Session Syllabus
EMBA 511 – Business Perspectives
Session Session Session
Date
#
Time
Wed.
7
EVE
Sept. 12,
2012
Primary Instructor Name
Roy Glen
Session Title
Instructor(s)
Business Biography Presentations
Roy Glen
Phone
208.342.5393
Email
rhglen@gmail.com
Learning Objective: Be able to use the design process described in “Presentation Zen” to
develop and deliver a compelling presentation.
Advanced Preparation:
Readings:
- Book: Reynolds, Garr Presentation Zen, New Riders Press, Berkeley, CA, 2008
- Case: Porter, Michael (2000) “What is Strategy?” Harvard Business Review, 61-78
- Case: Kaplan, Robert E. and Kaiser, Robert B "Developing Versatile Leadership", MIT
Sloan Management Review, Summer 2003
- Your Bio Book: (At the EMBA BBQ you will be assigned a biographical book to read)
At Sun Valley, you will be part of a team that has also read the assigned book, and will
be developing a presentation using the design principles described in the Presentation Zen
book.
In preparation for this activity, please read the “What is Strategy?” and “Developing
Versatile Leadership” articles before reading the book. Then as you read the assigned
business biography, please consider the following questions:
1. Does the firm described in the book enjoy a sustainable competitive advantage as
defined by Michael Porter? You may find that your answer will depend upon at what
stage in the firm’s life you ask the question. If so, please focus on any point where the
firm did enjoy a strong competitive advantage. Draw a bubble diagram (as described by
Porter) to illustrate the basis for this advantage.
2. Choose one of the major protagonists in the book, and use Kaplan and Kaiser’s
framework to describe his or her leadership style. Then please prepare some notes
describing your thoughts on how well suited the individual’s leadership style was to the
challenges the leader faced in developing the firm.
3. Please don’t try to develop a presentation in advance of the course. At Sun Valley,
your team will be given time and further instruction on how to develop a presentation
based on some aspect of your assigned business biography. The exercise will go much
more smoothly if you have not locked into your own ideas prior to the class.
Day of Session:
In addition to the advanced preparation described above, your team will be given more
specific guidance how to develop your team presentation during the class sessions. In
addition, you will be given class time during the sessions to work on developing the
presentation.
Assign.
#
7.0
Assignment(s):
Description
Date
Due
Team Business
Biography
Presentation
9/12
Time
Due
EVE
Submittal Individual Grading
Method
/ Group Instructor
In-Person
Group
Glen
Points
Assign.
Weight
100
40%
Assignment Details:
As mentioned above, you will be part of a team that will develop a presentation (drawn
from material in your assigned business biography) using the guidelines outlined in the
Presentation Zen book. In preparation for this activity, you should read both your
assigned biography book and the Presentation Zen book prior to arriving at Sun Valley.
Post Session:
Assignment:
Assign.
#
7.1
Description
Course wrap-up
Slide
Presentation and
handout
Date
Due
Time
Due
9/24/2012
5:00 PM
Submittal Individual Grading
Method
/ Group Instructor
email
Individual
Glen
Points
Assign.
Weight
100
60%
Individual Assignment Details:
Your task is to design a presentation, based on one of the following core concepts we have
covered during the course: developing a competitive advantage, design thinking or disruptive
innovation. Although we have discussed each of these concepts in the class, you should also
refer to the assigned readings where each idea is described in more detail.
In developing your presentation, you should have a specific audience in mind, and a central idea
you want to get across to them in the presentation. For instance, “an audience made up of small
business owners” is pretty general, while “the audience will be the Board of Directors for
Treasure Valley Y.M.C.A. clubs” is quite specific. So, it makes a lot of sense to choose an
audience you know well from personal experience.
In developing your presentation, you should try to follow as closely as possible, the guidelines
and philosophy described in Garr Reynold’s book “Presentation Zen”. While much of the book
describes the benefits of a visual design approach, there is far more to it than that. Reynolds
emphasizes that every presentation should be focused around a clear, central idea, and that as
much thought should be given to crafting a compelling story as is given to thinking through the
substance of the talk.
Specific Instructions:
Please submit the following documents to rhglen@gmail.com : a short slide presentation in
either PowerPoint or Keynote format, no longer than ten slides in length.
A Microsoft word document, no longer than two pages, describing:
1) Who is your intended audience and your perception of their critical wants and needs.
2) The central idea your presentation is built around and how it pertains to both the course
concept you have chosen and the wants and needs of your audience as described above.
3) The “story” your presentation is designed to tell.
4) The “design logic” you have used to construct your presentation. (see especially chapters 5, 6
and 7) in Presentation Zen.
Please send these two documents as attachments to one single email.
This assignment is due on 9/24/2012.
The assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Grading Criteria
1. How clearly has the author described the detailed needs
and wants of the intended audience?
2. How successfully has the author tailored the content of
the presentation to the needs/wants identified above?
3. Does the paper and presentation successfully
incorporate and illustrate one of the “core content themes”
covered in the class. *
4. To what extent has the author structured the
presentation around a clearly articulated “story”?
5. How effectively has the author embraced the
“Presentation Zen” approach in the visual design of the
presentation, and how clearly has the visual design
rational been explained in the supporting documentation?
Total:
* Competitive Advantage, Design Thinking or Disruptive Innovation.
20
20
20
20
20
100