University of Texas at DallasI

School of Management

Course Description and Syllabus for

BA 4205 Section 501 – Social and Political Environment of Business - SPRING 2006

INSTRUCTOR: RAJ SHARMA P.E. A.I.C.P.

Phone: 214 957 5024

Email: rajendra.sharma@utd.edu or preferably WebCT
Office Location & Time: By appointment

Instructor - Profile:

Represented the State of Alberta, Canada in the Republic of India, in the area of promoting Trade and
Investments. During this time, helped North American companies sell products & services, find joint
venture partners and secure investments from India. Work experience in Canada, India and U.S.A. Also,
worked for various government agencies. Managed large budgets and workforces for over 20 years.
Currently, Board Member of the Greater Dallas Indo-American Chamber of Commerce and a member of
the Texas Board of Professional Engineers. Board member Tarrant County Asian American Chamber of
Commerce and a member of the World Affairs Council. Conducted or participated in several Strategic
Planning events at the departmental or corporate level. In addition to U.T.D, taught at the Texas
Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas. Completed the Executive Development Program and M.B.A.
from the University of Calgary, Canada, and a BSc (Hons.) in civil engineering from University of
Waterloo, Canada.

Course Objectives:

This is a capstone course that will use the skills you have learnt in different courses taken so far. It will
integrate the knowledge gained from marketing, production, finance, MIS, human resources and other
courses. This course allows you to be in a leadership position. It gives you the opportunity to make
decisions that will impact the growth or decline of a company. You will be able to learn the theory of
formulating strategy, implement and see the result of your actions. You will also have an opportunity to
compare your results with the competitors and find out about the actions that contribute to success.

It is an intense course and requires your full attention The University has mandated as part of this course
a requirement of at least 15 double spaced pages of writing per individual student that will be evaluated
on grammar, punctuation, and writing style. The assignments will be reviewed by a writing tutor, in
addition to the professor. Therefore, please submit two copies of each assignment. The writing tutor will
give marks between 1 and 10. Any assignment scoring 5 or less will have to rewritten and resubmitted.
These marks will count toward the final course grade.

Required Reading:

International Marketing, Czinkota & Ronkainen, 7th edition, Thompson South-Western College Publishing
BusinessWeek

Grades
Mid Term 1 12%
Mid Term 2 12%
Final Examination 16%
Simulation Exercise
Company Performance 15%
Simulation Report 10%
Group Report 10%
Group Presentation 5%
Cases – Individual 10%
 Letter Grade Assignment

A+: 97 and up; A: 94-96; A-: 90-93

B+: 87-89; B: 84-86; B-: 80-83
C+: 77-79; C: 74-76; C-: 70-73
D+: 67-69: D: 64-66; D-: 60-63
F: Below 60%

Examinations
All examinations will be true/false and/or multiple choice. Please bring a scantron form.

Individual Cases
Individual cases will be due in class on the day they appear in the syllabus. I will be handing out the
questions for individual cases in the first class. You need to submit no more two pages for each case. I
would like hard copies of the cases, to be submitted in class.

Class Participation
You must come to class prepared to discuss the chapter of the day to secure participation marks.

Group Case and Presentation

The groups will consist of up to 6 members, unless approved otherwise. Please give your team names
by January 18 in an email. All names must be spelled as shown in the official UTD registration (do not
use short names). Each group will be responsible for presenting one case during the semester, on the
assigned day. You may choose your case from the list of cases in the syllabus. Presentation day will be
assigned on first come first basis. More than one group may be presenting on a day. Group case will
require greater research done, and thought given, compared to other students who will be reviewing the
same case and submitting it as an individual case.

Team Member Evaluations

You will be evaluating your team members. I will use these evaluations towards part of the class
participation marks. However, if you are totally satisfied with your team member’s participation in the
group effort, you may not fill out the form. Only less than excellent performs should necessitate
submitting the form.

Grade Communication
All marks will be posted on WebCT. Please make sure to write your full names.

Classroom Rules
You are required to attend class. Respect your fellow students – turn off cell phones, no talking amongst
yourselves, be on time. It is easiest to contact me outside of class via e-mail. If necessary, we can make
appointments if before class or after class meetings are not sufficient. Please be sure that I have a way to
contact you (e-mail address, phone number).

Scholastic Dishonesty
Scholastic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Students who violate the University of Texas at Dallas’ rules
on scholastic dishonesty will be subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the
course and/or dismissal from the University. I will strictly enforce the University’s policies.

Simulation Exercise

Group simulation exercise will allow you to act as senior management team of a company and make
strategic decisions. You will have two practice rounds and six competition rounds. Each round represent
one year of actual time. The marks will be assigned based on your company’s performance and the
group report that is submitted at the end of the project. Please visit www.capsim.com to register and get
further instructions.
TENTATIVE SYLLABUS

Date Description Chapter Case

Jan 10 Introduction 1 Case Questions Handed Out

Syllabus – Simulation Form Teams
Strategic Management

Jan 17 Strategy Formulation 2 Form Teams

Jan 24 The External Environment 3 McDonald’s Hamburger Hell

Presentations
Practice Round 1
Jan 31 Mid Term 1 On 1 – 3

Feb 7 The Global Environment 4 Presentations

Practice Round 2

Feb 14 Internal Analysis 5 Can Dunkin KO Krispy

Presentations
Competition Round 1

Feb 21 Formulating Long-Term Objectives 6 Novartis

Presentations
Competition Round 2
Feb 28 Mid Term 2 On 4 -6

Mar 14 Single or Dominant-Product 7 The Samsung Way

Businesses: Presentations
Competition Round 3

Mar 21 Choice in Multibusiness Company 8 Presentations

Competition Round 4

Mar 28 Short-Term Objectives 9 General Mills

Presentations
Competition Round 5

Apr 04 Structure, Leadership, and Culture 10 Presentations

Competition Round 6

Apr 11 Control and Continuous 11 Xerox

Improvement Presentations

Apr 18 Final Exam On 7 - 11

 TEAM MEMBER EVALUATIONS

In order to provide you the opportunity to objectively evaluate the contributions made by your team members
during this course and to provide me additional input concerning the individual performance of team
members, you are requested to complete this questionnaire. Do not rate your own performance.

Team Name. _________________

Team Member Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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Scoring: E = Performance exceeded my expectations

M = Performance met my expectations
B = Performance below my expectations

1. Attended and played active role in team newsgroup.

2. Assumed and accomplished specific task responsibilities according to team schedule.

3. Gave support to individual members.

4. Made positive suggestions on how to accomplish assignments.

5. Provided leadership.

6. Encouraged others to contribute.

7. Overall contribution to success of all assignments.

Team Member Initials ________