MGT 4950:30i STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Online Section Summer 2013
INSTRUCTOR:
Roy Johnson, JD, PhD.
BU 326
Phone: 865-8030
OFFICE HOURS:
online or by appointment
You are welcome to come by and talk, but this section is set up so that you can use the site’s online mail service to
contact me whenever you have questions or concerns.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Essentials of Strategic Management, 2nd ed., Gamble and Thompson; 2011.
Text Website: www.mhhe.com/gamble2e
The Business Strategy Game: Online Registration at www.bsg-online.com
PRE-REQUISITES:
Advanced Standing and Seniors only; in the last semester of college.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This is a capstone course for seniors covering the concepts of strategic management and developing perspective,
judgment and facility in problem solving in interrelated areas of distribution, personnel, finance, control and the social aspects
of business.
WARNING, PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:
If you can take this course in a live face-to-face session you should do so. Capstone courses in general and this
course in particular are designed to be taken after you have finished all of the courses in your area of focus. The strategic
management course works best in a class where there is substantial interaction between the students and the professor and
among the students themselves. This interaction is what the case analysis framework is designed to promote. The professor
guides the case discussion while students reply to questions and respond to each other’s comments. Participation is a major
part of the course. The live class also contains substantial group work in presenting cases and in working on the simulation.
This interaction is absent in the online course. While the text, cases, and simulation are the same for both courses, the
pedagogy for each is unique and simply does not work as well online.
This course was designed to accommodate those who are unable to take a live section. It is not an equivalent
substitute for that class for those who have the option. The experience is not the same. It is also not an easier class; the
quizzes are very difficult and require exceptional effort. You will not have help on the simulation, you will not be
participating with others, or gain experience in presentations.
Online courses require a substantial amount of independence. To succeed, students must be able to thrive on their
own and not need much outside assistance. I do not recommend that this course be taken online. If you must take it
online, it is available for you. I will help where I can, but most students do much better in face to face classes, where there is
more guidance and direct contact with the teacher and the other students.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1.
To develop a holistic perspective of an organization which integrates the concepts, skills, and principles
learned in previous functional area courses (e.g. Marketing, Finance, Accounting) and to apply that
perspective in business situations.
2.
To develop an appreciation and understanding of the role of top management in managing the resources of
the organization to achieve its goals and objectives and in dealing with complex and dynamic strategic
issues.
3.
To gain an understanding of the concepts of strategic management and become familiar with major trends
affecting small and large businesses, and international commerce.
4.
To be able to analyze business cases and to apply the knowledge gained from one case to other, seemingly
unrelated, cases. The objective of the course is not so much to accurately access an individual case as it is
to begin to "think strategically" about business opportunities and problems.
REQUIREMENTS:
1. Text-Quizzes. At the end of each text chapter there will be a quiz. The quizzes will be open-book, timed quizzes. They
may be taken as soon as the student is ready, but each must be taken by the specific deadline listed. To maintain the flexibility
inherent in online courses, but also include some sort of required schedule, I have established deadlines at the end of every
three (or at the end, four) modules. All three chapter and case quizzes must be done by these due dates. Notice that Chapter 5
is in the first module. This is because it contains information that will be useful for the Business Strategy Game. Warning:
Do not wait for the deadline to begin the quizzes or you will find yourself overwhelmed. Any late quizzes will be penalized in
proportion to their lateness, No quizzes will be accepted more than a week after the deadline.
2. Case-Quizzes. The second half of the text includes 15 case analyses. We will cover ten of these cases in this course.
Students need to read each case and look at and think about the case questions which can be found for each case on the
text website. For each case there is an accompanying case quiz/assignment based on those case questions. The cases allow
us to apply the text material to fact situations, the case questions refer to these applications. To do well you should first read
the chapter associated with the case, then read the case questions and only then take the quiz. The quizzes will be openbook, timed quizzes. The quizzes cover not only questions about the case facts, but also about the application of the text
material to those facts.
3. Simulation: The Business Strategy Game. Each student will form a company and will make strategic decisions to lead
that company in a business simulation in competition with other students in the class. EVERY CLASS MEMBER MUST
register on-line for the simulation at http://www.bsg-online.com. The online registration requires a unique registration
code and course ID. These will be sent to each student the first week of class through the course email system. You will need
to pay for the simulation using a credit card. Once registered, every class member should either read from the screen or print
and read a personal copy of the “Player’s Guide”. Once you have finished reading the Player’s Guide, you may complete OnLine Quiz #1. This is a timed – open book – quiz: point value – 5% of your simulation grade.
You will submit decisions each week for 10 weeks. Since you are competing with other students online, you must
submit your decisions on a timely basis each week. Your grade for this exercise will be scored in terms of your company’s
ending performance on key business measures (EPS 20%, ROE 20%, Stock Price 20%, Credit Rating 20%, and Image Rating
20%). Further details will be provided in the player’s manual and other resources on the BSG website. Students will be able
to apply the manual during two practice sessions.
BSG Grading (based on final score—including quiz score)
Score Grade Score Grade Score Grade Score
110-109 100
88-87 89
68-67 79
48-47
108-107 99
86-85 88
66-65 78
46-45
106-105 98
84-83 87
64-63 77
44-43
104-103 97
82-81 86
62-61 76
42-41
102-101 96
80-79 85
60-59 75
40-39
100-99 95
78-77 84
58-57 74
38-37
98-97 94
76-75 83
56-55 73
36-35
96-95 93
74-73 82
54-53 72
34-33
94-93 92
72-71 81
52-51 71
32-31
92-91 91
70-69 80
50-49 70
30-29
90-89 90
Grade
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
62
61
60
Score Grade
28-26 59
25-23 58
22-20 57
19-17 56
16-14 55
13-11 54
10-08 53
07-05 52
04-01 51
bankrupt 50
4. ETS Field Exam. The ETS Field exam (or Princeton exam) is administered to all graduating business majors. It will test
your knowledge of all areas of the business major (e.g., accounting, economics, finance, management, marketing...). This
exam is used nationally to rank the quality of different business schools. Traditionally, SUU students have done very well on
this exam, averaging in the top 10% for the last five years. The exam will be administered in the testing center during the
semester, before finals week, August 5; you need to go to the testing center during their hours and ask to take the exam. It will
take 1:30-2:00 hours. This will count as your final exam. However, while taking this exam is a requirement of this course (if
you do not take it you do not pass), how well you do on the exam does not affect your course grade. If you cannot make it to
the testing center on the SUU campus, email me by July 1 and we can make arrangements for you to take the exam where you
are.
GRADING
BSG Computer Simulation
Quizzes l-10
Case Questions
Total
30
35
35
100%
Grades may be curved either up or down as indicated by the class distribution, otherwise, the standard point distribution will
be followed, with grades rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g., 70-72 = C-, 73-76 = C, 77-79 = C+...).
POLICY STATEMENTS:
SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY: Scholastic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent. You
are expected to have read and understood the current issue of the student handbook (published by Student Services) regarding
student responsibilities and rights, and the intellectual property policy, for information about procedures and about what
constitutes acceptable on-campus behavior.
ADA STATEMENT: Students with medical, psychological, learning or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments,
accommodations or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Southern Utah University Coordinator of Services for Students with
Disabilities (SSD), in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or phone (435)865-8022. SSD determines eligibility for and
authorizes the provision of services.
HEOA COMPLIANCE STATEMENT: The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except
as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law. Detailed information can be found at www.suu.edu/it/p@pstudent-notice.html
IV. COURSE OUTLINE:
MODULE
TOPIC
ASSIGNMENTS
Deadline: June 21
1
Strategic Management Overview
Reading: Chapter 1, Quiz;
Case 12: Robin Hood
2
Strategic Management Process; Mission and Goals
Reading: Chapter 2, Quiz;
Case 2: Whole Foods
3
Strategy and Competitive Advantage
Reading: Chapter 5, Quiz;
Case 6: Apple Inc.
Deadline: July 12
4.
Industry and Competitive Analysis
Reading: Chapter 3, Quiz;
Case 4: Movie Rental Industry
5
Internal Situation Analysis
Reading: Chapter 4, Quiz;
Case 5: Dell Inc.
6
Other Important Strategy Choices
Reading: Chapter 6, Quiz;
Case 8: Google
Deadline: Aug. 05
7
Strategies for Competing in International Markets
Reading: Chapter 7, Quiz;
Case 9: SkyWest Inc.
8
Corporate Diversification Strategies
Reading: Chapter 8, Quiz;
Case 10: PepsiCo’s Diversification
9
Ethical Business Strategies, Corporate Social Responsibility
Reading: Chapter 9, Quiz;
Case 15: Countrywide Financial
10
Strategy Execution
Reading: Chapter 10, Quiz;
Case 14: Southwest Airlines
ETS Field Exam in Business at the Testing Center throughout the semester – Required of all students
Information contained in this syllabus is subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.
Simulation: The Business Strategy Game Schedule:
Two BSG rounds per week, decisions due every Tuesday and Thursday at 12:00 pm (schedule on BSG website)
Decision Inputs: Because the decisions are saved and processed on the simulation servers, they may be entered from any
online computer at any location (though they require Microsoft Excel and Flash 10). The decisions will be processed by the
system at 12:00 on Tuesday and Thursday based on the information on file at that time. You may input the information any
time prior to that time (e.g., Friday night) as long as it is there by 12:00 on the day it is due. Even though this is an online
course, because each person, (company) is competing against each other company in each industry, it is necessary that
everyone’s decision have been submitted at the same time.
Quiz #1: The simulation includes a quiz (quiz #1) on the player’s guide and how to play the game. Students may take Quiz #1
(on the BSG website) any time after they have registered for the simulation and read the player’s guide, but they must take it
by the time of the first practice round on June 11. The game includes a second quiz, but it will not be required for this course.
Practice Rounds: There will be two practice rounds before the real simulation begins. For the practice rounds, each student
must input all of the required decisions and the simulation will be run, however, the results will not count towards your grade.
They are practice rounds in the sense that they will give you practice inputting decisions, working with the computer program
and input screens, and allow you to try out various strategies and tactics (e.g., pricing, financing, etc.) without worrying about
the outcome. The first real simulation decisions are due on June 18.
Online Resources: Because this course is online, you will need to educate yourself about the simulation. The player’s guide
and many other resources are available on the BSG website, including videos of how to fill out each decision screen.
Details are important in managing your companies; you need to know the details well to succeed. You need to have a
competitive strategy and strategies for each of the functional areas (manufacturing, marketing, finance, management, etc.).
DATE
June
SIMULATION ASSIGNMENTS
11
BSG Practice Round #1 and BSG Quiz #1 (on the BSG website)
13
BSG Practice Round #2
18
BSG Round 11
20
BSG Round 12
25
BSG Round 13
27
BSG Round 14
JULY 2--4
BREAK
09
BSG Round 15
11
BSG Round 16
16
BSG Round 17
18
BSG Round 18
23
BSG Round 19
25
BSG Round 20