Bill
Bruner is an economist and has been a member of the Evergreen faculty for 25
years. He teaches economics, business, management and quantitative
methods. At Evergreen he spent more than ten years in administrative
positions, serving as both Library and Budget Dean. Prior to coming to Evergreen,
he worked in economic development, economic research, planning in both the
public and private sectors and consulting in forest economics. When he is not
teaching he enjoys photography, hiking, race walking, cooking and a new
granddaughter.
Janet Luft Mobus, PhD, CPA, is new to Evergreen but has
taught accounting for 15 years, most recently at UW Tacoma. Before joining the
ranks of academe she practiced public accounting as an auditor, and was the
controller and Chief Financial Officer of a small aerospace manufacturing
company. In addition to traditional financial accounting, she is interested in
social and environmental accounting techniques and issues. When she’s not at
school she enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, gardening (successfully growing
several crops of weeds per year), and tennis (not much caring if the ball stays
inside the lines or not).
Marge Mohoric, PhD has taught leadership
and business strategy at Evergreen, Seattle University, Antioch
University-Seattle, and the University of Oregon. During the 05-06
academic year she taught in Evergreen’s Master’s Degree in Public
Administration program. In addition to teaching, Marge is a partner in a
consulting business, providing Organizational Development and Leadership
consulting to public, non-profit and for-profit organizations. Following
her leadership positions in Washington State government, she was
selected to design and manage a Fortune 100 company's Executive Leadership
Institute created to change the corporate culture and to position the
company as the best in class. A native of the Northwest Marge enjoys the great
outdoors, hiking, biking and kayaking. She is an Evergreen graduate.
Meeting Schedule
Learning Goals for Fall Quarter
1. To gain a large view of the role of
businesses in society and of how businesses operate.
2. To grasp some fundamentals of
accounting and finance, with particular emphasis on how to read and use
financial statements.
3. To understand human behavior within
organizations and issues related to leadership and ethics.
4. To gain an understanding of the
economics of business decisions, encompassing introductions to both
microeconomics and macroeconomics and decision models used in planning and
managing firm operations.
5. To understand how business skills
are applicable to management of government, non-profit and for-profit
organizations.
6. To improve basic study and learning
skills such as writing, oral expression and critical thinking.
Business Simulation
A major element in our work fall quarter involves a business
simulation, Foundation. For the simulation, students will be divided
into teams of four or five persons; each team will manage a company that
produces electronic sensors. Teams will compete in a dynamic market, and each
team will make decisions about its company’s production, marketing, research
and development, financing and how to manage its human resources. The
simulation will give students hands-on experience with the knowledge and skills
they are developing in the classroom. Winning is not a requirement for award of
credit or even for a favorable evaluation. But students will be given
opportunities, individually and as teams, to demonstrate what they have learned
from the simulation, win or lose. In addition to subscribing to the simulation,
students will need MS Excel, version 97 or newer (available in the labs on
campus) and a current version of Netscape or Explorer.
Program Retreat
Since teamwork will be required in the Foundation
simulation and in the program as a whole, we will start the quarter with a
program retreat on Friday evening and all day Saturday of the first week of the
quarter (Sept 29, 6:00 to 9:00, and Sept. 30, 9:30 to 4:30). The purpose of the
retreat is to work on skills related to group dynamics, teamwork and
leadership. It is intended, also, to develop a sense of community among program
participants. We will have a potluck lunch on Sept. 30. The retreat is mandatory. Please do not register for the program if
you cannot be available on these two days.
Program Assignments
We will provide more detailed instructions on each of the
assignments as the program progresses, but here is a quick summary:
·
Weekly
writing assignments associated with seminar readings and to serve as
preparation for seminar. Five of these
papers will be short (about one page) responses (referred to as Response
Papers on the schedule) to the readings and are intended as preparation for
seminar discussions. These must
include citations, but the documentation form may be informal. Two of the papers will be longer, formal
essays of three to five pages (Seminar Papers) that draw on at least two
of the assigned seminar books in discussing innovation and leadership. All of these papers are due in the
faculty’s email inboxes by 9:00 am of the day of seminar. The final paper (eight to ten pages) will
draw on all of the quarter’s reading in analyzing what you have learned about
business from your team’s experience with the simulation. The three longer papers must have formal
documentation per American Psychological Association guidelines.
Please
remember that these are analytical papers; they are not book reports. Since we are all reading the same books,
summaries are not necessary. Also, they
are not about how you feel about the books or the authors. We expect you to add value to the readings
by helping us to understand or to extend the authors’ ideas in some way.
·
A
series of group and individual tasks associated with the Foundation simulation.
These may include, in addition to decision sets associated with playing the
game, quizzes, short writing assignments, oral presentations. They will be embedded in the simulation and
will be scheduled as a part of your team’s play of the game. Some will be team responses and some will
require individual responses.
·
Papers,
problems, cases and activities associated with the economics, organizational
development and accounting/finance workshops.
Each component of the class will have its own readings, assignments and
schedule of activities.
·
A
final exam covering content of the program.
·
Other
assignments at the whim of the faculty.
Please
note that faculty would like all assignments to be submitted
electronically. We are committed to
saving trees.
Program Book List (for Fall Quarter.)
NOTE: It is important that
you have the editions specified below.
Battelle, The Search: How Google
and its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed our Culture. Nicholas
Brealey Publishing Ltd, 2005.
ISBN: 1857883616
(Hardcover).
Fishman, The Wal-Mart Effect:
How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's
Transforming the American Economy. Penguin, 2006. ISBN: 9781594200762; 1594200769 (Trade Cloth).
Fraser and Ormiston, Understanding
Financial Statements. 8th
edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.
ISBN 9780131878565 (Paper Text).
Gitman and McDaniel, The Future of Business: The
Essentials. Thomson Southwestern,
2006. ISBN: 9780324320282; 0324320299 (Paper Text without
CD).
Heilbroner and Thurow, Economics Explained: Everything
You Need to Know about How the Economy Works and Where It's Going. Simon and Schuster, 1998. ISBN: 9780684846415;
0684846411 (Trade Paper).
Marquez, One
Hundred Years of Solitude. Harper
Collins, 2006. ISBN: 9780060883287; 0060883286 (Trade Paper).
Powers, Gain: A Novel. Picador,
1999. ISBN: 9780312204099 0312204094 (Trade Paper).
Ryan, et al, Stuff: The Secret Lives of
Everyday Things. Northwest
Environment Watch, 1997. ISBN:
9781886093041; 1886093040 (Trade Paper).
Senge,
The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Doubleday, 1990. ISBN: 9780385517256; 0385517254 (Trade Paper)
In addition, students
will subscribe to the Foundation simulation (Management Simulations,
Inc.) at a cost of about $40.
Arrangements will be announced in class.
Credit Equivalencies
Credit for fall quarter will be awarded as
follows (and is subject to change):
16 Credits Total
4 - Economics for Business 4 – Financial and Managerial
Accounting
4 - Organizational
Development 4 – General Business
Program Covenant
As a learning community, faculty and students in Innovation and Leadership in
American Business: Beyond Business as Usual acknowledge that
community does not just "happen." It is up to us to create our own
learning community and to strive to maintain community vitality. As such, we
have responsibilities to ourselves and to the group. It is important that the
duties and responsibilities of faculty and students are clearly understood.
Those responsibilities are described here and constitute a covenant among
community members.
Expectations
of Faculty
The learning community can expect
faculty members to:
1. Attend a faculty
seminar and business meeting each week ready to participate.
2. Be prepared for
lectures, workshops and other activities as scheduled by the faculty team.
3. Help facilitate
book seminars each week.
4. Attend all
program activities required of the entire group of students when not ill or
absent for professional or religious reasons.
5. Give prompt and
meaningful feedback to all student assignments.
6. Be available to
students during posted office hours or by appointment.
7. Give students
feedback throughout the quarter so that written evaluations are not a surprise.
8. Notify students
by the end of the 5th week if their work‑to‑date does not meet the
requirements for full credit.
9. Write an
evaluation for each assigned student.
10. Participate in
the administrative business of the program as agreed to by the faculty team.
11. Continually work
to create a community that respects differences and encourages an environment
where students and faculty can learn with and from each other.
12. Abide by
Evergreen’s Social Contract.
Expectations
of Students
The learning community can expect
students to:
1. Attend all class
meetings on time and to stay for the entire class period. Any absences can lead
to reduced credit. Faculty will take
roll.
2. Prepare fully
for all classes, seminars and program activities by completing the readings,
reflecting on the readings and thoughtfully designing questions and comments
about the readings. Students will put the same careful attention into their
writing. All written work will be typed, double‑spaced and proofread
before submission and will conform to the APA (American Psychological
Association) handbook.
3. Complete all
written work and assignments on time.
4. Engage fully in
all classes, seminars and program activities by generating and sharing ideas
and critiques as well as listening actively and encouraging others to generate
and share their ideas and critiques.
5. Consult with
their seminar leader whenever they need clarification about any aspect of the
program, the readings or other activities.
6. Write self and
faculty evaluations at the end of the quarter.
Evaluations of faculty may be submitted to the program secretaries.
7. Meet with
seminar leader for evaluation conference at the arranged time.
8. Continually work
to create a community that respects and encourages an environment where
students and faculty can learn with and from each other.
9. Submit original
pieces of work. No plagiarism.
10. Abide by
Evergreen’s Social Contract.
Academic Standards
By enrolling in the program, you agree to abide by the
academic standards outlined below.
·
Late Work Policy - This course
requires self-discipline, individual work and teamwork. Please follow the schedule closely and
attend all seminars,
workshops, lectures, and team meetings.
It will be hard to achieve the program goals of working collaboratively
and communicating clearly without actively attending and contributing to class.
We expect all work to be submitted on
time. Late submittals communicate to us
that you are not keeping up with your work.
In all but the most extenuating
of circumstances, work that is submitted past its due date and time will not be
read by faculty and your evaluation will state that your work was not submitted
in a timely fashion. Failure to
attend all program meetings
or to submit all work could
result in a loss of credit.
·
Credit Policy - Credit is not the same thing as high quality work. Full credit may be given when students
fulfill the college-level requirements and standards of the program. The evaluation is used to describe the
quality of the student's work. Thus, a
student could actually receive credit, but also receive evaluations that
reflect poor quality work. On the flip
side, a student could attend regularly but receive partial or no credit because
of poor quality or missing work.
·
Honesty - It is
required that each assignment be an original piece of work for this program
(i.e., the piece has never been submitted to or has not been the basis for an
assignment in another program). Ideas
or written passages that are not yours must be correctly referenced so that
credit can accrue to the original sources.
In general, documentation is to be in APA format, though informal
citations are acceptable in the weekly response papers during fall
quarter. The APA handbook is available
in the library.
Any
student who plagiarizes material will lose credit, be asked to leave the
program, and may be required to leave the college. Plagiarism is to pass off as one’s own the
words or ideas of others. You must
submit original work in response to all assignments. Ask your faculty members if you have any questions. The Evergreen library and the Learning
Resource Center also have information on plagiarism.
If any situation arises in which there
is ambiguity or uncertainty about whether the work fulfills the letter or
spirit of Evergreen’s Academic Standards, please bring it to our
attention. Failure to adhere to these
standards will result in a loss of credit.
Housekeeping
1. Conflict
resolution - Although we will all strive to maintain a smooth‑running
program, conflict happens and can be healthy if handled well. Resolution of
disagreement between a student and a faculty member should be attempted first
by the two parties involved, then with the whole faculty team. If resolution cannot be reached at this point, we
will use the college's established grievance procedure. Students should strive
to resolve conflict between them first, but faculty members are available to
act as mediators if needed.
2.
Evaluations - Students will be
evaluated by their seminar leaders, but contributions from the other faculty
members will be solicited and welcomed.
3.
Expulsion from
the program - A student may be asked to leave the program if his or her
behavior is consistently disruptive, antagonistic and impedes the program from
progressing. Any student who is asked to leave and wishes to appeal may do so
by arranging to meet with the entire faculty team. The team's decision will be
binding, although students always have access to the college's grievance
procedures.
A student's registration in this program indicates his or her
willingness to abide by these duties and responsibilities.
