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Excelsior Business Strategy 495
#21
what's your opinion on this book for the final exam
MBA In a Day

I actually found the book in PDF. Looks pretty good

SECTION I: PEOPLE, MANAGEMENT, AND POICY.
Chapter 1. Human Resources.
Chapter 2. Organizational Behavior.
Chapter 3. Leadership and Team Building.
Chapter 4. Ethics.
Chapter 5. Negotiation.

SECTION II: MONEY; ECONOMICS, FINANCE, AND ACCOUNTING.
Chapter 6. Accounting and Finance.
Chapter 7. International, National and Local Economics.

SECTION III: MARKETS AND STRATEGY.
Chapter 8. Marketing, Strategy and Competitive Analysis.
Chapter 9. Advertising and Promotion.
Chapter 10. Communications and Presentations.

SECTION IV: SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES.
Chapter 11. Project Management.
Chapter 12. Management Information Systems.
Chapter 13. E-Commerce and the Use of the World Wide Web.
Chapter 14. Quality Management Systems
#22
jorai Wrote:I am done with my course and I have the book for sale. It is in great conditions like new. PM with an offer.

J.

Was just wondering if you still had the book? Shoot me a PM if you do.

Thanks.
#23
check email Smile
#24
Just finished the course as well with an A. It is very straightforward and I'd say that you can definately finish the course ahead of schedule. The quizzes are all available on the first day of the course. As said they all come directly from the text book. Some of them are a little tricky in their wording. If you use ALL of the online content available for each chapter you will 100% on the quizzes. That's half of the grade. I had Professor Sherman so some of these comments may not apply to a different instructor. For online participation I tried to start one thread per chapter in either the chapter discussion or the case instruction. For our class it seemd to be important that you researched the subject using sources other than the textbook (and actually did reseach, not just use comments like "I think..." - the discussions about executive pay were unreal - especially considering this is a business course and, I don't know, I'm kinda taking this track because I'd like to be one someday...) From the people signed up for case studies I estimated that there were about 10 people in our section so I tried to keep my comments at about 10% of the total. I admit I overthought the whole thing.

The Case Analysis... This, as stated, seems to be the focus of the course. I found very little support for this and all of the comments were very vague. I found some rubrics from other courses and some pointers but nothing really solid. I finally found an actual case analysis done by some grad students (yes a group project for Masters level students...) that I used as a model. Again overkill I'm sure but was able to secure 29/30. As I was putting away all of my material I found what is probably a perfect structure for this course. It's in the Wheelen Hunger "Strategic Management and Business Policy" text. I'm sure that you could get any version of that text but it's worth it for the case analysis alone. Follow that structure and you'd be set. For our section it was important to show that not only was the case researched but the concepts as well.

Capstone exam... Yeah what's already been mentioned. Get out your Accounting books and brush up. Statistics, Finance a little law. Everything seemed to be appropriately taken from the business core requirements. There is no outline for the exam but if you went through the instantcert packs for those courses you'd be pretty well covered. A lot of the questions seemed hard but came down to knowing one simple concept.

Good luck and don't be afraid.
#25
Yup, I'm also taking Bus 495 with prof. Sherman. I had all of the quizzes done within the first two weeks and all forum posts done in four weeks. Some of the responses he made caused me to get some brain cramps. I agree on the final writing assignment, I'm hoping to get this done soon, but it's possible to get everything completed 4 to 6 weeks, if you put a lot of effort into this. That finally Capstone exam was tough! I haven't done some of the topics like statistics and macroeconomics in awhile, but was able to get 77%. I wasn't to disappointed because 77% is only 3 points and if you get 90-100% you only get 5 points.


dshlvrsn Wrote:Just finished the course as well with an A. It is very straightforward and I'd say that you can definately finish the course ahead of schedule. The quizzes are all available on the first day of the course. As said they all come directly from the text book. Some of them are a little tricky in their wording. If you use ALL of the online content available for each chapter you will 100% on the quizzes. That's half of the grade. I had Professor Sherman so some of these comments may not apply to a different instructor. For online participation I tried to start one thread per chapter in either the chapter discussion or the case instruction. For our class it seemd to be important that you researched the subject using sources other than the textbook (and actually did reseach, not just use comments like "I think..." - the discussions about executive pay were unreal - especially considering this is a business course and, I don't know, I'm kinda taking this track because I'd like to be one someday...) From the people signed up for case studies I estimated that there were about 10 people in our section so I tried to keep my comments at about 10% of the total. I admit I overthought the whole thing.

The Case Analysis... This, as stated, seems to be the focus of the course. I found very little support for this and all of the comments were very vague. I found some rubrics from other courses and some pointers but nothing really solid. I finally found an actual case analysis done by some grad students (yes a group project for Masters level students...) that I used as a model. Again overkill I'm sure but was able to secure 29/30. As I was putting away all of my material I found what is probably a perfect structure for this course. It's in the Wheelen Hunger "Strategic Management and Business Policy" text. I'm sure that you could get any version of that text but it's worth it for the case analysis alone. Follow that structure and you'd be set. For our section it was important to show that not only was the case researched but the concepts as well.

Capstone exam... Yeah what's already been mentioned. Get out your Accounting books and brush up. Statistics, Finance a little law. Everything seemed to be appropriately taken from the business core requirements. There is no outline for the exam but if you went through the instantcert packs for those courses you'd be pretty well covered. A lot of the questions seemed hard but came down to knowing one simple concept.

Good luck and don't be afraid.
#26
joel66,

Sent you a PM.

I did my Econ classes 20 years ago...
#27
Just finished my Bus. Policy course with Professor Sherman and wanted to share my thoughts, as well as a few things I wish I would have known or done differently.

I was not able to run through the chapter quizzes as quickly as others. Part of it was motivational problems (the course finishes on the same day no matter how fast you work...) and because I really wanted to learn the material. I have been studying books on strategy for years, so I was genuinely interested in most of it. That said, the quizzes do not require much thought at all, so if you wanted to skim the chapter really quick and do the quiz open book you could.

I really wanted to stand out in the discussion forum. I figured "hey, I know a lot about strategy already, and I like talking about it. I could have some fun with this." WRONG. The professor will tell you that the discussion questions are not homework assignments and he only wants to stimulate meaningful discussion. He is lying. They are homework questions; treat them as such, reply and build lightly some some other people's posts without straying too far off the path and you will be fine. Besides, many of the questions were quite uninteresting, IMO.

I had a lot of trouble trying to understand what was expected of me on the case analysis. A big part of that is because I was expecting (wishfully thinking) that I would be doing some original, persuasive and thought provoking writing and demonstrating my strategic acumen. WRONG AGAIN. This is also not a place to show off. The professor is looking for you to demonstrate that you read the book, you know how to do a SWOT analysis, you know what five force analysis is, basically a good understanding of what the book teaches. Start diverting from that, and you're in trouble. Example: I did my SWOT analysis just like I was supposed to, but decided that the formulaic conclusion reached by said analysis was not sufficient or especially relevant to the firm being analyzed, so I came up with my own suggestions that disagreed with the formulaic SWOT framework. Sherman did not like that, and I paid the price in my grade, which ended up being a 24/30. The moral of that story is to demonstrate that you know what the book told you, and nothing else. I will also reiterate what gcalvin said: "be brutally clear about what you're doing". I lost points on my company's strategic mission statement because I did not put it under an explicit heading or dress it up in neon flashing lights or anything. Prof. Sherman isn't a very good listener, so subtlety should be avoided at all costs. (Brief rant: I don't like Sherman. I think he is an opinionated hippie who is far more concerned with what he has to say than listening to anyone else, which is a really sh!tty character trait in a teacher. If you are argumentative about certain issues like me, resist the urge to debate things with him in the forum. Also, like I said before, don't get clever or creative in your writings, because he won't appreciate it one bit. You are warned.)

Finally, the capstone exam: do not be afraid of it. I was at first under the assumption that it was a FINAL exam for the class, and failing it meant failing the class entirely. I thought this because it was only worth 5% of the grade, and it seemed illogical to me to make a big deal out of something that is only worth 5% unless there was some other consequence if you failed it. Well, there is none. If you don't feel like brushing up on law or accounting, go ahead and 'Christmas tree' it. You only stand to lose 5%, and that's all. I only brushed up for a couple of hours, and I got a 78/100 for 3 points.

I am still waiting on my participation score, but I estimate my grade at a B of some degree. This is a very doable course, especially if you don't try to make it harder than it really is like I did.
[SIZE="1"]BS General Business, March 2010

CLEP College Algebra 51
CLEP Natural Sciences 63
CLEP Social Sciences and History 59
CLEP A&I Lit. 74
CLEP Intro to Sociology 67
CLEP Info Systems and Computer App. 58
CLEP Intro to Psychology 66
CLEP Intro to Business Law 64
CLEP Principles of Management 73
CLEP Principles of Marketing 63
CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics 61
CLEP Principles of Microeconomics 62
DSST Fundamentals of Counseling 49
DSST Principles of Supervision 61
DSST Substance Abuse 441 (Pass)
DSST Business Law II 67
DSST Management Information Systems 436
DSST Principles of Statistics 466
DSST Principles of Finance 435
DSST Civil War and Reconstruction 57
DSST Criminal Justice 431
ECE English Comp C :mad:
ECE World Population A
ECE Ethics, Theory and Practice A
ECE Organizational Behavior A
ECE Human Resource Management B
EC Business Policy B
Straighterline Accounting I B
Straighterline Accounting II B
CSU Pueblo Ops Management A
[/SIZE]
#28
JtP:

I'm sorry to read of your definitely mixed experience. I've always found expanding the discussion is well-received as long as I am sure to cover the required ones as well -- and yes, really blatantly.

I will be eager to hear what others who have taken the class have to say.

Phillip
CLEP Principles of Management 77
CLEP Intro to Sociology 74
CLEP Principles of Marketing 78
CLEP Information Systems and Computer Applications 75
CLEP Intro to Psychology 80
CLEP Intro Business Law 72
CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics 73
CLEP A & I Lit 75
CLEP Principles of Microeconomics 72
CLEP Financial Accounting 62
DSST Ethics in America 468
DSST MIS 482
CLEP Natural Science 72
DSST Org Behavior 80
DSST Finance 462
#29
Just want to thank this thread for the head-up on the Capstone Exam. There's a minor scandal brewing in my section over the instructor telling us that everything covered on the exam could be found in the book. Thanks to this thread, I knew better, and did pretty well.
#30
With Dr. Sherman who was very informative and asked questions that helped retaing a solid understanding.

Do NOT be afraid of this course (even if you have never taken anything in management) a few hours a week keeping up with the questions and participating effectively will almost guarantee you success.

I found the capstone exam to be very easy (Open book and three hours)
and I have to say no one was as nervous as I was before taking it (It's been over ten years since I studied for anything)

The chapter tests can guarantee you 45% just by reading the book as you answer them, another guaranteed 5% for the case outline. From there you have 30% for your Case Study and 20% for your participation in the forum.
I got an A when my highest hope was merely passing the exam (70% needed)

BTW I have the latest version of the book (hard cover) available if anyone is interested I bought it for around $180 from b&n and I'll let it go for $100. It's practically brand new.

Good luck to all.
Iyad


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