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(BA 4305-003)
Instructor: Lı́via Markóczy
Office: 4.206
Phone: 972-883-4828
e-mail: Please, use WebCT
Office hours: Tuesdays 4:00pm-5:30pm
Course Web-site is on WebCT
Fall, 2009
1
Social and Political Environment of Business BA4305
Course description
The Social and Political Environment of Business course is a capstone course
aiming to integrate what you have learned in other classes, including finance,
accounting, operations, MIS, marketing, and organizational behavior and use
this knowledge to study the strategic management of the firm as well as the
responsibilities of a general manager.
The approach of the class is practical and problem oriented. The major part
of the course will involve applying concepts, analytic frameworks, and intu-
ition to the strategic issues that real-world companies face. These issues are
presented in case studies and in the form of a several round simulation exer-
cise. For the class to work well – and for you to benefit from it – attendance
and preparation for each class meeting is essential.
Course Requirements
This course requires extensive reading, writing, active discussions, and dili-
gent attention to the exercises. Each student will be expected to spend an
average of 4 hours a week on this course in addition to class time. This is
particularly true during the first weeks of the class. If a student cannot com-
mit this amount of time and effort on this course, he or she must realize that
it may be very difficult to earn a good grade. Failure to fully prepare for class
is also a detriment to one’s fellow students. It is the student’s responsibility
to thoroughly read the syllabus, fully understand all the requirements, and
keep track of all the important dates in order to be succeed.
Grading
Grade will be determined as follows:
Individual exams 60%
Comp-XM 20%
Class participation 10%
Written case analysis 10%
• Panalba exercise
Lecture: More about the external environment of the firm. Game theoretical
reasoning. SWOT analysis.
Reading: Dess, Lumpkin and Taylor: Re-read Chapter 2
Simulation Exercise: Complete the Rehearsal Simulation
• Case: Nucor
• Are the points that have been made relevant to the discussion?
• Are the points simple recitations of case facts, or have new implications
been drawn?
Comp-XM
Your simulation grade will be based on your Comp-XM, the Capstone Com-
petency Exam score. You will complete this exam individually on your own
time as a take home exam.
Individual Exams
There will be two non-cumulative multiple-choice exams during the semester.
They will serve to evaluate how well students have mastered the knowledge
and can apply the basic theories and concepts learned during each stage of
the course. Students should bring scan-tron sheets and pencils for the exams.
No make-up exams will be given! If a student has a dispute with the
grading, he or she can request in writing that the portion of the exam be
re-evaluated with the supporting evidence clearly stated.
Final Grade
Following the university’s guideline for grade distribution, the final grade of
a student will be based on the relative standing of his or her total credit
points accumulated from all the requirements as compared with the rest of
the class.
In appliance with the university’s policy of confidentiality, no grade informa-
tion will be transmitted via phone or e-mail.
Academic Integrity
The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and aca-
demic honesty. Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the
absolute integrity of the work done by the student for that degree, it is im-
perative that a student demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in
his or her scholastic work.
Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or
omissions related to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree,
and/or the submission as one’s own work or material that is not one’s own.
As a general rule, scholastic dishonesty involves one of the following acts:
cheating, plagiarism, collusion and/or falsifying academic records. Students
suspected of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary proceedings.
Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes,
and from any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the
university’s policy on plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course
will use the resources of turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible
plagiarism and is over 90
Email Use The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and ef-
ficiency of communication between faculty/staff and students through elec-
tronic mail. At the same time, email raises some issues concerning security
and the identity of each individual in an email exchange. The university
encourages all official student email correspondence be sent only to a stu-
dent’s U.T. Dallas email address and that faculty and staff consider email
from students official only if it originates from a UTD student account. This
allows the university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the identity of
all individual corresponding and the security of the transmitted information.
UTD furnishes each student with a free email account that is to be used in all
communication with university personnel. The Department of Information
Resources at U.T. Dallas provides a method for students to have their U.T.
Dallas mail forwarded to other accounts.
Disability Services
The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities edu-
cational opportunities equal to those of their non-disabled peers. Disability
Services is located in room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are
Monday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday,
8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The contact information for the Office of Disability Services is: The Univer-
sity of Texas at Dallas, SU 22 PO Box 830688 Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
(972) 883-2098 (voice or TTY)
Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those rea-
sonable adjustments necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of
Important Notes
Throughout the semester, each student is expected to follow the university’s
guideline on student conduct with regard to cheating and other dishonorable
behaviors. Severe consequences can occur if such rules are not followed.
The instructor also reserves the right to deduct from a student’s individual
class participation credit if the student has shown severe non-constructive
behavior in class (such as disrupting the class or abusing another individual),
in addition to other disciplinary actions.
If a student is absent or late to a class meeting, it will be his or her respon-
sibility to catch up with all the missed materials including to learn of any
announcement made while the student was absent. No make-up exams or
lectures will be given. It will also be the students’ responsibility to accept
any consequences that may result from absences. No late assignments will
be accepted.
Finally, it is a student’s responsibility to read the syllabus thoroughly and
regularly and keep track of all the important dates and requirements every
week. Experience shows that the answer for most questions that students
ask can in fact be found in the syllabus.