EXECUTIVE SYMPOSIUM

Masters in Business Administration

BUS 702

Breyer State University
Instructor: Kathleen Hargiss Ph.D., MBA, MA, BS

SYLLABUS

COURSE OVERVIEW: Welcome to BUS 702, a Master’s Level course in the curriculum for the Degree, Masters of Business Administration. We are pleased to offer you this course, which will be a capstone course in your studies in the masters program. This is an exciting course. Think about what has transpired in the last year with the stock market declining and more recently the unfolding and continual poor corporate reporting. There is a definite need for a better understanding of financial information and where it is reported.

The emphasis in this course will be on three areas:

1). Defining what factors determine the price of a company’s stock.
2). How financial managers make decisions that will add value to their companies.
3). How managers attempt to ensure that their companies do not run out of cash while executing their plans.

This course will focus on understanding the annual corporate report. The main objective of this course is to help the student become more knowledgeable of whether management’s strategic initiative is supported by the firm’s financial performance. With the events in the business world in the past year, many who rely on the information afforded by the annual report and reported financial statements no longer have the confidence they possessed in the past. There is a lack of trust with board of directors’ decisions, individuals who prepare the documentation, and even the validity of the auditors.

I know you will enjoy this course. Please learn as much as you can as you progress through the course. Even if your specialization in your MBA program may be in Human Resources, Information Technology or Accounting, the information in regard to financial reporting is invaluable. You should have a good basis in this area.

TIME FRAME: This is a fifteen-semester hour course. This course is allotted ten weeks of time. You must complete all of the requirements for the course successfully by the end of the ten-week period. The first day of week one will begin the day that you register for the course, of the day which you notify me that your text book(s) have arrived and you are ready to begin your studies. Please be aware of the time frame. It is unusual that extensions of time are permitted, unless you have good justification. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be awarded fifteen semester hours of credit.

TEXTBOOKS: There is one primary text for this course. A second book is suggested for you that would like more of an in-depth knowledge of the subject matter.

Book 1: Understanding The Corporate Annual Report. B. Stanko and T. Zeller. Loyola University Chicago Publishers: 2003. ISBN # 0-471-22991-1

Book 2: Financial Management, Theory and Practice, 10th Edition. Brigham & Ehrhardt. Dryden Press 2002. ISBN # 0-03-003561-2.

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EXAMINATION: There will be a final examination to be completed before the end of the tenth week. This examination will cover all pertinent material in the required text.

The examination will be programmed and located in the classroom for this course. The examination is an “open book” objective format. Students will have three days to complete their exam, once they access it from the classroom. To access the exam, you must send me an e-mail and request to have access to the exam. I will then program your access in. You will receive an e-mail back from me informing you that you are now authorized to go ahead and access your exam. You will need your User ID and PASSWORD to access the exam. The exam will appear on your screen. Once you access the exam, you have three days to submit your answers. The program provides me the date and exact time that you accessed the exam. The program also notifies me of the exact date and that you submit your answers. Thus, the program is timing you. When you are ready, go back into the classroom and click in your responses and then click submit. In a short time following you will receive the exam in your e-mail box with your computed score. You will also know what questions, if any, that you missed, and the correct answer(s). I will receive a copy of your exam and your score.

GRADING SCALE:

90–100%    = A
80-89%      = B
70–79%     = C
Below 70% = Fail

COMMUNICATION: You are encouraged to communicate with your instructor. I am available as a teacher, coach, and mentor to assist you in achieving your goals for this course. Primarily, communication is through e-mail. However, I am also available for conversation by telephone. Our classroom for this course has a “chat” room. I am also very willing to meet with you one-on-0ne in the chat room at your request. From time to time, depending on how many students are enrolled in this course at a particular time, we will have some scheduled group chats. You will receive more detailed information at the time such chat sessions are scheduled. Please keep my e-mail address in a convenient place so that you can contact me at any time. If during your time in this course you change your e-mail address, please be sure to notify me immediately.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT: This course requires a (25-30 page) written submission. You will be required to select a company and analyze its corporate annual report. I will discuss options with you as the course progresses.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: Kathleen M. Hargiss, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.A.

Presently Dr. Hargiss is the Associate Dean at FMU-Pinellas campus in Clearwater, Florida. .

Dr. Hargiss is formerly affiliated with Strategic Resource Consulting (SRC). SRC is a Tampa, Florida-based enterprise that provides consulting services to start up, emerging and established firms in a variety of sectors with a concentration in biotechnology, medical device, information technology, and e-business. The firm also engages in providing business and organizational assessments to venture capital firms and accredited investors as a basis for investment consideration. Prior to her affiliation with SRC, Dr. Hargiss was a professor at both the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa. At USF she taught several health and wellness related courses through the University’s department of Physical Education, Wellness, Sport Studies and the department of Adult Education and Human Resource Development. She also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Tampa, teaching a course in wellness industry dynamics. Her instructional expertise includes the design and implementation of courses for Wellness, Exercise Science, and Management degree programs encompassing communications, personality identifiers, learning styles, programming, and adult education principles.

Dr. Hargiss was the former director of an exclusive health spa in Houston, Texas. Responsibilities included management of a staff of twenty fitness and facility employees, advertising and public relations, accounting, budgets, marketing plans and forecasts, supervision of housekeeping and food preparation, and the design of fitness programs which included aerobic, weight training, stretching, and aquatics. She designed and conducted one-day spa programs, generating a new source of revenues while maximizing utilization of the physical plant.

Dr. Hargiss received a Ph.D. from the University of South Florida, an M.B.A. from the University of Miami (FL) with a specialization in International Business, an M.A. from Northwestern University (where she instructed for several years), a B.A. from the University of Illinois-Chicago, and has completed Post Graduate studies in Stockholm, Sweden. She also earned a private pilot license, EMT license, and a 2nd degree Black belt with national weapon awards in the martial arts.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1). Understand and evaluate how to support the primary goal of the firm.
2). Determine capital structure philosophies as they relate to the strength of the firm.
3). Understand financial statements and reporting.
4). Identify elements of the nature and extent of corporate annual reports.
5). Define the responsibility for content and accuracy of corporate annual reports.
6). Understand the need to evaluate and apply risk and return concepts and how they are applied in financial management.
7). Evaluate dividend policy as it relates to the value of the firm.

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