Let's Get Down to Business...

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to "Let's Get Down to Business," a Blog that's part of my "Introduction to Business" course.  

With the help of my trusty sidekick, Kaiser the Supervisor, we're going to introduce you to the business world. 

This Blog will be must-reading for your success in the course.  It will be used to clarify assignments, answer questions and help you launch your business career. 

First Helpful Hint of the Course:  Check the Blog frequently.  Use it to learn the language of business and to keep up with all the breaking news.  And read all the materials about all the things we'll be doing in the course. 

Also, use the "Comments" feature to do just that; ask a question, contribute an observation or add your two cents worth.

Enough preliminaries.  Let's get started.  Here's the course syllabus.  Be sure to get the right one for your section:  

Download BA 101 Syllabus (Fall 2009 - Noon Section)

Download BA 101 Syllabus (Fall 2009 - Two PM Section

Familiarize yourself with the things we'll be doing, how they'll get done and when we'll do them.

Next Important Thing to do.  Skip over to the Category titled "Business Plan Project: All About It."  Study the "Requirements and Submissions" post in that category and download the "Business Plan Project Materials" document.

The "Business Plan Project" is one of the rites of passage that start your business education.  These introductory materials are also "must-reads."

Thank you for signing up for the ride.  Kaiser and I promise we'll work hard to show you what a business education might be like and, even better, show you what a career in the wide, wild and sometimes wacky world of business would be all about.   

Welcome aboard!

Important Dates and Deadlines

It's likely our course will have a "Wait List." 

One of the most valuable aspects of getting your business education at PSU is small class sizes.  If you were attending Harvard and enrolled in their introductory economics course, the lecture hall would be filled with nearly 900 other students. 

At PSU's Business School, maximum class sizes usually have between 45 and 60 of the best and brightest students in the land.  And I'm stricter-than-most when enforcing that guideline, to the chagrin of the students who don't make the cut. 

We'll reconcile the course's membership during our first meeting and then "true it up" on the following Thursday.  If you're on the Wait List, show up on the first day and see what happens.  If you're not on the Wait List or show up after the course's first session, don't expect to get into the course.

The Last Day you can drop the course without incurring a financial penalty is October 4.  In other words, if you drop the course before then, you'll get all your money back.  Drop the course after that date and you'll get a decreasing amount back.  And the longer you wait, the smaller the refund. The percentage of your hard-earned tuition dollars that will be refunded decreases until November 4.  After that date, all the money you've paid belongs to the University. 

Good luck.

Top 10 Reasons to Study Business

TOP TEN REASONS TO STUDY BUSINESS

1. You can use the skills you'll learn in any area of passion.  From a Physician with his or her own practice to a race car owner to the head of a non-profit - they all use business management skills everyday.
2. You'll learn the vital skills of teamwork and collaboration - skills required for a job in any field.  It's not realistic to think you can work all by yourself.
3. Business is part of everything.  It touches fields as diverse as sports and entertainment to government and education.
4. A Business degree expands your options.  Business majors go on to be Doctors, Lawyers, Educators, Government Leaders, as well as Small Business Owners and Corporate Executives.
5. The World is getting Smaller - and Business is Leading the Way.  Products and services come from every corner of the world.  The opportunities to travel and learn about other cultures are endless in the business world.
6. Business is Challenging.  It requires a variety of skills - from the quantitative skills necessary to interpret a financial statement or economic data to the "soft skills" necessary to sell your idea and manage people.
7. A Business Degree prepares you for Life.  The skill you'll learn at Portland State's Business School apply to all aspects of life - managing your personal budget (finance) to getting a great job (marketing) to managing your hectic schedule (operations).
8. A Business Degree develops and sharpens your leadership skills.  Whether you want to be a CEO, a high school principal, the chief of staff at a hospital or the chair of a church committee, you'll need the skills honed in Business School.
9. You can work for the best companies in the world.  Major local and national firms recruit at leading business schools like Portland State.
10. You'll learn the skills necessary to solve the world's most challenging problems.  Challenges such as supplying emergency aid to devastated areas (operations) to finding inexpensive alternative fuels (finance) to promoting healthy lift styles (marketing) all require skills taught at PSU.

Source:  Adapted from Kelly School of Business at Indiana University

 

The Business Plan Project: Requirements and Submissions

At least half, and maybe slightly more, of the course's points, time and effort center on the Business Plan Project.

It's an essential part of being "introduced" to business and starting (or continuing) your business education. 

The project is ostensibly designed as a practical exercise.  Initially, you'll identify a product or service and target a market segment.

From there, you'll form an organization that will identify the financial and human resources needed to bring the business to life.  Along the way, you'll make dozens of decisions about what to do and how to do what you've decided to do.

But you won't be doing this alone.  You'll do it as a member of a team of 4 or 5 of your colleagues.  Developing the plan may be a walk-in-the-park compared with herding your team through this endeavor. 

I can assure you that you will survive the experience.  That doesn't mean there won't be frequent bouts of frustration, bewilderment, confusion and, yes, amazement at what you'll produce.   

Teams are not groups.  Groups decide things, but Teams innovate solutions.  Successful teams run on commitment and trust.  And they perform at a level higher than the individual bests of their members; teams are something more than the sum of their parts.

So start reviewing the attachment and its description of the project's requirements.  As you're reading, be thinking at two levels.  First, think about how you and your team will do what has to be done. 

But also think about how you might take all the puzzle's pieces and put them together in a way that's worth something to someone.  Because isn't that what business is all about?  Taking a pile of "sticks and bricks" (also known as resources, both human and financial) and organizing them in ways that sustain customer loyalty and create long-term value.

• Download Business Plan Project (2009-2010)

Driving Directions for the Blog

The Course Blog is full of helpful information.  Navigating it is easier with some driving directions.  So, buckle-up and let's go for a ride.

You may want to adjust your browser window before before leaving the starting line.  The Blog was "built" on a desk-top with a good-sized monitor.  Down-sizing it a little bit might help it fit onto a lap-top. 

The Blog is organized by Categories that relate to (1) each week's activities and (2) specific assignments.  They're in the Right Sidebar under the "Categories" caption.

When the Instructor waves his arms...

Here are some ideas on how to know what's important and, even better, how to recall them at the right time (that would be for a quiz or exam).

Note-taking Strategies

How do you know what's the important material that you should take notes on?  You may be taking great notes, but they won't be useful if you're not writing down the right things.

The University of Connecticut gives their students a very helpful hint:  "If the instructor is talking loudly and waving his arms, you'd better write that down."

Instructors usually will do something to alert you that something is important.  There might be little "red keys" in their Power-Point presentations or they'll be waving their arms.  Look and listen for those cues.  Kick it up a notch when you see or hear them.

Transcribe your notes

A good set of lecture notes has a very short "shelf-life."  You won't be able to decipher them more than a couple of days after the lecture, much less late on the night before the mid-term exam. 

Re-write and organize your notes on the same day as the lecture.  Identify the key points emphasized by the instructor.  Put those points into phrases that you understand (and could use on an exam).  If you can't find the right phrase, ask your teammates or the instructor for some help.  Don't hesitate to raise your hand during the next class and ask, "Could ______ be summarized as _____?"

Flash Cards

A big part of this course is learning the vocabulary of business.  That means understanding a lot of strange-looking words and phases.  And by the way, count on your quizzes and exams including a few "fill-in-the-blank" questions to test your new-found knowledge. 

They're definitely "low-tech," but there's no better way to learn "vocab" than to use Flash Cards.  Go buy a bunch of them; they're cheap and effective (and don't forget some rubber bands to hold them together).  Write the word or phrase on one side and its meaning on the other side.  Then as you're eating your morning bowl of Cheerios, go through the stack.  Put them in your pocket, not your back-pack, so you can flip through when you're riding the bus.

Putting it all together

Do a little test preparation every day.  When you're re-copying your notes or flipping through your flash cards, think about the kinds of questions that might get asked.  How could an idea be applied (essay-type questions) or how could a definition be re-phrased and still be true or false?  Before doing these things though, make sure you're well-rested, had a little exercise and ate something decent. 

How to Prepare for Class

Having an organized approach is essential to success in the business world.  It's no less essential for success in your business education. 

Think about developing a routine for getting things done.  Checklists are great organizing tools.  More than anything, they'll keep you from forgetting something. 

The best checklists aren't neatly ordered; instead they're full of scribbles, cross-outs, underlining and other cryptic notes that only you can decipher.  And that's OK.  There are no style points in this and probably every other course in your business education.

Let's look at some ideas for organizing and preparing yourself to be successful.   Sounds like a worthwhile cause, doesn't it?

Laptops, Cell Phones and Other Electronic Paraphernalia

Everyone seems to have an opinion about laptops in the classroom.  Some say they're essential for note-taking.  Others report they're used for everything but note-taking. 

Instructors complain that laptops don't let them make eye-contact with their students; all they see is the backs of open laptops.  Some instructors feel laptops inhibit classroom discussion because they provide "easy cover" for reticent students.

Many businesses have "No-Laptop Meetings" and areas that are designated "Laptop-Free Zones."

To get to the bottom of this, we conducted an experiment last year.  All laptops and other electronic gadgets were banned from our classroom.  We also conducted a poll on what the students thought about our experiment.

The results overwhelmingly favored keeping laptops out of our classroom.  It wasn't even close; over 70% of the students voted that laptops were a distraction.

So, add laptops to the list of things that aren't allowed in our classroom.

There are, however, some exceptions to this rule.  First, it does not apply to anyone with a documented disability.  It also does not apply during "team time."  Finally, we might consider designating a single person to be a note-taker for the class if necessary.

Thanks for your cooperation. 
 

Here's what our Customer is Telling us to do

Cisco Systems employs about 67,000 people who make the "stuff" that the information technology industry needs.  They're profitable, innovative and good at what they do.

John Chambers is Cisco's CEO.  He recently let the New York Times quiz him about how he does it.  How can a big, complicated organization (over $40 Billion in Sales) be creative and nimble?  Aren't big companies supposed to be slow and cumbersome? 

Here's that interview: Download Cisco Systems Interview.  It's essential reading because, first, John is our Course's customer.  He's going to tell you how to get hired by Cisco and what it takes to succeed at Cisco.  So, we both have to pay attention to what he says:  I need to make sure you know what to learn and then you've got to learn it.

After you've read the interview, go back and read it again (it's better the second time round).  Think about how you'd answer the questions he might ask you. 

• What did you learn from your biggest failure?
• Do teams succeed because of good leaders or good followers? What's the difference? Which are you?
• How do you react to pressure? Can you kick-it-up a notch? Or do you slow it down?

Enjoy

It isn't an easy thing to do...

Writing well is one of those things that isn't easy, but you've got to do it. Fortunately, it's something that gets better with lots of practice.

Being able to communicate clearly is essential if you want to succeed in the business world. Your idea for a better mousetrap won’t get to first base if you can’t persuade somebody that the world will beat a path to your door if we build it.

My version of introducing you to business requires putting a pen or pencil on paper (or fingers on a keyboard) and explaining things. It’s a little time-consuming and sometimes frustrating, but worth it in the long run.

To get you started, here are a few rules I've collected that could be helpful. Look them over and try some out.  See if they help.