MGMT 171Course Outline, summer 2004
Course:
INSTRUCTOR:Robert L. Andrews,
Office Hours: Office in Room 3121, School of Business Normally I am available on Monday, Wednesday & Friday immediately after class and can be from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on the other days. If you need to see me, make an appointment. If you do not have an appointment, call before making a special trip to my office, because I may already have another appointment at that time.
Office Phone & voice mail: 828-7101, E-mail:
Home phone: 355-4645 This number is given in good faith that it will be used with discretion (7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. except for urgent situations).
PREREQUISITE: Satisfactory placement test or passing grade in a university level course (MATH141) to show sufficient algebra knowledge.
LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW: Tuesday, August 3, 2004
FINAL EXAM:Friday, August 13, 2004
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK: Harshbarger and Reynolds, Mathematical Applications for the Management, Life and Social Sciences, seventh edition, (sixth editionmay also be used). Coverage will include selected material from chapters 1 through 7 with a major emphasis on using Excel.
(As a personal note I purchase my son’s book at the Virginia Book Company, Corner of Shafer and Franklin because of the service and price.)
MISSION AND OBJECTIVE OF THIS COURSE
To provide students with a conceptual understanding of basic applied mathematics for business and economics and to teach them to perform basic calculations and manipulations using a calculator and the spreadsheet Excel. The focus will be on improving critical thinking and reasoning rather than on rote memorization of formulas and procedures.
GRADING:Final letter grades will be assigned using this scale.
A B C D F
901008089.97079.96069.9Below 60
The final numerical average will be based on a series of quizzes and assignments and a comprehensive final exam. The quizzes and assignments will be averaged together, excluding the lowest grade, to provide a quiz average. Weights for the final average will be quiz average, 60%; and final exam, 40%. Opportunity for replacement grades for missed quizzes will only be given if special circumstances exist and arrangements were made in advance when possible, otherwise a grade of zero will be assigned.
All quizzes and the exam will be OPEN BOOK and OPEN NOTES.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITYIf you are not familiar with the V.C.U. Honor System, you should visit the website at . Each of us has a part to play in upholding academic integrity. If V.C.U. is producing cheaters, this reflects poorly on the entire university community, including you even though you individually are not cheating. A true friend will confront the person cheating. If individuals are not held accountable for their behavior they no reason to change. If you observe something that is not correct and refuse to take any action, you are developing a habit that may be as detrimental to society as the habit you are allowing others to develop. All work is considered to be pledged work unless the instructor specifies otherwise. The Honor System Coordinator for the School of Business is Dr. Wayne Edmunds. Please bring academic integrity concerns involving this class to Dr. Edmunds or me. Remember that your honesty and integrity are more important than a grade in a course or even a university diploma.
STUDENT-TEACHER RELATIONSHere is some of my personal philosophy that will have an important bearing on our relationship during this course. I ask that classroom behavior be orderly and reasonable. I intend to respect you as a person and I expect each of you to do the same for your classmates and me. Constructive criticism is necessary in the education process but taunting and ridicule are destructive and indicate a lack of respect for others. I am concerned about you. As a teacher, I am concerned about your progress as a student. As a Christian and a fellow human being, I am concerned about you as a person and your personal problems. I invite you to come to me with difficulties you are having in class or out. As a practical matter, I have many students and limited time available. Hence, I do not have time to waste with people who are not willing to make an effort to help themselves. Should you need help, please come for help before you get in over your head. If you have any constructive criticism for me that you believe will benefit our entire class or future classes, please come to me privately with this. I do appreciate this feedback that is essential for improving the quality of my classes.
CALCULATIONS and Computer Usage
All calculations for pledged work (quizzes assignments, tests and exams) are expected to have at least three significant digits. Calculations rounded off to fewer digits will be considered to be in error due to excessive rounding. I strongly encourage the use of Excel for all homework and assignments for which it is practical. You may choose to use longhand calculations or a calculator for some problems. I will use Excel for most of my solutions and class presentations. Some homework, assignments and quizzes will require using Excel. You will be expected to interpret and use information presented from Excel for quizzes and the exam.
Unforeseen cancellation of class & inclement weather
If a class is canceled because of an unforeseen event then all assignments for that class meeting, including quizzes, carry over to the next class meeting. In the case of inclement weather, I will make every effort to be in class if VCU is not closed. You must assess the risks involved in your situation and decide what you should do. Also you must accept the consequences of your decision and be responsible for the material covered if you choose to miss class. The university maintains an inclement weather telephone number, (804) 278-1727, as well as an inclement weather web page found at .
CLASS ATTENDANCE and HOMEWORK
Each student is held responsible for the material covered and assignments given during each class. If you are forced to miss a class then it is your responsibility to find out what was covered in class. Quiz and test dates as well as homework problems will be assigned during class meetings. Should you be forced to miss a class, then arrange to obtain the notes from a classmate. Also, notify me in advance of necessary absences. It is the policy of VCU to accord students, on an individual basis, the opportunity to observe their traditional religious holidays. Students desiring to observe a religious holiday of special importance must provide advance written notification to each instructor. I do not give makeup quizzes, but I will try to allow you to come in on the same day and take the quiz if the situation merits.
A minimal set of problems illustrating principles that should be learned will be assigned in class. The problems will not be collected, but each student is expected to be prepared to give a solution if called on in class. Your attendance and homework performance will be recorded and can be used to improve your letter grade if you fall slightly below a cutoff.
YOUR ATTENDANCE AND HOMEWORK PERFORMANCE WILL NEVER BE USED TO LOWER YOUR LETTER GRADE!
GENERAL COMMENTSMGMT171 is a part of a sequence of quantitative courses within the School of Business. Emphasis will be on improving problem solving skills and understanding the concepts and computations to enhance your ability to recognize the benefits, potential uses and limitations of the methods being taught. We will not concentrate on developing theoretical foundations for the methods and it will not suffice to memorize rote manipulations of formulas.
This course will depend on the utilization of quantitative skills acquired previously. Some of you did well in those courses and are well prepared, others did not do as well and have a weaker foundation. If you are in the later case then you will probably need to give additional time and effort to this course in order to succeed.
This course is important to all of you even though you are here only because the course is required in your curriculum. Many of you will have other courses which will use the quantitative skills learned here. Others will have jobs that may require these skills or at least interactions with individuals who perform analyses using these skills. All of us are consumers of products and ideas and the sellers of these try to convince us of the value of the products using arguments based on statistics and quantitative presentations. These arguments appear in our personal and professional realms. You must understand the analyses used and know if they are correct for the situation, otherwise you're are subject to being mislead. Today the world of business is utilizing more and more quantitative techniques and computer analyses. A sound knowledge of quantitative methods and problem solving will help provide a solid foundation for a successful career.
Policyon DisabilitiesVCU is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and affirmative action in education and employment and complies with the requirements of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the American Disabilities Act of 1990. If you require special accommodations, please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Homework assignments for MGMT171 from HARSHBARGER & REYNOLDS (2004)Numbers neither underlined, bold faced or in parentheses are the same for both editions.
Bold Faced Numbers are for the 7th ed. (Numbers in parentheses are for the 6th ed.)
Numbers that are bold and underlined are only in the 7th edition.
Section / Page / Numbers for assigned homework problems
1.1 / 69 / 1, 4, 8, 13, 23, 48, 50, 55, 57, 61 (10, 17, 29, 35, 36, 38, 46, 53, 55, 59)
1.2 / 81 / 6, 8, 16, 40, 43, 52, 53, 56, 61, 62, 64 (18, 10, 36, 39, 48, 52, 53, 55, 56, 58)
1.3 / 96 / 4, 8, 10,13, 14, 18, 19, 21, 26, 32, 41, 47, 56, 60, 63 (12, 13, 15, 20, 26, 37, 43, 50, 55)
1.4 / 109 / 8, 10, 39, 49, 52(35, 47)
1.5 / 121 / Cover with Chapter 3
1.6 / 132 / 1, 19, 21(5, 21, 23), 33, 35, 40, 41, 56
141 / 69, 70 (66, 67) and Hospital Administration case on page 143
2.1 / 155 / 1, 23, 30, 39, 43, 47(3, 25, 32, 41, 47, 51), 62, 63
2.2 / 165 / 1, 4, 12, 15, 35, 37, 40, 49 (33, 37, 40, 47 with different data)
2.3 / 174 / 1(a-c), 17, 21, 27, 29, 32, 33 (7th edition has different data for 32&33)
2.4 / 185 / 1, 2, 3, 4 (3,4,1,2),5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 41, 45, 47, 55 (43, 45, 53)
2.5 / 197 / 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 24, 25, 30, 33 (7th edition has additional data for 30)
206 / 65 and International E-mail Usage case on page 210
5.1 / 389 / 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 18, 31, 33, 34, 44, 46, 49 (27, 29, 30, 40), (42&45 with additional data in 7th ed.)
5.2 / 402 / 15, 63, 66, 67 (7th edition has additional data for 63&66)
5.3 / 414 / 2, 16, 18, 24, 26, 27, 30
423 / Agricultural Business Management case on page 423
For part 4 of the case use the Excel functions not those listed.
6.1 / 434 / 3, 7, 11, 13, 48(53)
6.2 / 449 / 1, 2, 7, 9, 15, 19, 23, 26, 30, 35, 38, 44, 46 (3, 4, 9, 11, 17, 21, 25, 27, 34, 40, 46 for 2004, 48)
6.3 / 460 / 3, 6, 16, 17, 18, 23, 25, 33, 38 (7, 10, 26, 29, 30, 37, 17, 21, 42)
6.4 / 471 / 1, 4, 5, 9, 20, 24, 31 (13, 28, 32, 17), 37, 44
6.5 / 481 / 13, 15, 18, 20, 27, 31, 32, 34, 37, 38
(15, change 75,000 to 175,000 & 25,000 to 75,000; 18, change 250,000 to 1,250,000 & 100,000 to 250,000)
3.1 / 223 / 1, 2, 5, 11, 12, 17, 18, 20, 23
3.2 / 238 / 1, 4, 11, 12, 18, 20, 39, 40
3.3 / OMIT THIS SECTION
3.4 / 271 / 7, 9, 12, 19, 26, 28, 35, 38
USE SOLVER IN EXCEL for each problem in Chapter 4
4.4 / 345 / 27, 35
4.5 / 356 / 3, 13
4.6 / 363 / 10, 18, 27, 31, (formulate & solve 35, 37, 42)
7.1 / 500 / 1, 6, 7, 29, 34-use a tree diagram as in section 7.4, 41, 42, 59 (5, 4, 7, 27, 49-tree, 39, 40, 57)
7.2 / 510 / 26, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41(31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
7.3 / 522 / 1, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 44, 45
7.4 / 532 / 4, 5, 17(6, 7, 19)