Suffolk University

11.28

Just a reminder ... tomorrow will be a short class!

We'll hold our final quiz, conduct our instructor evaluations, and then chat briefly about the reading assignment (see my 11.21 posting below) and the Second Life communication exercise. And then we'll call it a day! :)

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11.21

Hi all! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Our reading assignments for Tuesday are a blog entry entitled Writing With Words, Talking With Pictures and our buzz marketing write-up. And our reading assignment for Thursday is a blog entry entitled Email Scammers Ask Your Friends For Money.

Your one page presentation handouts are due via email in PDF format on Monday 12/3 at 5:00 pm. The term projects and all extra credit assignments are due via email in PDF format on Wednesday 12/5 at 2:30 pm.

The presentations will be held at 40 Court Street from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Tuesday 12/4; audit partner Travis Drouin of Moody, Famiglietti & Andronico and a staff member of his firm will serve as guest judges. Please remember to bring approximately 40 copies of your 1 page handout ... just in case. You must dress appropriately for a formal business event, and you cannot refer to any notes whatsoever during your presentation.

Each presentation will be limited to a duration of four minutes; in addition, the guest judges will be permitted to ask one “clarification” question of each group.

Tuesday: Blog entry and write-up

Thursday: Blog entry

11.14

REMINDER ... NO CLASS ON THURSDAY!

Instead, students who have completed the virtual reality extra credit work thus far will join me after Thanksgiving for a brief class in cyberspace. And students who passed on that opportunity are getting a day off! :)

On Tuesday next week, we'll wrap up our business plan with a balanced scorecard sample and a critical article. Of course, Thursday next week is Thanksgiving.

We'll also wrap up our “public speaking tips of the week” (remember them?) with a trifecta ... deception, narration, and repetition.

Balanced scorecard sample, critical article

11.10

A number of you have asked me whether I expect individual write-ups from each of you for the extra credit exercise, or whether I expect a single write-up from each pair.

Just to let you know ... a single write-up from each pair will be fine!

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11.09

I hope you enjoyed Robin's guest speaking visit yesterday! Now I regret that it's back to business as usual ... :(

On Tuesday we'll review a spreadsheet that produces financial statement projections. We'll also discuss the brief section entitled Polishing the ROE Apple on the web page The Asset-Lite Movement. And we'll visit a web site called Jump the Shark.

The spreadsheet and “Polishing the Apple” section are fully quizzable on Tuesday. However, on the Jump the Shark site, the only quizzable reading will be the brief Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section; the FAQ link appears right under the home page title.

Finally, please keep in mind that we won't hold a class on Thursday! Students who are completing the extra credit assignment will meet me for a brief class session in virtual reality, at a time and (virtual) place to be announced.

Spreadsheet projections, Polishing the Apple, Jump the Shark

Horngren (optional): the sections on residual income and economic value added, beginning on page 795 and extending through page 797, as well as Exhibit 13-1, presented on page 460.

11.07

Just a reminder that Robin Gorski of Tofias will be visiting us tomorrow! We'll have our usual quiz, and then I'll yield the floor to Robin.

The only assigned reading is the brief definition that was posted on my 11.03 blog entry (see below).

Transaction definition (see below)

11.03

Yahoo alert! Over the past two months, three students with Yahoo email accounts have told me that they sent me a message but didn't receive a response. Just to remind you ... I always respond to all messages by the next day ... even on Sundays! So if you contact me and don't hear back from me, please call me ... it means that I didn't receive your message.

The only assigned reading for Tuesday is the cash flow handout that I initially posted in my 10.26 blog entry (below). And the only assigned reading for Thursday, when Robin Gorski of Tofias will return to conclude our discussion of transfer pricing, is a definition of the concept of arm's length transaction.

Cash flow handout; Transaction definition

11.01

Here's the document you've been waiting for! It's your virtual reality extra credit assignment; I'll discuss it during class.

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10.31

I hope you enjoyed the victory parade yesterday ... and I hope you picked up a few extra credit points as well!

It's back to reality tomorrow, though we won't have a quiz. The reading I originally assigned for yesterday is now reassigned to tomorrow (though you won't be quizzed on it again), and the reading I originally assigned for tomorrow is now reassigned for Tuesday next week (and you will be quizzed on it next week).

Here are the answers to yesterday's extra credit quiz:

<1> When Lincoln said “of the people, by the people, for the people,” he was attempting to: <d> connect with the “common people” who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg.

<2> A “signature” or “franchise” television show is one that: <d> uses its characters to illustrate its network's target viewer market to its advertisers.

<3> When a division of a firm sells a product or service to another division in the same firm: <d> the “buying division” actually pays the “selling division” for the item purchased.

<4> During the 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry promised to: <a> end job-killing tax loopholes.

Please keep in mind that there is another five point extra credit project to come ... :)

See blog entry of 10.26 (below)

10.30

URGENT! CHANGE OF PLANS TODAY!

I just learned that the Red Sox victory parade will be rolling out of Fenway Park at noontime today, will continue down Boylston and Tremont Streets, and will end at City Hall Park.

That means that it might very well be rolling past our doors (well ... close to our doors) at the very moment that we're scheduled to take our quiz and begin class. And, to my chagrin, our University has decided that it's “business as usual” today.

As a native New Yorker, I'm frankly a bit bummed out ... but I certainly don't want to stop you from enjoying the event. On the other hand, I don't want students who prepare for the quiz to show up in class and find no one present.

So this is what I'll do ... I'll be in Room 134 from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm this afternoon. Any one who shows up will be welcome to take the quiz, which will be worth 4 extra credit points towards your final grade. But it won't be counted as a normal quiz, so you won't miss anything if you attend the parade today. And I won't cover any new material, so there won't be a quiz on Thursday.

Even if you pop in to take the 5 minute quiz, I hope you enjoy the parade! And as a native New Yorker, all I can say is “wait 'till next year ...”

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10.26

Hi class! For Tuesday, please review the transfer pricing section of the Inland Revenue Service of Her Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom. You are only responsible for reading the first three web pages of material linked to that site, i.e. the web pages entitled INTM431010 (What is the transfer pricing problem?), INTM431020 (How do companies set their transfer pricing policy?), and INTM431030 (How does the arm's length principle solve the transfer pricing problem?). In addition, please read a discussion of John Kerry's position on "job-killing tax loopholes." These documents are all “quizzable.”

For Thursday, we'll begin our discussion of investment value by reviewing a handout about cash flow. It is also “quizzable.”

Also, on Thursday, we'll begin our discussion of a five point extra credit exercise that will involve an online transfer price negotiation game. We will not be meeting as a class on campus on Thursday 11.15; instead, those who participate in the exercise will meet with me at another time in virtual reality ... and those who choose not to participate will take a little time off!

Finally, please note that a partner and staff member from Moody, Famiglietti & Andronico (yes, they hire Suffolk students!) will be guest judging your final presentations. We will hold our final presentations on Tuesday 12/4 instead of Thursday 12/6, so your final papers (and all extra credit work) will be due via email on Monday 12/3.

Inland Revenue web site, Kerry article

Horngren (optional): the sections on transfer pricing, beginning with Transfer Pricing on page 764 and ending with Negotiated Transfer Pricing on pages 772 & 773. Please pay particular attention to the final section on Negotiated Transfer Pricing.

Horngren (optional): the sections on outsourcing, beginning on page 384 and ending on page 391.

10.24

Great job on the presentations yesterday! The judges were very impressed. :)

As you know, I'd be delighted to give personal feedback to any one who requests it. All I ask is that you send me an email message requesting the feedback, and that you agree to meet with me for an individual conversation (in case the feedback is critical). I typically spend ten minutes with each person, though I'm always delighted to spend more time to answer additional questions.

The one reading assignment for tomorrow is a brief article about the television show NYPD Blue. We'll discuss two similar shows (The X Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) in class.

That brief article will be the only “quizzable” reading. However, we will also review some suggestions about delivering presentations.

Television article

10.20

Thank you for your PDF files! I have sent them off to Tofias, and I look forward to watching you present them on Tuesday.

We'll begin our presentations promptly at 2:15 (not 2:30) on Tuesday; please try to arrive at least ten minutes early (around 2:05) to settle in. We'll meet on the 2^nd floor of 40 Court Street in our accounting department offices, not in the Sawyer Building.

Finally, please remember to bring 45 copies of your handout to distribute to the audience.

There is (obviously) no advance reading assignment and no quiz for Tuesday. On Wednesday, I'll post a very brief advance reading assignment for Thursday, when the quiz will cover the material from Thursday (i.e. last week, 10/18) plus that day's reading assignment.

Good luck! :)

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10.18

Good morning! This is just a reminder that your 1 page presentation handouts are due via email at 2:30 pm tomorrow in PDF format.

Incidentally, if you're not certain whether you wish to participate in our extra credit assignment, you might wish to use the “virtual reality” link at the bottom of my home page www.enterpriseman.net to access the brief set of Welcome materials. You might also find it helpful to click on the Center for Social Policy link on my home page to access my Internet Communication slides.

We'll get started with the extra credit work after your presentations, so you still have a little more time to think about it ...

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10.17

Someone asked me if we're still having a quiz tomorrow, given that we didn't cover any new accounting material in class yesterday.

Just to let you all know ... yep, we are! After all, we did cover our public speaking tip of the week, and we do have an advance reading assignment!

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10.16

Oops! I almost forgot to post the results of last week's student survey. We'll discuss it in class today.

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10.13

This week, it's on to the revenue section of the business plan!

We'll begin on Tuesday by discussing our midterm presentations, which will be held on Tuesday 10/23 in the Accounting Department's conference room on the 2^nd floor of 40 Court Street. To ensure that we finish on time, we will promptly start 15 minutes early (@ 2:15) and end 15 minutes late (@ 4:00). Please let me know via email immediately if this causes a major problem for any one!

I'll also need your one page handouts via email next week. Although I originally announced in class that I would need them by Wednesday, I have decided (in response to your requests!) to delay the deadline until Friday at 2:30 pm.

For Tuesday, please review a handout regarding profitability analysis. And for Thursday, please read an article from the periodical Time entitled A Beautiful Mind: American Pi, and then review a handout regarding game theory.

By the way, we'll also discuss our public speaking tip of the week, which is ... domination!

Profitability handout, Time article, Game theory handout

Horngren (optional): the first section of Chapter 3 entitled Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis, beginning on page 60 and extending through the first half of page 74, as well as the section entitled Variable Costing and Absorption Costing, beginning on page 295 and extending through page 298

10.10

I just wanted to let you know that we're on track for tomorrow! My reading assignment is posted in my 10.06 blog entry (below).

Please see my 10.06 reading assignment below for the variance analysis reading.

10.06

Happy Columbus Day! I hope you enjoy your Monday holiday ... don't forget to spend a little time thinking about the discovery of our western hemisphere. :)

This week, we shall complete our discussion of the cost section of a business plan. For Tuesday, please read the US Department of Defense's web page about activity based costing, and then look at the Figure 1 Process Flow Diagram that appears as the first page of Appendix B of a USDA brochure about young chicken slaughter. These documents are both “quizzable” for Tuesday.

And for Thursday, please review our handout of variance analysis (which is quizzable for Thursday) ... and please remember to bring a pen to complete a brief student feedback survey about our course!

ABC web page; process flow diagram

Variance analysis handout

Horngren (optional): the sections entitled Activity Based Costing Systems and Implementing Activity Based Costing at Plastim, beginning at the end of page 144 and extending to page 152, as well as the sections entitled Variance Analysis and Activity Based Costing and Benchmarking and Variance Analysis, beginning on page 239 and extending through Exhibit 7-6 on page 243

10.03

Hello again, class! We won't make any changes to our reading assignment for tomorrow; we will simply have one “instructor resource” reading.

However, please do check our midterm presentation scorecard for any errors. I've scheduled the presentations to run from 2:15 pm to 4:15 pm on Tuesday 10/23, at a location to be announced.

Finally, please keep in mind that your one page presentation handout is due to me in PDF format by email no later than Monday 10/22 at 2:15 pm! You should also bring 40 copies of the handout to the presentation with you for distribution to our guests and fellow students.

Please see my 09.29 entry below for the job order costing reading.

09.29

Thank you, class, for “hanging in there” through our calculus coursework! I do appreciate it very much. :)

On Tuesday we'll complete our Assured Quality discussion and will speak at length about the term project and the midterm presentation. The only “quizzable” material for Tuesday's class will be a brief 83 second sound clip by Nima Arkani-Hamed of Harvard University regarding Einstein's Big Idea; you can alternatively read the brief text transcript by using the text link at the bottom of the page.

But do try to listen to the sound clip. You can “hear enthusiasm” in a voice, but you can't read it in a transcript!

Then, on Thursday, it's on to job order costing and the heart of our course! The “quizzable” reading for Thursday's class will be an instructor resource about the topic. Please don't worry if you don't understand the material well when you first read it ... it should make more sense after we discuss it together.

And finally, we'll cover a pair of public speaking tips this week ... interaction and integration!

Voice clip; Instructor resource for job order costing

Horngren (optional): the Normal Job-Costing System in Manufacturing section on pages 109 through 118

09.26

Hello again, class! We'll stick with our game plan for tomorrow, i.e. we'll cover the calculus and Assured Quality handouts.

Please keep in mind, though, that the calculus handout will not be “quizzable” ... but do bring a copy anyway!

Please see my 09.22 entry below for the calculus and Assured Quality readings

09.22

Hello class! This week, we'll complete our discussion of disaster planning and chat a bit about Vermont Teddy Bear. Then we'll begin to focus on our midterm presentations, which have tentatively been scheduled for Tuesday 10.23. We'll also discuss our public speaking tip of the week, which is ... gesticulation!

And then it's on to marketing and quality management issues! On Tuesday, we will discuss Microsoft's MSN Eddie Bauer advertising campaign; we will also review the five paragraph press release about Pharma's Early-Phase Marketing Budgets. These documents are both “quizzable.”

On Thursday, we will cover the quality management techniques that are presented on the web page entitled Assured Quality: The Benefits of Mistake Proofing. This material is “quizzable” too.

Incidentally, we will be using a calculus handout in class; please print it out and bring it with you (as you do all of the handouts!). However, this material will not be “quizzable.”

Eddie Bauer, Pharma, Mistake Proofing

Calculus (not on quiz)

Horngren (optional): the half-page dedicated to the four costs of quality, beginning under the title The Financial Perspective: Costs of Quality on page 661 and extending to the first four lines of page 662

09.19

We'll stick with our plan tomorrow ... on to process flow analysis and the Vermont Teddy Bear reading!

I've now responded to all of the email messages that I've received regarding the term project. However, I have not yet heard from two students ... so please send me your information immediately!

Please see my 09.15 entry below for the Vermont Teddy Bear reading

09.15

REMINDER! As I mentioned in class (and in my 09.12 blog entry) please send me your preliminary choices about your project, i.e. the organization, the product or service, and your team members. It is due to me via email by 2:30 pm on Tuesday (i.e. right before our next class) ... even if you chat with me about it in person or by phone!

This week, we'll cover the flexible budgets material that was originally scheduled for last week, and we'll proceed to our discussion of process flow analysis. The “quizzable” reading for Tuesday is the flexible budgets handout, and the “quizzable” reading for Thursday is the on-line mini-tour at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. After you click through the factory entrance, use the link entitled Online Mini-Tour to proceed through the Designing, Fur Cutting, Sewing, Dressing, Shipping, and Order Placement areas.

And we'll proceed to our second public speaking tip of the week ... conversation!

Please see my 09.08 entry below for material regarding flexible budgets

Vermont Teddy Bear Mini-Tour

Horngren (optional): the actual costing material on pages 100 through 106

09.12

I hope you enjoyed our balanced scorecard discussion yesterday! For tomorrow, we'll stick with the game plan that I described in my 09.08 blog entry (below); i.e. we'll cover all of regression analysis and will (at the very least) begin our discussion of flexible budgets.

By 2:30 pm on Tuesday next week, I'd like to ask you to tell me (via email) your preliminary choices about your team project, i.e. the organization you have selected, the type of product or service you would like to address, and the team members with whom you will be working. We'll chat a bit more about this in class tomorrow ...

Please see my 09.08 entry below for material regarding regression analysis and flexible budgets

09.08

And now it's time to begin exploring our material! Please remember that we're going to begin our next class (and every class thereafter) with a very brief quiz; we will begin promptly at 2:30 pm, so don't be late!

On Tuesday, we're going to review the balanced scorecard framework and GE's three elements of quality, and on Thursday we'll review regression analysis and flexible budgets. The balanced scorecard web page (just that single page; no need to explore any of those links just yet) and the GE web page will be “quizzable” for Tuesday's quiz, and the flexible budget handout will be “quizzable” for Thursday's quiz. In addition, the four “focus group” questions at the beginning of the regression handout will be “quizzable” on Thursday, but nothing else on that regression handout will be “quizzable.”

Also, please keep in mind that I need you to bring copies of these readings to class each week, just in case the overhead projector blows out!

Incidentally, we're going to begin a series of public speaking tips of the week with an important concept ... locomotion! And I'll spend a few minutes chatting about my honors course in Applied Business Research.

Regression Analysis handout, Flexible Budgets handout

Horngren (optional): the regression material on pages 342 to 346 and 356 to 358, as well as the flexible budgets section on pages 224 to 225

Also, please see the 09.06 entry below for material regarding the balanced scorecard

09.06

Hello, class! I look forward to getting started today. We'll begin the session by reviewing our calendar (below), our syllabus, and our term project requirements. Then we'll discuss The Art of the Pitch and watch a sample Elevator Pitch. Finally, we'll proceed to the lesson plan by reading about the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard, by discussing GE's three elements of quality, and by briefly reviewing a buzz marketing application.

The textbook material column (to the right of this blog posting column) contains the readings that appear on your quizzes. If I assign a reading that will not be quizzed, I will list it in that column but will note that it won't be “quizzable.” Also, please keep in mind that the Horngren text readings will always be optional and thus will never be quizzed.

Please keep in mind that all of your assignments must be submitted in PDF format; if you need software to convert files to PDF, you might wish to try a free online service that has been recommended to me by former students. Please note, however, that I cannot guarantee it will always work ... and that I have no relationship at all with the company that runs the service!

Balanced Scorecard web pages, GE's Three Elements web page

Horngren (optional): Strategy Implementation and the Balanced Scorecard, pages 457 - 464

Tue 09.11 & Thu 09.13

I. Balanced Scorecard & II. Statistical Analysis (Linear Regression)

Tue 09.18 & Thu 09.20

III. Flexible Budget & IV. Process Flow

Tue 09.25 & Thu 09.27

V. Sales Generation (Calculus)

Tue 10.02 & Thu 10.04

VI. Total Quality Management & VII. Job Order Costing

Tue 10.09 & Thu 10.11

VIII. Activity Based Costing & IX. Cost Variance Analysis

Tue 10.16 & Thu 10.18

X. Target Pricing & Discount Pricing

Tue 10.23 & Thu 10.25

10.23 Midterm Presentations (I to VI only); 10.25 XI. Competitive Pricing

Tue 10.30 & Thu 11.01

XII. Special Pricing (Transfer Pricing)

Tue 11.06 & Thu 11.08

XIII. Cash Flow Analysis (11.08 Tofias Guest Speaker)

Tue 11.13 & Thu 11.15

XIV. Ratio Analysis (11.15 Virtual Class)

Tue 11.20 & Thu 11.22

XV. Performance Measurement (11.22 Thanksgiving!)

Tue 11.27 & Thu 11.29

Review

Tue 12.04

Final Presentations