BUS 205 Principles of Management

Course description: Fundamentals of the management of organizations. Introduces students to the process of management, including decision making and the role of the individual.  Emphasis on the functions of management.

Required textbook: Robert N. Lussier, Management Fundamentals, 3rd Edition, South-Western Publishing, 2005, ISBN: 0-324-011754-X

Instructional objectives: 1) To develop a conceptual and interpretative framework to integrate your knowledge and experiences of management.  2) To understand total quality management and its impact on business. 3) To understand that there is not one best way to manage.  4) To value the importance of teamwork and to learn how to work as a productive team member.

Teaching procedure: While I will follow the textbook, I will also supplement material in the textbook with handouts and presentations.   For each unit (may be more than one chapter in the textbook), I will assign a variety of assessment and application activities.  Some of these activities will require the use of the internet as a resource.  Time will be given in class for internet use.  I will assign emails for each unit.  The purpose of the emails is to relate our classroom discussion to real world situations. Throughout the course the student will be a participant in a group.  This group will work on group assignments for each unit.  All assignments are to be emailed.

Course topics and assignments:

  1. Evolution of Management Thought (Chapter One, pages 37-43)

I: Assessment Activities

A. Self-Assessment Exercise 13-1 (McGregor Theory X and Theory Y Leadership Behavior), pages 462-63 in Lussier

III: Email Application Activities

A. (Individual assignment) Prepare a memo outlining which school of management thought best describes your manager.  Be sure to explain your answer. 

2. Forming Your Group

I: Assessment Activities

A.    Skill Builder 3: Getting to Know You

II: Email Application Activities

A.    (Group assignment) Send me a memo with the name of your group, class time, names of the members of your group, and email addresses. Send me your Team Charter,

3. What Do Managers Do? (Chapter One)

I: Assessment Activities

A. Self-Assessment: Management Traits  pages 7-8 in Lussier

B. Skill Builder 2: Management Styles, pages 31-33 in Lussier

 II: Email Application Activities

(Group assignment) After viewing the video vignette, identify the following: 1) What management skills did you observe and how would you evaluate their use?  2) What management functions did you observe and how would you evaluate their use?  3) What managerial roles did you observe and how would you evaluate their use? which of the eight roles the manager used.  Please be sure to explain your answers. 

(Individual assignment) Email me a memo outlining the results of Skill Builder 1: Comparing Management Skills (page 31 in Lussier)

 

4. Environment: Culture, Ethics, and Social Responsibility (Chapter Two)

I: Assessment Activities

A. Self-assessment : How Ethical is Your Behavior?  (Lussier, pages 61-62)

II: Email Application Activities

A. (Group assignment)  Email me a short essay summarizing your group's answers to the questions to the Video Case: Timberland (page 74 in Lussier)

B. (Individual assignment) Email me a memo with your results from the Skill-Builder 1: The Organizational Environment and Management Practices Analysis (Lussier, pages 74-75).  Answer these questions based upon where you work or have worked.

5. Creative Problem Solving and the Learning Organization (Chapter Four)

I: Assessment Activities

A. Self-Assessment: Decision Making Styles, page 112 in Lussier

II: Email Application Activities

A. Individual Assignment: Think of a non-programmed problem where you have worked.   Prepare a memo in which you classify the problem (structure, conditions, model, group or individual); objectives and criteria; alternatives; how alternatives analyzed; the plan.  Are there ways in which the problem solving might be improved in the future.

B. Group Assignment: For the problem I assign your group use Skill Builder 1: Making a Decision Using the Decision Making Model (Lussier pages 142-143) as a guide.  After you complete the activity, send me an essay outlining your steps in solving the problem and your suggestions for improving the problem solving process.

6. Planning: Where are You Going? and How Do You Plan to Get There? (Chapter Five)

I: Assessment Activities

A. Self-Assessment: Effective Planning (Lussier, pages 148-149)

II: Email Application Activities

A.(Group assignment) I will assign your group a company.  Using our classroom analysis and the textbook information your team will write a report outlining  1) The mission, values, and vision of the organization (WHO)  2)  An analysis of the industry competitive environment using Porter's five force model and a SWOT analysis (WHY) 3) The objectives  the organization (WHAT)  4) The strategies of the organization (HOW), including a discussion of grand strategies and competitive strategies  5) An evaluation of the firm's business model-- is it working or does it need adjustment and if so what would your team suggest

B. (Individual assignment) Email me a memo listing three corporate mission statements.  Evaluate them on the basis of our classroom discussion (customers, key benefits, technologies).

7. Organizing: How Will You Put the Pieces Together? (Chapter Six)

I: Assessment Activities

A.  Self-Assessment: Personal Priorities (Lussier pages 214-15)

II: Email Application Activities

A. (Group assignment) Refer to the company I assigned your team in the Planning Unit.    Discuss the type of departmentalization used.  Which of sport's model configurations best describes your organization and why?  Are work teams used?  If so explain.

B. (Individual assignment) Select a manager you work for or have worked for and analyze how well she or he implements the four steps of delegation (Lussier, page 219).  Which steps does the manager typically follow and not follow? 

8. Keeping an Eye on Quality: Deming's 14 Points and the Theory of Variability (Chapter Fifteen pages 547-552)

I: Assessment Activities

II: Email Application Activities

A.  (Individual assignment) Using where you work or have worked, write a memo explaining what paradigm the company uses to explain quality.  Give several examples.  Also select a product or service of your company and explain it using Garvin's disaggregated definition of quality. 

B. (Group assignment)  Write a paper applying the 14 points of Deming to the IRS.  As a Deming consultant what recommendations would you make? 

9. Working with Others: Groups vs Teams, Decision Making, Communications, Managing Conflict (Chapter Nine pages 324-328, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven)

I: Assessment Activities

A. Assessment Activity: Are You a Team Player (Lussier page 351)

B. Self-Assessment: Listening Skills (Lussier, page 401)

II: Email Application Activities

A. (Individual assignment) Send me a memo summarizing and interpreting the results of the Skill Builder 2: Group Performance (Lussier pages 380-381) for your in-class group.

B. (Individual assignment) Send me a memo outlining  which of the four frames best fits you.  Also please explain how using the four frames can help you better understand a conflict situation at work. 

10. Leadership (Chapter 13)

I: Assessment Activities

II: Email Application Activities

A. (Individual assignment) Prepare a memo outlining the most commonly used normative leadership decision-making style used by your manager.  How appropriate is this style? 

B. (Group assignment) Prepare an an essay answering the questions for the Objective Case: Wilson Sporting Goods (Luiiser, pages 482-83).  Be sure to explain your answers!

 11. Diversity Matters (Chapter Three, pages 96-103, Chapter Seven, pages 242-247)

I: Assessment Activities

A. Self-Assessment: Women at Work, Lussier page 245

II: Email Application Activities

A. (Individual assignment)  Send me a memo with the results of Skill Builder 2:Diversity Training (Lussier page 257).

B. (Group assignment)  Using where you work or have worked, discuss with each group member your company's position on the diversity continuum which we developed in class.  Explain what you think will be the future of diversity where you work.  Put your responses into a single group memo.

 

12. Understanding Motivation (Chapter Twelve)

I: Assessment Activities

A. Self-Assessment: What Motivates You (Lussier page 434)

B. Self-Assessment: Acquired Needs (Lussier pages 435-36)

II: Email Application Activities

A.(Individual assignment) Prepare a memo with your results from Skill Builder 2: Self-Motivation.

B. (Group assignment) Prepare an essay applying the major school of motivation theory to Marine Corp recruit training. 

13. Power and Politics (Chapter Nine, pages 315-323)

I: Assessment Activities

A. Self- Assessment: Use of Political Behavior, Lussier, page 320

II: Email Application Activities

A. (Individual assignment) Email me a memo identifying a present or past manager.  Which power bases did/does the manager use most often.  Explain.  Also give at least one example of another power base you saw the manager use.

B. (Group assignment) Prepare an essay for me identifying the power bases and their effective or ineffective uses for the video shown in class.

 

14. Developing Effective Control Systems (Chapters Fourteen and Fifteen)

I: Assessment Activities

II: Email Application Activities

A. (Individual assignment) Write a report on the types of controls used where you work.  Are the controls properly balanced? How do the controls help you predict the organization's culture? 

B. (Group assignment) Write a report Au Bon Pain outlining its mission, organization, and controls before and after the change in strategy.

 

15. Human Resource Management (Chapter Eight)

I: Assessment Activities

A. Self-Assessment: Career Development, Lussier, pages 270-71

II: Email Application Activities

A.(Individual assignment) Email me a copy of your resume.

B. (Group assignment) Prepare an essay for me answering the questions in the Objective Case: American Airlines, Lussier pages 291-92.

 16. Assessing Your Management Style (Chapter Nine, pages 306-315)

I: Assessment Activities

II: Email Application Activities

A. (Individual assignment) Prepare an outline summarizing the results of the self-assessment exercises done for class.  For each test identify each test, the purpose of the test, your results, and what your results mean.  At the end of your outline write a summary self profile, including here common themes and  the implication of this profile for you as a manager.  You may want to organize your results according to the major categories:  INTERPERSONAL ORIENTATION, CHANGE, VALUES, LEARNING STYLES, TIME MANAGEMENT

Tentative Test/assignment schedule: For each chapter there will an individual and group email application activity. There are no due dates for the email application activities.  However, the student is advised to submit the work in a timely fashion so that corrections may be made and the work resubmitted if necessary.  All emails and spreadsheet activities are due the last day of class.  A book review is due on the day of the final exam.

Basis for Student grading:  Individual email assignments are weighted 35% of the grade, group emails 35% of the grade, the book review 15% of the grade, and the final exam 15% of the grade.

Attendance policy: The student is expected to be in class on time.   Three unexcused absences will result in the loss of ½ a letter grade. The class starts on time and unexcused tardiness is disruptive to the flow of the class.  Being tardy three times is counted as one unexcused absence. The student may discover that missing classes or being late will jeopardize their learning experience as well as being disruptive to the class members.

Special needs: If you have any learning disability or any other special needs or requests, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible so that we can discuss any assistance that would be helpful.

 

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