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Baruch College, City University of New York Zicklin School of Business – Narendra P. Loomba Department of Management Syllabus BPL 5100– Business Policy – Spring 2020 – CTRB 3-120 – 10:30am-noon

Instructor:

Dr. Judith Ryba

Office:

NVC 9- 283

Email:

[email protected]

Hours: By appoint ment

Course Description BPL 5100 is “an interdisciplinary course concentrating on the problems that confront the chief administrative officers of an enterprise. The course stresses the overall company point of view in dealing with top management problems. Working in teams designed to represent the executive management of competing companies, students are confronted with the tasks of analysis and decision-making in a variety of case studies. An integral part of this course involves participation in a computerized business game.” This description is also available through the following link with other important information about the course: https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/courses/detail.jsp?discipline=BPL&course=5100 The primary question that BPL 5100 addresses is why some organizations succeed and others fail? The relationships between organizations and their environments are complex, uncertain, and dynamic. Managers seek to shape these relationships through strategic decisions that change their organizations’ capabilities, shift their competitive positions, or lead these firms into new businesses. This course has been designed to introduce students to these different aspects of strategic decisionmaking. Students will have ample opportunity to understand how to craft and implement effective strategies, and to recognize when changes are needed in existing strategies of companies. Because of its interdisciplinary nature, this course will help recognize how organizational success is often determined by the fit between important functions, such as marketing, operations, and human resources.

Learning Goals

Given the above unique content of the course, students completing it are expected to become more effective at:  Identifying and diagnosing issues related to interactions among multiple functional areas of organizations  Applying strategic management techniques to generate recommendations for strategic issues  Synthesizing arguments and recommendations in persuasive oral and written communications In addition, the faculty of the Zicklin School of Business has adopted seven learning goals for BBA students. The purpose of these goals is to create a common understanding between students, faculty and potential employers of the core objectives for a business education. In BPL 5100, the following six of the Zicklin Learning Goals will be addressed:

BBA Learning Goals Analytical Skills

Students will possess the analytical and critical thinking skills to evaluate issues faced in business and professional careers.

Technological Skills Communicatio n Skills: Oral Communicatio n Skills: Written Civic Awareness and Ethical DecisionMaking Global Awareness

Students will possess the necessary technological skills to analyze problems, develop solutions, and convey information. Students will have the necessary oral communication skills to convey ideas and information effectively and persuasively. Students will have the necessary written communication skills to convey ideas and information effectively and persuasively. Students will have the knowledge base and analytical skills to guide them when faced with ethical dilemmas in business. Students will have an awareness of political, civic and public policy issues affecting business.

Students will know how differences in perspectives and cultures affect business practices around the world.

Appendix 2 provides more details about the degree to which each of the above objectives are emphasized in the course.

Required Course Materials 1. Strategic Management: Text and Cases (9 th edition) by Dess, McNamara, Eisner, and Lee (referred to as DMEL) and published by McGrawHill. This textbook is used to provide you with the key reading on the strategy principles discussed in BPL 5100, and cases that will be core to our discussion of concepts and assignments. The new edition is available in the Baruch bookstore in hard-bound and loose-leaf versions and can also be rented if desired. Because earlier editions of the textbook do not have all the information covered in the 9th edition and some of the cases are not up-todate, it is recommended that you do not use such editions.

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2. GLO-BUS. Projects based on the GLO-BUS Global Business Simulation software are an essential component of the course. You are required to purchase a license at https://www.glo-bus.com/ after receiving a registration code from the professor. 3. Blackboard (referred to as BB) will be the primary means of communicating with one another on course requirements and assignments. The syllabus, lecture notes, supplementary materials, and class updates will be posted on BB for your reference. You will also need to use BB to submit assignments and track your progress and grades throughout the semester. You should become familiar with how BB operates and visit the class site often.

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Academic Integrity You are expected to know and adhere to the Baruch College Academic Honesty Policy, found at http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html. It states, inter alia, that Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Cheating, forgery, plagiarism and collusion in dishonest acts undermine the college's educational mission and the students' personal and intellectual growth. Baruch students are expected to bear individual responsibility for their work, to learn the rules and definitions that underlie the practice of academic integrity, and to uphold its ideals. Ignorance of the rules is not an acceptable excuse for disobeying them. Any student who attempts to compromise or devalue the academic process will be sanctioned. Consistent with this policy, SafeAssign®, Turnitin®, or other anti-plagiarism software will be used on all assignments to check for matches to any external material. The score for an assignment could be negatively impacted based on how much of it seems to be “borrowed” directly from unattributed sources. You are expected to familiarize yourself with the specific software being used by the professor. In class quizzes or exams will be proctored and some students may be reseated if felt necessary. Academic sanctions in this class will range from an F on the assignment to an F in this course. A report of suspected academic dishonesty will be sent to the Office of the Dean of Students.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Baruch College provides reasonable accommodations and modifications for students with disabilities to ensure that no student with a disability is denied the benefits of, is excluded from participation in, or otherwise is subjected to discrimination under the education program or activity operated by the College because of the absence of educational auxiliary aids for students with disabilities. Arrangements for adapting class procedures without compromising course content and standards may take time. Therefore, students who require accommodations or modifications should speak with me as soon as possible. I am available for you to talk with me before or after this class or during my office hours described above. To receive services, you must register with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities. Documentation is necessary for every disability. For more information concerning services for students with disabilities, please contact the Director of the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities, Vertical Campus Building, One Bernard Baruch Way, 2nd floor, Room 2-270, phone number: 646-312-4590.

Guidelines for Classroom Behavior 1. Arriving late and leaving early interferes with learning. Subway delays and other problems are unavoidable on occasion, but it is each student's responsibility to plan carefully to arrive on time.

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2. It is not appropriate to leave and return during a class meeting. Anyone with a medical problem that affects his or her presence in class should discuss the matter privately with the instructor in advance. 3. No cell phones or computers are permitted during class (unless otherwise directed). 4. You are not permitted to photograph or record the classroom lecture or discussion on any electronic, phone, or computer device of any kind, without the advance permission of the professor. 5. Course assignments and performance expectations are well documented in this syllabus and will be discussed in depth during the first few class sessions. Manage your performance throughout the semester. There will be no extra credit assignments.

Assignments and Grading You will be required to execute a mix of individual and team-based activities, details of which are provided below. The team-based activities are designed to prepare you for your future careers where you might often have to work in teams on routine tasks and specific projects. During the first week of class you will assigned to a team with whom you will perform all team activities described below. A brief summary and detailed explanations for each assignment follow. Guidelines for the grading of assignments are further discussed in Appendix 1. Further, an explanation of how individual assignments contribute to the program learning goals is provided in Appendix 3. Description of Assignments Class Contribution Case Analyses (2) Online Session – Discussion Board Online Session – The Company Men Quizzes (2) Company Analysis Analytical Essays (5) Oral Presentation Final Report GLO-BUS Simulation Performance Debrief Presentation Total

Responsibi lity Individual Individual Team Team

% of Grade 10% 10% 1.5% 1.5%

Individual

30%

Team Team Team

5% 10% 15%

Team Team

12% 5% 100%

Class Contribution. In a subject of this nature, valuable learning is often generated collectively from students’ in-class oral contributions. While attending classes is obviously necessary, effective contribution goes beyond just being physically present. It means that you should review the assigned material prior to coming to class and be prepared to provide voluntary meaningful inputs to class discussions. These could either be in response to questions raised by the professor or even unsolicited thoughts that you feel will add value to the conversation. There is no single right solution for most of the issues discussed in class so please feel confident to speak up with your opinions, arguments, and examples related to the diverse topics that we discuss in the friendly classroom environment. However, participation should not involve making irrelevant comments, trying to dominate a

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discussion, or being dismissive of other’s comments. More details on how your contribution will be graded are provided in Appendix 1. Contribution grades will not be negotiated after the completion of the semester. Case Analyses. You will be individually responsible for submitting two case analyses throughout the semester, each contributing to 5% of your overall grade. All assigned cases can be found in the later part of the textbook. Case analyses should be written in essay style (Times New Roman, 12pt font, double-spaced, 1-inch margins) and should not exceed three pages of material. These assignments should be submitted through designated links provided on BB before the start of the class on the day the case is assigned for discussion, according to the schedule below. For each case analysis, you should answer the following questions about the focal company in the case by applying relevant concepts or frameworks that have been covered in class till date: (a) What factors have enabled the company to deliver strong performance in the past? (b) What are some of the important issues confronting this company and what external developments and internal actions might have caused these issues? (c) If you were taking over as CEO of the company at the end of case, what courses of action would you pursue to address these issues? Explain how you would implement these, how they would address each issue, and what potential risks may exist. Quizzes. You will be required to take two in-class quizzes. As noted in the class schedule below, the first quiz will roughly cover material from the first half of the course and the second one will cover later material that was not tested on the first quiz. Each quiz accounts for 15% of the final grade. Further details on format and scope of these quizzes will be reviewed by the professor a little before they are scheduled. Company Analysis: Analytical Essays, Oral Presentation, and Final Report. As noted above, these assignments are team-based. Each team will need to select an active company as the subject of their analysis which would have to be approved by the instructor (specific instructions and suggestions to guide your choice will be discussed early in the term). It might be helpful to pick a company that is of interest to multiple team members in various ways (for example, someone could be an employee, investor, supplier, or customer of the company, or may want to be associated with the company in the future in some of these ways). Companies that are subjects of the assigned cases for in-class discussion and written analyses cannot be selected for these projects. Resources from the library will be provided and a research workshop will take place during class to support you in this process. Each team is responsible for preparing 5 analytical essays, an oral presentation, and a final report on the company chosen. Here are the details on the three company analysis assignments, each of which build on the other: Analytical Essays. These essays are due at different stages in the term and are accordingly based on different aspects of strategic planning and implementation learnt till date. Each essay accounts for 1% of the final grade. This ‘scaffolding’ approach to writing essays will allow teams to build towards the final report, receiving feedback at each step. Each essay should not exceed 3 pages of typed material (Times New Roman, 12pt font, double-spaced, 1-inch margins), not including exhibits and references. Essays have to be submitted through BB before the start of the class on the assigned day according to the schedule below. The required content for each essay is as follows:

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Essay 1: Provide a brief introduction to your selected company, covering aspects such as its history, important locations, and major products. Evaluate the adequacy of its current mission, vision, and values and (if necessary) suggest any alternate framing of these. Using appropriate quantitative and qualitative metrics, provide an assessment of the company’s performance over the last five years or so. Essay 2: Evaluate different aspects of the broad external environment of the company and the strength of the competitive forces in its major businesses. In particular, assess the five forces and the environmental trends in the industry. Use your analysis to assess the attractiveness of the main industries the company competes in and link to your evaluation of company performance in the first assignment. Essay 3: Assess the internal environment of the company. Specifically evaluate the core competencies, sources of competitive advantage, and the sustainability of the advantages. The analysis should leverage the tools covered in class (i.e., value chain, VRIN) and also link to your evaluation of company performance in the first assignment. Essay 4: Analyze the company’s business-level, corporate-level, and international strategies. This should include an assessment of the generic strategy the company is using in their business, the extent and relatedness of diversification, the modes (e.g., M&A, alliances, internal development) of implementing recent diversification initiatives, and the type of international strategy implemented in various global markets. Evaluate whether these strategies fit with the company’s organizational goals, and external and internal environments and suggest changes wherever thought to be necessary. Essay 5: Assess the company’s organizational design, strategic leadership and governance: This should include description of the organizational structure and culture, and how these help or impede implementation of different types of strategies. The analysis should leverage the tools covered in class to assess how leaders and the Board of Directors play a role in the strategic success of the organization. Company Final Report. The final report is due during Finals Week as noted in the schedule below and can be submitted electronically through a link provided on BB. This report should consist of two parts. Part 1 of the report should be an integration of all the five analytical essays submitted during the term after appropriate revisions based on prior feedback received from the professor. Attention should be given to providing effective transitions and headings while integrating the material of these assignments so that these appear as a comprehensive report. Part 2 of the report should highlight one serious problem that the company is either facing currently or could face in the near future (this should be possible even for relatively successful firms). The problem identification should build on your earlier analysis in the first part of the report (for example, the problem might be related to some industry forces becoming stronger, the company’s core competencies becoming weaker, or inappropriate implementation of diversification initiatives, among others). The team should then provide a recommendation that the company could pursue to address this problem, along with at least two related actions towards its implementation. The logic for your suggestions should be explained preferably using theoretical concepts and tools, and potential risks should be recognized with some thought on how these can be avoided. The Company Final Report should not exceed 20 pages of typed material (Times New Roman, 12pt font, double-spaced, 1-inch margins), excluding title pages, tables of content, citations, exhibits or appendices. It may also be beneficial to incorporate into the report any feedback received during the

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team oral presentation (details follow below) which is also based on similar analysis of the same company and will happen during the last few classes of the term. Oral Presentation. In the team presentation, you will play the role of external consultants to the company, and your mock audience for this presentation will be the board of directors or the C-level suite of the company. You should imagine that you have been tasked with reviewing the current strategies and performance of the company that you selected and identifying a major problem that it is already facing or will likely be confronted with in the near future. Finally, you have to suggest a recommendation to address this problem with two courses of action towards implementation. Therefore, your presentation must be closely related to Part 2 of the Company Report described above and the feedback you receive on the presentation is to be used to improve and incorporate into your Company Final Report submission. The presentation should be no more than 20 minutes in length, and all team members must present. The days allotted for the presentations are noted in the schedule below and more specific details regarding when each team will present will be provided by the professor during the term. PowerPoint slide decks should be submitted through BB, at least 24 hours before the team’s presentation is scheduled. To prepare an effective presentation, all team members should pay close attent...