version Date: April - The Wharton School of the University of ...

Management 621 The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania MBAExec (West) – Summer 2012
Regular participation in discussions is expected, and you should carefully prepare the readings
and cases for every class session. Individuals are called upon from time to time, but most participation
is voluntary. Name cards must be consistently displayed during class, and it is essential that you attend
all course meetings. Participation counts for 20% of your course grade; 15% for individual
participation in class discussion and 5% for your team’s case presentation (see below).
In preparing cases for discussion in class, be ready to comment on (1) the case’s background and
context; (2) the key issues and problems; (3) concepts useful for analyzing the issues and problems;
and (4) a course of action for designing and implementing solutions. Questions specific to each case
have been provided in this syllabus to help guide your preparation; however I encourage you to go
beyond these questions in thinking about how to apply any course concepts that are relevant to the case.
LEARNING TEAMS AND CASE PRESENTATIONS
Learning teams are integral to the work of Management 621. Several activities are conducted
through the teams, and you may find that preparing for class is facilitated by team discussion. All
participants will be assigned to a learning team by the MBAExec program; team assignment is based
on diversity of background and experience, subject to physical location constraints.
Each team is assigned to analyze the case and readings for one class session. Teams will be
assigned to cases during the first week of classes. This analysis should explore connections within the
assigned materials (i.e. how do the readings relate to the case and vice-versa) and beyond the material
to other experiences, examples, and ways of communicating key concepts or insights (i.e. How do the
readings and/or case relate to the past and present experiences of any member of the team Can you
think of related and relevant examples from the business world, either past or present Can you
identify a resource that helps make an important point related to this particular class, e.g. a video, a
song, an image, a literary reference)
The assignment requires that you convey your analysis to me and your classmates in two ways:
1. Team paper -- 4-5 pages double-spaced, sent to me by 5 pm on the day before the class to
which you are assigned
2. Team presentation -- 10 minutes in class in which you present the key points from your paper
in a clear, well-organized, compelling, and (if you wish) creative way
This team assignment is worth 5% towards the 20% participation grade; as noted above, the
remaining 15% of the grade is based on individual participation.
For this team paper, I want the members of your team to dig into the readings and case:
• What intrigues you
• What’s thought-provoking
• What’s important
• What don’t you quite buy, if anything
• What do you think the class should note in particular about the link between reading and case
• What issues do you think the class should grapple with
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