BA 301 Research & Analysis of Business Problems
Spring 2010
Professor Nobles
Main Course Page - All Sections
General Information
Welcome to BA 301 for the Spring term of 2010. I've created this web site as a central resource for the course. There is a custom text book available at the PSU bookstore, and we'll talk about it in the first class. But, after the first class, most of the materials needed for day-to-day class activities will be available on this site. I'm trying to save a few trees, so you can access the latest versions of these documents right here (look further down this page). I won't hand most of them out in class. I will also update the site often, so I would encourage you to visit the site at least once a week. Since I am teaching three sections of the course this term, most of what I've written is generic. There may occasionally be special notes and instructions for your particular section. You can find those on your section page. Links to those pages are shown below.
As described in the syllabus, there are no big exams in this class, only a couple of quizzes. There are homework assignments and an end-of-term project. Most of these have their own instructions. I would encourage you to look at the instructions early in the term so you can plan your work. The concepts in this class are not particularly difficult, but they can be time consuming. I promise you, if you keep up with the work, do the reading, and come to class and participate in your groups, you'll do fine in this class. Don't get behind!
And - if you have questions - come see me or send me an email. If office hours don't work, we can set up another time that's more convenient.
Section Notes & Information
Section 003 - MW 0800-0950
Section 006 - MW 1415-1605
Section 002 - T 1740
Week 3 (Week of 5/17/2010)
The last formal lecture is this week. For the day sections, Wednesday will be used for group work on the final problem-solving presentation. I will take roll on that day. Remember that you will need to bring in a draft of your research paper for peer review during Week 9. As for the outline required as part of Homework 3, I do realize that you will have more details in the first four sections. That's fine!
Here are links to a few project management tools (the topic for week 9's lecture). You can also download MS Project from the PSU MSDN site.
As I think I mentioned during class, I'm reading this great book by Michael Lewis called "The Big Short", all about the subprime mortgage crisis of the last few years.
Here's another MLA formatting guide from a Honolulu Community College.
Here's two links that may be of interest:
The PSU MSDN web site where you can get a copy of Microsoft Visio.
The web site where you can download a copy of mind-mapping software - XMind.
Here's the link to the Excel file containing the data from the research survey on the first day of class:
Spring 2010 Class Research Data
Here's a link to the spinning woman web site discussed in class.
Here's a link to a library research site created by our business librarian - Kerry Wu - for students doing research for their papers in BA 301.
If you haven't yet done so, please choose a company for your research paper from the Fortune 200 list, fill out the rest of the Personal Info Sheet, and turn it in as soon as possible. Also, download the Group Activity Instructions and bring them to class with you - you will need them for the group activities.
Just a reminder - strong writing and research skills are required for this class, for graduation from the School of Business Administration, and for the careers you expect to have as a result of your degree. If you feel that your writing skills are not very strong, or that you are rusty, there are plenty of places to go for help. At the least, come and talk with me. If you didn't already know about it, the school has an excellent Writing Center. You pay for that as part of your tuition - why not use it? If you start early and follow the recommended steps, I think that you'll find that the paper can be an interesting project. It requires a specific format - check out and use the template. I've also written this to provide some additional guidance. And, you may wish to check out the Ballenger book.
Class Lecture Notes
Course Documents
For simplicity and compatibility, all of these documents were created with Microsoft Word 2003 and standard fonts. Please let me know if you have any trouble downloading or opening these documents.
The Term Paper is due on the last day of class. The Instructions and Template provide some formatting and structural guidance for this paper. Your task is to choose a corporation from the Fortune 200 list, research that company, identify some problems that they currently face, choose one to focus on, and then apply the lessons from the class to develop a solution . You need to choose your company by the second week of class. Some companies from the list are not available - please see the list below, or ask me. I would encourage you to review these documents early in the term, just in case you have any questions.
Term Paper Unavailable Companies
You will do a great deal of work in groups during class. This document includes specific suggestions for how best to accomplish and organize the group work. You will collect and turn in all of your group work. I will talk more about this in class.
Also, you will need the specific instructions for each daily activity. Download this and bring it to class every day. This is IMPORTANT.
Daily Group Activity Instructions (Download this during the first week of class)
Homework assignments are due throughout the term. See the Assignment Notes or the Class Schedule for the specific due date for your section. Homework will be collected. Trust me, keep up on the homework and everything else will go much more smoothly. I'll try to remind you about assignment due dates - but it's really up to you to keep track of them.
Personal Information Sheet (handed out in the first class)
Microsoft Excel is a great tool for data manipulation and analysis. Two of the assignments include Excel projects. Data for these portions of the homework assignments are linked below.
Fun With Excel Instructions (Office 2003 Version)
Fun With Excel Instructions (Office 2007 Version)
Other Links
Global Reporting Initiative Web Site
Wikipedia List of Cognitive Biases