SM323 Syllabus - The Cross-Functional Core Fall2019 PDF

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SM323: The Cross-Functional Core “Core” – Fall2019 Core consists of four courses - Marketing (MK323), Operations (OM323), Finance (FE323), and Business Analytics (QM323). The four courses are integrated into this unique one-semester required sequence through a semester-long project. Core provides students with a cross-functional experience that enables you to significantly leverage your learning investment in ALL four courses. It accomplishes this by enabling you to use what you have learned in one course in other courses and for the project. The Core New Product/Service project is the cornerstone of Core. This Core project is the major integrative device of the course The project has been designed so that when you complete the program, you will know how to assess customers and markets and how to work in teams to design a new product/service that meets customer needs, how to develop operations processes, as well as how to assess the risks involved in implementing and financing the resulting business. You will learn that competitive advantage accrues to those who understand how to leverage the interrelationships between these complex functional decisions. You will leave Core with comprehensive knowledge of the major functions in a business. But, more importantly, you will be able to leverage this knowledge in a cross-functional manner to add value to business and society. Core is one of the key elements differentiating the Questrom School of Business Undergraduate curriculum from other programs. If you work hard, take risks and stretch yourself, you may find Core a uniquely rewarding academic experience. In developing this course, we have aimed to be thoughtful about how identity and culture impact the course content. We invite you to share your experiences and perspectives during class discussions. If there are topics you feel would benefit from incorporation of social context or a differing perspective, please let us know. We strive to engage a wide variety of perspectives in our classroom. The individual course syllabi will provide you with information on specific materials, assignments, and the requirements for completion of each of the four courses. Below, we now review the objectives of the course: outlining the program, describing the project, discussing grading procedures, and expectations for academic standards. Please see the UDC website or consult with your academic advisor for the pre-requisites for Core.

Core Objectives Challenge you to think... o

o o o

...about how knowledge and skills from different domains are integrated to obtain and allocate resources, to design and manage products and services, to create basic business processes, and to organize a business. ...about how to work in a team to achieve common objectives and maximize learning. about how to develop an original product/service, using a creative, iterative process …about how to manage a complex project, breaking it down into tasks and managing time to effectively achieve milestones.

Expanding what you know from a functional and cross-functional perspective through... o

Skills development, tools refinement, and an understanding on how all the pieces "fit"

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Building your skills in: o o o o o o o o

Conducting research on customer/user needs and how best to address them Developing products/services to meet these needs Designing operations systems to deliver these products/services Designing marketing plans to promote these products/services Allocating resources and evaluating the financial and management risks inherent in introducing these products/services and processes Evaluating project economics to determine attractiveness from an investment perspective Designing a business plan that is convincing and attractive to investors Presenting your plan in a way that is effective and data-driven, using multiple formats and tools.

Program Outline Core consists of a variety of classroom activities: Common Sessions, Functional classes, Workshops, Questrom Team Learning Services, and Examinations. Common Sessions involve a project activity which requires the resources of the entire section and that section’s faculty team. The Common Sessions are: Core introduction, New Idea Review Workshop, Business Development Workshop and Final Presentations. Functional Class Periods are the majority of class sessions and represent extensive course work in marketing, operations, quantitative methods, and finance. These sessions are conducted by one member of the faculty team. Workshops are held a number of times during the semester. They are an opportunity for student teams to present interim project work to the class and to receive constructive feedback. The Business Development Workshop is a Common Session because of the presence of the whole faculty team. The Functional Workshops are led by one member of the faculty team. Sample topics include Conjoint Analysis for Analytics, Questionnaire/Survey Results for Marketing, Scheduling and Staffing Analysis for Operations, Base Case Analysis for Finance, Using @Risk and simulation for Analytics and Finance. Students are given guidance in advance of workshops and then receive feedback on both the content and format of their presentations. Questrom Team Learning Services Sessions are held several times throughout the semester and serve the important role of helping the student teams establish objectives and give and receive feedback. These sessions are administered by Team Learning faculty. Examinations are held two times during the semester. All sections, both morning and afternoon, will sit for common exams. Each set of examinations will consist of four separately scored functional elements. There are no make-up exams offered. Exceptions will only be made for rare documented situations. You must provide valid written documentation of the reason for your absence IN ADVANCE. Unexcused absences will result in an "F" (a zero) for the exam.

BU Hub Units Students who successfully complete Core will earn Hub units in the following four areas: • Digital/Multimedia Expression • Research and Information Literacy

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• •

Teamwork/Collaboration Creativity/Innovation

Upon successful completion of all four components of Core, a student will be issued a grade of “Pass” in SM303, a zero credit course which confers Hub general education competencies under the new Boston University general education system. Academic Accommodations: In keeping with University policy, any student who needs or thinks they need academic accommodations must contact the Office of Disability Services at 353-3658 to arrange a confidential appointment. Accommodation letters must be delivered not later than two weeks before any examination. Please note that accommodations will not be delivered absent an official letter of accommodation from BU.

Attendance Policy Classes will start promptly at the listed time and will run for one hour and fifteen minutes without any break. The attendance policy in Core is simple. Each student may miss two class sessions in each element of the program (i.e., MK, OM, QM, FE) without penalty. Students who miss a Common Session or a TLA in class feedback session will be charged 4 absences (1 per function). For each Common Session that a student is late, leaves early, or otherwise misses a portion of that student will be charged 2 Full absences (1/2 absence per function). Upon the third and subsequent absences, students will be penalized through a reduction in the course grade. Sign-up sheets may be circulated in each session or the professor will take attendance. It is the student's responsibility to sign-in. Note that there are neither excused nor unexcused absences - only absences. Exceptions will also be made for religious holidays or other mandated documented circumstances, e.g. jury duty. Student tardiness and leaving an ongoing class are inappropriate behavior. Your professors may have policies in his or her classroom which vary slightly from others, and he or she will tell you what they are if they do. At a minimum you will be charged at least a ½ absence for any class you arrive late or leave early. The expectation is that any student who knows he or she will be late to class or need to depart early will let the instructor know in advance. Students abusing the attendance policy will suffer grade penalties.

Grading Policy Students will receive individual grades from each of their professors. Each course will base a portion of your grade in the course on the exams and other components, which the instructor will detail, that focus on the concepts and techniques covered in her/his class. The individual course syllabi explain the grading systems used by each function to determine your course grade, which will include a project grade. ** Only when students pass an individual Core course are they eligible for the grade component from the SM323/Core project in that particular course ** The following principles (explained in detail in online Core Project Resources) are applied in determining your individual grade for the project. These principles reflect the faculty’s beliefs that individuals should not be rewarded when their teams fail, and that the credit for successful teams is not always spread equally. As in real life, you have a measurable stake in your team’s success with the project. 1. An overall project grade is established for each team based on the following formula: Team Grade = .85 (Business Plan Grade) + .15 (Presentation Grade)

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2. Your individual project grade may then be adjusted up or down from your team’s overall project grade in accordance with your contribution to the team. Downward adjustments are made to the project grade for individuals who do not perform their share of the work or whose behavior causes the team to be less effective. The two most common categories of students with downward adjustments are shirkers and bulldozers. When a team is successful, modest Upward adjustments are made for teambuilders. Again, this is discussed in detail on Questrom Team Learning Services section of the Core Project Resources webpage, linked from the Core Master Calendar.

Future Use and Rights to the Core Team Plan Each team “owns” their own intellectual property which they create for their written plan. As such, there is a statement that you will include in your final written plan. This statement is: “We each understand that the ideas, analysis and text contained in our plan are the collective intellectual property of our team. We also agree that if any team member wishes to pursue any aspects in our plan, at any time into the future, they will contact and obtain written approval from all other team members.”

Academic Integrity All students are responsible for reviewing and abiding by Questrom’s Academic Conduct Code (https://www.bu.edu/academics/policies/academic-conduct-code/). In addition, students and Core teams assume full responsibility for the content and integrity of the academic work they submit. The guiding principle of academic integrity is that a student's and team’s submitted work must be their own. The Core faculty wants to make clear an important policy regarding use of past Core Plans. Individuals or teams are allowed to review a past Core plan for formatting, etc. (though changes are made each semester), however, they are NOT allowed to use any of the information in that plan for use in their plan. Faculty expects that the research and the work developed in your project plan is original material not a modified version of other's work. You will also be submitting your plan using TurnItIn.com and it will be compared to past Core plans. Other actions constituting misconduct include: Plagiarism - each team member is responsible for the entire team’s submitted work Forging or having someone else complete a homework assignment for you Not properly crediting sources used in your business plan Having someone other than a team member contribute to your team plan (either paid or unpaid). This includes the use of an outside reader/editor for the written plan Misrepresentation or falsification of data Impeding a team member’s access to team meetings, work-in-progress or other team activities Altering or destroying another student’s work or records Submitting the same work in more than one course without permission Cheating on examinations, which includes using unauthorized calculators Theft of an examination Unauthorized conversation during examination Forgery, alteration, or knowing misuse of examinations Theft or destruction of examinations or papers Having someone take an exam for you or prepare a paper for you Expectations for Academic Conduct on Teams:

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Questrom School of Business interprets the “intentional restriction or inhibition of another team member’s access to team meetings, team work-in-progress, or other team activities” to include the following standards: At Questrom all students who are assigned to an academic team as part of their course work, are responsible for creating and maintaining a supportive and productive team learning environment. Students are expected to be professional in their behavior, interactions, and communications with all team members. Violations of these standards of behavior and communication would constitute a breach of the Academic Conduct code for teamwork. Students are required to:  Treat all team members with respect and refrain from behavior that is intimidating, threatening, or harassing in nature.  Maintain inclusive, appropriate, professional communications with team members both in person, and electronically o Consistent with the language used in class instruction at Questrom, spoken and written communications regarding team-related issues should be conducted in English. Teams are also welcome to communicate in other languages, as long as those languages are understood by all team members. o Refrain from using profanity, inappropriate language that is offensive or sexually explicit in nature, or communications that are threatening or demeaning. Although not an exhaustive list, examples include: posting inappropriate comments regarding a team or teammates to social media, writing offensive or sexually suggestive or explicit messages to teammates, viewing offensive or sexually explicit videos or pictures during team meetings or in the presence of team members, writing profanity-laden messages to team members. Failure to engage with your team in a professional manner, as outlined above, constitutes a violation of the Academic Conduct Code. Should you have issues or concerns with your Questrom team, please feel free to contact Dr. Sandi Deacon Carr, Director of Questrom Team Learning Services for assistance: [email protected] Expectations for Academic Conduct Regarding Course Material SM323 expressly prohibits students from posting course material of any kind (e.g., exams, course slides, descriptions of assignments, completed assignments such as papers and team projects) onto the web to be used by others. This includes posting to online crowd-sourced platforms and would forbid postings to sites such as Course Hero and Slideshare or others. Any such posts would be in violation of Questrom’s Academic Conduct Code and of the academic standards of SM323.

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