Course Manual INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION – WEEK 48

Course Manual
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
1st Year Bachelor
2014/2015
FIRST TRIMESTER: WEEK 36 – WEEK 48
TABLE OF CONTENTS
IBA Programme Management
2
General information
3
Student advisers
4
RSM Rules
4
Article 3.4 – Fraud
5
st
1 Year Student Mentor Programme (BAP-MG)
6
Introduction to Business (BAP064)
12
Methodology (BAP073)
17
Organizational Behaviour (BAP071)
21
QMT: Mathematics (BAP053)
27
Skills 1: IT (BAP065)
33
Course Manuals give more detailed information about courses within a trimester. They
contain the following information per course:
course title, course code, number of credits;
name of coordinator;
teaching staff;
contact person, secretariat, room numbers, phone numbers, visiting hours;
educational form;
examination form;
examination regulation;
examples for examinations;
aims and objectives of the course;
extended description of the course content;
subjects per lecture/workshop;
required literature: books, syllabus, reader, sheets;
literature and course content to be examined;
recommended further reading.
Course Manuals will be available at the beginning of each trimester, for each year of the
programme.
1
IBA Programme Management
The Executive Director of the IBA programme leads the IBA team and is mainly working on
issues with regard to the strategic direction of the programme, like further
internationalization. Moreover he is accountable for the budget and for personnel
management. He is involved in recruitment, admission and selection of students, rankings
and accreditations
Adri Meijdam
Executive Director
Mandeville building
T5-04
The Programme Managers of International Business Administration are responsible for the
organisation of the Bachelor programme and the information flow to students and the
teaching staff. They prepare the course schedules and examination schedule,
undergraduate catalogue, course evaluations and are in charge of enrolment for workshops
and all information published on SIN-Online. Further, they are the contact persons for both
students studying IBA and professors teaching in the IBA programme, making it their goal
to ensure that all courses run smoothly.
Shouhe Kuo
Programme Manager
Bachelor 1
Raechel Torner
Programme Manager
Bachelor 2, 3 and PreMaster
Mandeville building
T5-22
IBAPM@rsm.nl
Mandeville building
T5-20
IBAPM@rsm.nl
Stella Li
Assistant
Programme Manager
Mandeville building
T5-20
IBAPM@rsm.nl
2
General information
You can download the Bachelor 1 Trimester 1 course manual, schedule, and
book list and a lot of other information on the RSM IBA Current Students page
(www.rsm.nl/current-students/iba). All first-year IBA students will be subscribed
for the trimester 1 SIN-Online course channels and assigned to the workshop
groups by IBA Programme Management. Please check to see if all six trimester 1
courses are visible for you on SIN-Online. If this is not the case, please contact
IBA Programme Management by e-mail, IBAPM@rsm.nl.
If any changes to the schedule, registration dates, etc. should occur, these
updates can be found in the respective SIN-Online course channels. Therefore, it
is important to check SIN-Online frequently so you won‟t miss any important
information with regard to your course, timetable etc.
Tip: Take the time to peruse the message archive of your courses once a week
to make sure you are aware of all relevant registration dates, schedule changes,
etc.
Examination registration
Registration for all written examinations (incl. mid-terms) goes via Osiris. The
registration dates are always 35 to 7 days before the date of the exam. Mark
your calendar! The examination schedule 2014-2015 (incl. the registration
periods) and more detailed info about the examination registration procedures
can be found on the RSM IBA Current Students page (www.rsm.nl/currentstudents/iba).
An online course evaluation will be mailed to you at the end of each trimester
course. This evaluation will remain open until the course‟s exam date. The day
of the final examination you will receive a separate evaluation about the exam.
Please take the time to fill in both of these evaluations; your comments and
feedback are greatly appreciated by members of the IBA teaching staff and
programme management.
We also recommend that you subscribe to the following SIN channels:

RSM Bachelor 1 International Business Administration - IBA B1 general
information channel with messages from programme management.

RSM Examination Board - The RSM Examination Board‟s own channel.

Tentamenlocaties (Dutch for Examination Locations) – this is where
seating assignments for exams in the M-hall are announced.

IBA Notice Board - where all non-programme related messages for IBA
students are posted.
3
Student advisers
The student advisers‟ key task is to support students with their IBA studies.
Students may contact one of the student advisers for information, advice and/or
guidance. The student advisers are familiar with all aspects of the course
programmes and can assist students in making decisions in the fields of study
planning, study choices, internships, exchange, a second study, mediation with
regard to examination board issues, etc.
Students who are not able to continue their studies or experience delays, for
instance because of personal circumstances such as illness, handicap, family
circumstances etc., may also turn to the student advisers for personal advice and
guidance. For more information and contact details please consult the following
site: www.rsm.nl/studyadvice.
RSM Rules
The following rules and regulations, depending on your situation, may have an
effect on your studies. For more information and a detailed explanation of all of
these rules please consult the BSc IBA Examination Regulations (available on
the RSM Current Students website: www.rsm.nl/current-students/iba).
Binding Study Advice rule
The Binding Study Advice (BSA) implies that students need to pass all their first
year courses in their first year of studies. For more information about BSA, go to:
www.rsm.nl/current-students/iba.
Last-Result Rule
Students have a free choice in the number of times that they wish to take a
written examination. The result is the last grade obtained. If the material to be
studied for an examination has changed, the new material must be studied.
For the examinations of course year B1, the following rule applies: Once the BSA
norm (as specified in Article 9.2 of the Rules and Guidelines) is met, with or
without compensation, these examinations may not be retaken.
st
Compensation rule for 1 year courses
The compensation rule means you can compensate one insufficient grade
(between 4.5 and 5.4) with at least two rounded 7s or one rounded 8 or higher,
provided that you have passed all your other courses of Bachelor 1 in your first
year of enrolment. The grade for the compensated course will remain on your
grade list and counts in the grade point average for the total bachelor
programme. (Consult Teaching & Examination regulations for detailed
information)
4
Period of validity of grades
Final course grades (published in Osiris) for the bachelor programme are valid
for 6 years. The final course grades (published in Osiris) for the master
programmes are valid for 3 years. (Consult Examination Regulations for detailed
information)
Max. 4 re-sits
RSM would like to help students complete their bachelor's on time; meeting the
Binding Study Advice (BSA) requirement is a first step in this direction. By limiting
the number of B1 re-sits, RSM wants to encourage all students to pass the B1
regular exams and not wait until the summer re-sit period.
What happens if you take more than 4 B1 re-sits?
The number of exams that you take will be checked subsequently, only the first 4
results of re-sits (in chronological order) will be administered on your final grade
list. The results of all your other B1 re-sits will be invalidated by the RSM
Examination Board.
The Bachelor-before-Master rule
Admission to all RSM Master programmes is only possible if students have
completed the entire Bachelor programme, without a single course left open.
Article 3.4 – Fraud
(1) If in the matter of taking an examination, fraud – within the meaning of Article
1.2, paragraph 2 – is detected or suspected, this is set down in writing as
soon as possible by the invigilator or the examiner whom he/she must call in.
The invigilator or the examiner may ask the student to make available any
items of evidence. A refusal to do this is recorded in the written report. The
student is given the opportunity to add written comments to the written report
of the invigilator or examiner. The written report and any written comments
are handed over to the Examination Board as soon as possible.
(2) The Examination Board or the examiner may exclude a student who has
cheated from further participation in the examination during which the
irregularity was detected, and/or take other appropriate measures. The
exclusion has the consequence that no result will be established for the
examination concerned. Before the Examination Board decides to make the
exclusion, it gives the student the opportunity to give his/her account.
(3) The other appropriate measures as referred to in paragraph 2 may consist
of, among others, the following sanctions:
a. reprimand;
b. invalidation of the examination concerned;
c. exclusion from the examination concerned for at most one year;
d. exclusion from one or more rounds of examinations;
e. a combination of the above measures with a maximum of one year.
f. in a serious case of fraud the Examination Board may advise the
Executive Board to end the enrolment for the programme of the person
concerned once and for all.
5
1st Year Student Mentor Programme (BAP-MG)
Making IBA Work for You
Course name:
Course code:
Course load:
Term:
Coordinator:
Teaching staff:
Course structure:
Examination:
SIN-Online:
Student Representation:
Office Hours:
Mentor Programme
BAP-MG
Not applicable
1&2
Ms Shouhe Kuo
Mentors – 2nd year IBA students
Workshops of 1.5 hrs (except for the 1st and 2nd session)
No exams for this course, successful completion rests on
your participation, handing in a series of assignments and
your attendance
Additional information about the course will be announced
on the SIN-Online channel:
„1st Year Student Mentor Programme’.
FeedbackIBA@rsmsr.nl
By appointment only
Course Overview
The First Year Mentor Programme: Making IBA Work For You is both an
opportunity and resource for incoming IBA Students. The BAP-MG Mentor
Programme was developed to support first year students as they make their
adjustment to university life in the international setting offered by IBA. This
programme is not a course in the traditional sense. The sessions are led by
second year IBA students all of whom have been through the Mentor Programme
last year and have decided to pass on their experience and knowledge to
incoming students.
During the sessions you will have the opportunity to meet with fellow students, to
support yourself as you make the most of your studies, to share experience and
knowledge about ways to navigate the classroom setting and information that is
offered to you, to adjust to student life in Rotterdam and get tips about how to
best make use of the resources available to you. In addition, the Mentor
Programme serves as a bridge to help you adjust to the IBA culture and become
part of the larger IBA community. Your mentor and fellow students can all serve
as resources so that you can truly make the best of IBA.
The course consists of 10 sessions with your mentor group, beginning the first
week of studies and ending in the middle of trimester 2. In addition to these
group sessions you will also have 2 individual interviews with your mentors.
Please note that attendance for the Mentor Programme is mandatory!
6
Session descriptions
SESSION 1
WELCOME
Landing in IBA – Getting your bearings to make the best start
Goals:



Introduce you to the Mentor Programme and your Mentor Group
Give you a chance to get acclimatized to the university
A chance to ask your first questions and share about what it is like to be
here
This first mentor session takes place after the Official IBA Programme Kick-off
2014 on Tuesday 2 September. During this important day you will get an
introduction to the school, the IBA Programme and what you can expect for the
upcoming academic year. You will also have lunch and the first session with your
mentor. This session gives you an opportunity to learn about your mentor, your
fellow students and the Mentor Programme as a whole. During this session you
will also have an opportunity to share your concerns and your hopes about the
coming year.
SESSION 2
SYSTEMS
Navigating the Educational Landscape, learning the basic tools –
SIN-Online, Blackboard, Osiris and My Webmail
Goals:




Air your questions, thoughts and concerns.
Learn about your university lifelines – the on-line facilities such as
Blackboard, SIN-Online and Osiris.
Figure out what you need to do, to know and to organize in order to
make sure that you make the best start and know about the basic
resources the school has to offer you.
How do you want your life to be here in Rotterdam?
During this session you will start to find out about the resources you need to
support you as you go through your studies. Some of the major tools you will
need to navigate through school successfully are the online learning tools. During
this session you will log into the school‟s computer system and learn the basics
of getting around in the school‟s virtual landscape – such as information about
your classes, where to find the latest updates and information from your
professors and how to register for your exams. In addition, during this session
you will continue getting to know your colleagues and to share stories and
information about what you need to know to make Rotterdam work for you.
7
Session 3
Finding You Way in Rotterdam
Being an international student in Rotterdam


Provide an opportunity to share some of your experience in this
international setting.
Provide a chance to explore what benefits and challenges you are
getting from this environment, how is it different than studying in a more
mono-cultural environment.
This session gives you a chance to step back and look at what you are learning
about international and intercultural cooperation just by being part of the IBA
Community. While some of you may have lived your whole lives in international
settings, for others this is a new experience, and the unique mix of people,
cultures and experiences on this level is giving you many hidden lessons about
how you interact and work in intercultural teams and about how you are learning
to thrive with uncertainty, just to name a few. During this session you have a
chance to exchange experiences and reflect together on just what this setting is
giving you.
SESSION 4
PLANNING
Getting settled into your new life – planning for success
Goals:




Air your thoughts and concerns
Provide orientation with regard to creating your own best study planning
Provide you with an opportunity to look together with your classmates at
what Rotterdam has to offer.
Give you a chance to share your hopes for the coming years.
Most incoming students find it challenging to make the shift from secondary
school to university. One of the biggest challenges that they report is figuring out
how to create their own plans for making sure they have enough time to study
and to do the other things that they would like to do. University offers a lot of
freedom for you to organize your life as you want, and with this freedom in the
beginning comes a lot of disorientation as you learn to set priorities for how to
manage your time and choose what is important to you. During this session you
will have the opportunity to look at different techniques and ways of organizing
and planning for your studies. You will have a chance to share about the options
that Rotterdam, RSM and IBA offer to you, and to think about how you want to
best set up your time and space so that you can create the (study) life that best
suits you. By talking with your fellow Mentees you will also have a chance to
learn from each other as well as from the Mentors about ways to best plan and
organize for your studies.
8
INTERVIEW 1
Goals:


WITH YOUR MENTOR
Provide an opportunity to get to know your mentor better and vice
versa.
To discuss any questions you may have.
This interview is a private session with your mentor. During this session your
mentor will take the opportunity to get to know you a bit better and find out more
about your unique situation. You can discuss any issues that you feel are
important to you. Through these interviews the mentors will have the opportunity
to better work with your unique needs. You and your mentor will plan this session
at your convenience sometime between Session 3 and Session 5.
SESSION 5
NAVIGATING THROUGH RICH INFORMATION
Wisdom, insights and understanding
Goals:


Air any questions and thoughts or concerns that you have
Complete the work of navigating information by reviewing
summaries you have made for BAP64 Introduction to
Business.
During this session you will have a chance to go over your summaries together
and share your strategies and learning about how to make use of this very
important educational tool. The summaries you have made are of the different
chapters for the bonus test of BAP064 Introduction to Business, so you can profit
from each other‟s wisdom, insights and understanding.
SESSION 6
Studying in an International Classroom
Finding your way
Goals




Provide your mentees with an opportunity to air any of their worries and
also their joys at this point.
Explore what it‟s like to work in an international team.
Explore what it‟s like to be studying in an intercultural situation
Share ideas and experiences.
This session is focussed on giving you a chance to look more closely at what it‟s
like to be studying in this really exciting international setting. IBA is an
international setting, there are a lot of great opportunities and also great
challenges to working together and socializing together. It is an important part of
the IBA to really understand what it is to be working and collaborating
internationally, during this session you have a chance to share knowledge
together about this important issue.
9
SESSION 7
PREPARING FOR EXAMS
How to best study for exams?
Goals:



Provide an opportunity to look at best practices for studying for exams.
Share knowledge with one another about your own best practices for
studying
Get tips and tricks to help you through exams.
This session will be dedicated to helping you think about the pragmatics of
preparing for exams. You will have an opportunity to think through your study
strategies and learn from others‟ best practices. You have the chance to look
together at ways to manage your stress for exams and get tips and tricks for
doing well.
SESSION 8
AFTER THE EXAMS
Post Exam Reality Check
Goals:



Provide an opportunity to take a step back and evaluate how you have
done so far in your studies.
Provide a chance to talk together with other students about how this
first trimester has been.
Answer any questions, queries or concerns you may have now that you
have finished your first trimester.
Now that exams are finished, this session provides you with an opportunity to
take a look back at how you have done so far with regard to the expectations
that you set for yourself. While emphasis will be placed on your study, it is also a
time to take a look at the other, personal goals that you may have set about
university life and see how they are progressing. This session provides you with
a chance to re-evaluate and if desired, to begin re-thinking how you want to
continue in the coming trimesters and what you want to change or improve. By
taking time to think about this and share ideas with your classmates you can
work to make your coming trimesters fruitful and successful.
SESSION 9
REVISITING YOUR GOALS
Taking Steps to Realize your Expectations
Goals:




Opportunity to share experiences to date about your expectations
Explore ways together to make sure that your coming trimesters are
best for you both in your personal and study life.
Provide a chance to make your expectations more concrete and set
specific goals for the coming months.
Provide you with a background about how learning values may
influence how you experience classes
10
Now that the first trimester is over, you are hopefully becoming acquainted with
university life and your studies. This is a good moment to broaden your focus and
look at your expectations, goals, dreams and hopes for your university time.
What would you like to do? What would you like to achieve? What are your
hopes and your fears for the year, and how can you support yourself so that your
hopes become a reality and your fears stay manageable.
INTERVIEW 2
Goals:



WITH YOUR MENTOR
Evaluate how you have done so far in your studies and look at what you
may want to change or keep the same.
Talk about the Binding Study Advice (BSA).
Discuss any concerns you may have.
This second interview will take place upon return to IBA after your holidays. Your
mentor will make an appointment with you to meet at a time that is convenient to
both of you. The session is dedicated to helping you evaluate how you are doing
so far in your studies and to make sure that you are on the right track. You will
have the opportunity during this interview to learn more about how the Binding
Study Advice works and to share any concerns you may have with your mentor.
SESSION 10
ON YOUR OWN
Last session – Finishing well
Goal:

Create a good end to these sessions.
This final session provides you with a chance to look back at what you have
experienced together and look forward to the next phase of your studies. It is a
last opportunity to formally meet as a mentor group for this purpose. The form of
the session will be decided upon together with your mentor.
Literature
The course materials will be provided for this course.
RSM Student Representation
If you as a student have any comment about the quality of your courses, be it
positive or negative, please send an e-mail to the corresponding representative
or approach him or her personally.
RSM SR email: feedbackIBA@rsmsr.nl
11
Introduction to Business (BAP064)
Course name:
Course code:
Course load:
Term:
Coordinator:
Teaching staff:
Course structure:
Course schedule:
Examination:
Student Representation:
Office hours:
Introduction to Business
BAP064
5 ECTS
Trimester 1
Prof.dr. S. Magala
Prof.dr. S. Magala
Dr. Dirk van Dierendonck
Prof. dr Jan v/d Ende
Dr. B. Koene
Dr. J. Nijholt
Dr. S. Puntoni
Prof.dr. J. Spronk
Prof.dr Erik Roelofsen
Prof.dr. Ir. E. van Heck
Prof.dr. G. Whiteman
Prof.dr. F. Wynstra
Lectures, shadow evaluation team work on assigned
company profile report
Plenary lectures on Monday, 11-13 hrs in Theil building CB-1
and Thursday, 11-13 hrs in Theil building CB-1, except on 2,
16 and 30 October in Van der Goot building M1-12 (see SINOnline, My Timetable).
Multiple-choice, closed-book exams (70% of the final grade),
a team assignment report on a selected business company
(30%)
Please note: lecturers may require individuals or teams to
submit additional assignments linked to their topics.
Team assignment report submission deadline: Monday, 10
November at 17.00 hrs.
feedbackIBA@rsmsr.nl
To be announced
Course Overview
Are we serious about sustainable business, corporate citizenship and fair trade
environments? Are small organizations better equipped to respond to a sudden
market change than large corporations? Are networked organizations more
competitive than the corporate ones through their ability to profit from wift
transformations? What is the key to a competitive advantage: a tighter control of
all aspects of routine behavior or an increased empowerment of the employees,
which enables them to break the routines and provide creative inputs? Will online
sales make me if I integrate them with my present business or will they break me
if virtual sales channels will ruin my traditional, physical ones? Should I take
globalization seriously and look up towards the World Bank, World Trade
Organization, UNO or IMF as the dynamos of world development, or should I see
them as dinosaurs of inefficient corporate governance? These are the questions
managers face on a daily basis and these are the questions which the sciences
of management try to provide answers for. Students following this course will be
12
able to trace the research approaches which generated answers to these and
similar questions and they will also learn how to identify, describe and study all
business organizations in rapidly changing contexts.
Managerial competence stands on two legs. Academic studies and practitioners‟
reflections contribute to the growth of the body of knowledge and actionable
experience within, outside and along business organizations. Comparing various
approaches and methodological schools of thought in business management,
students should be able to follow the development of managerial thinking and
test themselves as future managers. Starting with the early XXth century
approach of Frederic Winslow Taylor (control is manager‟s best friend) and
ending with the late XXth century Francis Fukuyama‟s trust (honesty rooted in
cultural values is manager‟s best friend), students will compare successive
attempts to standardize routines and to break them through creative inventions.
They will be able to follow the ongoing struggle between flexible, ambidextrous,
networked communities of practice in search of wisdom and competitive
advantage. Consensus among the researchers has been tentative and limited –
therefore top specialists in functional areas of management will frankly present
the state of the art research results and outline the main theoretical controversies
in their relevant domains of managerial knowledge. The main topics of their
lectures include:









Globalization and its discontents
Entrepreneurship; the small, the medium and the franchising
What do managers do when they manage?
People or personnel: what makes them work (creatively)?
Hard core marketing, especially online and branded
Of prices and promotions in space and time
Virtual networks, silent servers and crowdsourcing
Money makes the world (of business companies) go round, but
corporate social responsibility makes it merry
Managing risks and futures - melt, freeze or stay cool?
Learning Goals
The overall purpose of the course is to make students acquainted with the basic
vocabulary of the sciences of management and to offer them the first glimpse of
a complex archipelago they will have to sail through (if they launch their own
business or start working in a business company) or map out and analyze (if they
continue their studies or conduct a more advanced research into business
activities) and to make them aware of the common body of knowledge and skills
required both to manage and to understand what management is all about.
Course Information
Plenary lectures: weeks: 36-44: from 3 September through 30 October 2014.

Mondays from 11.00-13.00 hrs (except for the first lecture in week 36:
Wednesday, 3 September from 13.00-15.00 hrs)

Thursdays from 11.00-13.00 hrs
The more detailed schedule can be found on SIN-Online, My Timetable.
All numbers in brackets behind lecturers‟ names refer to Nickels, McHugh,
McHugh – Understanding Business, customized edition 2014
13
Week 36:
1. 3 Sept. – prof.dr Slawek Magala, Introduction to introduction
(chapter 1)
2. 4 Sept. – prof. dr Jan v/d Ende (chapter 9)
Week 37:
1. 8 Sept. – prof. dr Slawek Magala (chapters 2 and 3)
2. 11 Sept. – prof. dr Finn Wynstra (chapter 9)
Week 38:
1. 15 Sept. – Dr Bas Koene (chapter 8)
2. 18 Sept. – dr. Stefano Puntoni (chapters 13,16)
Week 39:
1. 22 Sept. – dr. Dirk van Dierendonck (chapters 10-11)
2. 25 Sept. – prof. dr Slawek Magala (chapter 7)
Week 40:
1. 29 Sept. – prof. dr. Jaap Spronk (chapters 18)
2. 2 Oct. – prof. dr Erik Roelofsen (chapter 17) (attention: M1-12)
Week 41:
1. 6 Oct. – Exam part 1: multiple choice exam (9.00-10.45 hrs),
2. 6 Oct. – prof. dr Erik van Heck (chapter 21)
3. 9 Oct. – dr Jurriaan Nijholt /Katrin Smolka(Business Strategy textbook,
chapters 1-2)
Week 42:
1. 13 Oct. – guest speaker (to be announced)
2. 16 Oct. – dr. Jurriaan Nijholt/Katrin Smolka (Business Strategy textbook,
chapter 3)
Week 43:
1. 20 Oct. – prof. dr Gail Whiteman (chapter 4)
2. 23 Oct. – dr. Jurriaan Nijholt /Katrin Smolka(Business Strategy textbook,
chapter 4)
Week 44:
1. 27 Oct. – dr. Jurriaan Nijholt/Katrin Smolka (Business Strategy textbook,
chapter 5)
2. 30 Oct. - prof. dr Slawek Magala – Summing up (all chapters)
14
Team assignment
Students will receive many team assignments and they will interact in many
different teams in the course of their IBA programme. For this course, more than
80 “shadowing” teams will be assigned by IBA Programme Management before
the start of the program in September. Each team will be composed of 5 students
(with some exceptions for 4-member teams). Each of the teams will be assigned
a business company to shadow – i.e. watch and collect data on (from the press,
books, media, Internet or even personal interviews). As the course progresses,
students will learn about various aspects of business management and thus they
will be able to collect more data and to analyze them with the assistance of newly
acquired analytical concepts. Teams are expected to produce a final report with
their evaluation of the overall business performance of the company in question
and a forecast of a future performance in the year 2015. Each team has a right to
ask for a consulting meeting with the course coordinator once during the course.
The deadline for the shadow assignment is Monday, 10 November at 17.00
hrs (both online and hard copy).
Literature
 William G. Nickels, James M. McHugh and Susan M.
McHugh, Understanding business custom edition 2014, based on 10th
edition (McGraw-Hill, New York 2012),
ISBN 9780077167912. Available at the Study Store (on campus) en
STAR.
 Van der Weerdt, Nijholt & Smolka (2014). Business Strategy Textbook
& Workbook 2014, available at the Study Store (on campus).
Examination Dates
Exam part 1: Monday, 6 October 2014, 9.30-10.45
Exam part 2: Monday, 24 November 2014, 13.30-14.45
Re-sit Examination: Wednesday, 22 July 2015, 13.30-16.00
Registration via Osiris required. You can register from 35 to 7 days before the
examination.
Assessment and Examinations
The final grade is based on:

Shadow Assignment (30%)

Final examinations, multiple-choice, closed book (70%)
There is one important additional condition:

The average grade of both written exams must be 4.5 or higher.
If this condition is not met, then no final grade will be awarded. Your grade will be
noted in Osiris as „O‟, which stands for „Onvoldoende‟, Dutch for insufficient. This
rule is in line with the „Examination Regulations of BSc International Business
Administration‟.
15
Examination Perusal
The date, time and place of the perusal will be announced when the grades are
published.
RSM Student Representation
If you have any comment about the quality of your courses, be it positive or
negative, please send an e-mail to the corresponding representative or approach
him or her personally after the lecture.
RSM SR email: feedbackIBA@rsmsr.nl.
16
Methodology (BAP073)
Course name:
Course code:
ECTS:
Term:
Coordinator:
Teachers:
Course structure:
Course schedule:
Examination:
Student Representation:
Office hours:
Methodology
BAP073
3
1
dr. Salla Larssonen
dr. Salla Larssonen
Lectures
Tuesdays, 13:00-14:45 hrs
First examination: 15 October 2014, 09:30-10:30 hrs
Second examination: 21 November 2014, 09:30-11:30 hrs
FeedbackIBA@rsmsr.nl
By appointment only (st.methodology@rsm.nl)
Course Overview
The course provides an introduction into the world of scientific knowledge and
research. In order to understand and solve managerial issues, research is of
great importance. In this course, students learn the basic principles of conducting
scientific research. During the course, attention is paid to the theoretical and
philosophical assumptions which lie behind scientific research. Furthermore,
students will become familiar with the different steps in the research process and
the most common research methods used in management research. At the end
of the course, students will be able to create their own research design for the
study of a managerial issue. The lectures serve to deepen and contextualize the
material covered in the required readings and are an integral part of the exams.
Learning Goals
The principal objective of this course is to gain understanding of the process of
scientific research. After taking this course, each student should be able to:













Argue the difference between everyday knowledge and scientific
knowledge
Argue the difference between fundamental and applied research
Describe and recognize different research philosophies
Describe and recognize the different research paradigms in
management research
Understand the ethical aspects of research
Recognize the different steps in the research process
Recognize and formulate different types of research questions
Conceptualize and operationalize research questions
Formulate hypotheses
Conduct a literature review and report the findings
Recognize units of analyses, dependent and independent variables and
the relationships between variables in a given research design
Argue the level of measurement of different variables
Design a conceptual model
17





Describe the most relevant research methods in management research
Argue the difference between quantitative and qualitative research
Describe and recognize the different sampling techniques
Judge the validity and reliability of a given research study
Construct a research design for an existing problem
Course information
To meet the course objectives, the course consists of plenary lectures, a team
charter (5% of grade), two written group assignments (30% of grade; 15% per
assignment) and two written examinations (65% of grade; first exams 30%,
second exam 35%).
(1) Lectures
During the lectures, the most important topics in the textbook will be
explained in more detail. In addition, these topics will be illustrated with
examples from management research. The lectures are non-obligatory, but
attendance is strongly recommended. The lectures will also be recorded and
posted online under RSM webcast (http://webcast.rsm.nl/).
(2) Team charter
In order to facilitate collaboration between the group members when working
on the group assignments, all groups prepare a team charter at the start of
the course. This team charter is a binding agreement between all group
members and specifies the rules and agreements the group members make
with each other in relation to the group assignments for Methodology. In
order to overcome problems in collaboration, the team charter specifies the
consequences if one of the members does not stick to the rules agreed upon
by the team. More information about the team charter can be found on
Blackboard.
(3) Group assignments
In the two written group assignments, you will use the theoretical knowledge
from the textbook and the lectures to design your own research project. The
two assignments will be made in teams of four students. IBA Programme
Management will create the teams, so you will not be able to form teams
yourself. The teams will be announced at the Kick-Off on 2 September.
Afterwards each team must register for a theme. This is possible from 2
September until 12 September through SIN-Online, My Registrations. There
are four different themes: Information about the themes and assignments will
be placed on Blackboard. The final theme classification will be announced
on 13 September.
After every assignment there will be an opportunity for a perusal. Details
about perusals will be placed on SIN-Online after publication of the grades of
each assignment.
Note! There are two registrations on SIN-Online, one for first year IBA
students and one for IBA premaster students. Please make sure that you
register for the correct group.
18
The deadlines for the team charter and the two assignments are:
1: Friday, 3 October 2014 before 1:00pm (deadline team charter and first
assignment)
2: Friday, 31 October 2014 before 1:00pm (deadline second assignment)
Assessment and Examinations
A team charter (5% of final grade; examined with pass or fail), two written group
assignments (the 2 assignments each account for 15% of the final grade; in total
the written group assignments account for 30% of the final grade) and two written
exams, which account for 65% of the final grade. The first exam consists of 20
multiple choice questions and accounts for 30% of the final grade; the second
exam is a mix of 20 multiple choice and 5 open-ended questions and accounts
for 35% of the final grade. You should get a pass for the teamcharter to receive
your grades for the other assignments. You will receive either a 10 or a 0. Re-sit
examination will test all course materials (the materials examined during both the
first and the second exam) using 40 multiple choice questions and no open
ended questions. There is no opportunity to take a re-sit of only the first or the
second exam. There is also no opportunity to redo the team charter or the
assignments. In the case of a re-sit, the original grades for the assignment and
the team charter will count towards your final grade.
Minimum grade requirement
In case the average grade of both written exams is lower than 4.5, you will fail
the course and we will not submit a final grade for the course to the exam
administration (see Examination Regulations, section 5.2, p. 28). For example, if
your grade for exam 1 is 3.0 (counts towards 30% of the final grade) and your
grade for exam 2 is 6.0 (counts towards 35% of your final grade) your average
grade for both exams is ((3*.30) + (6*.35) /.65) = 4.6) and you comply with the
minimum grade requirement.
Literature
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill. (2009). Research Methods for Business Students
th
(5 international edition). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. ISBN:
9781783762323.
Examination Dates
First examination: 15 October 2014, 09:30-10:30 hrs
Second examination: 21 November 2014, 09:30-11:30 hrs
Re-sit Examination: 8 July 2015, 13:30-16.30 hrs
Registration via Osiris required. You can register from 35 to 7 days before the
examination.
ERIM Bonus Points
A bonus of up to 0.4 points can be earned through participation in two qualifying
experiments at the Erasmus Behavioral Lab (if experiments are available during
the term-availability of experiments is not guaranteed). These bonus points will
only be awarded if the final grade for the entire course is 5.5 or above.
Participation in class or in the experiments is entirely voluntary. The experiments
19
are managed through the Erasmus Research Participation System (ERPS). The
bonus points are valid for both the regular exams and the re-sit exam. More
detailed information will be provided via Blackboard.
Examination Perusal
The date, time and place of the perusal will be announced when the grades are
published.
RSM Student Representation
If you as a student have any comment about the quality of your courses, be it
positive or negative, please send an email to the corresponding representative or
approach him or her personally after the lecture. RSM SR email:
feedbackIBA@rsmsr.nl
Lecture schedule
All lectures are on Tuesdays in AULA or LB-107 from 13.00h to 14.45h. Always
check SIN-Online, My Timetable for the most up-to-date version of the schedule.
#
1.
Date
9-9-14
2.
16-9-14
3.
23-9-14
4.
5.
30-09-14
7-10-14
15-10-14
6.
21-10-14
7.
28-10-14
8.
4-11-14
9.
11-11-14
21-11-14
Lecture Topic
Introduction to methodology
and scientific research
The start of a research
process
Literature review and the
different languages of
scientific research
Research design
Research ethics and
preparation of the first exam
First exam (covering
materials lectures 1-5; 20
MC questions)
Quantitative and qualitative
research
Experimental research
Quantitative research
methods: secondary data
and survey research
Qualitative research
methods: In-depth
interviews and case studies
Second exam (covering
materials lectures 6-9; 20
MC questions + 5 open
ended questions)
20
Reading
CH1
CH2
CH3 & CH4
CH5
CH6
CH1 through CH6
CH5 & CH7
Neuman, CH8
available on
Backboard
CH8, CH9.5, CH9.6
& CH11
CH9.1 through
CH9.4 & CH10
CH5, CH7 through
CH11 + Neuman,
CH8
Organizational Behaviour (BAP071)
Course name:
Course code:
Course load:
Term:
Coordinator:
Teaching staff:
Course structure:
Course schedule:
Examination:
Student Representation:
Office Hours:
Organizational Behaviour
BAP071
6 ECTS
1
Dr. Steffen Giessner
Dr. S.R. Giessner, Julija Mell, Yingjie Yuan, Lisanne van
Bunderen
Plenary lectures, workshops, surveys, interactive elements
Plenary lectures: Tuesdays from 1100-12.45 hrs
(Except: the first lecture – Thursday, 4 September from
13.00-14.45 hrs and the eight lecture – Wednesday, 23
October from 13.00-14.45)
2 Workshops: Wednesdays in week 38 and 40
Multiple choice exam, midterm, surveys, group observation
exercise.
feedbackIBA@rsmsr.nl
By appointment only
Course Overview
BAP071 Organizational Behavior is an introduction to the study of human
behavior in organizations. These behaviors are mainly explained in reference to
psychological mechanisms, situational factors, individual differences, and group
phenomena that influence the way people interact. As such, Organizational
Behavior is an applied science that builds on contributions from a number of
different disciplines – particularly psychology, social psychology, sociology and
anthropology. The course will especially emphasize the psychological and social
psychological factors that influence behavior in organizations.
During the course, you will be assigned readings that discuss what people do in
organizations and how their behavior affects the organization‟s performance. You
will then have the opportunity to consider how this research in Organizational
Behavior is or could be applied to improve organizational effectiveness.
Some of the specific topics that we will cover in this class are: motivation, leader
behavior and power, interpersonal communication, stereotyping and prejudice,
diversity, group structure and processes, personality, social perceptions and
decision making, conflict, social influence and social interaction, emotions and
mood, as well as attitudes and job satisfaction. This class will also provide a solid
foundation for courses you will encounter later in the curriculum, namely “BAB21
Organizational Theory and Dynamics” and “BAD11 Human Resource
Management”.
21
Learning Goals

Learn and gain mastery over basic facts and research findings,
terminology, principles, theories and controversies important to
organizational behavior (OB).

Gain a basic understanding of social perception, influence, and
interaction.

Understand the major challenges and opportunities for managers to use
OB concepts.

Understand what motivates and satisfies people at work.

Explain the factors that determine an individual‟s personality.

Apply concepts on emotions and moods to OB issues.

Understand the strengths and weaknesses of group decision making.

Specify the characteristics of effective teams.

Identify dimensions of national culture, recognize the potential problems
in cross-cultural communication, and gain an appreciation of cultural
diversity in human behavior.

Explain how to find or develop effective leaders.

Understand the cultural influence on leadership.

Understand the relationship between power and leadership.

Find ways to apply psychological findings to everyday life.
Course Information
To meet course objectives, the course consist of (1) lectures (with a multiple
choice exam at the end of the course), (2) workshops, (3) four surveys (with
compulsory participation to pass the course), and (4) a group observation
exercise (which will be graded and counts towards 10% of the final grade). You
will receive your grades via SIN-online.
(1) Lectures
Lectures will partly summarize information gained from the course textbook.
In addition, additional knowledge not provided in the textbook will be
presented.
(2) Workshops
Workshops will provide a deeper understanding of group work, stereotypes,
and diversity in teams. The workshops will provide a more interactive setting.
(3) Surveys
To make the course even more vivid in its application, all participants will
take part in surveys throughout the course. These surveys will help you to
understand how organizational behavior research is done and results of
these surveys will be used to illustrate theories and practice. Participation on
these short surveys (max. 3 short surveys) is therefore obligatory for all
students.
(4) Group observation exercise
The group observation exercise relates to the workshops as well as to topics
of the lectures. You will work in a team of 3-4 persons. IBA Programme
Management assigns you to a team at the start of the academic year.
Detailed information about the group observation exercise will be available in
the complete course manual on Blackboard at the beginning of the course.
In addition, an explanation of the exercise will be given in the beginning of
22
the course. The group observation exercise will be graded and counts 10%
of the final grade.
You are responsible for preparing for each lecture in advance by reading
the materials listed below in the Preparation Guide for each session. The
due dates for the group observation exercise and dates of the exams are
listed below and should be added to your calendar.
Do not wait until the last minute to turn in the team assignment as unexpected
delays may result in penalties for work received after the deadlines noted below.
Session
Prior to
Course
Launch
Session 1
Thursday 4
September
2014
Session 2
Tuesday 9
September
2014
Session 3
Tuesday 16
September
2014
Workshop 1
Wednesday
17 September
2014
Session 4
Tuesday 23
September
2014
Session 5
Tuesday 30
September
2014
Time/Place
Preparation Guide
Session Contents
Obtain course
manual from
blackboard and book
from the bookstore
13.00-14.45
Chapter 1
CB-1
11.00-12.45
M2-03
11.00-12.45
M2-03
Chapter 2
Chapter 3 and 4
Check SINOnline for
the location
and time of
your
workshop
Prepare questions
from the course
manual.
Check Blackboard
for preparatory
workshop readings
11.00-12.45
Chapter 5
M2-03
11.00-12.45
M2-03
Chapter 6 and 7
23
What is
Organizational
Behavior?
Steffen Giessner
Foundations of
Individual Behavior
Steffen Giessner
Attitudes,
Personality and
Values
Julija Mell
Group Exercise
Yingjie Yuan
Lisanne van
Bunderen
Perception and
Individual Decision
Making
Julija Mell
Motivation
Steffen Giessner
Workshop 2
Wednesday 1
October 2014
Session 6
Tuesday 7
October 2014
Check SINOnline for
the location
and time of
your
workshop
11.00-12.45
M2-03
Session 7
Tuesday 14
October 2014
Midterm
Tuesday 21
October 2014
Session 8
Wednesday
22 October
2014
Session 9
Tuesday 28
October 2014
Session 10
Tuesday 4
November
2014
Exam
Friday 26
November
2014
11.00-12.45
M2-03
09.30–11.00
Exam hall,
M-building
13.00-14.45
M1-12
11.00-12.45
M2-03
Prepare questions
from the course
manual.
Check Blackboard
for preparatory
workshop readings
Chapter 8
Upload your group
observation exercise
to Blackboard by
Wednesday 8
October 2014, 5pm
Chapter 9 and 10
Register for the
Midterm exam via
Osiris (35 to 7 day
before the
examination)
Chapter 11
13.30-16.30
Exam hall,
M-building
Group Behavior
and Work Teams
Julija Mell
Midterm on
workshops about
stereotypes and
diversity
Communication
Julija Mell
Chapter 12 and 13
Leadership
Steffen Giessner
Chapter 14 and 15
Power, Conflict and
Negotiation
Julija Mell
11.00-12.45
M2-03
Diversity and
Stereotypes in
Groups
Yingjie Yuan
Lisanne van
Bunderen
Emotions and
Moods
Steffen Giessner
Register for the exam
via Osiris (35 to 7
day before the
examination)
Literature
Lectures

Robbins, S.P., Judge, T.A., & Campbell (2010). Organizational
st
behavior. 1 Edition, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
The textbook provides the background and context for classroom lectures and
discussion, and therefore you should read the chapters before the class period
during which it is discussed. A Blackboard platform accompanies the book, which
offers self-assessment tools. Furthermore, you will receive additional material
(e.g., multiple choice questions) to further develop your skills.
24
Workshops
Links to the additional literature for the workshops will be provided for you on
Blackboard. Make sure that you read and understood the literature before you
come to the workshop and have your answers to the questions prepared. The
idea of the workshop is to discuss the material in an interactive manner. This is
only possible when all participants are well prepared.
st
1 Workshop “Team Exercise”

No preparation necessary
nd
2
Workshop “Diversity and Stereotypes in Groups”

Literature will be announced
Before the workshop, please watch a video that will be made available for you!
Please prepare an answer for the following questions:
(1) How do stereotypes and prejudice might be related to issues about diversity.
(2) Think about processes underlying the influence of diversity.
(3) What influence will diversity have on creativity?
Midterm “Diversity and Stereotypes in Groups”
You will get a written midterm where you are asked to apply insights from the
two workshops on stereotypes and diversity to a specific problem. An example
exam question will be provided on Blackboard two weeks before the exam.
Surveys
The surveys are integral part of this course and important for your learning
experience. Therefore, answering the surveys is obligatory. The surveys will be
web-based. A link will be send to your e-mail address (check your student email address!). Please note that the answers are anonymous and treated
confidentially. This also means that your results will not affect your grades.



st
th
th
1 survey will be available between the 4 to 9 September
nd
th
th
2 survey will be available between the 17 to 19 September
rd
th
th
3 survey will be available between the 10 to 14 October
Examination Dates

Mid-tem: Tuesday, 21 October 2014, 09.30-11.00 hrs

Final examination: Wednesday, 26 November 2014, 13.30-16.30 hrs

Re-sit of final examination: Monday, 13 July 2015, 13.30-16.30 hrs
Registration for the mid-term and exams goes via Osiris and is open 35 to 7 days
before the examination date.
Assessment and Examinations
(1) Surveys – It is compulsory for all participants to fill out the 3 online surveys
in order to complete the course successfully!
(2) Group observation exercise (10%, team task)
(3) Midterm (30 %, individual task) – On Diversity and Stereotypes in Groups
Literature:

Literature will be announced
25
For the mid-term (21 October from 09.30-11.00 hrs) you will be asked to
apply the topic of the workshops (i.e., workshop sessions and literature) to a
case. There is no re-sit of the mid-term.
(4) Final Exam (60%, individual task)
Literature:

Chapter 1 to 15 of Robbins, S.P., Judge, T.A., & Campbell (2010).
st
Organizational behavior. 1 Edition, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Lecture notes.
The final exam consists out of 60 multiple choice questions with 4 options
each. The exam will take place on 26 November from 13.30 to 16.30.
No final grade for the examination part will be calculated if the final exam
grade is lower than a 4.5.
Examination Perusal
The date, time and place of the perusal will be announced when the grades are
published.
RSM Student Representation
If you as a student have any comment about the quality of your courses, be it
positive or negative, please send an email to the corresponding representative or
approach him or her personally after the lecture. RSM SR email:
feedbackIBA@rsmsr.nl
26
QMT: Mathematics (BAP053)
Course name:
Course code:
Course load:
Term:
Coordinator:
Teaching staff:
Quantitative Methods and Techniques: Mathematics
BAP053
4 ECTS
Trimester 1
Dr. M. Schmidt
Dr. M. Schmidt and Prof.dr. L.G. Kroon
3 Teaching Assistants: Ivan Ferini, Max Möllhoff, and Lorna Ying
Academic Department
The course QM&T: Mathematics is offered by the department of Technology and
Operations Management.
Course Content
This Mathematics course presents the necessary Mathematical tools for
analysing quantitative models that emerge from a variety of business and
economic problems. The selection below reflects the scope of the studied
Mathematical topics that will be useful for the analysis of economics and
business problems. These topics are:








Functions of one and two variables
Equations, linear and non-linear
Sequences and series
Financial applications
Differentiation and optimization
Integration
Matrices
Differential and difference equations
Relevance
The scientific description and analysis of complex practical business situations
often requires an analytic approach. What is usually needed is the explicit
description of the transition of a system when it moves from one state to the next.
Mathematics is well equipped to assist in the difficult task of describing the
essential elements of such transitions. The word "model" is often used for the
quantitative description of the specific problem in which a system finds itself at
any moment in time. Working with models is a recurring activity in business
studies. The process of building and analysing business models requires a
Mathematical way of thinking. Therefore Mathematical skills are essential for
successfully handling these business models.
Course Overview
The course is introductory in nature, which means that only high school (VWO)
Mathematics is assumed as pre-requisite knowledge. From there, the student will
move on and learn to apply more advanced Mathematical tools for solving
27
business problems. The student will obtain the skills necessary for examining
Mathematical models in various business settings. More generally, the student
will use Mathematics as a language for modelling problems that arise in business
situations and apply Mathematical techniques to obtain solutions for these
problems.
Course structure
There are weekly lectures and workshops of 2 hours each. Each lecture starts
with an example related to a business or economic problem. Based on this
example, one or more Mathematical techniques are discussed in their theoretical
context. Furthermore, a variety of examples is presented. In the end, the
questions stated in the introductory example are solved using the Mathematical
techniques discussed. The student is advised to be prepared for each lecture, so
as to optimally benefit from the presentation.
In the workshops, selected exercises from the book are discussed in detail. In
particular it is shown how correct solutions to these exercises can be obtained.
Moreover, during the workshops, feedback on the previous Bonus test will be
given (see below). It is of great importance that each student works individually
on the weekly exercises. Without weekly exercising the techniques, the chances
to pass the exams will be low. Students who have problems with the material are
strongly advised to work on additional exercises from the relevant chapters and
on the exercises that are available in the interactive learning environment Maple
TA (see below). For the workshops, the students will be split up into groups of
about 75 students.
Maple TA
The course will be complemented by the interactive learning environment Maple
TA via the internet. The students are encouraged to solve the weekly exercises
in Maple TA. Moreover, in each week there will be a Bonus test in Maple TA.
If the result is a pass (grade > 5.5) for at least 7 out of the 10 Bonus tests, then a
student earns a Bonus question at the second partial exam and at the resit exam.
The grade for this Bonus question results in maximally a full Bonus point for the
final grade of the course.
The weekly Bonus tests are scheduled at Tuesdays between 17:00 and 19:00.
The first Bonus test takes place Tuesday, 9 September.
A user manual for Maple TA will be available via the Blackboard site of the
course, and an introductory session on the use of Maple TA is scheduled on
Thursday, 4 September from 10:00-10:45 hrs in the Sanders building, LB-107.
Learning Goals
By the end of the course, the student is expected to have an adequate
proficiency of his/her command of the discussed Mathematical techniques. This
means that, after completing the course, the student should be familiar with the
Mathematical methods and theory offered by the course, and he/she should also
be sufficiently capable of working with these techniques in practice. Apart from
28
this, the student is expected to be able to build Mathematical models emerging
from business problems, analyse and solve these, and interpret the solutions in
terms of the original problem.
Learning Objectives
This course aims at:

Familiarizing the student with standard Mathematical terminology, and
the Mathematical formulation of problems encountered in practice,

Enhancing the student's skills in setting up and analysing Mathematical
models based on real world situations, and

Enlarging the student's competence and skills needed for solving the
Mathematical models that emerge from business problems.
Subjects of the course
After studying the contents of this course the student will be able to:














Analyse a relation between two quantities expressed as a function of
one variable and plot it out in a graphical representation;
Translate practical situations which describe the relation between two
quantities into a model and use Mathematics to optimize the model;
Define the concepts of arithmetic and geometric sequences and series
and calculate the sums of arithmetic and geometric sequences;
Use the sequences mentioned above to construct models in financial
applications and use these models in financial calculations;
Describe the characteristics of functions of two variables and calculate
the extreme values of these functions with or without restrictions;
Model practical situations in which a quantity is related to two other
quantities: functions of two variables.
Use the principles of integral calculus and subsequently apply the basis
methodologies of integral calculus;
Identify practical situations in which integral calculus is used and use
the basic methods of integration to calculate relevant values for the
models in question.
Describe the characteristics of differential equations and solve
elementary first-order linear differential equations;
Model practical situations, in which a quantity depends on a continuous
variable using differential equations, and generate solutions for such
equations;
Describe the characteristics of difference equations and solve
elementary difference equations;
Model practical situations in which a quantity depends on a discrete
variable with difference equations and generate solutions for these;
Give the definition of a matrix and describe several basic operations that
can be performed with matrices;
Translate appropriate practical situations into a model using matrices
and calculate solutions using operations with matrices.
29
Pre-requisites
The Dutch VWO standard for Mathematics provides the Mathematical prerequisites for this course. Broadly speaking this means: elementary knowledge of
functions, equations and inequalities, and the basics of differential and integral
calculus. To get a rough idea, you may also consult a copy of the "Entrance
Exam Mathematics for International Business Administration". The
demonstrations, examples and exercises often use elements of nonMathematical subjects. For these subjects there are no pre-requisites.
Course schedule
(1) Weekly lecture schedule
The weekly lectures will be given by dr. M. Schmidt and prof.dr L.G.
Kroon. The exact dates of the lectures can be found on SIN-Online, My
Timetable. The lectures are on Wednesday from 11:00 to 12:45 in the
Sanders building,
LB-107. The subjects of each week‟s lecture will be announced via
Blackboard.
(2) Weekly workshop schedule
The weekly workshops have been scheduled on Friday. In these
workshops a selection of the problems in the book Essential
Mathematics for Economics and Business by Teresa Bradley will be
discussed. Also some problems from former exams will be discussed.
The detailed weekly schedule of the exercises will be published via
Blackboard. Note that the best way to learn Mathematics is by doing it
yourself. Therefore it is important that each student prepares the weekly
exercises individually.
Students who encounter problems with the studied materials and
exercises are strongly advised to practice with additional exercises from
the relevant chapter of the book and with the additional exercises in
Maple TA.
The workshops are presented by the Teaching Assistants Ivan Ferini,
Max Möllhoff, and Lorna Ying. You will be assigned to one of the
workshops by IBA Programme Management. The exact dates, times
and locations can be found on SIN-Online, My Timetable.
Estimation of study load
Lectures (11 weeks)
22 hrs
Workshops (11 weeks)
22 hrs
Bonus tests (10 weeks)
20 hrs
Studying at home
44 hrs
Exams (2 partial exams)
4 hrs
Total:
112 hrs
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Literature
The required text for both lectures and workshops is: Teresa Bradley, Essential
Mathematics for Economics and Business, 4th edition, Wiley 2013. ISBN: 978-0470-01856-9.
Assessment and Exams
The student's knowledge and competence will be judged based on his/her
performance in two partial exams or in the resit exam. The first partial exam is in
October 2014 and the second one is in November 2014, see below. Each partial
exam covers the material that was discussed in the lectures and the workshops
of the previous 5 weeks. Both partial exams have a duration of 2 hours. The resit
exam is in July 2015. The resit exam covers all material of the course and has a
duration of 3 hours.
Exam Dates
First partial exam:
10 October 2014
from 18:30 to 20:30
Second partial exam:
17 November 2014
from 13:30 to 15:30
Resit exam:
7 July 2015
from 13:30 to 16:30
Registration for the partial exams and for the resit exam is required via Osiris.
You can register from 35 to 7 days before each exam.
It is allowed to use a single hand-written sheet with formulas during the partial
exams and the resit exam. The use of books and graphical calculators is not
allowed during the partial exams or during the resit exam. The only calculators
that are permitted during the partial exams and the resit exam are the following:





FX-82SX Plus (Casio)
FX-82MS (Casio)
FX-350MS (Casio)
TI-30Xa (Texas Instruments)
TI-30XS Multiview (Texas Instruments).
Both partial exams and the resit exam consist of 50% multiple-choice questions
(each question has 4 alternative answers, one of which is correct) and 50% open
questions covering the material discussed in the lectures and workshops.
Sample exams are available at the Blackboard site of the course in the Course
Documents section.
There will be weekly Bonus tests via the interactive learning environment Maple
TA on internet. Each Bonus test has a duration of two hours, and can be taken
on Tuesday between 17:00 and 19:00. Outside this time interval, the Bonus tests
will not be available. The first Bonus test takes place on Tuesday, September 9,
2014. Each Bonus test consists of 10 questions, each giving at most 1 point. A
Bonus test is passed if at least 5.5 points were obtained in total. Participation in
the Bonus tests is voluntary. It is recommended to get experience with Maple TA
before doing a Bonus test. This can be obtained via the weekly exercises in
Maple TA.
Each student who passed at least 7 of the 10 weekly Bonus tests is entitled to
answer an additional Bonus question during the second partial exam and during
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the resit exam. If this Bonus question is answered correctly, this gives the
student an additional bonus of at most 1.0 point upon his final grade, with the
restriction that the final grade cannot be higher than 10.0. There will be no resit of
the Bonus tests. A partial Bonus point can be obtained for a partially correct
answer to the Bonus question.
After the two partial exams, the final grade for the course is the arithmetic
average of the grades of the two partial exams, possibly increased by at most 1.0
Bonus point, and with the restriction that the final grade cannot be higher than
10.0. If the resit exam is taken, then the final grade is the grade of the resit exam,
possibly increased by at most 1.0 Bonus point, and with the restriction that the
final grade cannot be higher than 10.0.
Exam Perusal
The date, time and place of the exam perusal are announced when the grades
are published.
RSM Student Representation
If a student has any comment about the quality of the course, be it positive or
negative, please send an email to the corresponding student representative or
approach him or her personally after the lecture. RSM Student Representative email: feedbackIBA@rsmsr.nl
32
Skills 1: IT (BAP065)
Course name:
Course code:
Course load:
Trimester:
Coordinator:
Teaching staff:
Course structure:
Course schedule:
Examination:
Office hours:
Skills 1: IT
BAP065
2 ECTS
1
K.I.M. Schouten, M.Sc. (Coordinator)
Dr. F. Frasincar (Coordinator)
Teaching Assistants
Plenary lecture (1 lecture of 2 hours)
Training Workshops (9 2-hour sessions in 9 weeks)
Test Workshop (10 1-hour sessions in 10 weeks)
Plenary lecture at the start of the course (September 8)
Training Workshops on Thursday
Test Workshops on Monday
Final grade consists of the average of the last 9 multiple-choice
tests made during the Test Workshops. The first test does not
count towards the final grade but is compulsory.
By appointment only
Course Overview
The introductory level course “Skills 1: IT” has been designed to teach students
essential IT skills for International Business Administration. Participating students
gain practical experience with the Windows operating system. They work with the
digital information environment of Erasmus University Rotterdam and produce a
variety of business documents by means of the Microsoft Office software
package, i.e., Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Access.
The course takes place in the first trimester of the academic year. Contact hours
consist of an introductory plenary session, an introductory test session, and nine
weeks with two workshops each. Each week will contain a two-hour workshop in
which the students can practice, and a one-hour workshop in which the acquired
skills up until that point will be tested. Each workshop takes place in the
computer labs, following a timetable set beforehand. Participation in the one-hour
workshops is necessary, as results obtained in these workshops constitute the
final grade of this course. Moreover, participation in the two-hour training
workshops is strongly encouraged.
To stress the Skills character of this course, there will be no written exam at the
end of the course. The final grade will be based on the nine one-hour test
workshops. These tests, consisting of multiple-choice questions, will be
conducted in a computerized way, so that grading will be done automatically. The
final grade will be the average of the nine test grades. Not showing up for the test
will mean a result of zero for that test. The compulsory (!) introductory test
session does not count for the final mark, as it is meant to (1) get the students
acquainted with this specific type of testing and (2) give some assessment of the
current skill level of the student.
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Students will not be able to directly see their grade after making a test. This will
allow the staff to process any question-specific feedback received during the test.
It is our aim to publish all grades before the next workshop. During the course,
students can see the results of their tests in the online test environment.
Students are expected to prepare for the workshops by studying texts and
practicing hands-on exercises from the course books and the available on-line
learning material. In order to prepare for the classes, students may use the
campus facilities, i.e., computer labs, laptop rooms, or any other computer that
has the necessary software installed. Students should be well-prepared in order
to make effective use of the two-hour training, as only then can they specifically
address the limitations of their current skill-level. The two-hour training session is
not designed to be sufficient for the test session without thorough preparation by
the student.
Learning goals
After this course, the student is able to:




Write reports in Microsoft Word by applying templates, style sheets and
document structuring commands;
Design and build presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint;
Create spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel based on a given business
model and modeling goals;
Design, build, and query a database in Microsoft Access.
Literature
Besides reading the materials made available through Blackboard, students are
encouraged to read the following books:


Introduction to Word and PowerPoint, compiled by A.C. Hogenboom
and F. Frasincar
Introduction to Excel and Access, compiled by A.C. Hogenboom and F.
Frasincar
These books are only available as a package, with ISBN number 978-1-78134427-9.
Estimation of study load
Plenary lecture
Workshop preparation and self-study
Training Workshops
Test Workshops
Total:
2 hrs
26 hrs
18 hrs
10 hrs
56 hrs
Sessions

Introduction Lecture

Introductory Test (compulsory)

Week 1 – Microsoft Word

Week 2 – Microsoft Word
34







Week 3 – Microsoft PowerPoint
Week 4 – Microsoft Excel
Week 5 – Microsoft Excel
Week 6 – Microsoft Excel
Week 7 – Microsoft Excel
Week 8 – Microsoft Access
Week 9 – Microsoft Access
Exam Perusal
The date, time and place of the exam perusal are announced when the grades
are published.
Student Feedback
Students are encouraged to provide feedback using the feedback options in the
computerized test. There are two types of feedback solicited from the students.
The first is on the questions themselves, which can be used to point out errors in
the test. The second is at the end of the test, where a short questionnaire needs
to be filled in about the perceived quality of the test, the quality of the teaching
assistants, etc.
To properly process the first kind of feedback, this information has to be linked to
your test results. This will enable us to check for possible errors and correct the
grades afterwards. The second kind of feedback will be stored separately from
the test and, as such, will not have any effect on the test grades.
Additionally, if you have any comment about the quality of the course, be it
positive or negative, please send an email to the corresponding student
representative or approach him or her personally. RSM Student Representative
e-mail: feedbackIBA@rsmsr.nl
35
BOOK LIST: IBA Bachelor 1 Trimester 1 2014-2015
st
1 Year Student Mentor Programme (BAP-MG)
Course materials will be provided by IBA Programme Management.
Introduction to Business (BAP064)

William G. Nickels, James M. McHugh and Susan M. McHugh,
Understanding business custom edition 2014, based on 10th edition
(McGraw-Hill, New York 2012), ISBN 9780077167912.

Van der Weerdt, Nijholt & Smolka (2014). Business Strategy Textbook
& Workbook 2014.
Methodology (BAP073)
Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill. (2009). Research Methods for Business Students
th
(5 international edition). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited,
ISBN: 9781783762323.
Organizational Behaviour (BAP071)
Robbins, S.P., Judge, T.A., & Campbell (2010). Organizational Behavior
st
(1 edition). New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall, ISBN: 9781780166575.
QMT: Mathematics (BAP053)
Bradley, T. (2013). Essential Mathematics for Economics and Business
th
(4 edition). Wiley, ISBN: 9780470018569.
Skills 1: IT (BAP065)

Introduction to Word and PowerPoint, compiled by A.C. Hogenboom
and F. Frasincar

Introduction to Excel and Access, compiled by A.C. Hogenboom and F.
Frasincar
These books are only available as a package, with ISBN number 978-1-78134427-9.
* Books can be bought at: RSM STAR (www.rsmstar.nl) or Study Store on
campus Woudestein (V-building).
Second-hand books are available via RSM Student Representation, Second
Reader (www.rsmsr.nl).
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37
Grade Composition overview
Bachelor 1 Trimester 1, 2014-2015
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39