TC 209 – Analysis and Communication for Managers

 

Professor Brenton Faber                                                                                    

Snell 178 (MWF 2-4 or by apt) 268.6466 faber@clarkson.edu

 

Introduction – Critical thinking is strategic communication

Management cannot be separated from communication. Managers must present information, solve problems, make decisions, motivate and evaluate employees, and recommend action and policies. At the same time, a manager’s decisions must be well informed, creative, accurate, and ethical. TC 209 teaches students how to implement this reciprocal relationship between critical thinking and communication in a managerial context. By emphasizing the central function communication and critical thinking play in managerial decision making, the course prepares students for the complexities inherent in managing dynamic and changing workplaces.

 

                Course Goal

To learn and practice communication competencies relevant to a business setting

 

Course Objectives              

Throughout the semester each student will learn:

                C              how to write a business case

                C              how to produce business documents for a business audience

                C              how communication functions within an organization

                C              how organizational systems work

                C              how to communicate persuasively

                C              how to define the business value of a product or process

                C              how to present ideas and concepts in a business context

                C              how to work together in a business team

                C              how to manage an open-ended and loosely defined project.

 

Course Grading

I will measure your ability to complete the above objectives as you prepare and submit, and I grade the following projects:

 

                Four bi-weekly business cases:                         50%  (10%, 30%, 30%, 30%)

                One final business case:                                     20%

                Analysis Tutorials:                                              10%

                Participation (includes team assessment)        20%

 

Your work will be evaluated for accuracy, inventiveness, content, style, and its appropriateness for the intended audience. Please consult with the following chart for project author responsibilities. In each case, the document’s author will receive the grade for that assignment.

 

                Assignment                                          Author   Documentation

                Bi-weekly business cases                   Team                      Signatures

                Analysis Tutorials                               Individual              Signature (email)

                Team Assessment                               Individual              Signature (confidential)

                Final business case                             Pair                         Signature

 

The bi-weekly cases will be jointly authored. This means that your entire team will receive equal credit for the document unless otherwise arranged. Your team is responsible for project management, delegation, and enforcement. In the event that the team feels that work was not equally distributed the team can elect to have the credit unequally distributed among members.

 

The analysis tutorials are completed individually by each student. When you have completed the tutorials you will submit an email to me documenting your work. You will be tested on this material throughout the term in different ways and at different times.

 

The team assessment will be completed once mid-way through the term to judge individual team member performance and once at the end of term to assign participation grades. These grades will be determined by the professor.

 

The final case will be completed in pairs.

 

Course Design – Web Based Case Simulation

TC 209 takes place (is performed) entirely as a web-based business case. Every three weeks a new case will be introduced within the simulation. Your task will be to work in your team, use all of the available resources, and solve the business problem. Resources are available as tutorials on the web site, as textbooks in the ERC, from teaching assistants, and from me.

 

During class time, the course is an immersion. This means that students, teaching assistant, and the professor will all play their roles. Outside of class you can obviously experiment with as many different roles you like. However, in class we expect you to participate in the simulation.

 

                Your role:                   You are a consultant working on a team of consultants tasked to solve business problems at NASCO. NASCO is the client organization.

                The teaching

                assistant:                   The teaching assistant is a representative from NASCO. This means that the TA is your client. The TA is not the NASCO representative in charge of the project. Only the professor has access to this person. However, the TA is a knowledgeable insider at NASCO.

 

                The professor:          I am the Partner in charge of this contract and ultimately your boss. Only I have contact with the NASCO CEO and board of directors. In the end, I decide if your work is acceptable or not.

Project management.

In order to do well in this class you must be organized, and you must take the initiative for your own learning. The only due dates are those days when you will be presenting your solutions to the client. These presentations will occur roughly every other week. However, there is plenty of other work for which you are responsible.

 

Analysis Tutorials. In addition to the communication tutorials, the web site also hosts different analysis tutorials. I recommend that you do these tutorials early and often because they will be essential to completing quality projects.

 

Document Styles and Formats. For each case you will be required to complete a business case and potentially other documents. There are style guides on the web page explaining how to prepare these documents.

               

Team versus Individual work. The bi-weekly cases are team projects. As a team you will produce a business case and any other relevant materials. It is your responsibility to make sure you receive adequate training and experience in writing the cases.

 

Course Schedule. The course will keep to a rigid schedule but might change depending on events during the term.

 

                ·              Case 1:       Introduced September 2

                                                    Presented September 16-20

                                                    Handed in September 20

               

                ·              Case 2:       Introduced September 23

                                                    Presented October 7-11

                                                    Handed in October 11

 

                ·              Case 3:       Introduced October 14

                                                    Presented October 28-November 1

                                                    Handed in November 1

 

 

                ·              Case 4:       Introduced November 4

                                                    Presented November 18-22

                                                    Handed in November 22

 

                ·              Case 5:       Introduced November 25

                                                    Handed in December 9

 

Attendance requirements and policies for making up missed course work

Each student is responsible for managing his or her own progress through the course. Twenty per-cent of the course grade will be determined by the student’s participation in the course. Participation is defined as leadership, initiative, work habits, attitude, and collegiality. Part of this grade will be based on your colleagues’ evaluations of your work.

 

Designation of the course as a non_final exam course, or not

There is no final exam in this course.

 

Policy on granting A or B exemptions from the final exam

N/A

 

Statement on Academic Integrity

Familiarize yourself with Clarkson University’s official statement on plagiarism and academic integrity. It is important that you understand these regulations as you can be dismissed from this class, and potentially from the university, if you violate the university's code. In brief, taking another person’s work, or another group’s work, and representing it as your own work is a violation of university standards of integrity and honesty.