YORK UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
School of Administrative Studies
AP/ADMS 4910
Management Policy: Part II
Winter 2012
Course Director: Dr. Kelly Thomson thomsonk@yorku.ca
Room 214 Atkinson, extension 20126
By appointment only. I will normally be available Mondays 5:30-7:00pm. Office Hours:
Course Overview
This course is designed to both build on your knowledge of strategy from Management Policy:
Part 1 and, as the final course in management specialization, to synthesize your understanding of organizational behaviour, organizational theory and strategy. As a manager you are one actor in a complex social context; simultaneously managing your career, making decisions and acting on behalf of your firm and through these actions, affecting the broader industry and community.
Previous courses in management have introduced you to the core knowledge in the fields of organization and strategy. Management Policy Part I emphasized applying this knowledge to the analysis of business situations described in cases. This course, as your final course, focuses on developing the ability to gain a deeper understanding of a particular topic and to translate this understanding into a realistic plan of action-in other words, to link theoretical knowledge and the practice of management. Throughout this course, the emphasis will be on organizing the knowledge you have acquired in the program and understanding how this knowledge can be applied to managing in a real business context.
Learning Objectives:

To review, organize and synthesize the knowledge from organizational behaviour, organizational theory and strategy.
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To develop the independent skills in research, analysis and knowledge translation that management professionals use to understand emerging issues and to formulate plans of action.
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To assume responsibility for creating and effectively communicating new knowledge related to management.
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Required Readings
The course will build on the materials from previous courses in Organizational Behaviour,
Organizational Theory and, particularly, Management Policy: Part I. You should therefore, have access to these texts for reference purposes.
We will use three cases from the case text from Management Policy: Part I, i.e. Beamish,
P.W., Cases in Strategic Management, Ninth Edition, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2009.
In keeping with the objectives of becoming an independent management professional, the primary reading material for the course will be generated by the students, drawing on journal articles found in the York Library system. Students must be familiar with how to access these materials in order to be successful in the course (i.e. you need a York Library PIN).
As we will be focusing on current issues faced by managers, students should be keeping current with news related to business as well as the broader socio-economic context. To do this, students should be following current events in the news, the Globe and Mail is an excellent source. In addition, periodicals such as The Economist, Canadian Business, Fortune, Financial Times etc. are all important resources for managers and therefore, you should be familiar with them. Other forms of media such as news programs and programs on current events on CBC, TVO and other news sources are also valuable.
Assignments and Evaluation
The focus of this course is the development of independent skills in research and translating current theory and research findings into strategic action. The assignments for the course therefore, focus on independent learning, working with and communicating with peers as well as mastery of the core theories, concepts and research acquired in your course of study. Students will be responsible for developing much of the course materials and will, with guidance of the course director, provide suggestions for evaluating learning in the course.
On-going Class Participation (Classes 1-5): 10%
Participation in Presentations (Classes 7-10): 15%
Individual Case Reports (due Class #5): 15%
Group Paper/ Presentation (Classes 7-10): 40%
20% Final Exam (Class #12):
Participation: Student contribution and participation is central to success in the course.
Participation will be assessed based on both quantity and quality of contributions to class discussions. Effective contribution to class discussions derive from both active listening and engagement with your colleagues as well as contributions that enhance the depth of the discussion and introduce new ideas. In class participation requires being prepared for each session by having read (and thought about) the assigned material. Students can demonstrate their preparation by asking questions whenever necessary and by integrating the vocabulary and
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concepts from the readings into their comments. Significant contributions can be made by analysing current events in the media using concepts from the course.
Class discussions provide the opportunity to practice speaking and persuasive skills as well as the ability to listen. Effective class comments can include responses to questions from others, spontaneous remarks, and new questions. High quality participation also involves knowing when to speak and when to listen or allow others to speak.
The best class comments:
 help others feel safe about participating;
 show curiosity and willingness to experiment;
 make or raise issues that are relevant to the current focus of the class;
 apply relevant personal knowledge or experience to the conceptual material;
 take into consideration the ideas already offered by others.
Your contribution to the presentations made by your colleagues in Classes 7-10 will require you to be actively engaged with the material provided prior to class, the presentation and discussion of the material in class and written feedback and evaluations of the presentations. This written feedback needs to be provided by the end of the class and should briefly comment on presentation in terms of quality of the content and your evaluation of the effectiveness of the presentation (1 page or less).
Individual Case Reports
Each student must submit an individual report on a case that will be assigned for Class #5. The case will be drawn from the Beamish book and will be assigned in class #4. The individual case report will focus on how the materials discussed in classes 1-4 are relevant to understanding the case. You should NOT approach this case in the same way as you approached cases in 4900; in other words, you will NOT be analyzing the case in order to recommend a course of action.
Instead, you will consider how the theories and concepts discussed can be applied to gaining an understanding of and analyzing the central issues in the case. Specifically, you should describe which concepts and theories are most relevant to analyzing the case and why. The case report must be handed in at the end of class #5 and part marks may be awarded for new hand-written comments added during the discussion in Class #5. Reports should be a maximum of 4 pages, double spaced, 12 point font.
Group Project
For the group project, each group will select a topic “of interest to students of business strategy”.
Your project will focus on a topic relevant to the formulation and/or implementation of business or corporate level strategy”. You may choose a topic from Management Policy Part 1 or a topic of personal interest that is relevant. Students will form groups of 4-5 with a maximum of 8 by
Class 2.
Your group’s task is to identify a relevant topic (with guidance from and approval of the course director) and drawing on the current literature in strategy and organizations, to do two things:
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firstly, develop an in depth understanding of current theories and research findings related to the topic and secondly, to describe the implications for the practice of management using concrete illustrations, i.e. what does this mean for how managers do/should act in the context of the current business environment. This report will be based on thorough review of the current theories and research into the topic published in key journals related to strategy and organization.
You will need to review these journals for recent articles on your selected topic and select at least 20-25 relevant articles for in depth review. You will then need to describe the current thinking (including differing views/approaches) on the topic as well as recent empirical findings
(i.e. studies that use qualitative or quantitative methods) related to the topic. Drawing on this literature you will consider the implications for how managers can use this information to succeed in the current business context, providing specific illustrations of how managers may use this material in practice. See attached timeline that includes key tasks/dates for your project.

You must submit (by email) a one page synopsis of your presentation theme prior to class
3. Each group must select a unique topic and duplicate submissions will not be accepted
(first submitted, first accepted basis). Presentation schedules and themes will be finalized in Class #3 . Dates for presentations will be assigned by lottery in Class #3.

You should submit a list of the articles you plan to include in your presentation, some illustrations of how the material can be used by managers and an outline of the report for feedback 21 days prior to your presentation date.

You must meet with me at least 14 days prior to your presentation date with a draft of the paper. The progress of the group will be assessed based on the draft outline/paper you submit (approximately 3 pages), the relevance of the articles you have included, the illustrations you have developed to date. The evaluation of this meeting will form 10% of your grade on the paper (i.e. 4% of the 40% group grade).
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A formal paper must be submitted 7 days prior to your presentation date. The paper should be approximately 25 pages in length (double spaced, 12 point font) with appendices and a full bibliography. You will be provided detailed comments on this draft that you may incorporate into your final paper. Revised papers must be submitted one week following the presentation and will be posted on the course web-site.
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The group will present their work in a presentation lasting no more than 75 minutes, inclusive of any question and answer period. An electronic copy of the presentation materials must be submitted by noon on the date of the presentation and these will be posted on the course web-site.
These reports, presentations and class discussions will form the basis of the final exam for the course. Your colleagues will provide written feedback on both substance and presentation of your work and these will be incorporated into your group’s grade. Further, group members will provide feedback on the individual contributions of each group member (including their own) and this will be reflected in the individual’s grade.
Final Exam
The final exam will be short essay format held during the final class. The exam will be “open book” and will primarily test content from the group presentations, but may also include material from lecture and class discussions.
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1.
2.
Date
January 9
January 16
Course Week by Week
Class Topic
Course Overview
Review of ADMS 4900 (OB and OT)
Persistence of Strategy and Performance
Strategic Planning Process-Challenges
Cognitive, Social, Interests
Case: Gillette’s Energy Drain (A): The
Acquisition of Duracell (Case #16)
Activities
Presentations
Groups: Form Groups
Assigned: Article Search
Due: Summary Article
3.
January 23 Growth Strategies/Maximizing Shareholder Value
Corporate Social Responsibility/Ethics
Groups: Submit group members names, finalize presentation themes and dates
4.
January 30
5.
February 6
Strategic Control
Corporate Governance, Boards of Directors
Case: Governance Challenge at Good Hands
Health Care (A) (Case #29)
Individual Case Discussion
Assigned: Individual Case
Summary Report-Case TBA
Groups: Paper/ Presentation preparation
Due: Individual Case Study
Groups: Paper/ Presentation preparation; meeting groups 1&2
6.
February 13 No Formal Lecture Groups: meetings group 3&4
Due: Paper, groups 1 & 2
February 20 Reading Week (no class)
7.
8.
February 27
March 5
Presentations: Group 1 & 2
Presentations: Group 3 & 4
Presentations: Groups 5 & 6
Groups: meeting group 5 & 6
Due Paper, groups 3 & 4
Groups: meeting groups 7 & 8
Due: Paper, groups 5 & 6
Due: Paper, groups 7 & 8 9.
March 12
10.
March 19 Presentations: Groups 7 & 8
Wrap Up/Exam Preparation 11.
March 26
12.
April 2 Final Exam
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Time Line for Group Work
28 days before presentation

Review literature, select them, collect articles (25-50 relevant articles)
21 days before presentation
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Screen and select articles (20-25) and illustrations (1-5)
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Develop outline for paper
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Consultation with course director
14 days before presentation
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Draft paper
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Required consultation with course director
7 days before presentation

Submit paper
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Prepare presentation outline
4 days before presentation

Receive feedback

Make changes based on feedback

Finalize presentation
Presentation

By noon, submit presentation materials

Present

Celebrate
7 days after presentation

Submit final paper
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