Course Syllabus
This is a Sample Syllabus for BUS 500.
Business Systems and Processes
Credit Hours: 2
Instructor: Jon Firooz
Email: (preferred means of communication)
Class Time: Online – lectures release on Mondays
Class Dates: January 16 – March 6
Technical Assistance:
Section Coordinators:
| Jim Frucci |
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| Rod Thirion |
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Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course students should have a general conceptual framework for business processes, systems and structures:
- Understand general business terminology.
- Understand the concept of a business model:
- The 9 building blocks that determine how a company makes money: customer facing blocks (Customer Segments, Value Proposition, Channels, Customer Relationships, Revenue Streams) and organizational capability facing blocks (Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partnerships, Cost Structure)
- Apply the business model concept to real companies.
- Understand the concept of a value chain:
- The sequence of activities or functions (R&D, Production, Distribution, Marketing and Sales, Service, Finance, and Human Resources) that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a valuable product or service for the market.
- The value for customers that each function uniquely provides and value provided in collaboration with the other functions to create profit margin for the company.
- Explore examples of the general business framework in action. Focus will be on company functions and how they work together to create a company identity, result in a competitive product and define their culture.
- Understand how the functions represented by a company’s value chain are reflected in the financial statements, contribute to profitability and company value, and are measured for effectiveness.
- Understand a framework for creating and cascading a business strategy throughout various levels of an organization. Learn how to drive accountability and measurable results.
- From a business owner perspective, understand the three key financial statements and the three key bottom lines and how they work together to provide a clear picture of the business. Updated 12/21/2016 Page 2 of 5 (This is not meant to be an accounting or finance class but will provide some financial basics from an ownership perspective.)
The goal of BUS 500 is to give you a sound business understanding and starting point which you can leverage and build upon in your other academic business courses.
Required Reading:
The course will emphasize classroom discussion which will require that you are current on your reading assignments. I have specifically chosen readings that convey a lot of information and are an easy read but are not traditional textbooks. Hopefully that will make the reading load enjoyable and manageable! The required items, as well as where you can acquire them, are shown below:
| Text | Where to acquire |
| The Five Forces that Shape Strategy by Michael Porter (Jan, 2008) | Electronic Reserves, CSU Library (instructions for accessing will be provided on Canvas) |
| Positioning: The Essence of Marketing Strategy by Moore & Helstein (Dec, 2009) | Electronic Reserves, CSU Library (instructions for accessing will be provided on Canvas) |
| Marketing Strategy - An Overview by Raymond Corey (Mar, 2003) | Electronic Reserves, CSU Library (instructions for accessing will be provided on Canvas) |
| Clean Edge Razor: Splitting Hairs in Product Positioning by Quelch & Beckham (Jan, 2011) | Http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/57249182 |
| Analysis without Paralysis, CH13 - Value Chain Analysis | Electronic Reserves, CSU Library (instructions for accessing will be provided on Canvas) |
| Managing by the Numbers by Kremer and Rizzuto (ISBN:978-0-7382-0256-3) | CSU Bookstore |
Assignments and Canvas: I will use Canvas to post new and graded assignments. Generally speaking, your work will be graded within a week of the submittal deadline. It is expected that you will use the following format for submitting all assignments:
LAST.FIRST.ASSIGNMENT.docx For example: Firooz.Jon.FiveForces.docx
BUS500 Tentative Class Schedule
Note – all information below is subject to change. Any changes will be announced during class lectures.
| Week | Date | Topic | Reading prior to the start of class |
| 1 | Jan 16 | Course Introduction Business Model Canvas |
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| 2 | Jan 23 | Porter's 5 Forces |
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| 3 | Jan 30 | Roles & Responsibilities The Role of Marketing |
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| 4 | Feb 6 | Case Study Analysis |
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| 5 | Feb 13 | Value Chain Analysis |
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| 6 | Feb 20 | Reading Financial Statements |
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| 7 | Feb 27 | Financial Stements Analysis |
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| 8 | Mar 6 | Guest Speaker |
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| Mar 7 | Final Exam Released on Canvas by 9pm MST | ||
| Mar 12 | Final Exam Due on Canvas by 11:59pm MST |
Assignment Due Dates
| Number | Assignment | Points | Due Date (11:59pm MST on the date listed) |
| 1 | Personal Questionnaire | 50 | January 22 |
| 2 | Business Model Canvas | 50 | January 22 |
| 4 | 5 Forces Analysis | 50 | January 29 |
| 5 | Case Study | 50 | February 5 |
| 6 | Strategic Plan | 50 | February 12 |
| 7 | Value Chain | 50 | February 19 |
| 8 | Personal Balance Sheet & income | 50 | February 26 |
| 9 | Company Financial Analysis | 50 | March 5 |
Grading
| Category | Max Points | Percentage | |
| Participation | 200 | 25% | |
| Assignments | 400 | 50% | |
| Final Exam | 200 | 25% | |
| Total | 800 | ||
| 744+ | A | ||
| 720-743 | A- | ||
| 696-719 | B+ | ||
| 640-695 | B | ||
| 560-639 | C | ||
| 480-559 | D | ||
| 0-479 | F |
Category Max Points Percentage Participation 200 25% Assignments 400 50% Final Exam 200 25% Total 800 744+ A 720-743 A- 696-719 B+ 640-695 B 560-639 C 480-559 D 0-479 F
Class Participation (25%)
Each week you are expected to read any required course materials AND a current business news article of your choosing (based on a topic provided during each class). For each week of the course, you are expected to submit a one-page document (a submitted individual assignment, MS Word document, single-spaced 12 point Arial font, 1” margins).
- The first half of the one-page document should be focused on your application or extension of the key concepts of the current business news article you selected for that week. You are expected to discuss how the key concepts of the article relate to the concepts discussed in class that week o
- “Current” means the article was published sometime in the past two weeks. A link to the article should be included with every submission. There are many possible sources for articles including the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Inc., Fortune, Entrepreneur, Forbes and The Economist. Local or trade articles may be used as well, however, blog posts are not acceptable, nor are opinion pieces or editorial content. CSU MBA students get a free subscription to the Wall Street Journal. To activate your subscription go to https://mbaresources.biz.colostate.edu/Pages/wsj.aspx.
- The second half of the one-page document should be focused on your top three takeaways from that week’s course video and why those are key takeaways for you.
For example, during class I may tell you the topic for that week is “competitive forces”. You are to find a current business article that deals with that topic, write a one-page document (per the instructions above), and submit that document through Canvas. Your one-page document is generally due by 11:59pm the night preceding the following class. Please see Canvas for specific due dates.
Scoring for both halves will be based on the depth of insight, analysis, application, and extension demonstrated. Updated 12/21/2016 Page 5 of 5
- The goal for the first half is to demonstrate that you can apply course content to analyze a current business situation. Direct the ties between the course and the article will help your score. Depth of analysis and understanding will also affect your score.
- For the second half, scoring will be higher for papers that demonstrate what was learned and how it can be applied directly to your job or in your personal life. Be specific. Again, depth of analysis and understanding will also affect your score.
Your lowest participation score from weeks 1-7 will be dropped which effectively means you can choose not to do one of the first 7 participation assignments. The 8th assignment is required and has different instructions than the others. Specific details will be announced in class or via an update from your SC.
Assignments (50%)
Assignments represent the largest contribution to your overall grade. These assignments are in addition to course participation requirements (described above). All assignments are to be submitted through Canvas. Once you submit an assignment, that is the version that will be graded. Once grading has started, subsequent submissions will not be accepted. Unless otherwise specified, assignments are to be done individually. See the Professionalism and Academic Integrity section for consequences of failing to abide by this rule.
Examinations (25%)
There will be one exam administered at the end of the course. The exam will cover content from the reading material as well as content discussed during the class. The final exam will be available via Canvas. Once the exam is opened you will have a limited amount of time to complete it. It is expected that you will complete all exams individually and not share content with other students. Collaborating with other students on the exam is considered cheating. Those caught cheating will receive 0 points for the exam and may receive an F for the class.
Late Policy
You are expected to manage your schedule and meet all assigned deadlines. Items turned in within 24 hours after a deadline will receive a 25% penalty. Items turned in 24-48 hours late will receive a 50% penalty. Items submitted more than 48 hours late will not be accepted. Any exceptions must be approved in advance by your Section Coordinator. Late submission is not allowed for the final exam.
Professionalism and Academic integrity
All students are expected to follow University policies with respect to academic honesty and integrity such as avoiding all forms of cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the University. It is required that you work independently of others on all graded items. Failure to do so is a violation of academic integrity standards, and will have potentially severe consequences. Consequences may include a failing grade in the course, and dismissal from the MBA program. I will be adhering to the Academic Integrity Policy of the General Catalog and the Student Professional Conduct Code.
That’s it for now. Let’s have fun!
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
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