MSMU MBA PROGRAM

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MOUNT ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY

MBA PROGRAM SYLLABUS

Semester 5 Theme:

Application and Concentration

BUS 261: MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Consulting key success factors, consulting best practices, how to succeed in B260 consulting assignment and how to work effectively with management consultants

Summer Semester, 2018

Meeting dates:

Saturday, June 2, 2018

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM; 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Sunday, June 3, 2018

8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Faculty: Barry Patmore, MBA

abpatmore@msn.com

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SYLLABUS (Updated 3/10/2018) INTRODUCTION The course syllabus sets out information about the course as well as course expectations. From the faculty member's standpoint, it provides an easy-to-use form setting out the components and requirements, so there is clear communication with the students. From the students' point of view, the syllabus gives an overview of the coverage as well as the requirements, so they have a good sense of what the course entails from the beginning of the semester. Any surprises should be in the satisfaction of learning and the joys of being in an educational environment that values all the participants—students and faculty. At Mount St. Mary's University, we are guided by the Mount Mission to further the development of the whole person. The syllabus helps make that evident.

Semester 5 Theme: Application and Concentration

BUS 261: Management Consulting

Class Meeting dates and times:

Saturday, June 2, 2018:

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM; 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Sunday, June 3, 2018:

8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Faculty:

Professor Barry Patmore, MBA abpatmore@msn.com

This course is conducted by Barry Patmore, whose 35-year career with Accenture included Managing Partner of Southern California and Worldwide Managing Partner of Business Process Reengineering.

Availability: 24 hours by email.

Note: When sending an email, be sure to put the following into the subject line “B261 + assignment description + your name” Module Description: This course introduces the practice of management consulting and methods including:

1) Defining the scope and objectives of a consulting project, 2) Developing an RFP and evaluating and selecting consultants, 3) Understanding the importance of a thorough Consulting Services Agreement. 4) Understanding the process consultants follow, including the similarities with sound project management and change management processes and, 5) Understanding best practices for individuals working as consultants within their organizations.

Module Objectives and Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, the student will have achieved the following course objectives and learning outcomes.

1. Gain a basic understanding of the management consulting industry, the services offered and why leading

companies often use management consultants.

2. Understand how to evaluate, select, and work effectively with management consultants.

3. Understand the principles of successful consulting.

4. Be prepared to successfully complete your B260 MBA consulting project.

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5. Understand the process consultants follow, including the similarities with sound project management and

change management processes. Reinforce what you learned in your Project Management and Change

Management courses

6. Understand best practices for individuals working within organizations serving as consultants.

COURSE PREPARATION AND Required Textbooks and Materials: Required text, The Basic Principles of Effective Consulting, by Linda K. Stroh (Author), Homer H. Johnson (Author). ISBN-10: 0805854207 ISBN-13: 978-0805854206 Available online at Amazon.com and other online book sites. A Kindle version is available at a lower price.

Preparation Prior to First Class Meeting (estimated time 3 hours)

1. Read the course text The Basic Principles of Effective Consulting. To save you time, scan Chapter 1, and thoroughly

read chapter 2, 3 and 4. Then read the Key Success Factors section at the end of Chapters 5,6,7,8 and 9 and scan

the text in those chapters so you know what they cover and can reference them if needed during your casework.

2. Read the following materials to become familiar with the major players in IT Consulting and Management. Read

enough to understand their size, their major service offerings especially services related to strategy consulting,

business process reengineering, IT systems design and implementation, outsourcing, etc.

Read the following about the larger firms:

http://www.accenture.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accenture

http://www.mckinsey.com/

http://www.bain.com

Beware of articles that do not rank Accenture, IBM, and McKinsey as among the largest – there are some

inaccurate articles on the internet.

Read Wikipedia articles on Management Consulting. You will get extra credit if you can find a better

industry overview.

3. Be prepared to define “Business Process Reengineering” and to give an example of an important business process in

a PC manufacturing company. Read articles on Business Process Management and Business Process Reengineering.

4. Based on the research and readings, develop an email that answers the following questions:

1) Based on your reading of the textbook, what are the key items to include in a consulting services

agreement, not including fees and legal terms and conditions? (Counts for 25% of this assignment

grade).

2) List several important skills every consultant should have (not including good communications and

interpersonal skills). What courses have you taken that teach these skills?

3) What is Business Process Reengineering?

4) What is “Strategic Planning”? Why do many companies utilize consultants to help them develop or

update their strategic plans?

5) Name three of the largest management consulting firms that specialize primarily in Strategy Consulting?

What are three service offerings prominently mentioned on their web sites?

6) Name three of the largest management consulting firms that offer IT, systems development and

Business Process Outsourcing services. (Hint: they have more than 50,000 employees.) What are three

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service offerings prominently mentioned on their web sites? How do their service offerings differ from

the main service offerings from strategy firms?

7) What are the major advantages and disadvantages of a consulting career?

8) Indicate your experience working directly with consultants: none, moderate, extensive. If moderate or

extensive, which firm did you work with? (not for credit).

Send your email entitled “B 261 Pre-Class Assignment” to abpatmore@msn.com no later than 5 PM Friday, June 1, 2018. Emails received after this deadline will receive a maximum of half credit.

AGENDA: Saturday, June 2, 2018 Note: Bring your laptop to class. 8-8:15 AM Introduce yourself: Where do you work? Why do you want to get an MBA? 8:15- 9:00 AM

Take “closed book” quiz about the pre-reading assignments. You may only have your email app open, and you

may not refer to notes or any related info on your PC or the internet.

Email answers to abpatmore@msn.com entitled “B261 Quiz 1”.

Professor Patmore will review answers followed by an overview of the consulting industry.

Q&A about “everything you want to know about Consulting."

At the end of this hour, you should understand the major service offerings provided by the major firms as well as the size and scope of the consulting industry. 9:00-11 AM Lectures (break) and Q&A:

1) Common Types of Consulting Projects and Ways Consultants Can Be Utilized

2) Developing an RFP

3) Guidelines for Developing an Effective Consulting Services Agreement (CSA)

4) Consulting Firm Methodologies

5) Q&A

11 AM -1:15 PM Complete Case Assignment 1 (included immediately after this Agenda). Break into your usual teams and develop a PowerPoint presentation for the assignments in Case 1. Reconvene at the assigned time and be prepared to give a 10-minute presentation. Prior to the first team’s presentation, each team will email Its PowerPoint presentation entitled “B261 Case 1” to abpatmore@msn.com. Include names of team members on the first slide.

1:15 -2 PM Team presentations and discussion. You will grade and rank the team presentations other than yours. Professor Patmore will give his comments on answers to the Case. Q&A and Lessons Learned. 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Consulting Key Success Factors Lecture (with a 15-minute break at 3 PM)

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4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Break into teams and start Case Assignment 2 (included immediately after this Agenda). By 4:45, send one email per team to abpatmore@msn.com that defines your team’s conclusions about the fundamental problems. (Consider using “root cause analysis”).

AGENDA: Sunday, June 3, 2018

Prep: Come dressed as a consultant – professional appearance/attire 8:00- 9:00 Complete the case and finalize your presentation. Be 100% ready to present to the CEO and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) by 9:00. This includes two printed copies to hand out to the “CEO and CTO” and a presentation loaded on the classroom computer.

9:00-10:30

Each team will have 10 minutes to present their findings and recommendations to the Hospital CEO (Patmore) and the

CTO (Antoniou).

Each Team will get feedback on strengths and suggestions for improvement.

You will be asked to grade and rank the team presentations other than yours.

10:30-11:00

Presentation: How the actual consultant approached the Case and what were the key recommendations.

Discussion.

11:00- 12:00

Be prepared to answer one or more of the following questions:

What have you learned that will help you in the role of an internal consultant?

What have you learned that will help you in your upcoming consulting assignment

Wrap up:

KSFs, tools of the trade, tips.

“All the questions you always wanted to ask about Consulting but were afraid to ask."

Key Takeaways.

Complete questionnaire about course.

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B261 Case Study Children’s Hospital of “Large Metropolis” (CHLM)

Children’s Hospital Case

Background for both Case Assignment 1 and 2

Children’s Hospital is one of the best pediatric medical centers in the world, known for advancing research and diagnosis

and treatment of children and adolescents with complex diseases. Key facts about Children’s Hospital.

Treats more than 60,000 children a year in the Emergency Department. Admits more than 10,000 children a year to the hospital. Has 3,000 employees including 1,500 nurses and 300 doctors.

Goals for the Electronic Medical Records Project 1. Create an effective electronic medical record of all relevant patient information including all treatment and

diagnosis information for the patient 2. Improve medical outcomes and patient safety. 3. Improve the productivity and effectiveness of staff doctors and nurses. Background about the Electronic Medical Records Project The hospital has decided to utilize the electronic medical records applications from Cerner Software, the software vendor. The design phase is based on the functionality of the Cerner Software applications adapted to the specific requirements of the hospital. Ten of the core applications within the Cerner Software suite are to be designed in this phase and then implemented in the next phase of the project. These Cerner applications will have to be interfaced with about a dozen existing IT applications that were not going to be replaced, including patient billing so the design phase will also need to define the integrations requirements.

The IT infrastructure management (computer operations, server operations, communications operations, and end-user help desk and technical support) has already been outsourced to a large IT firm responsible for operating the computer and communications infrastructure.

B261 Case Assignment 1 1) What steps should the selection team perform to determine whether the proposing firms can provide the following?

a) Experience to assist Children’s Hospital in designing (and eventually implementing) an effective electronic

medical records system.

b) Experience successfully managing similar projects

c) An effective project management methodology including how they track and manage actual versus budget

personnel costs and expenses compared to budget and how they deal with (inevitable) project management and

execution barriers and problems.

d) Ability to work effectively with hospital personnel.

2) Develop slides answering the following questions regarding the Consulting Services Agreement for the “Design

Phase” of the Electronic Medical Records System.

a) What are the roles and responsibilities of the consulting firm’s project manager?

b) What is the role and responsibility of the hospital’s “executive sponsor” responsible for the project? What are

some actions you would expect him to take?

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c) During the design phase, what role would you recommend for hospital doctors and nurses who understand the

existing systems and business processes especially those related to input and retrieval of patient data?

d) What level of involvement from experienced nurses would be optimal? Why?

i) 1-3 nurses part-time (1-2 days a week or 20 to 40% of their time).

ii) 4-6 nurses part-time

iii) 7-10 nurses part-time

iv) 2-4 nurses full time

v) 6-12 nurses reviewing the design near its completion to ensure it fulfills the hospital’s requirements.

vi) A combination of above (specify).

e) What kind of fee arrangement would you recommend – fixed fee or time and materials or? What are the

advantages and disadvantages of the arrangement you recommend?

Not counting the introduction/agenda slide, the number of slides should equal at least the number of team members, so each member has an opportunity to present.

CHLM Facts for Case Assignment 1 The Design Phase is estimated to take about six months.

Guiding Principles for the Design Phase:

The clinicians, IT (Information Technology) staff, and the consulting firm must work effectively together to complete the project.

All patient data & information at Children's will be online. Data entry will be done in real time and will update the online database. All reference to patient data will be on the line.

The new system should improve the productivity and effectiveness of the doctors and nurses and be reasonably easy to use.

The consulting firm will be responsible for the following during the Electronic Medical Records Project Design Phase: 1. Providing project management. 2. Defining major problems with the existing systems and business processes that need to be resolved by the new

system and processes, 3. Defining the requirements that the new system needs to address. This includes helping the project team

members from the hospital and the heads of the medical staff and nursing agree on priorities. 4. Designing how to utilize the software to convert the hospital from an inefficient paper-based record keeping

system to an efficient electronic medical records system. 5. Designing efficient new or improved business/medical processes that effectively utilize the functionality of the

software. 6. Defining the new terminal capabilities and other computer hardware needed to support the new system

including the configuration needed to support easy on line real time entry/access to treatment and medication information.

7. Defining a project plan for completing the next phase (the Systems Implementation phase) on time and on budget and achieving a ‘quality result” shortly after conversion to the new system. This phase includes:

a) Prior to conversion, testing the system to ensure that when it “goes live” there are no bugs that jeopardize patient safety or compromise staff efficiency.

b) Prior to conversion, training all the doctors, nurses and assistants to utilize the system effectively when it "goes live."

c) Implementing the software and new/improved processes in a manner that Improves staff productivity by at least 10% within 3 months after converting to the new system.

d) Achieving a user satisfaction rating of at least 3.5 on a 5-point scale within 3 months after conversion.

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The hospital CEO has assigned the COO to be the “executive sponsor” for the design project.

The Hospital’s chief information officer and some of his staff estimate that the Design Phase will require a team of about 15 consultants working with several subject matter experts from the hospital and several analysts from the IT department. The hospital’s preliminary estimate of consulting fees for the Design Phase is $2 million. Their preliminary estimate of the Implementation Phase is $20 to $30 million subject to finalizing the design during the Design Phase.

B261 Case Assignment 2: Resolving problems that occurred during the “Implementation Phase” Of the Electronic Medical Records Project

Each team will play the role of an independent consultant hired by the hospital to review the project against “best

practices” and prepare a presentation that addresses the following:

a. The scope and objectives of your project.

b. The work steps you performed.

c. Your team’s conclusions about the fundamental problems the project is experiencing. (Think about the gaps

between consulting project key success factors and what was actually happening.)

d. Recommendations about how to structure the project for success going forward, including personnel changes,

project management changes, organizational changes, changes in roles and responsibilities, changes to the CSA

and changes to fee arrangements.

The recommendations should reflect what you learned about Consulting Services Agreements and Consulting Key Success Factors plus what you have learned about effective project management and change management in other courses. Assume your team is giving the presentation to the CEO, so focus on the most important recommendations for management.

(The number of slides should equal at least the number of team members, so each member has an opportunity to present).

Case Assignment 2 Background:

This case starts after the Design Phase was completed. The project is 4 months into the Implementation Phase. The Implementation Phase was estimated to take about two years. The Implementation Phase scope includes: detailed design of all on line data entry and information retrieval processes… designing all new /revised business/ medical processes dealing with patient treatment… programming interfaces between all the new Cerner applications and 12 existing applications…specifying thousands of parameters that define how the Cerner software would operate at the hospital… converting and scrubbing all historical patient data for the last 10 years (about 20,000 patients) and entering it into the new on-line data bases…developing training material for 3,000 people (nurses, doctors and IT support personnel) …purchasing several hundred portable computers for real-time data entry and access to electronic medical records… thoroughly testing the entire computer application and all related hardware and software to ensure that it was reasonably bug-free and ready to be implemented … training the 3,000 people who have to know how to utilize the system while treating patients and ensuring they know how to effectively operate the new systems and business/medical processes before "going live"…developing a support infrastructure to help users during the process of "going live" and for a reasonable period after conversion to the new system.

What happened?

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CB Systems (CBS) was hired to conduct and manage the 6-month “Design Phase” (Case 1). CBS assigned a project manager and about 20 consultants to the design phase, and they worked with a half-dozen hospital personnel, most of whom were part-time.

After completion of the Design Phase, CBS was hired to do the Implementation Phase on a time and materials contract with estimated fees of $20 million. The Implementation Phase project team was planned to be about 40 full-time personnel, about 80% were from CBS and the rest from the hospital.

Four months after the start of the Implementation Phase, the hospital’s CEO became very concerned about the project. It had come to his attention that there was friction and distrust between CBS management and the hospital’s IT management as well as the doctors and nurses working part-time on the project. Several of the senior hospital personnel involved with the project were dissatisfied with various aspects of how it was being managed by CBS and progress seemed slow.

The CEO called “BP Consulting” a small firm that had helped the hospital develop the RFP and the Consulting Services Agreement for the Design Phase. The CEO described the situation and his growing concern. The CEO asked BP Consulting to “review the project and recommend how to get it back on track”. BP Consulting proposed that they would perform a formal project management evaluation, including: assessing the project status, comparing how the project was being managed against best practices of successful projects and developing recommendations regarding how to restructure the project so it would deliver a fully operational system, on time and on budget. The CEO authorized BP Consulting to conduct the proposed evaluation and recommend actions needed to ensure that the project would have a successful outcome. Your team plays the role of the BP Consulting (but each team should have a unique name so we can keep track of the presentations). Since BP Consulting is a small firm and it is doing an independent and objective review, the firm made a decision that they would not propose to take over the responsibilities of CBS.

Project Symptoms/Problems

Your Consulting team defined the following symptoms/problems observed during your review of the project:

1. John Smith, the CBS Consulting project manager, was focused was on implementing the software package. He had extensive experience managing large complex systems implementation projects in other industries. He was personable and motivated and had very limited experience in medical process re-engineering or change management.

2. Progress reporting was focused on software development details. The rest of the implementation plan for the project was at a high level. A testing plan or change management plan had not yet been developed.

3. The project management plan was at a summary level. Project management software was not being used. Interim deliverables and related target dates were not fully defined.

4. Recent status reports seemed overly optimistic, but there was no "actual time versus budget” being tracked for major works steps.

5. The level of progress was unclear, and there was a range of attitudes about how things were going from poorly (many hospital people) to quite well (most of the people from the Consulting firm).

6. The progress against the conversion target date was unclear. Several hospital team members questioned the feasibility of achieving the “go live” target date.

7. The scope of CBS responsibilities and the hospital’s responsibilities were unclear. 8. There were many open functional design issues. 9. CBS senior executive overseeing the project had complained that they were being micromanaged and second-

guessed by the hospital’s IT management. 10. CBS had assigned few people who had prior Cerner software or hospital systems experience. 11. There was significant personal friction between one of the top managers from the hospital on the team and

several of the top people from CBS. 12. The steering committee of hospital executives responsible for guiding the project had only met once. Its

responsibilities were not defined. The chairperson (a senior VP) did not seem engaged. It was unclear what executive from the hospital other than the CTO (chief technology officer) was responsible for ultimate successful implementation. Several of the other VPs acted as if the CTO was the hospital executive responsible for the

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project. The doctors on the hospital's executive committee were not significantly involved in the project and had many other priorities. They said they did not have time to devote to the project. The VP of nursing seemed skeptical and pessimistic about the project.

13. Most of the personnel the hospital had assigned to the team were part-time, and there were no full-time doctors or nurses on the project team. The responsibilities of the hospital people assigned were not defined.

14. There was no conflict resolution process. 15. The team comprised of CBS and Hospital personnel was not functioning effectively as a team. There was a

“them and us” syndrome. 16. Some of the hospital senior executives were pushing for a fixed price contract.

Project Key Success Factors Questionnaire.

Assume your team developed the following questionnaire to help evaluate the effectiveness of project management based on your extensive prior experience successfully managing projects. (When evaluating this project against the points in the questionnaire, apply what you learned in this course and in your project management and change management courses). For each question, your consulting team needs to assign a 1 to 5 rating (similar to an Amazon product rating) with 5 being "Outstanding." An executive level summary of your evaluation should be part of your team presentation.

1. Project goals, benefits, and expectations are well documented. 2. Executive support and leadership are strong. 3. The design is well documented, key deliverables are clearly defined, and target dates are specified. 4. Key stakeholders (including the project team, steering committee, executive sponsors, and management)

understand the design and believe it will achieve the project goals. 5. The implementation plan utilizes staged deliverables and milestones that will facilitate confirming the design

and demonstrating the project team’s ability to deliver effectively. 6. There is a clear definition of roles and responsibilities of CBS and the hospital personnel on the project. 7. Hospital staffing requirements for the project are well defined. 8. Scope, timing, and cost targets are appropriate given the organization's ability to change. 7. An effective project management system is being utilized to track actual versus budget, estimates-to-complete

and change orders. 8. The consultant’s project manager has adequate experience in designing and implementing systems of similar

complexity in similar organizations. 9. The consulting firm’s project team has adequate industry and software package experience. 10. The hospital has assigned sufficient experienced SMEs full time to the project. 11. Once the design is approved, there is rigorous change control. 12. There is direct, candid and frequent communication between vendor management and hospital management. 13. There are no major open contract issues, and contract disputes seem unlikely. 14. The contractual terms are well defined, including contractor responsibilities and accountability. 15. Important open design issues and development problems are defined, and there is an effective process for

resolving them. 16. Work to date has been reasonably efficient and effective and has been done on time and budget. 17. Project teamwork is effective and working relationships are positive. 18. Change management is well planned, adequately resourced and effective.

Your presentation to the CEO should include:

a. An agenda of what you are going to cover during your presentation and a list of team members.

b. The major work steps your consulting team performed. Include conducting a survey of each project team

member using the PROJECT KEY SUCCESS FACTORS QUESTIONNAIRE and summarizing the results.

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Hints:

Keep in mind you are presenting to a senior executive.

Read the case carefully and understand it before you start. (Previously, not all teams have evidenced doing

this).

List the major problems but be conscious of how many you list and how you group them -- focus on root

cause problems that, if resolved, will have the biggest impact on restructuring the project, so it is likely to be

successful. (Prior classes have found this to be challenging so give it a lot of thought).

Start each recommendation with a verb.

If you identify alternative approaches to “fixing” the project, outline the alternatives you considered and for

alternatives that are mutually exclusive, give the pros and cons of each.

Assume you are presenting to the CEO and CIO so focus on the most important problems and then define

action steps you think top management needs take.

The recommendations should reflect what you learned about the Consulting Services Agreements and

Consulting Key Success Factors plus what you have learned about effective project management and change

management in other courses.

Avoid jargon, acronyms or parroting back terminology or diagrams you just learned. Senior client

executives are most interested in your definition of the “real” problems or opportunities for improvement

and your recommendations about what needs to be done and who needs to do what.

Each team member must present something of substance. (The intro side does not count).

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SUMMARY OF Assignments and point (percentage) allocations: (this section is intended to augment the information above and is provided for your handy reference only – the substance of assignments and in-class discussions are provided above.)

DUE DATE ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION PERCENTAGE OF GRADE

Prior to 5 P.M. January 19, 2018

Preparation Prior to First Class Meeting: Utilizing your text and the resources identified

in points 2, 3 and 4 of “Preparation Prior to First Class Meeting," prepare a one-page email to Professor Patmore.

10

June 2, 2018 Demonstrate that you read the recommended sections of The Basic Principles of Effective Consulting prior to the class and you understand them. There will be a quiz to assess your understanding of the key concepts. Answers will be emailed to Professor Patmore in class. (Students are honor bound not to make any post quiz modifications to the email.) IN CLASS ASSIGNMENT on Case 1: email to Professor Patmore containing answers to the questions in Case 1 Quality of class participation

10

15

15

June 3, 2018 TEAM ASSIGNMENT: Case 2: As a team, develop recommended responses to the questions identified in the PLEASE NOTE: you will be asked to grade your group members for their participation, and this input will affect their grade.

50

TOTAL: 100

Student Credit Hour Policy – A credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that reasonably approximates not less than:

(1) One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or

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(2) At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) for other academic activities, including laboratory work, internships, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours. Assignment Submissions: Unless specified otherwise, submit an electronic copy of your assignment to the Angel Drop Box that has been set up for this course. SCHOLARLY REFERENCES: PLEASE NOTE: Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable reference for work due in this module. As a graduate student, you need to use scholarly resources/references. You may locate scholarly articles through EBSCO Host or Lexis/Nexis, which can be accessed at the MSMU library. Group Assignments:

When an assignment or in-class project is designated “group”, ALL group members are required to contribute to the group assignments. Failure of all members to participate will result in a reduced grade for every member of the group. At the completion of each module, you will be asked to grade your group members (See Appendix C for Group Grading Form). THE GROUP GRADING will be taken into account in determining the final grade for the course. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING ASSIGNMENTS: PROFESSORS’ POLICY REGARDING LATE WORK: There is no late work accepted. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING STUDENT/FACULTY EXPECTATIONS: WRITTEN WORK: Writing Requirements: All homework assignments (including case studies and the final group project) must be typed (computer generated) and spell/grammar checked. Note: while this is not a writing class, it is a graduate level course and, as such, failure to proofread submissions for spelling and grammar will result in a significantly lower grade being assigned. Papers are also to be well written with a logical flow of thought. Submit your papers double-spaced with 1" margins, and prepared in the APA format found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Papers should be in 12-pitch font. Please include a title page on all papers. SEE ADDITIONAL WRITING RESOURCES ON THE ATTACHED APPENDIX A. Unless otherwise stated in the syllabus, the following grading criteria will apply:

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS (individual and group)

Item Description Percentage

1 Content and Conceptualization 60%

2 Logical organization of thoughts, ideas, and structure 20%

3 Spelling, Grammar, APA format, etc. 20%

Total 100%

Please contact the Learning Center / Graduate Writing Coach for additional information about APA format and/or go to http://www.APA.org on the Internet to get additional information. ORAL PRESENTATIONS: Professional dress is required for all presentations. In this course, since you are analyzing a case based on a real-life situation and it states you are making recommendations to the CEO, you need to demonstrate you understand the problems and have recommendations that will put the project back on the track toward a successful outcome.

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SEE ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS REGARDING ORAL PRESENTATIONS IN THE ATTACHED APPENDIX B. Unless otherwise stated in the syllabus, the following grading criteria will also apply:

GROUP ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Item Description Percent

1 Relevancy to stated objectives 20%

2 Appropriateness of examples as an illustrative vehicle 10%

3 Evidence of contribution of each team member 10%

4 Creativity 10%

5 Presentation skills including compliance with time limits 10%

6 Evidence of substantive research 10%

7 Identification of principles 10%

8 Practical applications 10%

9 Mechanics of presentation 10%

Total 100%

GRADING SCALE: CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES

Letter Grade Criteria Numeric Range

A Student performance is clearly outstanding 93-100

A- Performance indicates sharp insights and an ability to integrate and generalize material beyond the context of the course

90-92.9

B+ 87-89.9

B Student performance is above average, demonstrating knowledge of facts and an ability to integrate and apply material within the context of the course.

83-86.9

B- 80-82.9

C+ 77-79.9

C Student performance is average, demonstrating knowledge of course content and exhibiting an ability to apply basic concepts within the context of the course.

73-76.9

C- 70-72.9

D Student performance is below average, partially fulfilling minimum course requirements. This level of performance may not prepare the student to progress to a more advanced level of study within the subject content or the major.

60-69.9

F Student performance is unacceptable and does not meet minimum course requirements

< 60

Participation Grading Criteria. Participation is graded on individual contribution to class discussions and participation in your study group. The vast majority of leaders’ interactions with others are oral. They generally spend very little time reading and even less time writing reports. For this reason, the development of oral skills is given a high priority in this course. The classroom should be considered a laboratory in which you can test your ability to interact and interface effectively with your peers. Some of the characteristics of effective class participation are:

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Are the points that are made relevant to the discussion in terms of increasing everyone's understanding, or are they merely interruptions or regurgitation of case facts?

Do the comments take into consideration the ideas offered by others earlier in the class, or are the points

isolated and disjointed? The best contributions following the lead off tend to be those that reflect not only excellent preparation, but good listening, and interpretative and integrative skills as well.

Do the comments show evidence of thorough reading and analysis of the material, including the text, the

case (if applicable) and outside business resources?

Does the participant demonstrate critical thinking about the issue and differentiate among opinions, assumptions, and inferences?

Is there a willingness to test new ideas or are all comments cautious/"safe"?

Is the participant willing to interact with other class members by asking questions or challenging

conclusions? Outstanding Contributor: (A) grade: Contributions in class reflect thorough preparation. Ideas offered are substantive; provide one or more major insights as well as direction for the class. Arguments, when offered, are well substantiated and persuasively presented. If this person were not a member of the class, the quality of the discussions would be diminished significantly.

Good Contributor: (B) grade: Contribution in class reflects thorough preparation. Ideas offered are usually substantive and provide good insights and sometimes direction for the class. Arguments, when presented, are generally well substantiated and are often persuasive. If this person were not a member of the class, the quality of the discussion would be diminished considerably.

Adequate Contributor: (C) grade. Contributions in class reflect satisfactory preparation. Ideas offered are sometimes substantive, provide generally useful insights, but seldom offer a major new direction for the discussion. Arguments are sometimes presented, and are fairly well substantiated and sometimes persuasive. If this person were not a member of the class, the quality of the discussions would be diminished somewhat.

Non-participant: (D) grade. This person has said little or nothing in this workshop or class. Hence, there is not adequate basis for evaluation. If this person were not a member of the class, the quality of the discussions would not be changed.

Unsatisfactory Contributor: (F) grade. Contribution in class reflects inadequate preparation. Ideas offered are seldom substantive; provide few, if any, insights; and rarely a constructive direction for the class. Integrative comments and effective arguments are absent. Class contribution is, at best, “time filler” efforts making isolated, obvious, or confusing points. If this person were not a member of the class, valuable class time would be saved.

The classroom is your laboratory for demonstrating professional behavior and business acumen. Example of things that cause one not to earn the full amount of participation points:

Doing homework in class

Failing to listen and interact courteously with faculty and fellow students

Not reading assigned material

Being disruptive verbally and non-verbally

Not participating in class discussions

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Missing class (please note: the MBA program has a zero-tolerance policy for absences)

Arriving late, leaving early

Text messaging during class, cell phone/pagers going off during class

Surfing the Internet during class Policies: Classroom Attendance and Punctuality: Consistent attendance and timely arrival are highly valued behaviors in today's competitive, dynamic work environment. Therefore, classroom attendance is required. Much of your learning will derive from discussions and activities in class, rather than from lecture. Therefore you cannot make up an absence. PLEASE NOTE: THERE IS A ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY FOR ABSENCES. PLEASE MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO ATTEND AND BE ON TIME FOR EVERY CLASS.

Respect: Active participation in class requires a safe and trusting environment. It is important for us to respect the views and comments made by others, even if we disagree with such comments. I encourage debate and critical discussion, yet it must be respectful, polite, and professional.

Confidentiality: Confidentiality is required to foster a safe environment for active discussion of business-related topics. Student discussions may involve experiences from their jobs or personal experiences. Therefore, all discussions of business or personal experiences are expected to be treated respectfully and confidentially. Proprietary information from the workplace should not be discussed in the class setting.

PLAGIARISM:

Academic Integrity/Plagiarism:

All student-submitted materials are expected to be the product of the student's thought process.

Information from other sources may be used; however, credit must be given, by using in-text citations or

footnotes.

A reference list should be attached to the paper to further identify the sources utilized.

Please refer to the Mount St. Mary’s 2016-2018 Catalog section on Academic Integrity for a complete discussion of

cheating, failing to hand in original work, plagiarism, falsification or misrepresentation, and theft. If the work of

someone else (whether it is quoted or paraphrased) is not properly cited (or footnoted) in the assignment and

if there is not a reference list giving the details of the work, THAT IS PLAGIARISM.

If work is plagiarized in this course, the student will be subject to the consequences outlined in the 2016-2018

Catalog which states, “The penalty for an act of dishonesty could range from a grade of F on an examination

or assignment, a reduced or failing grade for the course in question, probation, suspension or expulsion

from the University. Repeated acts of academic dishonesty will be treated more gravely."

To read the entire policy, visit: http://msmu.smartcatalogiq.com/en/2016-2018/2016-2018-Catalog/Academic-

Policies-and-Procedures/Registration-and-Course-Information/Academic-Integrity

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SYLLABUS- page 17

Other Requirements: The requirements and conditions established by Mount Saint Mary’s University, as enumerated in the

Graduate Student Handbooks, Catalog, and Department of Business Administration policies, are incorporated in this syllabus,

in their entirety, by this reference.

Plagiarism or

Americans with Disabilities Act: MSMU, in compliance with state and federal laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of disability. If you are a student with a documented disability, please contact Mark Forte at The Learning Center (mforte@MSMU.la.edu) to make arrangements for classroom accommodations. Additional disability-related information and policies can be found in the Graduate Student Handbook and in the 2016-2018 University Catalog.

COURSE CHANGES: The Instructor reserves the right to change assignments, as needed, to achieve the learning objectives of the course. Students will be informed, in writing, of these changes. No changes will require additional work on the part of the student(s).

APPENDIX A

Electronic Writing Resources Follow these links to some excellent writing resources: http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk5.html#9 http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/English/writing.html http://www.powa.org/ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/ www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/apa

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APPENDIX B

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Start by introducing the team members and outlining the agenda you plan to follow in the presentation.

Assign roles for the presentation. Choose the person with the strongest presentation style and credibility for the opening. Assign other presenters in the middle of the presentation. Select a strong speaker to conclude the presentation. Assign someone to handle the visual aids. Assign someone to manage a question-and-answer session (if applicable). However, each presenter should be prepared to answer questions about his or her section.

Plan transitions among the speakers. Decide how each presenter will hand the presentation over to the next speaker. Determine how introductions will be made – all at once at the beginning or as each speaker introduces the next speaker. Any method you decide is fine, just make sure to keep it consistent, and BE COURTEOUS.

Be aware of your nonverbal communication throughout the entire group presentation. When you speak in a group, you should still follow the guidelines for effective delivery (form). Remember that you are "on stage" during the entire presentation. While other speakers are talking, look attentive and be courteous. Make sure that you do not distract the audience by whispering, fidgeting, or grimacing. Do not hurt your credibility by looking bored, or by frantically going over your notes.

Ensure consistency of delivery. Glaring inconsistencies between the presenters’ delivery styles can disrupt the group presentation. Audiences become distracted by marked disparities in style, such as a captivating speaker followed by one less prepared or energetic. Achieve a good balance of delivery styles. Together with the other members, each participant should practice his/her portion of the presentation in the same order in which it will be given in the final form, and do so until it proceeds smoothly.

Maintain symmetry of appearance. Coordinate your attire with the other members of the group so that there is symmetry of appearance. Audiences become distracted by radical differences in the attire of the presenters, especially if casual attire is mixed with business attire. Don’t necessarily try to dress alike; this can also distract an audience. Rather, make sure that your attire is (1) appropriate to your presentation, (2) shows respect for the audience, and (3) is of like manner. When in doubt, opt for business casual.

Approach the podium in the same fashion. If your presentation format dictates that each participant will get up from a chair and speak from a podium, make sure that everyone does so in the same way. Also, be attentive to the verbal transitions used to introduce the next speaker (if appropriate) and make sure to follow suit.

Arrange your speaking environment to suit your needs. Arrange yourselves and any podium, chairs, tables, audio-visual equipment, etc., to accommodate your presentation. Don’t accommodate yourselves to the environment. Arrange things so that they provide for easy transitions among speakers, accommodate audience viewing, and prevent unwanted distractions.

Coordinate speaking notes. Depending upon your chosen presentation format, each presenter will have their speaking notes. Decide how you will coordinate the handling of the notes: in a binder at the podium, in similar formats in front of each speaker, etc. Avoid distracting the audience with different formats between each speaker (paper, notes, binder, folder). This relates very closely to ensure a consistent delivery.

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APPENDIX C

GROUP MEMBER EVALUATIONS

In completing this form, write the name of each group member on the first line of the form. Do not identify yourself. Objectively evaluate each member’s performance on the following factors. Attempt to rate group members without regard to positive or negative feelings that you may have for them individually. Submit this form IN CONFIDENCE to the Professor at the end of each module.

1= No Participation 2= Slight Participation 3= Moderate participation 4= Significant Participation 5= Outstanding Participation

Name of each Study Group

Member:

Prepared (Research, reading, and assignment complete)

Attendance (On-time and stayed for

duration)

Participation (Contributed best academic

ability)

Dignity, respect, and Listening

(Present and respectful)

On task (Conducted like a business meeting)

Conflict resolution

(Willingness to resolve disputes outlined in the

charter)

Decisions by Consensus (Lead or follow appropriately)

Communication between meetings

(Initiate and respond appropriately)

Overall Contribution:

What changes would you like to see in your study group?