COURSE SYLLABUS
BBA 439 BUSINESS RESEARCH FOR DECISION MAKING
BBA 439 Business Research for Decision
Making
Business and Administration Department,
NAU-East Valley Extended Campuses
Spring 2015
Instructor: Tatiana Walsh
Office: Virtual – email
tatiana.walsh@nau.edu or call 480-773-4755
(8am-5pm, no weekends please)
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites: BBA 300 and 305W
Course Description
In this course, you will learn concepts and applications of business research in decision making.
Topics include decision-making process, problem definition, research methods and designs, data
collection, sampling, and data analysis.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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



Describe different approaches to research in business
Compare the application of primary and secondary research.
Explain reliability and validity in business research.
Identify appropriate statistical methods to analyze productivity and other business
functions
Use statistical data to make effective decisions in business
Course Materials
Ghauri, P. & Gronhaug, K. (2010). Research Methods in Business Studies: A practical guide (4th
ed.). Harlow, England: Prentice Hall.
ISBN-10: 027371204-6
Other materials as assigned. Be prepared to use the library to access resources such as the Sage
Research Methods database.
Course Structure/Approach


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This course is offered in person along with an online component in Bb Learn. Instruction
may be presented with PowerPoint, lectures, class discussions, cases, simulations, class
exercises, and other classroom tools.
Each week you will be participating in discussion questions, and working on iterative
writing assignments that will result in a final research proposal on a research problem of
your choice.
PowerPoint slides will be provided for some of the chapters and may provide some audio
messages if the technology allows (which will placed in the Announcements Area).
COURSE OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE
Important Note: This class is NOT in session on 3/18 (Spring Break)
Business Research for Decision Making (BBA-439)
Wednesdays: 1/14/2015-5/6/2015
All Assignments Due by Tuesday, 11:59 p.m.
No late work is permitted in this class.
DQ=Discussion Question WA=Writing Assignment
Content Outline
Course Assignments
Challenges and Ambiguities of
Week Due Read
Deliverables
Business Research
#
Chapter 1: Introduction
1
1/20
Ch1
DQ1
Chapter 2: Research in business studies
2
1/27
Ch2
DQ2
WA1
3
2/3
Ch2-3
DQ3
The Research Process
Chapter 3: The research process
4
2/10
Ch3
DQ4
WA2
Chapter 4: Research problems
5
2/17
Ch4
DQ5
Chapter 5: Research design
6
2/24
Ch5
DQ6
WA3
Chapter 6: Measurements
7
3/3
Ch6
DQ7
Chapter 7: Data Sources
8
3/10
Ch7
DQ8
WA4
Chapter 8: Data Collection
9
3/17
Ch8
DQ9
Chapter 9: Sampling of empirical
10
3/31
Ch9
DQ10 WA5
research
Chapter 10: Prep and analysis of data
11
4/7
Ch10 DQ11
12
4/14 Ch11 DQ12 WA6
The Research Process
Chapter 11: Quantitative data analysis
13
4/21 Ch12 DQ13
Chapter 12: Qualitative data analysis
14
4/28 Ch13 DQ14 WA7
Chapter 13: Cross-cultural research
15
5/5
Ch14 DQ15
Chapter 14: Writing the final report
16
5/5
Ch14
Final Research Proposal
EVALUATION TOOLS
Evaluations of student performance will be conducted by the means of assessment. The means
of assessment may consist of class discussions, answers to discussion questions, quizzes, cases,
simulations, written projects and reports, and exams.
Grading System:
90 - 100 points
80 – 89.9 points
70 – 79.9 points
60 – 69.9 points
<59.9 points
Assignment
Writing Assignment
Discussion Questions
Final Paper
A
B
C
D
F
Points Each Total Points
100
700
150
150
150
150
1000
COURSE POLICIES
 Assignments submitted as a requirement for some other class may not be submitted for an
assignment in this BBA class. All assignments must be original work of the student or
properly referenced and must be specific work for this class.
 All work is to be submitted in the appropriate professional style and format. Standard oral
and written English is always used in the NAU classroom.
 All assignments must be turned in on the due dates specified in the syllabus. Late work is
not permitted in this class.
 Attendance and participation in the classroom are required according to the course format
and as stated by the instructor.
 Students are expected to notify the instructor if they will be absent from the class for more
than one week.
Northern Arizona University
POLICY STATEMENTS
SAFE ENVIRONMENT POLICY
NAU’s Safe Working and Learning Environment Policy seeks to prohibit discrimination and promote the safety
of all individuals within the university. The goal of this policy is to prevent the occurrence of discrimination on
the basis of sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status and to
prevent sexual harassment, sexual assault or retaliation by anyone at this university.
You may obtain a copy of this policy from the college dean’s office. If you have concerns about this policy, it
is important that you contact the departmental chair, dean’s office, the Office of Student Life (928-523-5181),
the academic ombudsperson (928-523-9368), or NAU’s Office of Affirmative Action (928-523-3312).
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
If you have a documented disability, you can arrange for accommodations by contacting the office of Disability
Support Services (DSS) at 928-523-8773 (voice), 928-523-6906 (TTY). In order for your individual needs to be
met, you are required to provide DSS with disability related documentation and are encouraged to provide it at
least eight weeks prior to the time you wish to receive accommodations. You must register with DSS each
semester you are enrolled at NAU and wish to use accommodations.
Faculty is not authorized to provide a student with disability related accommodations without prior approval
from DSS. Students who have registered with DSS are encouraged to notify their instructors a minimum of two
weeks in advance to ensure accommodations. Otherwise, the provision of accommodations may be delayed.
Concerns or questions regarding disability related accommodations can be brought to the attention of DSS or
the Affirmative Action Office.
INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD
Any study involving observation of or interaction with human subjects that originates at NAU—including a
course project, report, or research paper—must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board
(IRB) for the protection of human subjects in research and research-related activities.
The IRB meets once each month. Proposals must be submitted for review at least fifteen working days before
the monthly meeting. You should consult with your course instructor early in the course to ascertain if your
project needs to be reviewed by the IRB and/or to secure information or appropriate forms and procedures for
the IRB review. Your instructor and department chair or college dean must sign the application for approval by
the IRB. The IRB categorizes projects into three levels depending on the nature of the project: exempt from
further review, expedited review, or full board review. If the IRB certifies that a project is exempt from further
review, you need not resubmit the project for continuing IRB review as long as there are no modifications in the
exempted procedures.
A copy of the IRB Policy and Procedures Manual is available in each department’s administrative office and
each college dean’s office. If you have questions, contact Carey Conover, Office of Grant and Contract
Services, at 928-523-4889.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The university takes an extremely serious view of violations of academic integrity. As members of the
academic community, NAU’s administration, faculty, staff and students are dedicated to promoting an
atmosphere of honesty and are committed to maintaining the academic integrity essential to the education
process. Inherent in this commitment is the belief that academic dishonesty in all forms violates the basic
principles of integrity and impedes learning. Students are therefore responsible for conducting themselves in an
academically honest manner.
Individual students and faculty members are responsible for identifying instances of academic dishonesty.
Faculty members then recommend penalties to the department chair or college dean in keeping with the severity
of the violation. The complete policy on academic integrity is in Appendix F of NAU’s Student Handbook.
ACADEMIC CONTACT HOUR POLICY
The Arizona Board of Regents Academic Contact Hour Policy (ABOR Handbook, 2-206, Academic Credit)
states: “an hour of work is the equivalent of 50 minutes of class time…at least 15 contact hours or recitation,
lecture, discussion, testing or evaluation, seminar, or colloquium as well as a minimum of 30 hours of student
homework is required for each unit of credit.”
The reasonable interpretation of this policy is that for every credit hour, a student should expect, on average, to
do a minimum of two additional hours of work per week; e.g., preparation, homework, studying.