MGMT 242: Managerial Statistics
Bucknell University
Spring Semester, 1999







Professor: Robert J. Kurland
Office:Taylor 312
Office Phone: 524-1365
E-Mail Address: kurland@bucknell.edu or rkurland@ptd.net (preferred)

Office Hours:12:30 PM - 2:00 PM,  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday;
                    11:00 AM-1 PM, Tuesday
Other times by appointment

 Lab Hours:L60 9:30 AM- 10:52 AM Tuesday (Taylor 203);
                  L61 9:30 AM- 10:52 AM Thursday (Taylor 203)
                  L62 2:30 PM -   3:52 PM Thursday (Dana 237, 227)
Class Hours:Section 01: 11:00 - 11:52 AM; MWF  (Taylor 208)
                   Section 02:   3:00 -   4:22 PM ; MW;   (Dana 132)
                   Section 03:   9:00 -   9:52 AM ; MWF (Dana 132)
                   Common Hour: 7:00 - 7:52 PM; T;(Rchm116)


Course Description: The goal of this course is to teach you how to think statistically, both qualitatively and quantitatively. You will be introduced to concepts and techniques that will enable you, as business professionals, to organize data and to cope with uncertainty, so that you can make better decisions, plans, and improvements within your organizations. While the course will expose you to both theoretical and computational aspects of statistics, it will focus on the analysis of computer-generated results.

Required Texts:

Hildebrand & Ott, "Statistical Thinking for Managers" (4th edn). Duxbury Press (an imprint of Brooks/Cole Publishing). 1998

Attendance: If you are not present at class meetings, you will be severely handicapped in learning this challenging material. Arriving on time is a courtesy that you owe your fellow students, particularly since recitation exercises will involve collaborative work. If you arrive late to class, please see me after class to present a compelling explanation.
 


Assigned Readings and Text Coverage: You will be assigned selected readings from the course text and other given sources throughout the semester. The other sources will generally be available on the Web. The schedule of all reading assignments is provided below. It is very important that you perform these assigned readings in preparation for class discussions. The text is very complete and will serve as a useful reference for future work. However, it will not be possible to cover all the text material in one semester, nor will it be possible to cover in detail all the material in each chapter. Lecture summaries (as PowerPoint presentations) can be accessed through the Course Web site, or from the public file for the course (see below). In terms of studying for exams, the lecture coverage and sample exams will serve as a guide.

Class Discussions and Exercises: As indicated above, applications of the concepts and methods based on the assigned readings will be illustrated and discussed in class.  Class exercises will involve working in small groups of two or three. You are expected to participate actively both in the small group exercises and in the class discussions. Your final grade in this course will depend significantly (i.e., 8%) upon your preparation for and participation in these class meetings.

Computer Lab Assignments: The laboratory is to serve two pedagogical goals: first, to enable you to learn how to generate and interpret statistical output from a personal computer using  widely available software programs, (Microsoft Excel and Minitab); second, to illustrate applications of statistical concepts to business/management situations .  The laboratory exercises will consist of assigned problems from the Berk and Carey text and on other  modules, built on business scenarios. The lab schedule is given on another web page. The lab assignments will be worth, in total, 16% of your final course grade. While you are encouraged to work with one classmate in completing each of the lab assignments, you are permitted to work on these problems individually. Of course, you are also encouraged to seek help from me or the teaching assistants during the lab periods and/or office hours. Please note that unless an extension is granted to all students, late assignments will not be accepted.

Case Analysis Assignments: Working with one of your classmates, you will be expected to analyze four statistical cases and prepare concise memoranda that summarize your findings and recommendations. The case studies to be done are listed on the  course schedule.    Submitted work should be well-written and professional in appearance (i.e., typed with supporting figures and/or tables). In other words, the presentation form is just as important as the technical accuracy of your analysis. Chapter 17 in the text provides useful guidelines for data management and report preparation. Hints and a sample memo are also given on the Web page for the course.Your team's written case analysis will contribute 8% to your final course grade. Each member of a particular team will earn the same grade on the submitted work. Finally, unless an extension is granted to all students, late assignments will not be accepted.

Exams: Three exams will be given (plus the final). Exams 1 and 2 will be given during the common hour (Wednesday, 7-8 pm) and consist of objective questions and problems.   Exam 3 will be a take-home exam, with further details announced in class.
Sample Exams will be given before Exams 1 and 2.    These sample exams will be reviewed in class before the actual exam.

Exam #1 -- February 10th, covering Chapters 2-5.
Exam #2 -- March 17th, covering Chapters 6-8.
Exam #3 -- Due, April 19th, covering Chapters 9-12.
The final exam will require you to apply your comprehensive understanding of the course material to a particular case problem. There will be no make-up exams. If an exam is missed, the percentage score for the final can be substituted for the missed exam. You are permitted to bring one 8.5" by 11" sheet of notes and a calculator to each exam. However, you will not be permitted to share your notes with your classmates.

Accessing Handouts, Lecture Summaries and Practice Exams. This type of reference material will be available as files in the public folder: ("Academic Departments" Drive)/managment/public/MG242/course docs. Data sets for the text problem assignments and for the lab addin ("Statplus") are also available in the MG242 folder. The reference files will be available either as Word 97 or Word 95 files ("*.doc" or "*95.doc", respectively), Excel files ("*.xls") or as powerpoint presentations ("*.ppt"). If you do not have Office 97 available to bring these files up on your own computer, we suggest you use the public computers in Taylor 203, Rooke 17 or elsewhere. There seem to be problems using the Bertrand Library computers to bring such files up and print them out.


 

Grading: Your final grade in this course will be based on your performance with respect to the following:

Exams (3 @ 16% each):                                 48%
Final Exam:                                                     16%
Case Analysis Assignments:                             10%
Computer Lab Assignments (best 4 of 5):        16%
Class Exercises/Participation (best 10 of 12)    10%
 
The scale presented below will probably  be used in computing your final course grade. While there is a small possibility that this scale will be relaxed at the end of the term, I can assure you that there is absolutely no chance that I will make this scale more difficult for you later! Let X be your overall percentage score for all the above course requirements. Your final grade will be determined by identifying the interval that contains your value of X.
A if X is in the interval  100.0 to 95

A- if X is in the interval  94.9 to 90

B+ if X is in the interval  89.9 to 86

B if X is in the interval    85.9 to 82

B- if X is in the interval   81.9 to 79

C+ if X is in the interval  78.9 to 72

C   if X is in the interval  71.9 to 62

C- if X is in the interval   61.9 to 55

D if X is in the interval    54.9 to  50

F less than 50

 NOTE: Students with "borderline" final grades will benefit from having attended and participated meaningfully in class meetings throughout the term. For borderline situations I may also choose to substitute the final exam score for a particularly poor exam score.
Schedule for topical coverag: A schedule of all class meetings for the semester is provided on the following pages. Please note that I have also provided the assigned reading in the text for each week. I will announce any changes to this tentative course plan in class. Please do not hesitate to speak with me if you have any questions regarding this schedule.

Keys to Success in MGMT 242: Finally, I would like to give you some advice on how to make your experience in this course as successful and enjoyable as possible. I promise you that I will do my very best to present the course material in such a way as to make it understandable, useful, and interesting. In turn, I expect that you will do the following:

Attend and engage yourself in all class meetings. In particular, please complete all required readings before our class discussions. You will find it useful to print out the lecture summary for the chapter beforehand and use these as a basis for lecture notes.

Go through each of the recommended homework exercises as soon as possible after they are assigned. If you get stuck, look at the key on the Web, but try to do as much as possible without looking at the answer.

It is also very important to keep up with the various deadlines associated with your lab and case assignments. As a general rule, late work will not be accepted -- so please do not fall behind!

Seriously consider working with your classmates as you complete the suggested exercises and the various assignments in the course. I believe that your own learning will be enhanced if you collaborate with your friends on a regular basis.

Do not hesitate to see me or our teaching assistants as soon as you have any questions or concerns regarding any aspect of this course. We are here to help you!

Managerial statistics is a very challenging yet valuable area of study. Thus I urge you to make a strong effort to get as much out of this course as possible. Not only do I hope that you learn a lot this semester, but that you also have fun in the process!

GOOD LUCK!

Back to MGMT 242 home page

This page maintained by RJ Kurland and D. Ledgerwood. Last revised 27 / Dec. / 98.