MEDAILLE COLLEGE
AGASSIZ CIRCLE
BUFFALO, NEW YORK 14214

COURSE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT - Fall 2005
MBA 600 Multimedia Applications in Business

Section: 11-U Tuesday / Thursday 8:15 - 10:20, room H107
Number of Credits 3

Instructor: Douglas Anderson
Instructor Availability: office, H105
Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 7:30 - 8:15 PM; Saturday 10 - noon; anytime at Doug@RicciStreet.net
course web, http://RicciStreet.net/dwares/lane/mba600/
course discussion forum, http://RicciStreet.net/cgi-bin/bistro/Ultimate.cgi

CATALOG DESCRIPTION OF COURSE

This course examines the conceptual foundations of information technology networks and management practices in industry, commerce, and the professions. Contemporary systems development approaches are analyzed from a managerial perspective. You will demonstrate the competencies necessary to prosper in the networked organization with an emphasis on designing and running a laptop-based communications center and World Wide Web site. In the context of the standard software development process, you will gain more control over popular software tools to make three essential business media: presentations, web sites, and images.

OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, ...

you will better understand

management practices

- effects of new media on business processes and organizational structures
- e-business networks transforming every department and function in the enterprise
- policies: security, privacy, liability, ownership
- information spaces and knowledge management
- proprietary software / open source software
- the digital document and the graphical user interface (GUI)
- Internet etiquette and abuses

distributed networks

- atoms / bits; analog / digital; old media / new media
- the history and current capabilities of computer software
- the history and current capabilities of computer networks
- Internet architecture and metrics, especially demographics
- transmission protocols, especially HTTP, FTP, and SMTP
- the Geek Factor: formatting, coding, scripting, programming
- the future of embedded networks and information appliances

systems development

- the digital development process
- the digital development toolkit
- software learning styles

you will have used

- common software tools and utilities to design, assemble, and run a laptop-based communications center and World Wide Web site
- the Web for research, team meetings, calendaring, shared whiteboards, individual and group emails, conferencing, and Internet telephony
- popular software tools to make three essential business media: presentations, web sites, and images

COURSE CONTENT

Rather than structure the course around a textbook or a set of lectures, I'm structuring the course around a project. I've found it works better if everyone writes on the same general theme. Because you have access to some terrific software and to the Internet, I would like you to research the effects of the Internet on how people in organizations communicate.

The skills of information retrieval, analysis, evaluation, exchange, and presentation that you develop here are used throughout organizations. They are transferable skills; you can take them from the marketing department, to production, to finance, to personnel. Underlying these skills is the computer technology, knowledge of which is not only transferable. It's daunting if not downright scary.

I believe in my bones that teaching is story telling. My job is to motivate you to act out a story that I have loosely structured but not scripted. This is learning by doing.

Thus, in this course we are going to blend a case study with a course-long simulation culminating in a role-play exercise. I want to immerse you in a real-world situation that asks you to grapple with wicked problems in a relatively risk-free environment - the classroom.

A case study is a story of the factual history of an event or series of events. A simulation is a set of facts, roles and rules that establishes the framework for an in-class participatory exercise.

The case materials about the music industry are online at:

http://riccistreet.net/port80/boardwalk/pop/

TEXTBOOK

This is a learn-by-doing course, so your "textbook" is your shared experience taking this course. You will find much of the material that would be in a textbook at http://RicciStreet.net/ .

EVALUATION

I try to engage each of you in an ongoing discussion of your learning. If you aren't getting enough feedback from me, ask for more. As you'll see, I'm big on formative feedback and Socratic questioning.

I expect you to participate in both our physical classroom and our digital classroom. At a minimum, you should:

- follow all the links on the syllabus, especially those on the To Do (homework) lists and case page
- maintain a web site at Parkside Plaza demonstrating basic webmaking skills
- make half a dozen short in-class presentations and a final presentation supplemented by a business plan on your Parkside Plaza site.
- post the Roundtable messages listed on the roundtable page

Your course grade will come from doing the minimum above, especially from your enthusiastic participation in the dozen meetings and presentations that make up the bulk of the course.

It is especially important that you feel comfortable making presentations accompanied by web pages. Since most of you know PowerPoint, I'm not going to emphasize it. However, to be a top-notch MBA you need to know how to make web pages and use an image editor as well as you used to know PowerPoint, so I'm more interested in your webmaking.

Except for private email, all the work you do for this course will be publicly available, either in writing online or orally in class. It will all be linked from the home page of your Parkside Plaza web, which I am encouraging you to develop into an online portfolio of your work. Because these skills build on one another, it is very important that you do the homework in a timely manner.

This is graduate school and this is a learn-by-doing course. There is no final exam or convergent skill set for you to master. Being there is crucial, so please try not to miss any classes. Let me know as far ahead as possible about absences so that your teammates can compensate.

"This course is all about mistakes" is a phrase I often hear in self-assessments from students who are voracious learners. The idea of mistakes makes some students very nervous. They want to know the One Right Way of doing things and they aren't into taking chances, especially in public!

If I were using a rule-by-fear grading method, you could not afford to make "mistakes" because you'd have a lower grade as a result. I try to reward mistakes and my biggest enemy is your fear of being hit by a low grade. Putting it off and doing it all at the end in a mad rush or missing meetings will not produce the learning you will need for other courses, especially MBA 604. Thus:

If you do the minimum above in a timely manner and make the presentations in class and attend all the meetings, you'll get an A- for the course. That's what I expect most of you to get. Note that I don't mention how well you do them. Because your work is public, I expect that your personal pride will motivate you more than a grade. Nevertheless, I'm sure I'll get email after the course wondering why you got "only" an A-. I will reply to the email by directing you back to this web page.

If you do the work with flair and enthusiasm, you'll get an A, but that's exceptional. (I did not give any last mod.) Your boss could show the web pages or presentation to a client or to the big boss as is. Your contribution at the meetings was astonishing. Your boss would remember vividly and fondly when discussing a promotion. It does not matter that you deserve an A+ because you worked hard and are an all-around wonderful person. I don't doubt that for a moment, but it has nothing to do with this course grade.

If you don't do the minimum above in a timely manner or if you miss one of the presentations or meetings, you'll get no better than a B+ for the course. You will certainly be letting down your classmates as well as hindering your own learning.

If you miss two presentations or meetings, you should expect a B. We will need to talk about whether you have time for the course and are adequately prepared for MBA 604, which is tightly integrated with MBA 600.
Please note that a "lousy" presentation will get the same A- as one I personally "like". However, that doesn't mean I don't have standards and you don't have pride. Note the criteria below as well as my philosophy of learning and grading. In my experience teaching adults, the public display of all your work does more than fear of low grades to motivate you.

Rework Policy | The following three policies address rework, which is a big issue with process-oriented courses like this one.

1. Because of the progression of the case and the tight syllabus, I don't know how and where to fit in a realistic make-up of your oral presentations. Instead, try to arrange a switch.

2. Your writing -- web pages and Roundtable messages -- however, can get revised as often as you want after the original due date.

In addition to these presentations and meetings, please note that you have one other very important requirement. You must email a self-assessment after you have done all the other work for the course. I will not turn in a grade for you until I get that email.

Criteria

While grades are useless at best and statistically bogus, I'm a big fan of feedback, assessment, evaluation: better now in class than later on the job and better from many sources than from one. I expect you to seek feedback from your team and your classmates as well as from me. My evaluation of written and oral work asks four questions.

content -- Is it logical, insightful, and visually interesting?
structure -- Is it easy to follow and learn from?
language -- Is it designed, written, illustrated, and presented in an appropriate business tone?
mechanics -- Is it free of error and attractive to look at?

In short, does your work exhibit a command of business communications and its conventions, especially digital?
It comes down to this: If I were your boss, I would want to see documents, webs, and presentations that are attractive and accessible. Having your work available when I need it affects the quality component of my assessment. The quality of your work can be important at raise and promotion time.

These criteria are loaded with ambiguous and subjective terms: easy, appropriate, attractive, flair, enthusiasm. Such holistic characterizations come from observations colored by assumptions and prejudices. However, there are some generally agreed upon professional standards. We will discuss them in class and at the Bistro before your first presentation.

"On the outskirts of every agony sits some observant fellow who points."
- Virginia Woolf

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OF COURSE

In order to prosper in business, you must be able to do many things other than write. These four also apply to meeting the course objectives listed above.

- manage digital information
- explore and discover
- tolerate ambiguity
- think big

Statement on Disabilities

Any student with a disability who believes he/she needs accommodation(s) in order to complete this course should contact the Office of Disability Services as soon as possible. The staff in the Office of Disability Services will determine what accommodations are appropriate and reasonable under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Office of Disability Services is located in the Main Building, room 021 and can be reached by phone at (716) 884-3281, extension 280.

Academic Integrity

Medaille's faculty and administration expect all students to complete their academic assignments with honesty and integrity. Students who engage in any form of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on a test, forging a signature or an entire college document) will be dealt with severely, with penalties ranging from an F on a given assignment to failing a course or even academic suspension. Students should consult their Student Handbook for full details on the college's policy and procedures for handling formal charges of academic dishonesty.

please note

Grades on your papers will reflect standard English usage. The Modern Language Association's (MLA) bibliographic style is generally used at Medaille.