry. You will
be provided readings suggested by CPG partners throughout the two-semester sequence, and you are expected
to read them before you arrive in class. The classes are designed to be interactive and you are expected to
participate in all discussions, including various exercises that are built into the curriculum. A significant part of
learning in this class will occur through interactions with company executives, asking them questions that go
beyond the assigned readings, and through problem-solving in-class exercises. You will be asked to present
your solutions to various problem scenarios that executives will bring to the classroom on a regular basis.
Because of the importance of your in classroom participation, a large part of the class grade will be determined
by my assessment of the quality and quantity of your participation in class.
Course Evaluation:
Your grades will be evaluated as follows:
i. Class Participation
ii. Final Exam
TOTAL
VASU UNNAVA
BUS BA 3630.03
CPG Cluster Program
60%
40%
100%
Autumn Semester 2015
Page 1 of 4
IMPORTANT NOTE: Re-grading requests will be accepted in writing on a paper (emails are NOT accepted)
within 1 week of receipt of the grade.
Grading Scale:
The grading scale, and point conversion that will be utilized for the final grade is as follows:
Grade
GPA
Grade
GPA
A
= 93-100 %
4.0
C+
= 77-79.99 % 2.3
A= 90-92.99 %
3.7
C
= 73-76.99 % 2.0
B+
= 87-89.99 %
3.3
C= 70-72.99 % 1.7
B
= 83-86.99 %
3.0
D+
= 67-69.99 % 1.3
B= 80-82.99 %
2.7
D
= 63-66.99 % 1.0
E
= below 62.99%
i) Course Evaluation-Class Participation: 60% of overall grade
Class participation is not only expected, but required and will account for 60% of your overall grade.
Our cluster classes are designed to be highly interactive and the presenters are expecting students to
be engaged so ample time will be allocated to Q & A at the end of each class. Based on preferences of
speakers, questions may be asked as the subject matter is being presented.
There are at least a couple of reasons why class participation is weighted 60% in this class. First,
those who prepare the most outside of class and participate most actively in class will be likely to
learn the most from the class speakers and activities. Second, they will also contribute greatly to the
learning of other students in the class by encouraging thorough discussion of important presentationrelated CPG concepts and issues.
To do well in class participation, students must regularly contribute to class discussion by making
insightful comments that reflect a careful analysis of assigned material. It is expected that all
students will carefully read assigned material prior to coming to class. This will facilitate active
participation and enrich the quality of class discussions.
The following grading guidelines are provided to assist you in understanding how class participation
will be graded. Please also note that class participation should not be confused with class attendance.
Merely attending class will not lead to a strong class participation grade. To accomplish the latter it
will be necessary to be consistently actively engaged in the class discussions and a leader in many of
these discussions. Therefore, we might consider the following examples of possible class
participation grades.
Scale
Description
A
A consistent leader in class discussions who regularly makes
strong contributions by making insightful comments that reflect a
thorough analysis of articles and other enrichment
material under consideration in this class – comments that advance
our understanding of the topics under consideration.
B
Contributes fairly regularly to class discussion making insightful
comments that reflect a careful reading of articles and
speaker presentations under consideration in the class.
VASU UNNAVA
BUS BA 3630.03
CPG Cluster Program
Autumn Semester 2015
Page 2 of 4
C
Contributes to class discussion with reasonable comments that
follow from the prior discussion, but does not contribute as
frequently or consistently as others.
D
Infrequent comments or a tendency to make comments that do not
appear to be based on a readings or presentations. Comments when
called on but the comments frequently do not reflect a careful
reading of class material.
E
Very few positive contributions to the class discussion.
iii) Course Evaluation-Final Exam (40%):
The final exam will cover material from both in-class lectures and presentations, and reading
assignments, classroom activities and assigned articles. It accounts for 40% of your grade. The format
of the final exam will be multiple choice questions, multi-select and short response questions.
Attendance Policy:
Students are expected to attend all of their cluster activities and classes. Absences will be excused
only in the serious of medical emergency or family related issues. Unexcused absences may result in
reduction of points from the final course grade.
Cell Phone Usage: Cell phone usage will NOT be permitted during the class which includes texting,
social networking and email. You would switch off your cell phones during class.
Computer/Tablet Use: Use of computers or tablets in the classroom is allowed only for class-related
activities such as taking notes on presentations.
Dress Code and etiquette on the days of CPG Partner presentations:
Business Casual is the dress code for this semester. Arrive 5 minutes before class starts and do not
bring food items into class room.
Work Load Expectation:
The University and College expectation is that students spend two hours outside of class for every
hour spent in class.
Academic Integrity or Misconduct:
All students are expected to abide by the university’s Code of Student Conduct which may be found
on the website of the Office of Academic Affairs, Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM):
http://oaa.osu.edu/coam/home.html. Your attention is particularly called to guidance on plagiarism:
http://oaa.osu.edu/coam/hownottoplagiarize.pdf. The instructor is obligated by University policy to
report to COAM all suspected cases of academic misconduct. If you are unclear regarding any aspect
of University policy on the above matters, discuss your questions with the instructor.
Disability:
Every effort will be made to provide each student with a meaningful learning opportunity. If there are
any obstacles that could prevent you from learning effectively, please set an appointment with the
instructor so that we might jointly figure out how to circumvent those obstacles. Any student who
feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the
instructor privately to discuss specific needs. The Office for Disability Services, 614-292-3307, in
room 150 Pomerene Hall can assist with coordinating reasonable accommodations should there be a
need.
VASU UNNAVA
BUS BA 3630.03
CPG Cluster Program
Autumn Semester 2015
Page 3 of 4
BUS BA 3630.03: CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS Cluster Program,
TUESDAYS, AUTUMN SEMESTER 2015
B.COURSE SCHEDULE*
No.
Date
Topic
1
Aug. 25
Visit to Kroger Distribution Center
2
Sept. 1
2
Sept. 8
Introduction to CPG Cluster
Program
P&G – Overview
3
Sept.15
Smucker’s – Overview/Recruiting
4
Sept. 22
Kroger – Overview/Recruiting
5
Sept.29
P&G – Innovation Process
6
Oct. 6
P&G – Business Strategy
7
Oct. 13
P&G – Business Strategy
8
Oct. 20
Smucker’s – Business Strategy
9
Oct. 27
Smucker’s – Business Strategy
10
Nov. 3
Smucker’s – Innovation Strategy
11
Nov.10
Kroger- Business Strategy
11
Nov. 17
Kroger – Business Strategy
12
Nov. 24
Kroger – Innovation Strategy
13
Dec 1
14
Dec. 8
15
Dec. 14
Introduction to Spring Semester
Projects, research methodology,
project management tools, etc.
Questions & Answers session in
preparation for EXAM
Final Exam at 8:00 pm to 8:45 pm
*Note: Course schedule is subject to change, check course website on CARMEN for updates.
VASU UNNAVA
BUS BA 3630.03
CPG Cluster Program
Autumn Semester 2015
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