COMM 306.3 (05)
Business Decision Making II
Course Outline
Term 1 Fall 2013-2014

The Edwards School of Business develops business professionals to build nations.

Instructor | Janette Boden | Telephone | 306-966-7585 | Office | Room 250 ESB | Email | boden@edwards.usask.ca | Office Hours | Monday & Wednesday 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm or by appointment | Lecture Time | Section (05) Monday & Wednesday 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm | Lecture Location | ESB 144 |

Prerequisite(s) | Comm 101.3 | Course Description | Decision making in contemporary organizations is simultaneously impacted by a complex mingling of external policies - from both the private and public sectors - across the local, provincial, national and increasingly international levels. Therefore, this Policy Analysis course introduces students to strategic management frameworks for policy analysis that will assist them in understanding the impact that external policies have upon organizational decision making. | Course Objectives | The world economy is becoming increasingly integrated with large multi-nationals and interdependent with increased global trade. Consider the changes that face today’s business manager as compared to organizations in the early 1900’s. Today’s business manager must not only run a profitable business, but also do so in an environment of global competitors, new and increased government regulations, international agreements, more demanding shareholders, and more vocal advocacy organizations. The business manager of today faces greater public scrutiny from government organizations and vocal demands from all stakeholders that businesses operate in an ethical and socially responsible manner.Organizations are not isolated, but instead, are embedded into their own industry, into other industries as secondary and tertiary actors, and into governmental and civil society systems both at home and abroad that can all simultaneously influence the organization in seemingly immeasurable ways through a myriad of public and private policies. Moreover, these policies may be found across the local, provincial, national, and increasingly the international level. In this course, the goal is to provide students with a Strategic Issues Management Framework for assessing how external forces shape organizational decision making and how organizations may influence these external forces. The class is designed to make students aware that business is expected to create value for society. At the same time business is impacted by policies from both the private and public sector. Today’s business manager must recognize that their company has multiple obligations and the needs of all stakeholders have to be taken into account to manage the numerous issues that face today’s business. The objectives of this course are as follows: * To provide students with an introduction to Policy Analysis. * To provide students with frameworks for assessing organizations in society including social responsibility and ethical behaviour. * To provide students with frameworks for assessing industry, governmental, and civil society policies. * To provide students with a broader set of decision-making parameters. * To monitor and examine current issues in the news. | Required Textbook and/or Materials | Business Decision Making II Custom Publication (Boden)Available through the UofS Bookstore, or you can purchase the ebook here:https://create.mcgraw-hill.com/shop/#/catalog/details/?isbn=9781121962439Additional resources and cases will be distributed throughout the term. | Class Preparation & Blackboard (Course Tools)www.paws.usask.caLog in and look for the Course Tools icon on the top right side of the screen (near Email icon). | This class is intended to be a highly inter-active class. An aspect of class discussion will be current affairs related to the Canadian and international business environment. Students are encouraged to take an on-line subscription to the National Post or Globe and Mail, and discussion will occur at each class on contemporary issues that are impacting organizations. Many of these issues can be looked at from a strategic case evaluation model. The lecture sessions will focus on topic areas that may cover a variety of textbooks. For this reason it is mandatory that students attend each class as material may be covered which is not in your textbook. The required textbook was written by a Canadian and thus provides significant Canadian content and perspectives. The required textbook does, however, provide many international examples as well.Due to the interactive nature of the topics and issues discussed in class the instructor will expect and ask for direct participation from students. The intention behind this strategy is to encourage you to gain confidence in expressing your argument and perspective and allow you to gain practice in receiving feedback on your opinions and subsequently in defending your position. Students will be expected to have read the chapter and any other assigned materials in advance of the class. Any discussions on the chapters and other assigned materials will also count for participation marks.Students will be provided with the overheads prior to commencement of the class, to allow time to download and copy the overheads. However, the professor will assume that students have read the chapter in advance and will cover only the most salient and important aspects of the chapter in the class to allow time for discussion of the current events, any other assigned materials, and any questions arising from the chapter. Important information for COMM 306.3 is posted in Course Tools (Blackboard) in PAWS. Students are expected to check the Announcements section of Blackboard for updates. | Contacting Your Instructor | Students requiring assistance are encouraged to speak to their instructor during class or during their office hours. Should you wish to meet with the instructor outside of office hours, please phone or email the instructor to make an appointment. Students should get into the habit of making and keeping business appointments. | Proper Business Use of Email | Email is commonly used by students to communicate with their instructor. Always use your PAWS/University of Saskatchewan email account (abc123@mail.usask.ca) to send e-mails to faculty members as external accounts such as Hotmail will be automatically quarantined by the University’s system. | Use of Internet and Electronic Devices in the Classroom | Please turn off your mobile/smart phone or set it to silent (not vibrate). If you choose to use a laptop for class, please limit your use to class material only and sit towards the back of the classroom so as not to distract other students around you. | Grade Distribution | Consultant Report | 24% | Consultant Presentation | 06% | Midterm Exam | 30% | Final Exam | 40% | Total | 100% | | Consultant Report | A written case analysis (consultant's report) will be required from a team consisting of four or five students. The list of topics will be made available to you. Length Maximum length for each report is 3,000 words. These limits will be strictly adhered to. Appendices may be added to the report without penalty provided that they deal with background analysis made in support of points offered in the main body of the report, and on the understanding that they may not be read. Each paper is to be typed in 12 point and 1.5 spaces. Papers that do not comply with this format will not be graded. Citations All papers must show references. References are to be cited at the bottom of each page. A bibliography is to be attached at the end of the report of reference papers and documents that were utilized in the preparation of the report. Papers submitted without references or bibliography will receive a zero. Mark Breakdown This consultant report will comprise 30% of your total mark. The 30% will be allocated on the basis of 80% for the written paper and 20% for the presentation. The topics will be presented in class and students will be expected to discuss and debate their positions during the class. You will be provided with the criteria that will be used on grading your paper. | Consultant Presentation | Your group will be required to give a presentation summarizing your consultant’s report. The presentation should be no longer than 20 minutes (15 minutes is usually sufficient), with an additional 10 minutes allocated to question period. | Midterm Exam | The midterm exam may be a combination of multiple choice, short answer and essay type questions. The exam is a closed book exam. Paper dictionaries may be permitted. | Final Exam | The final exam will be a single case with a number of analysis type questions. Point form is acceptable. | Policy regarding Late Assignments, Project and Midterm Exam(s) | Late assignments will only be accepted accompanied by a medical certificate or if it has been previously discussed with the instructor. If for some reason you are unable to write an exam or submit an assignment on the due date, please contact your instructor immediately to make alternative arrangements. | Final Examination Schedule | The final exam is scheduled by the Office of the Registrar. The final exam schedule will be posted in PAWS under the Academics tab in the My Exams channel, and an email will be sent to all students once the exam schedule has been finalized. Term 1 final exams will be held from June 24-26. Students should avoid making prior travel, employment, or other commitments for this entire period. Students must regard registration as a commitment to accept final examination dates. | Deferred Exams | A student who is absent from a final examination through no fault of his or her own, for medical, compassionate, or other valid reasons, may apply to the college in which they are registered for a deferred exam. Such application must be made within three business days of the missed examination and be accompanied by supporting documentary evidence. |

Grading SystemThe Edwards School of Business endeavours to ensure consistency of final grades across courses and sections. Variations in distribution will always be considered by the instructor where called for by the performance in each individual class. The student does not have any ‘right’ to a certain grade, but is responsible for earning grades. The instructor has unfettered discretion to evaluate student performance and assign all grades. The University of Saskatchewan uses a percentage system for reporting final grades. The university-wide relationship between literal descriptors and percentage scores for undergraduate courses is as follows:90-100 ExceptionalA superior performance with consistent strong evidence of: * a comprehensive, incisive grasp of the subject matter; * an ability to make insightful critical evaluation of the material given; * an exceptional capacity for original, creative and/or logical thinking; * an excellent ability to organize, to analyze, to synthesize, to integrate ideas, and to express thoughts fluently.80-89 ExcellentAn excellent performance with strong evidence of: * a comprehensive grasp of the subject matter; * an ability to make sound critical evaluation of the material given; * a very good capacity for original, creative and/or logical thinking; * an excellent ability to organize, to analyze, to synthesize, to integrate ideas, and to express thoughts fluently. 70-79 GoodA good performance with evidence of: * a substantial knowledge of the subject matter; * a good understanding of the relevant issues and a good familiarity with the relevant literature and techniques; * some capacity for original, creative and/or logical thinking; * a good ability to organize, to analyze and to examine the subject material in a critical and constructive manner. 60-69 SatisfactoryA generally satisfactory and intellectually adequate performance with evidence of: * an acceptable basic grasp of the subject material; * a fair understanding of the relevant issues; * a general familiarity with the relevant literature and techniques; * an ability to develop solutions to moderately difficult problems related to the subject material; * a moderate ability to examine the material in a critical and analytical manner.50-59 Minimal PassA barely acceptable performance with evidence of: * a familiarity with the subject material; * some evidence that analytical skills have been developed; * some understanding of relevant issues; * some familiarity with the relevant literature and techniques; * attempts to solve moderately difficult problems related to the subject material and to examine the material in a critical and analytical manner which are only partially successful. <50 FailureAn unacceptable performance | Appealing a Grade | As the grading of exams and submission of final grades can be subject to human error, a student who has a concern with the evaluation of his or her performance shall consult with the instructor as soon as possible, but, in any event, not later than 30 days after the grades become available in PAWS. | UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS Academic Accommodation
Disability Services for Students (DSS) offers services to students with documented disabilities ranging from learning deficit, learning disabilities, chronic health issues, hearing and visual impairment, disabilities and temporary impairment due to accident, illness or injury. It is the student's responsibility to request academic accommodations. If you are a student with a documented disability who may require academic accommodation and have not registered with DSS, please contact their office at 220-8237. Students who have not registered with DSS are not eligible for formal academic accommodation. Academic Honesty Academic honesty is the cornerstone in the development of knowledge. A single offence of cheating, plagiarism or other academic misconduct on term work, tests or final examinations or assignments can lead to disciplinary probation, suspension or expulsion from the university. Every student who is registered in this class is expected to have read and understood the rules regarding student academic dishonesty available at: http://www.usask.ca/honesty
Each student is expected to know the rules regarding academic dishonesty. Other Information: Counselling Services:
Dealing with stress, loneliness or anxiety can be challenging for students. Professionally trained counselors with backgrounds in clinical psychology and social work are available in Student Health & Counselling Services to provide advice, counseling and consultation at no cost to registered students. Any personal information shared with these professionals is treated with great care and utmost confidentiality. http://students.usask.ca/current/life/health/ 966-4920 Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: For information on the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act please visit http://www.usask.ca/corporate_admin/privacy/ University Learning Charter: While specific learning outcomes will vary, there is a set of core learning goals to which the University aspires for all graduates, to the extent feasible and appropriate within each program of studies. These are of five main types: Discovery, Knowledge, Integrity, Skills, and Citizenship. More information is available at: http://www.usask.ca/learning_charter/ Class Schedule & Topics: Important dates can be found at the following web site: http://www.usask.ca/events/month.php?cal=Academic+Calendar

The following page contains a tentative schedule for the course. Students should come to class prepared by reading the assigned chapter and staying informed on current business issues. Lecture & Date | Readings & Deliverables | Sept 09, 2013 | Introductions & Course Outline | Sept 11, 2013 | Chapter 1: The Relationship Between Business & Society | Sept 16, 2013 | Chapter 2: Ethics and Capitalism | Sept 18, 2013 | Meet Group Members SWOT, PEST, Porter’s Guajilote Case Analysis | Sept 23, 2013 | Chapter 3: Identifying Stakeholders and Issues Chapter 4: Understanding Stakeholder Relations Finalize Project Topics | Sept 25, 2013 | Chapter 5: Ethics of Business; The Theoretical Basis | Sept 30, 2013 | Chapter 6: Managing the Ethics of Business | Oct 02, 2013 | Values Exercise | Oct 07, 2013 | Chapter 7 & 8: Corporate Social Responsibility | Oct 09, 2013 | Chapter 7 & 8: Corporate Social Responsibility | Oct 16, 2013 | Midterm Exam (All material to date – Chapters 1, 3-8 and additional resources covered) | Oct 21, 2013 | Cancelled – University Closure | Oct 23, 2013 | Group Meetings with Instructor | Oct 28, 2013 | Group Meetings with Instructor | Oct 30, 2013 | Group Meeting with Instructor | Nov 04, 2013 | Values Exercise Decision Making Criteria and Biases Risk Analysis Before you Make That Big Decision by Daniel Kahneman, Dan Lovallo and Olivier Sibony | Nov 06, 2013 | Chapter 10: Regulating Business | Nov 13, 2013 | Chapter 12: Ethics and Responsibility in the Workplace and Marketplace David Model, Deception: Reading with Questions for Discussion and Writing Developing the Strategy: Vision, Value Gaps and Analysis by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton Move to Action: How to Turn Crucial Conversations into Action and Results | Nov 18, 2013 | Case Analysis Term Paper Due | Nov 20, 2013 | Presentations Day 1 | Nov 25, 2013 | Presentations Day 2 | Nov 27, 2013 | Presentations Day 3 | Dec 02. 2013 | Presentations Day 4 | Dec 04, 2013 | Final Exam Review |

Please note: Two weeks before the end of term, there will be a SEEQ (Student Evaluation of Educational Quality) available on PAWS. This is your opportunity to provide feedback on teaching quality and course effectiveness, and helps faculty gain insight into their instructional methods and practices, providing them with guidance for improvement.