BA in Management Program

Fall 2020

MGMT 201 Introduction to Management

Instructor: Ayşe Kocabıyıkoğlu

Office: FMAN 1049
Phone: (216) 483-7069
Fax: (216) 483-9699
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: SuCourse
Office Hours: By appointment. All appointment requests should be made via email. In
your appointment request, include (i) purpose of the meeting, and (ii) at least three
alternative meeting times. I will respond to you by email. Do not hesitate to email me
when you have questions about the course.

Teaching
Assistants: TBA
Office Hours: TBA

Type Time Days Where

Class 10:40 - 12:30 Monday Asynchronous
14:40 – 15:30 Wednesday Zoom
Recitation 17:40 – 18:30 Wednesday Zoom

Course Objective:
 To introduce the students to functional areas of management.
 To introduce the students to the management program at Sabancı University.
 To improve the computer skills of the students.
 To improve presentation and teamwork skills of students.

Knowledge Content:
 Basic data analysis
 Fundamentals of marketing
 Technological forecasting
 Operations and decision making

Page 1 of 7
Skills Content:
 MS Excel for analysis, decision modeling, graphical presentation
 Effective presentation skills
 Teamwork
 Business plan preparation

Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course, a student should be able to:
(1) Perform basic data analysis and processing using Microsoft Excel.
(2) Perform SWOT analysis and plan the marketing mix.
(3) Use various forecasting tools and interpret the results.
(4) Perform breakeven analysis and interpret the results.
(5) Prepare and present a business a plan.

Course Material:
There is no textbook for this course. The main material for the course is going to be
slides, videos and Excel sheets, which will all be posted on SUCourse.

Course Web:
We will post the videos, session recordings, slides, reading material, related websites or
videos, deadlines, assignments, cancellations, postponements, links for the classes, in
short, everything on SUCourse throughout the term. Please check it frequently to see if
new material has been placed. We would like to emphasize the importance of checking
SUCourse frequently, as there will be no offline classroom meetings for the course.
Note that Sabanci University uses a very powerful web-based tool called Turnitin.
Turnitin is the worldwide standard in online plagiarism prevention. It allows instructors
to compare student papers against a database composed of millions of articles. Every
paper you submit will be scanned by Turnitin, and results will be reflected in your grades.

Instructional Design:
The course will be delivered online, and follow a mix of synchronous and asynchronous
formats. In particular, we will post the course material related to each topic (which will
include PowerPoint presentations, Excel sheets & videos, alongside a short assignment)
each Monday on SUCourse alongside an announcement on SUCourse to guide you
through the material. You are expected to study the material posted online and submit the
short assignment until the class meeting on Wednesday. The class meeting will be on
Zoom (the link will be provided via an announcement on SUCourse). During the class
meeting, we will discuss your questions regarding the material and work on examples.
Note that the material delivered with the videos will not be covered again in the online
class meeting. Rather, the online class meeting is designed to allow you to ask questions.

2/7
We will also have a graded in-class exercise during this online meeting. Please note that
your in class exercise will be graded only if you are present during the entire online
meeting. Although you can view and study the material any time until the class meeting
on Wednesday, we encourage you to do so during the allocated class hours (Monday
10:40-12:30) as this could give you more structure. We will also have occasional
recitations, which will also be synchronous, and the Zoom link will be posted on
SUCourse. The idea is to make both the class meetings and the recitations as interactive
as possible. You will download and upload files from SUCourse during the class
meetings and recitations, and work on in-class exercises and submit your work at the end
of the class.

Grading:
Deliverable Due date Grade percentage
Midterm I November 23 15%
Midterm II December 28 15%
In-class activities & Throughout the term 25%
assignments
Business plan:
Proposal & proposal November 9 & 11 10%
presentation
Weekly reports Throughout the term 5%
Bi-weekly meetings Throughout the term 5%
Progress report December 7 10%
Presentation January 4 & 6 5%
Report January 18 10%
TOTAL 100%

Requirements:
The assessment of this course consists of: 2 midterm exams, 1 business plan (to be
delivered in several installments), and several in class activities and assignments. All are
detailed below.

Midterm I: Midterm I will be on topics we have covered up until that date. This exam
will be closed book and closed notes, and will be done on-line. The questions will
include short-essays, analysis and modeling done in Excel. The answers will be collected
as MS Excel workbooks.
Date: November 23.

3/7
Midterm II: Midterm II will be on topics we have covered after Midterm I up until that
date. This exam will be closed book and closed notes and will be done on-line. The
questions will include short-essays, analysis and modeling done in Excel. The answers
will be collected as MS Excel workbooks.
Date: December 28.

Business plan: The business plan is an important part of the process, both in terms of the
time the students should devote to it and in terms of grading. The goal is to engage
students in a process where they think about different elements of designing and
managing a business, how different elements of a business interact, how teams operate
and how business ideas should be presented. The business idea you propose for the
business plan should fall under the theme “Business Environment during or post Covid-
19.”
The business plan consists of: (1) a proposal & its presentation (proposal report:
maximum 1 page, detailing the idea you want to explore in your business plan;
presentation: maximum 5 minutes - due date: November 9), (2) a progress report
(maximum 7 pages, without the Appendix, detailing the marketing plan of your business
idea – due date: December 7), (3) a presentation (maximum 10 minutes, on your whole
business plan, before submitting the report – the presentations will take place on January
4 & 6), (4) a final report (maximum 15 pages without the Appendix – due date: January
18), (5) weekly progress reports (the template for the weekly reports will be posted on
SUCourse – the reports will be submitted every week starting from week 3 till the end of
the term), and (6) bi-weekly meetings with the TAs (the appointment schedules for the bi-
weekly meetings & the expectations will be posted on SUCourse – the bi-weekly
meetings will take place every two weeks starting from week 4 till the end of the term).
You can find the details about the requirements of each written installment of the
business plan on SUCourse. The business plan will be done in groups of 5. You should
form your groups by October 16, and fill and submit the Group Submission Form on
SUCourse. If you have not formed a group by this date, you will be assigned to a group
by the instructor. All members of the group need to take part in the presentations. Note
that the weekly progress reports need to be submitted by every member of the group,
whereas the proposal, progress report, and final report are team assignments.

In-class activities and assignments: During the term, we will have several in-class
activities and assignments to be done individually. In particular, after viewing the
material for a particular week’s topic, you will be asked to complete a short assignment,
and submit it via SUCourse. During the class meetings and recitations, we will work on
in-class exercises, which will be submitted via SUCourse at the end of the session. With
the in-class exercises, you will be able to work in groups and receive help from each
other and from the instructors and TAs. Finally, you will be given an assignment on that

4/7
week’s topic, after the class meeting. The main purpose of in class activities and
assignments is to provide feedback to both the students and the professor and facilitate
learning by doing. For the assignments, students will be expected to carry out the
required work individually unless otherwise specified. To clarify this point, the students
can talk to each other about how they tackle the assignments, but they should work on it
individually. More specifically, since all of these assignments are going to be delivered
as a MS Excel file, students should not give their own files to others even if the intention
is to give a hint or answer a specific question. It is very tempting for the receiving student
submit that file as his/her own and that would clearly be cheating; in that case both
students would be held responsible not just the receiving one. If you want to help a
fellow student, discuss your approach to the problem but do not give your file.

Make up policy:
If you cannot take a midterm due to a documented health problem, or a similar issue, you
should contact the instructor before the exam. If you miss one of the midterms, you grade
from the other midterm will count towards both midterms.
There will be no make-up for missed in-class activities and assignments.
All written assignments should be submitted on SUCourse at the indicated hour on the
scheduled due date. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Academic Honesty:
Learning is enhanced through cooperation and as such you are encouraged to work in
groups, ask for and give help freely in all appropriate settings. At the same time, as a
matter of personal integrity, you should only represent your own work as yours. Any
work that is submitted to be evaluated in this class should be an original piece of writing,
presenting your ideas in your own words. Everything you borrow from books, articles, or
web sites (including those in the syllabus) should be properly cited. Although you are
encouraged to discuss your ideas with others (including your friends in the class), it is
important that you do not share your writing (slides, MS Excel files, reports, etc.) with
anyone. Using ideas, text and other intellectual property developed by someone else
while claiming it is your original work is plagiarism. Copying from others or providing
answers or information, written or oral, to others is cheating. Unauthorized help from
another person or having someone else write one’s paper or assignment is collusion.
Cheating, plagiarism and collusion are serious offenses that could result in an F grade and
disciplinary action. Please pay utmost attention to avoid such accusations.

Classroom Policies and Conduct:

Sabancı BA in Management program values participatory learning. Establishing the
necessary social order for a participatory learning environment requires that we all:

5/7
  Come prepared to make helpful comments and ask questions that facilitate your
own understanding and that of your classmates. This requires that you complete the
assigned material for each session before class starts.
 Listen to the person who has the floor.
 Join the class on time.
 Use your laptop only for class activities such as taking notes or referring to a
spread sheet.

You are expected to participate in class discussions, answer and ask questions. These
questions are intended to help you better understand the concepts and learn the mechanics
of specific solutions approaches. Please note the importance of coming to classes
prepared. Please refrain from activities that will distract other fellow students and the
instructor.

Zoom Conduct:
 Please join the class meetings and recitations on time, and stay for the entire
session. Since the Zoom meeting will be closed to new participants after the
session starts, if you have an excuse to miss an entire or a portion of a session,
you should inform the instructor in advance.
 Please turn your camera on at the beginning of the class hour (if, for any reason, it
is not possible to do so, please inform the instructor before or during the session).
 Please keep your microphone muted while others are speaking throughout the
class.
 During the class meetings, you will see two pop-up windows on the right side of
your screen.
 Please use the “Raise Hand” icon in the pop-up window on the right side of the
screen when you want to take the floor or ask a question.
 You can also use the Chat feature of Zoom to ask your questions and make
comments.

Course Schedule:

Week 1 Dates: October 5&7

Topic: Introduction to MGMT 201
Week 2 Dates: October 12&14
Topic: Data analysis: Graphics
Week 3 Dates: October 19&21
Topic: Data analysis: Summary measures
Week 4 Dates: October 26&28
No class

6/7
Week 5 Dates: November 2&4
Topic: Data analysis: Organizing data
Week 6 Dates: November 9&11
Business plan proposal presentations
Week 7 Dates: November 16&18
Marketing: Basics
Week 8 Dates: November 23
Topic: MIDTERM I
Week 9 Dates: November 30
Topic: Marketing: Guest speaker
Week 10 Dates: December 7&9
Topic: Marketing: Sales forecasting
Week 11 Dates: December 14&16
Operations and decision making
Week 12 Dates: December 21&23
Topic: Operations and decision making
Week 13 Dates: December 28
MIDTERM II
Week 14 Dates: January 4&6
Business plan presentations

7/7