Syllabus
| Description | Objectives | Grading | Academic Integrity | Text |
This course examines the systematic processes
of business problem solving. Topics include
collecting and processing information,
statistical inference, regression, risk analysis,
and information technology. Common business
processes and business skills practiced are
gathering and organizing data, quantitative data
analysis, forecasting, decision making under
uncertainty, and communicating or presenting
results. Teaching methods are lecture, computer
assignments, case studies, and projects.
Prerequisite: GBA 501 (Organizational Concepts
and Techniques) or concurrent.
The objectives of this course are to
familiarize students with:
- sources of data and the methodology of
their collection.
- the appropriate statistical techniques to
analyze data and the interpretation of
the results.
- the appropriate means of presenting data
and the results of analysis.
The topics covered in this
class have direct application. They will also be
applied in future classes, including all the
other core and breadth courses, as well as
electives such as GBA 528 (Business Cycles and
Forecasting), GBA 550 (Marketing Research), GBA
570 (Program/Project Management), and GBA 575
(Information Systems Analysis and Design).
Grades in this class will be based on
examinations (70%) and out-of-class assignments
(30%):
- There will be two tests during the
semester, each worth 35% of your grade. Each exam
will consist primarily of problem type
questions. Click here
to get an idea of what the exams will be
like. You may use your notes and book
during each exam. Make-up exams will be
given only if you have a written excuse.
- The out-of-class assignments will allow
you to apply the concepts discussed in
class in a variety of situations. Most of
the exercises will require you to use
spreadsheet software to do statistical
analysis. For those with no prior
knowledge of spreadsheets, the text has a
supplemental section at the end of the
first chapter dealing with the use of
Microsoft Excel. The use of Excel is
integrated throughout the text.
Ethical behavior is expected at all times.
From the Graduate Bulletin: "Academic
dishonesty is an affront to the integrity of
scholarship at USD an a threat to the quality of
learning. . . Violations of academic integrity
include: a) unauthorized assistance on an
examination; b) falsification or invention of
data; c) unauthorized collaboration on an
academic exercise; d) plagiarism; e)
misappropriation of research materials; f) any
unauthorized access to an instructor's files or
computer account; or g) any other serious
violation of academic integrity as established by
the instructor. An act of dishonesty can lead to
penalties in a course such as reduction of grade;
withdrawal from the course; a requirement that
all or part of a course be retaken; and a
requirement that additional work be undertaken in
connection with the course."
 David M. Levine, David
Stephan, Timothy C. Krehbiel, and Mark L.
Berenson, Statistics for Managers Using
Microsoft Excel, 3rd Edition, Prentice-Hall,
Inc., 2002.
New versions of the text and some of the used
ones come with a CD-ROM that has a supplement to
Excel called PHStat. While the supplement is not
required to complete this course, it helps
greatly in doing some of the required analysis.
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