Introduction to Business Management – BMGT 200

This introduction to Business Management course address today’s managers’ challenges and opportunities. Managers face a web of difficult and exciting challenges. A global economy in which world-class quality is the ticket to ride, increased diversity in the workforce, the advancement of technology and E-commerce, and demands for more ethical conduct promise to keep things interesting. As trustees of today’s precious human, material, financial, and informational resources, today’s and tomorrow’s managers hold the key to a better world. A solid grounding in management is essential to successfully guide large or small, profit or nonprofit, organizations in the 21st century.

This management course represents an important step toward managerial and personal success in an era of rapid change. It is a comprehensive, up-to-date, and highly understandable introduction to management theory, research, and practice. The course integrates classical and modern concepts with a rich collection of contemporary real-world examples and cases. The study of management takes in a great deal of territory, both conceptually and geographically. This makes it important for those being introduced to the field of management to have reliable guideposts to help them make sense of it all. The course covers six major themes that guide the progress through the fascinating world of management, namely: Change, Skill development, Global economy, the Internet revolution, Diversity, and Ethics.

This introduction to business management course has selected chapters on youtube from here

Required Course Textbook for Introduction of Business Management:

• Author: Robert Kreitner, Management, 11th Edition. 2009.


Evaluation and Determining Course Grade – Introduction to Business Management
1. Exam 1 15 %
2. Exam 2 15 %
3. Final Exam 40 %
4. Homework, Projects & Quizzes 20 %
5. Participation 10 %

Academic Honesty

You must always submit work that represents your original words or ideas. If any words or ideas used in a class assignment or projects do not represent your original words or ideas, you must cite all relevant sources and make clear the extent to which such sources were used. Words or ideas that require citation include, but are not limited to, all hard copy or electronic publications, whether copyrighted or not, and all verbal or visual communication when the content of such communication clearly originates from an identifiable source.

Lack of honesty in the classroom is considered a very serious offence. Any form of cheating on tests, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty, turning in work that is not one’s own (plagiarism), talking during tests, furnishing false information to instructors, or knowingly misrepresenting oneself to the college is grounds for disciplinary action. The consequences of cheating are severe and may include expulsion.
Method of instruction and course requirements

The teaching methodology of the course consists of the following:

• Assigned Readings: Assignments drawn from the course textbook, and outside reading articles extracted from journals or taken from other books.
• Lectures: Powerpoint presentations designed to clarify the assigned readings, case studies, and handouts. (if needed)
• Class Participation: it includes active participation in materials introduced through subject discussions or personal experience.
• Case Studies: Students will have to prepare and discuss cases in class. Cases will act as a support to the chapter discussed and it will highlight examples from today’s challenges.
• Review Questions: The review questions will be given as homework. This will enable students to understand key points in each chapter.
• Individual Project & Learning Team Project: It is the research and fact-finding assignments, which constitute an integral part of the course, are designed to allow the student to apply course concepts, learn how to interact within the team, and understand the challenges of working in a collaborative environment.

Attendance Policy

  1. Attendance in all classes during the entire time is required. There are no exceptions to this policy. If you are not in class, then you missed the material discussed in class. While students may encounter very extenuating circumstances (sickness of such severity that it prevents the student from attending classes, serious illness or death in the family), the fact that you are not in class means that you have missed the discussed topics.
    A “sign-in” sheet will be passed every class. If you do not sign the sheet, you will be marked as absent even if you attended part or all the class sessions. If you walk into the class late or leave early, the instructor may still mark you absent. Your signature has to be clear and consistent every time you sign, if the signature does not match your previous ones, you may also be marked as absent. Signing for another student is considered a breach to the honesty policy, under no circumstances a student may sign on behalf of someone else.
  2. Participation, Homework, and Quizzes: Participation is expected during all classes. Students need to read their book chapters ahead of the class. Students need to conduct research related to the material in order to gain an understanding of the subject. Pop up quizzes will be conducted from time to time in class in order to make sure that students have read the material assigned for the class on that date. Students also are expected to have reviewed previous material and last class discussion.
    Pop up quizzes cannot be made up if you miss a class. Missing a class would affect your attendance score. In addition, if a pop-up quiz happens during a class in which you were absent, your quiz score will be zero. There are NO EXCEPTIONS. Your Participation, Homework and Quizzes score will be affected because of not being in class during the pop up quiz. However, since things may come up, and life is not always as we want it to be, your lowest two quizzes grades will be waived when calculating your total Participation, Homework, and Quizzes grade at the end of the course.
  3. Exams:
    1. There will be two exams and one final exam. Each exam will cover the material discussed in class plus reading assignments. Anything that takes place in class to include discussions, videos, guest speakers etc. is testable. The exams will cover the whole material as indicated by the instructor.
    2. Exams in this course are typically multiple-choice, true/false, and/or short answer questions, essay form and case studies.
    3. Students must be present for all exams. Students who miss exams for reasons other than those stated under the special circumstances provided under the “Attendance Policy” above will automatically lose points off the make-up exam score for every day or part of a day the exam is not taken.
  4. Exam dates * are as follows:
    1. Exam 1: Thursday, Week 4
    2. Exam 2: Thursday, Week 7
    3. Final Exam: please refer to the university calendar.
      * Exam dates are subject to change.

Introduction to Business Management Reading Schedule

Attention!
Make sure that you read the chapters assigned for class before you walk into the class. Expect a quiz on the material during the session. The quiz may address previously discussed topics.

Week 1: Chapter 1: Managers and Entrepreneurs
Week 2: Chapter 3: The Changing Environment of Management
Week 3: Chapter 4: International Management and Cross-Cultural Competence
Week 4: Chapter 6: The Basics of Planning and Project Planning
Exam 1
Week 5: Chapter 8: Decision Making and Creative Problem Solving
Week 6: Chapter 9: Organizations
Week 7: Chapter 10: Human Resource Management
Exam 2
Week 8: Chapter 11: Communicating in the Internet Age
Week 9: Chapter 12: Motivating and Performance
Week 10: Chapter 16: Organizational Control
Week 11: Review
Week 12: Review
Final Exam

The schedule and procedures in this course, as outlined in this syllabus, are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances and/or as deemed appropriate by the professor.

Team Project:

Yemen Business Community Conference at the University
Yemen Business Community Conference at the University

Students are required to conduct a mini project to practice course concepts and enhance their ability to detect management practices and get an introduction to business management. The project is a PowerPoint presentation that students will show in 10 minutes towards the end of the course. The presentation can be done by doing the following:

  1. Each team will consist of 2-4 student members.
  2. Each team will have a leader who is going to introduce the presentation and manage the team performance.
  3. Each team should select a company and visit it at least twice.
  4. Each team should take 10 photos from the company –after taking permission- to reflect 10 management concepts.
  5. These concepts should come from at least 6 different chapters of the book.
  6. The team will provide at least 5 recommendations to the company’s management to the company’s management practices.
  7. The presentation will discuss the current practice and provide the teams opinion on these practices in lights of the class discussions.

General notes:

  1. If you need a letter to the company, you may get one from the administration office.
  2. Remember that you are representing LIU and your instructor so make sure that you dress professionally and behave professionally when visiting the company.
  3. The presentation is a formal one, so make sure that you rehearse the presentation, proofread it, and make sure it is clear and concise.
  4. Your presentation slides should include
    1. Introduction with the team names.
    2. Brief background of the company.
    3. Photos were taken with a brief description and explanation.
    4. Recommendations.
    5. Conclusions.
  5. Make sure that you print it and submit it to your instructor before the presentation. (Print 6 slides per page, please)
  6. Be ready to answer questions and discuss comments.

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