GBUS 600
Analysis of Contemporary Organizations
SUBJECT TO CHANGE! Revised 8/19/09
Time and Place:
Tuesdays 7:00 to 9:45 p.m. BB 4117 and ALL DAY Saturday, September 26 and October
10.
Instructors: This class is team taught by
Richard W. Moore,
Professor of Managmeent
James Dow
Professor of Finance
Office
JH 4205
E-mail
richard.moore@csun.edu
Phone
818-677-2416
JH4107
james.dow@csun.edu
818-677-4539
Course web site:
http://www.csun.edu/~vcoao081
Course Description
GBUS 600 is an interdisciplinary course that introduces new graduate students to the field of
business. The course focuses on the nature of organizations and the interrelatedness of the
functional areas of business. The intellectual and historic roots of management theories are
explored through readings of primary source materials. Students will develop
communication and research skills through individual and group projects that focus on
organizations and their environment.
Learning Objectives:
By participating in this course students will:
1. Understand the intellectual standards of the MBA program.
2. Develop a basic understanding of business strategy at the industry and company level.
3. Understand how the different functional areas of business work together to achieve
success.
4. Write effectively in a business context.
5. Make effective presentations in a business context.
6. Develop research skills needed to succeed in the MBA program.
7. Develop the skills to work successfully in teams.
1
The Approach
The course uses a variety of methods to achieve its learning objectives. Lecture will be held
to a minimum. The focus will be a experiential learning through: business simulations, team
projects and presentations, and individual work.
Expectations
A purpose of this class is to orient students to the expectations of graduate education. With
that in mind you should pay careful attention to the expectations described here.







Classes will begin promptly. Students should arrive prepared to discuss the
assigned readings.
All papers are due at the beginning of class on the due date. Emailed papers will
be accepted, if they arrive before the start of class.
Students and faculty will treat each other in a collegial manner at all times.
Working cooperatively in teams is an important part of the MBA curriculum and
a skill on which students will be evaluated.
Students must attend both Saturday sessions to pass the class.
Plus/minus grading will be used.
Academic Honesty: Any cheating or plagiarism will result in severe penalties in
accordance with University policy (see the University Catalog for a complete
discussion of these issues). You will be expected to uphold the core values
stipulated in the COBAE Student Core Values Statement and Ethical Conduct
Pledge.
Readings:
Anand, V., Ashforth, B.E. & Joshi, Machendra (2005). Business as usual: the acceptance
and perpetuation of corruption in organizations. The Academy of Management
Executive, Vol 19, n.4, p9-23. (Available electronically through CSUN Library)
Collis, D.J. & Rukstad, M. (2008) Can you say what your strategy is? Harvard Business
Review, January (Available electronically through CSUN Library)
Hirsh, S.K. & Kummerow, J.M. (1998). Introduction to type in organizations. Palo Alto, CA:
Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc.
Natemeyer, W. E. & McMahon, J.T. (2001). Classics of organizational behavior, Third
Edition. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.
Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business
Review, April (Available electronically through CSUN Library)
Smith. A. (2001) The Wealth of Nations. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3300 Note this
reading will be provided to you, but if you would like to read more of the Wealth of
Nations it is available free at this website.
Thompson, Arthur A., Stappenbeck, Gregory S., & Reidenback, Mark A., The Business
Strategy Game, Competing in a Global Market Place, http://www.bsg-online.com/
2008 edition. (You need to wait until teams are assigned to subscribe.)
2
Recommended For Help With Writing and Referencing
Lanham, R. A. (1992). Revising business prose (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishing
Company. ISBN 0023674652.
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). (2001).
Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. ISBN 1557982414.
Available online
The Writing Lab at Purdue University. The OWL at Purdue: Free Writing Help and
Teaching Resources (online). Available: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
American Psychological Association. 2003. Electronic reference formats recommended by
the American Psychological Association (online). Available:
http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html .
The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. (2006) Writer’s Handbook
(online). Available: http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/ (Aug. 28, 2006).
Profcomm at the University of Arizona provide a good resource for formatting you industry
and company reports, except your report should be double spaced.
http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~profcomm/writing/samples/report_samp.htm
Assignments
All assignments must be completed on time to pass the course. More information about
many assignments is available on the website.

List server sign-up- Required Not Graded- Individual
Subscribe to the graduate list server. To do this, send an email to majordomo@csun.edu.Your
message will read: subscribe csunmba-l (note: the last figure is a lower case “L,” not the
number 1. I know it’s ridiculously confusing. It wasn’t my idea.) The Graduate Office limits
the messages they send to those they consider important. Please do not send messages to this
list. If you need a message to go to all MBA students, please contact the Graduate Office for
assistance.

MBTI - Self Assessment- Required Not Graded- Individual
Complete the MBTI instrument and bring it to class with the booklet.
 Power Point Assignment – Required - Individual
Complete the tutorial on-line: Effective Use of Power Point On-line tutorial
http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/dml/engine.php?action=viewAsset&mediaIndex=432
Send an email to Richard Moore (richard.moore@csun,edu) describing three things you
learned about effective Power Point presentations you didn’t know before.
3

Strategy Simulation- Graded- Team
Grade distribution:
Performance
3-year plan
Reflection piece
(15%)
50%
25%
25%
As part of your grade you will submit a 3 page reflection piece on your team’s activities.
The reflection will have two pieces. Part one will include a description of how your strategy
evolved, and how it influenced you team’s performance. The second part will reflect on your
dynamics as a team, for example how you made decisions and if you team move through the
stages of team development discussed in class. It should also include you reflection on how
your team dynamics helped or hindered your team’s performance in the game. NOTE: This is
an essay, not a series of bullet points.
Financial Analysis: Individual Graded
(10%)
You will submit a 1-2 page financial analysis.

Management Paper - Graded Individual
(10%)
Each individual will take one of the required readings from the management classics and
analyze it by answering the following questions: (1) How does this reading contribute to the
larger stream of management thinking, (2) How are this author’s ideas the same as or
different from previous or contemporary management thinkers (need references to at least
two other articles from the book), (3) What is the value or lack of value of this article for
managers today. Maximum length 3 double spaced pages.

Industry Report Outline – Required Ungraded
To make sure you are headed for success each team needs to turn in a report outline. The
outline should include:
o A complete final industry definition.
o Exemplar companies from the industry
o Five forces analysis in outline form
o PEST Analysis in outline form
o Key competitive strategies used by companies
o List of references used to-date

Industry Analysis Paper- Graded Team
(20%)
You have been hired by a large investor to evaluate an industry’s current condition. You need
to analyze the current and future state of the industry with the tools you have gained in class.
In teams, students will use Porter’s model of industry analysis and a PEST survey to analyze
an industry of their choice using the best publically available data from primary and
secondary sources. Maximum length is 15 double-spaced pages, not counting tables and
4
figures, table of contents, executive summary, etc. In the conclusion you need to make an
assessment of the industry’s current condition and its long-run prospects for profitability.
Our business librarian’s home page will link you to a rich set of resources from which to
begin you analysis: http://library.csun.edu/kbanderson/ .

Industry Analysis Presentation – Graded Team
(10%)
Each team will present the results of its industry analysis to the class in a professional panel
presentation, with supporting visual aids. Presentations will be 30-40 minutes including a
question session. Dress should be appropriate for the presentation.

Company Paper- Graded Individual
(20%)
You have been hired to evaluate the investment potential of a particular company in the
industry your team studied. The analysis will use with the best publically available data from
primary and secondary sources and must include at least one interview with a manager in the
company. It may be a phone interview but face to face is preferred. In the analysis you
should evaluate the company’s position within the industry, and evaluate its current position
through a SWOT, PEST and Porter analysis. You must choose a company for which you can
access a basic balance sheet. Any company included in the Mergent database would be
adequate. Assess the company’s current position within the industry and its potential future
profitability. Maximum length is 5 pages, not counting tables, charts, and appendices.

Class Contribution/ Peer Assessment- Graded Individual
(15%)
You make this class a success through your participation. It is through engaging with the
course material, the instructors and other students that you learn and contribute to the
learning of others. Midway through the semester you will receive your contribution grade to
date. In addition your team members will evaluate your contribution to the group after the
BSG game and after the industry analysis project those ratings will be factored onto your
participation grade.
The instructors will assign a class participation grade based on the following criteria:
A to A-
Exceeds expectations, student is always well prepared, raises relevant issues
and points, is respectful of other students, encourages others to participate,
plays a leadership role in his or her team and in the class as a whole.
B to B+
Meets expectations, student is always prepared, makes relevant responses to
questions raised, is respectful of other students and is an effective team
member.
B- or Less
Does not meet expectations, is not always prepared, sometimes can not make
a relevant response to questions, is not respectful of other students,
discourages others participation, is not an effective team member.
5
Each team will set team member expectations for its members. Members will evaluate each
other performance based on those expectations. Faculty will weigh these peer evaluations in
assigning a grade for you contributions to the class.

Information regarding this course will be posted on the course website:
http://www.csun.edu/~vcoao081
and
http://webteach.csun.edu
Access to the later (which will post your grades) is through the use of your CSUN email
address and associated password. The webCT site gives your grades ONLY, along with
statistics regarding the class.

Directions for Submitting Assignments
ALL written assignments will be submitted in both hard and electronic format.
Electronic versions of all papers will be submitted to www.turnitin.com . This is an
electronic site, established for this course, to assess your unique contributions.
This site is: http://www.turnitin.com
The course id is: GBUS 600
Password: moore
This is ONE submission per team or one for each individual submission. Additional
infromation will be given in class.
6
GBUS 600 Tentative Course Outline
Date
8/25
Topic/ Readings
Course introduction
Individual Introductions
Bafa Bafa Exercise
Course Overview
Assignments
9/1
MBTI Workshop
Read: Hirsh, S.K. & Kummerow, J.M(after
completing instrument)
Complete and Score MBTI based
on your behavior at work. Bring
to class.
Students assigned to strategy simulation
teams.
Sign up for Graduate list-serve.
Students turn in bio cards
9/8
Working in Teams
from Natemeyer & McMahon, read: Maier p.
153-161 and Tuckman & Jensen p. 241-248.
Case Discussion on Team Development
Simulation Teams assigned
9/15
Strategy Introduction: Guest Lecture Prof.
Gerry Rossy. Read: Collis and Rukstad
Introduction to Simulation
Teams sign-up for game
Practice round assigned.
Teams bring lap tops
9/22
Financial Issues in Strategic Management
Debrief Practice Round
Each Team Bring a Laptop
9/26
Saturday
9:00 to
5:00
Saturday
Morning: BSG Simulation rounds (rounds 2
and 3).
Afternoon: Effective Business Writing
Para Medic Method Workshop
APA Referencing
Complete round 1 of BSG by 8:00
am Sat. 9/26
9/29
Use of Financial Statements
SWOT and PEST Analysis
Debrief Round
Introduction to Industry Analysis (Porter)
Read: Porter
Complete round 4 by 7:00 Tue
9/29
10/6
How To Do Financial Analysis with Mergent
How to research in the Library
Complete Rounds 5 by 7:00 Tue.
Complete 3 year plan, starting
with round five
Industry Teams Created:
Industry Request Submitted By
Sunday 7:00
7
Date
10/10
Saturday
9:00 to
5:00
Topic/ Readings
Morning: (rounds 7,8,9)
Afternoon: Debrief on Team Behavior and
Effectiveness
Debrief on Strategy Choices
10/13
10/20
No Class
History of Management Thought
Review Industry Report Outline
Read: Smith provided, Roethlisberger 29-40,
McGregor 41- 49, McClelland 73-80,
Herzberg 81-95, Kerr 113-128, French &
Raven 253-267, Weber 351-357, Peters &
Waterman 464-467, Senge 468-472.
10/27
Assignments
Complete Round 6 by 8:00 am
Saturday
Teams bring laptops.
Complete BSG.
Finance Assignment Due
Industry Assigned via email.
Simulation Reflection Papers Due
Simulation Peer Evaluations Due
Management Paper Due
SWOT and PEST Analysis
11/03
11/10
11/17
11/24
12/1
12/8
12/15
Ethics
Film Case: The Smartest Guys in the Room
No Class Teams Meet
Professors available by appointment
Effective Presentations
Visual Display of Data
No Class Teams Meet
Professors available by appointment
Team Presentations
Team Presentations
Course Debrief and
Wrap-up and Party
Read: Anand, Ashforth & Joshi
Complete PowerPoint Tutorial
Industry Report Outline Due
Industry Papers Due
Company papers due
Peer evaluations due
8