Class: BBA 486 (Current Topics in Management); Section 01; 3 credit hours. Semester/Day/Time/Dates: Fall 2014 August 25, 2014 December 12, 2014

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1 Class: BBA 486 (Current Topics in Management); Section 01; 3 credit hours Semester/Day/Time/Dates: Fall 2014 August 25, 2014 December 12, 2014 Location: Online: bblearn.nau.edu Instructor: Dr. Jason Myrowitz Office Phone: (602) Cell Phone: (307) jason.myrowitz@nau.edu READING MATERIALS Required Text: There is no textbook for this course. All readings will either be supplied on BBLearn, linked to via , or can be obtained through Cline Library s website. There will be a few exercises that require access to copywritten materials. Be prepared during the semester for some nominal fees to obtain these required materials. This will still be substantially less expensive than requiring you to obtain a textbook. Recommended Text: Strunk, W. & White, E. B. The Elements of Style. (ISBN: ) If you don t trust your writing skills, this book is the best investment in the world. Course Catalog Description: Study of selected current topics that affect organizational management. 3 Credits. Letter grade only. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisites: BBA 360, BBA 400 or BBA 405 Course Overview This course is about constantly evolving current events. Trying to summarize it before we start would be a fool s errand. Course Structure This online course is predominately self-paced during the week with some shared assignments. Topics a) Networks & Globalization (Two weeks)

2 b) E-commerce & Social media (Two weeks) c) Neuroeconomics (One week) d) Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship (One week) e) Popular Culture and Business (Two weeks) f) Gamification (One week) g) Power, Influence, & Negotiation (Two weeks) h) Personalization of Genetics & Medicine (One week) About the Department of Business Administration Department Mission To provide excellent business management and related higher education for working adults throughout Arizona with an in-depth focus on core business competencies within a global context. Department Vision To be a premier provider of Baldrige-Quality business management and related higher education with an emphasis on value and accessibility. Department Values We value: Visionary and innovative leadership, Lifelong student, faculty & organizational learning, Ethical and socially responsible behavior, Creating and improving excellent quality & value personal and societal, and Diversity of people and ideas. Department and Class Learning Objectives Successful class participants demonstrate ability to synthesize and apply current management topics to: Communicate business information professionally, Recognize and solve business problems ethically, Analyze and utilize financial information, Work well in diverse teams, including virtual settings. Respond to changes in culture, technology, and organizational norms Grades are assigned as follows: Percentage of all Grade Possible Work A >= 90% B 80% ~ 89%

3 Grades will be based on the following: C 70% ~ 79% D 60% ~ 69% F < 60% 1) Online Discussion Threads 20% 2) Homework Assignments 10% 3) Reflection Papers 20% 4) Contribution of at least two Articles for Discussion 10% 5) Academic Article Translation 20% 6) Midterm Exam 20% The above is a guideline. The professor has final say on all grades and may make adjustments as appropriate based on professional conduct or decorum. Please also note that Blackboard calculated an unweighted average grade for you. This number is meaningless. If you are curious about your progress during the semester, please ask the professor or calculate your own grade based on the above percentiles. Online Discussion Each week, there will one or two questions that are meant to spark discussion. You are expected not only to read the questions, but also one another s responses. The quality of your comments will help make this a more beneficial and enjoyable class. Your comments will also comprise a substantial portion of your grade. Please note the following: 1. It is not necessary to respond to every single question or comment, but you must post at least one original thought and one response per week. This means you need two posts minimum per week to receive full credit. 2. It is just as important to raise good questions as it is to reply to them. Read the questions posed by the professor and feel free to challenge them. Read the answers submitted by others and critique them. You are welcome to agree but don t just state your agreement: You should provide further support for the arguments others have raised. If you disagree, be very clear as to why. Do not denigrate the poster, but all comments have shortcomings. Feel free to poke at them. 3. Your participation should demonstrate: (1) evidence of preparation of material under discussion for the given unit; (2) clarity and conciseness of your comments and recommendations; (3) convincing analysis to support your recommendations. Participation comes in many forms: a. Sharing ideas, observations, and personal experiences b. Pointing out relevant facts and generating potential solutions c. Relating and synthesizing ideas of others

4 d. Pointing out relationships to earlier discussions e. Helping others develop their views and ideas 4. The discussions should function as a conversation. This means that your post should flow naturally from the post immediately above it. Because the conversation flow is so important, you do not get credit for comments that have already been made. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel here. If someone says something, you can agree with it and add on, but not simply post the same thing, even if you came up with the idea independently. You cannot just read the discussion prompt and start typing. You must also read every post that has come before yours. If you think there is a point someone else is likely to make, you have an incentive to post as early as possible during the week to make sure you are the first one to raise the idea and get credit for it. However, if it is an idea that many people are likely to have, it is also probably not that insightful and likely not to be worth as many points as you think. Homework This will vary from week to week and include assignments such as: Watch a movie or series of clips Read an article or visit a website Test out an online service Play a game Visit a nearby location Work on a group project Homeworks are graded as Completed (Full Credit), Late or Partially Completed (Half Credit), Incomplete (No Credit). Because you either have done the assignment or not, there is not usually partial credit. An exception might be if you are asked to visit two websites and online tracking shows you only went to one. Reflection Papers After completing certain homework assignments, you will be asked to write a brief paper that discusses what you learned or found interesting about the experience. You will typically have one week to complete these 2-3 page papers. Depending on the needs of the class, there may be anywhere from 3-7 assigned reflection papers. Contribution of at least two Articles for Discussion For the first few weeks of class, I will curate all of the articles you will be reading. After that, there will be a rotation of Current Events assignments in addition to the articles I provide. During the two weeks assigned to you, your responsibilities will include finding one popular-press article (per assigned week) for the class to discuss. More information on how to select appropriate articles will be made available later in the semester.

5 Your grade will be determined by how relevant and interesting (as voted by your peers) the articles you find are. Academic Article Translation By the end of the semester, you will select an academic article from a management publication and write a summary of the article. Your summary should be free from confusing jargon and easy to understand for someone who has never taken a management class. Your grade will depend on how well you have selected a relevant management concept, how coherently and completely you define the terminology in the article for a layperson, and how correctly you interpret the information presented in light of our class discussions of current business topics. Midterm There will not be a final exam, but there will be a midterm consisting of roughly 30 multiplechoice, fill-in-the blank, or short answer questions. You will be allowed to use your notes for the exam, but you may not consult with any other person in or out of class. You will be given 60 minutes to complete the exam. This means you won t have time to be scouring the website for the correct answers. Make sure you have studied the relevant material beforehand. UNIVERSITY POLICIES All Northern Arizona University policies can be found at Withdrawal Policy: Please note the following deadlines: deadline to drop without a "W" appearing on the transcript is September 4 deadline to drop with a "W" appearing on the transcript is October 24 deadline to withdraw from the university is December 1 Honor Policy: Anyone cheating or assisting a fellow student during an exam will receive a zero for that exam and possibly a grade of F for the class. In addition, plagiarism will not be tolerated. If either policy is violated, university procedures will be followed and the undergraduate dean will be notified. If warranted, additional action will be taken. In short, academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Students with Disabilities If you have a documented disability, you can arrange for accommodations by contacting the office of Disability Support Services (DSS) at (voice), (TTY). In order for your individual needs to be met, you are required to provide DSS with disability related documentation and are encouraged to provide it at least eight weeks prior to the time you wish to

6 receive accommodations. You must register with DSS each semester you are enrolled at NAU and wish to use accommodations. Faculty members are not authorized to provide a student with disability-related accommodation without prior approval from DSS. Students who have registered with DSS are encouraged to notify their instructors a minimum of two weeks in advance to ensure accommodations. Otherwise, the provision of accommodations may be delayed. Concerns or questions regarding disability-related accommodations can be brought to the attention of DSS or the Affirmative Action Office. Emergency Textbook Loan Program To help students acquire the materials they need to be successful in class, NAU has partnered with Follett to create the Emergency Textbook Loan program. The program is administered by the LEADS Center. The program assists students with unmet financial need in obtaining required textbook(s) and other materials for courses. Students must apply and meet eligibility criteria before textbooks are purchased on their behalf. Textbooks must be returned at the end of the term in which the textbooks were loaned. More information can be found online: Note on Communication has become a popular communication mode, yet many s are far too informal for business communication (i.e., unpunctuated and sloppily written). Because of this, all correspondence must be properly proofed for spelling and punctuation errors prior to be sent to the instructor. Repeated violations of this policy may affect your final grade.

7 SCHEDULE* *Known assignments listed for certain weeks. In other weeks, assignments will depend on class discussion. Aug Topic: Globalization & Networks Watch Contagion, Discuss Contagion, Introduce Yourself Online Sep 1-7 Topic: Globalization & Networks Continued Individual Network Paper, Discuss Contrasting Views on Global Business Sep 8-14 Topic: e-commerce & Social Media Assignment Assignment Assignments Sep Topic: Neuroeconomics Try LinkedIn, YellowDig, Skype, Hangouts, Omaze, Kickstarter Sep Topic: Sustainability & Social Entrepreneurship Sep 29- Oct 5 Topic: Popular Culture & Business Oct 6-12 Topic: Popular Culture & Business Continued Oct Topic: Gamification Oct Assignment: MIDTERM DUE OCT 26 Oct 27- Nov 2 Nov 3-9 Topic: Topic: Nov Topic: Nov Topic: Nov Topic: Power, Influence & Negotiation Power, Influence & Negotiation Continued Personalization Current Events Happy Thanksgiving & Current Events Continued Dec 1- Dec 6 Assignment: ARTICLE TRANSLATION DUE DEC 6