UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS

BA 4305-002, SPRING 2005

Instructor: Mine Ozer

Class Time and Location

Time: 2:00 PM – 4:45 PM, Wednesday

Location: SOM 1.102

Instructor’s Office Hours and Contact Numbers

Office Location: SOM 4.411

Office Hours: Before and after class, or by appointment
Phone: 972-883-4469
E-mail: mxy010100@utdallas.edu
Course Webpage: http://www.utdallas.edu/~mxy010100 (Please check regularly for lecture
outlines and updates)

Writing Tutor
LaVada Strickland
E-mail: lavadaas@aol.com,
Phone: 214-477-0621
Office hours: 4:45pm to 6:45pm Monday and Wednesdays in the library at one of the open tables
in the front area.

As a part of this course, the university has mandated a requirement of 15 double-spaced pages of
writing for each individual student. The writing tutor will evaluate each paper on grammar,
punctuation and writing style. The objective of this requirement is to help students improve their
writing skills. The writing tutor will be responsible for providing constructive feedback to
students' individual writing work, holding needed office hours for one-on-one tutoring sessions,
and providing assessment on students' writing (including original and revised) outcomes.

Textbook: Gregory G. Dess, G. T. Lumpkin, & Marilyn L. Taylor (1st edition)

Strategic Management: Text & Cases
Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin

COURSE OBJECTIVES
As a capstone course for senior level undergraduate students, this course will bring
students into the broad environment of business organizations by integrating
different fields of business. By the end of this course, you should be able to (1)
analyze a particular business situation, (2) identify the significant problems, and
(3) propose and justify explicit solutions that are realistic, effective, and efficient.
The course has multiple objectives that include the following:
1. Introducing students to some basic concepts and theories in the filed of strategic

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 management and business policy
2. Proving opportunities for students to be able to analyze broad, organization-wide
problems and to develop skills in using your knowledge to solve the actual problems
that are being experienced by today's organizations
3. Improving students’ skills in oral and written communication

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
This class is structured differently from other classes you have taken. There is an emphasis on
using case analysis as a way of practicing your business thinking skills, your oral presentation
skills, as well as your writing skills. The goals of this class are 1) to learn about strategy and 2)
help you make the transition from education to work. Because of this, professionalism and
integrative thinking are emphasized.

Individual Case Analysis (15 %): Each student is required to submit any three case analyses
out of seven (listed in the schedule part of the syllabus) (The cases you choose must be different
than the case that your group will be presenting). Each case study should be five double-spaced
pages long and follow the general format of a case analysis (introduction, analysis and problem
identification, theory application, and recommendation). The individual case analyses are due at
the beginning of class on the day the case is discussed by the group. Please submit two copies
for each case study. One is for the instructor, the other for the writing tutor.

Group Case Analysis (30%): The class will be divided into groups of equal size. You will be
either assigned to your group or choose your group members. Your group will be responsible for
both oral presentation and written analysis. The group selection will take place on the second
day of the class and each team will have 4-5 members. The number of members in a group can
vary depending on the class size. Preferably we would want to have 7 teams.

Group case analysis should be a comprehensive analysis of the facts of the case and application
of concepts learned in the lecture and textbook. You should go beyond the material in the book
and incorporate current information into your report. It is important that you make use of library
search engines. Only using company homepage and google or its equivalent (e.g. yahoo) is not
enough (they are not considered as outside sources). For additional sources, please see Page 7.

Your group case analysis grade will be based on the quality of the group's work. Part of your
learning experience is managing the coordination of tasks required to create a good product. Part
of your grade will be based on each individual's assessment of the relative contribution of each
group member (peer evaluation). Late cases are not accepted. Each analysis will be graded
according to the case evaluation criteria shown in the case evaluation sheet.

Written portion (20%): Each group is responsible to turn in 10-12 double-spaced pages
excluding figures, tables, and references. Each group case analysis is due at the beginning of the
class that the case is assigned. Ensure that the paper has an executive summary and that it is
divided into sections and subsections in a logical manner.

Oral portion (10 %): Each team is responsible to present a case in the classroom. Oral

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presentations should be approximately 20 minutes in length with approximately a 10 minutes
discussion period. The cases will be chosen when you form your groups on the second day of the
class. Oral part will be graded using the case evaluation sheet.

Exams (20% + 25%):

There will be two exams throughout the whole semester. They will serve to evaluate how well
the student has mastered the knowledge to apply the basic theories and concepts learned during
each stage of the course. The first exam is 20 % and the final exam is worth 25 %. Students
should bring scantron sheets (Form No. 882-E) and pencils for the exams.

Class Participation (10 %): Class participation is highly encouraged in both the lecture portion
as well as the case discussion portion of the class. Quality of class contributions will be weighted
more heavily than quantity. Frequent and valuable participants are who attend most of the
classes, participate regularly in every class attended, and at least make one significant
contribution in each class attended. “Participation and contribution” is a meaningful portion of
the total course grade (10%). To help the instructor learn each student’s name and grade
“participation and contribution” as fairly as possible, you will prepare and bring a “nameplate”
to each class.

Peer Evaluation: Each team member will evaluate the rest of the team members for their
contribution to group work. Details on how to calculate peer evaluation and how to incorporate
into the group projects are shown in the peer evaluation sheet. Peer evaluation sheet will be
provided at the final exam day with the exam.

GRADING
Your grade in the course will be based on objective and subjective criteria. Grades will be based
on the following:

Individual Assignments: Percentages Grading

Scale:
Midterm Exam 20% 99-100 A+
Final Exam 25% 95-98 A
3 Individual Written Case: 15% 90-94 A-
Class Participation: 10% 87-89 B+
84-86 B
Group Assignments: 30% 80-83 B-
Written Group Case and Group Oral (20 % + 10 %) 77-79 C+
Presentation (including peer
evaluations):
Total: 100 74-76 C
70-73 C-
67-69 D+
64-66 D
60-63 D-
Below 60 F

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Class Policies:
Absences/Make-ups: There are no excused absences from the exams without a written excuse
from a doctor or the academic dean. If there is a serious scheduling conflict, it is your
responsibility to let the instructor know well in advance. No work will be accepted after the date
that it is due. Exams and case analyses can be turned in earlier than the designated dates with
written excuses, but not later.
Honor Code Information: No case write-ups, exams, or student's notes from current or
previous business school students should be consulted in doing your case analysis. You can,
however, consult your notes and reading materials as well as information in the library. Any
material quoted directly or paraphrased should be referenced in your written and oral cases.
Plagiarism is a serious infraction and will be dealt with accordingly.

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 COURSE SCHEDULE

DATE TOPIC CH CASE

January12 Course Overview/Syllabus Chapter 1

January 19 External Environment Chapter 2

Selection of groups
January 26
How to conduct a case analysis Chapter Sample Case : Carly
13 Fiorina: The
Reinvention of Hewlett-
Packard
February 2 Internal Environment Chapter 3 Case 1: Jays Foods,
L.L.C.
February 9 Intellectual Assets Chapter 4 Case 2: AT&T Resource
Link(A)
February 16 Business-Level Strategy Chapter 5 Case 3: Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc (200)
February 23 Mid-Term Exam (bring
Scantron sheet 882-E)

March 2 Corporate-Level Strategy Chapter 6 Case 4: Badger Plastics:

The Acquisition Process
(A,B,C)
March 9 Spring Break

March 16 International Strategy Chapter 7 Case 5: Hewlett-Packard

Company in Vietnam
March 23 Internet and E-Commerce Chapter 8 Case 6: E-Bay: King of
The Online Auction
Industry
March 30 Strategic Control Chapter 9 Video: Southwest
Airlines
April 6 Ethical Organization Chapter Case 7: GE’s Two-
11 Decade transformation:
Jack Welch’s
Leadership
April 13 Corporate Entrepreneurship Chapter Video: Stop the Music:
and New Venture Creation 12 Napster

April 20 Exam Review

April 27 Final Exam

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 INFORMATION FOR CASE ANALYSIS

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

The industry analysis includes two interrelated parts. The first part provides a broad
overview of the industry, its boundaries, and its evolution over time, with particular
emphasis on the key dimensions that have shaped its condition in the last ten years. It
establishes who the participants in the industry are, the nature of the markets, key
strategic issues for the industry, growth rates, profitability, market shares, the products,
financial trends, takeovers, the uncertainties in the environment, the distribution channels,
etc.

The second part of the report analyzes the current state of the industry in terms of the "five
forces" framework proposed by Porter. In addition, the key points to be developed are the
nature of competition, various segments in the industry, the general environmental trends
that affect the industry, diversification efforts by participants and probably likely scenarios
for the future.

To summarize, the industry analysis includes issues such as the

following:

1. DEFINITION OF THE TASK ENVIRONMENT

• The boundaries of the industry
• The competitors, their market shares, and segments they focus on
• The products
• Other elements of the task environment
• The value-add chain and how individual firms vary

2. KEY STRATEGIC FACTORS IN THE INDUSTRY

• What are the ways to compete?
• Historically, which of these have been most successful?
• What distinctive competencies are required in the industry?

3. KEY GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

• Demographics
• Technology
• Political, social, and economic trends
• Internalization

4. KEY ISSUES & FUTURE SCENARIOS

• Key opportunities (in terms of products, vacant market niches, etc.)
• Key threats (in terms of new entrants, product life cycle, product obsolescence,
substitute products, etc.)
• Key issues/choices facing the members of the industry

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 COMPANY ANALYSIS

The company analysis, in keeping with the pattern that we followed for industry
analysis, consists of two interrelated parts. The first part should provide a broad
overview of the firm, its evolution over time with particular emphasis on it strengths
and weaknesses, its financial performance, its product lines, its distinctive
competencies, its structure, its culture, and key executive who have shaped the
company's policies in the last ten years.

The second part of the analysis identifies the current strategy at corporate, business, and
functional levels, labels these strategies, and identifies any changes in strategy in the 10-
year period. Further, the report analyzes the company's performance in the light of the
strategy followed and your own evaluation of the current strategy. The report concludes
with the key issues that the company is currently facing. The insights developed from the
industry analysis should be of particular help in identifying the key issues/choices that
the company is faced with, recommended actions, and implementation considerations.

To summarize, the company analysis includes issues such as the following:

1. DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRM

• Product lines
• The scope of the firm (geographic, target customers, technologies, etc.)
• The size of the firm (sales, assets, personnel, etc.)
• The firm's distinctive competencies
• Key strategic managers
• The company's culture and philosophy

2. STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

• In various functions (finance, marketing, production, R&D, etc.)
• In organization
• At various levels (top, middle & lower)
• Incorporation of value chain concepts

3. CURRENT STRATEGY
• At corporate, business, and functional levels
• Their descriptions and label
• Sources of competitive advantage(s) and sustainability

4. ISSUES FACING THE FIRM

l Match of strengths and weaknesses with opportunities and threats
l Product market choices
l Resource generation/allocation issues
l Personnel issues (including managerial succession)
l Stakeholder related issues

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5. RECOMMENDATIONS
Once you have evaluated the case, identified the strategic problem, and evaluated
the impact of the problem on current and/or future strategy, you must form some
conclusions and recommendations regarding the future position of the company.
Support your evaluation with appropriate research.
• What alternatives can the company consider? Alternatives should be mutually
exclusive. Mutually exclusive means the company can go down only one road.
It cannot pursue both strategies simultaneously.
• What are the tradeoffs associated with the alternatives? You should NOT think
in terms of “good” versus “bad”, but rather what does the company GAIN from
an alternative and what does it LOSE. That way you can compare gains and
losses across the alternatives. Gains and losses may be in terms of customers,
revenue, cost competitiveness, market share, profitability, core competence,
time to market, future growth, survival, etc.
• Select an alternative to recommend. Make a logical, clear, and integrated
argument, backed by research to support why the gain and loss tradeoff from
this alternative is better than the other alternatives.
• Recommendations should be made only if backed by analysis and logic. Trivial
or unrealistic recommendations or recommendations that are inconsistent with
the firm’s goals, resources, the industry environment, and the culture of the
company must be avoided.

INFORMATION FOR WRITTEN GROUP CASE ANALYSIS

The following library site provides abundant data search engines that are helpful in writing a
paper.
http://www.utdallas.edu/library/reference/business.html

Just searching company website and/or citing free web information is not enough. Take
advantage of the paid search engines in the library homepage. It contains the following search
engines. Should you have further questions, contact liaison librarians in the library (Loreen
Phillips, Loreen.Phillips@utdallas.edu or visit
http://www.utdallas.edu/library/reference/somliaison.html.

• Business and Company Resource Center

• Business Source Premier
• Business & Management Practices
• CCH Internet Tax Research Network (tax service)
• Wall Street Journal (1984-current)
• Academic Universe Lexis Nexis (then under Business)
• Disclosure Data from Academic Universe Click on Business, then Company Financial
(company financial info)
• Mergent Online (formerly Moody's FIS Online) (company financial information)
• National Trade Data Bank (NTDB)
• EconLit (economics)
• ECONbase
• PAIS (public affairs)
• Business Dateline (index to regional business publications)

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 • Business Organizations
• Regional Business News (from TexShare)
• EDGAR Financial Reports (company financial information)
• Social Sciences Abstracts
• Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science/Web of Knowledge)
• Essay & General Literature Index
• Web of Science (Web of Knowledge) (citation indexes)
• WorldCat (OCLC)
• General Databases (multidisciplinary)
• For psychology in the workplace: Psychology and Human Development Databases

INFORMATION FOR THE ORAL PRESENTATION

1. Each team is scheduled for two oral presentations. Visual aids must be employed,
including the use of handouts, overhead projectors, PowerPoint, crash carts, etc. Ask
the instructor about equipment availability. You are encouraged to use slides on disk
rather than printed color transparencies.
2. Oral Presentation Teams are required to dress professionally and exhibit the same level
of decorum and consideration that you would in a real business setting.

3. All team members must be involved in the oral presentation with each team member
presenting a segment. Segment definition is the responsibility of the team. A printout
of your slides as well as a bibliography should be given to your instructor and other
class members. The title page of your presentation should list the case name, the date,
the names of each team member, and the segment each member will cover. The
instructor in each class may ask for full sized black and white copies of the slides.

4. Library and online research beyond the case are REQUIRED. Analysis in hindsight is
not permitted in either oral or written reports. “What a company did” is not
justification. There are many possibilities that companies do not consider. Also, in the
long run, the company’s action may not be successful.

5. When presenting, indicate the outside sources used. If you present industry averages,
for example, or demographic data, indicate where you got them.

6. After you have presented; be prepared to receive questions regarding your assumptions,
your use of data, your conclusions, your logic, and your recommendations. Other class
members may not agree with your analysis. Your instructor may challenge your
evaluation of environmental or internal characteristics. DO NOT BECOME
DEFENSIVE. This is a natural part of the process. You are being asked to think on
your feet and demonstrate that you have a deep understanding of the case issues. ALL
team members should participate in the question and answer session. Rigorous probing
by the instructor reflects the high expectations that he/she has for the class. Everyone
learns from this experience, even class members who are not presenting.

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CRITERIA FOR WRITTEN INDIVIDUAL CASE ANALYSES

Criteria 0 1 2 Total
Grammar Several grammar One or two errors No mistakes
errors
Spelling Multiple spelling One or two errors No spelling errors
errors
Word Choice Below average word Good word Excellent word
choices choices choices
Organization and Poor organization Good organization Very well
Flow organized
Citation of Missing citations Minor errors in Correct citation of
Sources citations sources
Total Points

Learning Goal: Students will develop competency in written communications. Each student
will complete a minimum of 15 pages of double-spaced written assignments in this course.
The assignments will be assessed using the rubric above as follows:
1. A paper scoring a zero in any of the five criteria must be rewritten.
2. For all papers totaling 6 or under, the paper must be rewritten.
3. For all papers totaling 5 or under, the student must make an appointment with
the writing tutor.

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 Case Evaluation Sheet: BA4305

1. Summary of the critical issues (10pts) Exceeds Expectations 10 pts

Most of the information in the case is not repeated. Meets Expectations 8-9 pts
Identification of internal and external issues. Marginally Meets Expectations 7 pts
Identification of the most important issues Does not Meet Expectations 5 pts

2. Strategic Analysis (20 pts) Exceeds Expectations 19- 20 pts

Evidence of deeper analysis beyond what is written or presented. Meets Expectations 16-18Pts
Suggests realistic options for the company (or industry). Marginally Meets Expectations 13-15Pts
Identifies pros and cons of options. Does not Meet Expectations 10-12 pts
Provides realistic, case-based support for the options.

3. Recommendation (10 pts) Exceeds Expectations 10 pts

Quality and support of the recommended option. Meets Expectations 8-9 pts
Implementation impact of the recommendation. Marginally Meets Expectations 7 pts
Does not Meet Expectations 5 pts

4. Other grading criteria (10 pts)

Clarity and logic of ideas Exceeds Expectations 10 pts
Use of exhibits Meets Expectations 8-9 pts
Use of outside materials Marginally Meets Expectations 7 pts
Grammar, spelling, structure Does not Meet Expectations 5 pts
Organization of presentation
Speaking style, use of visual aids and
handouts, balance of speakers
Dress and overall professionalism

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 Peer Evaluation Sheet

Team # ______________

Name __________________________

Name Self
Score
(1-5)*
Reasons

• 1 (very unsatisfactory) – 2 (unsatisfactory) – 3 (neither satisfactory nor

unsatisfactory) 4 (satisfactory) – 5 (very satisfactory)
• if 1, then the person gets 0.2
• if 2, then the person gets 0.4
• if 3, then the person gets 0.6
• if 4, then the person gets 0.8
• if 5, then the person gets 1
• Then the participation score will be multiplied with the score one gets from group
case analysis. For example, if a student gets 25/30 for group case analysis and 3
from the peer evaluation, then the actual grade is 25/30*0.6 = 15/60, not 25/30.
• Be objective in evaluating other members in your group and specify reasons.
• The evaluation should be turned in on the final exam. Peer evaluation sheet will be
provided along with the exam booklet.
• If one fails to turn in the peer evaluation sheet, then everybody in the team gets
4 (0.8).

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