SB/MSBA6300 3.00X Course Description

Schulich Course Information

SB/MSBA6300 3.00X: CASE ANALYSIS & PRESENTATION SKILLS
Winter 2014
M 19:00 - 22:00
Room SSB W132

Term: W2
Exam: A4

COURSE DIRECTOR:	Rafal Smerd; Michelle Hassen	ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT:	Sheila Sinclair
OFFICE:		OFFICE:
OFFICE TELEPHONE:		TELEPHONE:
OFFICE HOURS:		EMAIL:
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This course is "cross listed with" MGMT 6300 3.0 X, and will follow the MBA TEACHING WEEKS and MBA FINAL EXAMS and NO EXCEPTIONS will be made.

Schulich School of Business
York University

Course Outline

MGMT.6300 X 3.0: Case Analysis and Presentation Skills
Mondays, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm, Room W132
Winter 2014

Instructors

Michelle Hassen
(416) 736-5077
N304J Seymour Schulich Building
mhasse@yorku.ca
Office hours: by appointment

Rafal Smerd
(416) 725-9746
N304J Seymour Schulich Building
rsmerd@yorku.ca
Office hours: by appointment

Brief Description

This course is designed to give students the opportunity to practice and develop their analytical thinking and presentation skills. The key objective of the course is to train students successfully participate in national and international case competitions. A secondary objective is to prepare students to successfully interview for management consulting positions. Second year MBA students who enjoy analyzing cases and delivering presentations are encouraged to take the course.

Prerequisite

All 5000-series Required Foundations of Management Core Courses.

Course objectives

Strategic thinking skills:
Strategic thinking skills allow us to draw unique insights that enable organizations to overcome key challenges they face and seize opportunities to create value.

These skills allow business professionals to address key questions facing every organization such as: “What are our goals and aspirations? Where will we play (e.g., customers, products, geographies)? How do we create value and win in our chosen markets? What choices do we need to make, and what are the trade-offs? What should we do next?”
The development of a systematic way of thinking that allows you to establish recommendations to questions such as these that are based on facts is a key objective of this course.

Structured problem solving skills:
Structuring your analyses and developing a logical argument enables business professionals to balance rigor and efficiency in solving complex business scenarios. Frameworks decompose problems into a set of drivers or elements, efficiently guide the identification of key issues and potential recommendations, and aid in prioritizing actions.

In this course, you will learn to approach problem solving and presentation building in a structured manner by using existing frameworks and learning how to develop your own.

Presentation skills:
Effective presentation skills are an important element to a successful business career and key to communicating your ideas to all levels of the organization.

As part of a team, you will make at least 5 presentations in this course, providing an opportunity to develop and practice your presentation skills. At the end of each presentation we (and sometimes an external referee) will provide you with a detailed critique of both the content and style of your presentation. This iterative process is designed to enhance your presentation skills, learn how to clearly communicate your message, and succinctly sell your ideas to your target audience.

Teamwork skills:
You will work in teams of 5-6 (depending on class size). Teams will be assigned randomly for each class. This will give you exposure to working with various individuals and team environments. As a result, you will learn valuable lessons about working effectively in teams and collaborating with colleagues with different working styles.

Organization of the Course

The course comprises a set of initial lectures that introduce the approaches and methods to tackle business cases and develop presentations in an accretive manner.

Subsequently, the remaining classes will consist of a short lecture or discussion followed by a class exercise where you will be asked to solve a business case in a team. Several teams will be randomly selected to present your group’s analysis of the situation and your recommendations along with the supporting rationale.

Given the limited time you have to develop your recommendations and presentation as a group, you must read the case beforehand and come to the class with a perspective on what you would advise the company to do to address the key strategic issue in the case. Reading the case is critical as it will enable you to contribute to class discussions and the development of your presentation.
Assigned Reading

The course kit contains the cases and assigned readings that discuss concepts illustrated through the case. These kits are available for purchase at the University bookstore.

Evaluation of Student Performance

The course grading scheme for Master’s level courses at Schulich uses a 9-value grade-point system. The possible course letter grades for a course (and the corresponding grade points awarded for each grade are:

A+ 9 grade points

A 8

A- 7

B+ 6

B 5

B- 4

C+ 3

C 2

C- 1

F 0

(Students are reminded that they must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 4.2 to remain in good standing and continue in the program, and a minimum of 4.4 to qualify for their degree. Schulich grading guidelines mandate a section grade point average [‘GPA’] of between 4.7 and 6.1 for core courses and a section GPA of between 5.2 and 6.2 for electives.)

Where instructors use numerical or percentage grades, Schulich grading policy does not require a preset translation of percentages into specific letter grades. In this class, final letter grades will be determined by the following process: A numerical grade (0-9) will be assigned for each assignment, test, presentation, etc. Each student’s course grade will be calculated using a weighted average of the numerical grades and the weights for each deliverable below.

Late submissions will be accepted however a single grade point will be deducted for each day that passes after the due date.

The final grade for the course will be based on the following items weighted as indicated:

Individual Case Hand-In #1: 10%

Individual Case Hand-In #2: 15%

In-Class Group Case Presentations: 30%

Final Group Case Presentation: 30%

Contribution to class discussion: 15%

Individual Case Hand-In #1 (10%) – Class #5:
Each student will submit an individual case summary at the beginning of Class #5 which will count for 10% of the final course grade. Submissions are limited to one page, typed, double-spaced using 12 point font. The appendix is limited to a diagram of your framework. Papers that do not meet these criteria will be returned without a grade and may not be resubmitted. Students have the option or writing in essay style or in bullet points.

The individual case hand-in should include:
· Key issue statement – one concise statement identifying the fundamental strategic issue the organization in the case is facing

Note: the key issue may differ from the options or decision(s) described in the case

· Diagram of the structure/framework you applied to decompose the situation and prioritize the core issues (to be included as an appendix)
· Options – list of 2-3 plausible solutions to the problem
· Analyses – short description of the analyses you performed
· Recommendations – a clearly articulated set of recommended actions supported by fact-based evidence
· Key implementation steps – brief summary of directional or detailed next steps (include key considerations such as risks and mitigating actions, implications, and financial impact, if applicable)

Individual Case Hand-In #2 (15%) – Class #7:
Each student will submit a second individual case summary in PowerPoint format at the beginning of class #7. Requirements for this assignment to be provided in class.

In-Class Group Case Presentations (30%) – Classes #6-9:
The course contains 5 sessions that involve case presentations. You will be randomly divided into groups at the start of each session (7:00 pm). All groups will be assigned the same case. The groups will work on the case until 8:15 pm. At 8:30 pm, group presentations of the case will commence. Three groups will be randomly selected to present in each class (10 minute presentation followed by a 5 minute question/answer session).

Final Group Case Presentation (30%) – Classes #10-11:
Students will form groups of 4-5 students which are to be determined by the end of Class #7. Groups will be assigned one of two available cases. Each group will meet outside of class time to prepare a case presentation to be delivered during classes #10 - 11. Each team member is expected to present a portion of the final group case presentation.

Contribution to class discussion (15%):
This course is indented to be a highly participative class. An engaging class discussion is an important element in maximizing everyone’s learning experience. The process of constructively challenging each other’s ideas, and providing/giving feedback is core to developing as a business professional and creating a collaborative environment. Students will be evaluated based on the quality on their contribution to class discussions.

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is fundamental to the integrity of university education and degree programs. The Schulich School will investigate and will act to enforce academic honesty policies where apparent violations occur. Students should familiarize themselves with York University’s policy on academic honesty. It is printed in full in your student handbook and can also viewed on-line on the Schulich website, clicking through as indicated:

Schulich website ‘Programs’ ‘Master’s Degree’ ‘MBA’ ‘Academic Honesty Policy’

http://schulich.yorku.ca/client/schulich/schulich_lp4w_lnd_webstation.nsf/page/Academic+Honesty+-+Main?OpenDocument

While academic dishonesty can take many forms, there are several forms of which students should be highly aware because they are the ones that are most likely to occur in the context of a specific course.

[1]

Plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the presentation of information, ideas, or analysis generated by other people as being your own. It includes direct quotations as well a substantive paraphrases where the course of that information or idea is not clearly identified to the reader. Students should be careful to present their written work in a way that makes it completely clear in each and every cases where a quotation, a paraphrase, or an analysis is based on the work of other people. (This includes information from all sources, including websites.)

[2]

Cheating.

Cheating is an attempt to gain an unfair advantage in an evaluation. Examples of such violations include (but are not limited to) consulting prohibited materials during an examination or copying from another student.

[3]

Failure to follow limitations on collaborative work

with other students in preparing academic assignments. Each class differs in the mix of assignments and group-versus-individual preparation that is allowed. The instructor will make clear the extent of collaboration among students that is acceptable among students on various pieces of assigned work. Students should abide by those limitations and, if they are unsure about whether a certain level or form of collaboration would be acceptable, to clarify that question with the instructor in advance.

[4]

Aiding and abetting

. A student is guilty of violating academic honesty expectations if he/she acts in a way that enables another student to engage in academic dishonesty. If a student knows (or should reasonably expect) that an action would enable another student to cheat or plagiarize, that student’s action constitutes an academic honesty violation. Illustrative examples include making your exam paper easily visible to others in the same exam or providing your own working or finished documents for an ‘individual assignment’ to another student (even if that other student said that he/she just wanted to ‘get an idea of how to approach the assignment’ or ‘to check whether they had done theirs correctly’).

[5]

Use of academic work in more than one course.

Generally, academic work done for every course is ‘new’ work, done for that course only. If a student wishes to use some or all of the academic work done for an assigned task in one course in another course, the student must get

explicit, prior

permission from both instructors so that they agree that the scope and nature of the overlapping use of that work is such that it can fairly be counted toward both courses.

Schedule of Topics and Readings

The following list of lecture topics and readings indicate the material to be read, reviewed and/or prepared for the various class sessions. If any changes in this schedule become necessary, notifications will be posted in the course CMD, and where such changes need to be announced between class sessions, an email will be sent to students’ Lotus Notes email accounts, notifying them of the change.

Date	Class session	Topic	Assigned Readings, Cases, etc.	Assigned work due
Jan. 6	#1	Approach to case analysis (I)
Jan. 13	#2	Approach to case analysis (II)
Jan. 20	#3	Case analysis	Reading: What is Strategy? Michael E. Porter Getting Back to Strategy Kenichi Ohmae Case: eHarmony Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Hanna Halaburda, Troy Smith
Jan. 27	#4	Case analysis & presentations Teams will be randomly assigned at the beginning of the class. All teams will have one hour to develop their presentation, to last a maximum of two minutes. Each team will select two members to present.	Readings: Managing Brands for the Long Run: Effective Brand Reinforcement and Revitalization Strategies Kevin Lane Keller Reading: How to Structure What You Write Richard Bierck Case: Trouble Brews at Starbucks Lauranne Buchanan, Carolyn J. Simmons
Feb. 3	#5	Case analysis & presentations Teams will be randomly assigned at the beginning of the class. All teams will have one hour to develop their presentation, to last a maximum of two minutes. Each team will select two members to present.	Case: Pop Shoppe (A Kendra Hart	Individual Case Hand-In #1

Feb. 10	#6	Group case #1 Teams will be randomly assigned. - 7:00 to 8:15 group work on the case - 8:15 to 8:30: break - 8:30 to 9:45: in-class presentations (3 groups will be randomly chosen in each class)	Readings: Blue Ocean Strategy W. Chan Kim, Renee A. Mauborgne Managing Your Innovation Portfolio Bansi Nagji, Geoff Tuff Case: Apple Inc. in 2010 David B. Yoffie, Renee Kim
Feb. 17		MBA READING WEEK
Feb. 24	#7	Group case #2 Teams will be randomly assigned. - 7:00 to 8:15 group work on the case - 8:15 to 8:30: break - 8:30 to 9:45: in-class presentations (3 groups will be randomly chosen in each class)	Case: HUGE and Digital Strategy Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Nicholas G. Karvounis	Individual Case Hand-In #2
Mar. 3	#8	Group case #3 Teams will be randomly assigned. - 7:00 to 8:15 group work on the case - 8:15 to 8:30: break - 8:30 to 9:45: in-class presentations (3 groups will be randomly chosen in each class)	Reading: How to Design a Winning Business Model Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Joan E. Ricart Case: Canada Post How Ottawa Can Deliver A Reformed Canada Post Benjamin Dachis, C.D. Howe Institute. August 8, 2013. http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/e-brief_162.pdf “Can Canada Post survive the digital era?” Charlie Gillis, Maclean’s. Monday, March 25, 2013 http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/03/25/lost-in-the-mail/ Company Profile, Canada Post Corporation Marketline, 5 Jul 2013 Available for download from Bronfman Library’s Marketline *Supplemental reading:* Canada Post Strategic Review Report of the Advisory Panel to the Minister, Part II. Dec. 2008. http://www.cpcstrategicreview-examenstrategiquescp.gc.ca/finalreport/pt2-eng.html

Mar. 10	#9	Group case #4 Teams will be randomly assigned. - 7:00 to 8:15 group work on the case - 8:15 to 8:30: break - 8:30 to 9:45: in-class presentations (3 groups will be randomly chosen in each class)	Readings: Company Profile, McCain Foods Limited Marketline, 20 April, 2013. Available for download from Bronfman Library’s Marketline Case: Destination Products Inc. Robert Staffen
Mar. 17	#10	Final group case presentations (I)	Readings: Distance Still Matters: The Hard Reality of Global Expansion Pankaj Ghemawat Why Focused Strategies May be Wrong for Emerging Markets Tarun Khanna, Krishna Palepu Case: Reinventing the San Miguel Corporation Roberto Galang, Andrew Delios	Final Group Case Presentations
Mar. 24	#11	Final group case presentations (II)	Readings: Strategic Innovation Constantinos Markides Competing for the Future Gary Hamel and C.K. Pahalad Case: Bombardier Aerospace: The CSeries Dilemma Ali Taleb, Louis Hébert	Final Group Case Presentations
Mar. 31	#12	Review, Course Evaluations, and Wrap-up

Please check last year's version of the course if this course's outline is not (yet) available.
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Last revised: 12/19/2013