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S.90.16

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT: Executive Master of Business

DATE:

May 18, 1989

Administration Program

Curriculum Revision

SCAP 89-15

Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Academic Planning/Senate

Graduate Studies Committee gives rise to the following motion:

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to

the Board of Governors, as set forth in S.: 90-16

the proposed change to the Executive Master of

Business Administration program including

New course MBA

696-5

Seminar in Strategic

Analysis"

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

MEMORANDUM

To: ?

Bruce Clayman, Dean

OP

From: G.E. Love, Director, Graduate Programs

Faculty of Business Administration

Date: April 17, 1989

Attached is a proposal from the EMBA Steering Committee recommending a

change in the program. This change is being put forward in the light of the

move to Harbour Centre.

Enclosed is a new description of the EMBA program as it would appear on

pages 260-261 of the University Calendar.

Please refer to the University Calendar for the current description.

If possible-, we

would-like--to

have this change approved by the Senate

prior

our

move

downtown in the Fall of 1989.

7jetefed by

JC4P

If you require any other information, please let me know.

Thank you.

CELJeb

Ends.

wl'zc^- 

;;^^ — 

C.E. Love

Ah'44

--a

APR 19 1989

I

t

egletr

a

Twelve courses (nine of which are required), three electives plus a research

project equivalent to one course.

The program would consist of eleven courses (two of which are electives), plus

• Seminar in Strategic Analysis. The seminar in Strategic Analysis will include

• written project. This written project will be housed in the Library and would

constitute the project component of the EMBA program.

Rationale for the Change

There are two principal reasons for proposing this change. First, this change

will shift the emphasis in the project to one of strategic analysis. As an

Executive MBA program, with mid-career managers as the participants, this is

the appropriate focus for the program, particularly

. n its third year. In looking at

the curriculum of the program, we currently have two courses,

Business Policy

and

Business, Government & Society

as the required courses in the final fall

semester. Both of these courses stress the strategic implications of decision-

making and build upon the core courses they have taken to that stage. This

Seminar in Strategic Analysis will allow us to continue this development by

having the participants analyze a comprehensive situation from the viewpoint of

senior management. It is for this reason that this seminar will be placed in the

spring term of their final (3rd) year.

The second reason for proposing this change is to shift the emphasis, in a

project, away from the individual and into a team effort. Throughout the

Executive MBA program, we encourage and structure comprehensive case

studies and class projects around working teams. This is the operating norm in

all courses in the program and indeed has proven to be the most productive

structure for our purposes. It makes sense then that we would structure this

final, major strategic analysis in the same format.

It is perhaps worthwhile to contrast this focus for a project with the current

emphasis. Because the current project is not linked sequentially after our two

policy courses, we often find that projects are taking on too narrow a viewpoint.

Our current structure encourages students to begin their project in the summer

between second and third years. This means that they have not had the benefit

of these two policy courses in structuring their problem. Furthermore, the

current norm is for single student projects. This also exacerbates the problem.

It is not possible for a single individual to carry out this type of comprehensive

strategic analysis in a reasonable amount of time (again, when they have not

had the benefit of the policy courses).

It should also be stressed here that a principal component of this proposal is

that the final work will be presented to representatives of the industry. This

external test, in the context of the Executive MBA program, will be much more

demanding than the current format in which no presentation is required.

This is not a unique model that we are proposing. York University has had just

such a project component in their MBA program for many years. Our strong

contacts in the business community presumably will give us an added

advantage in adopting this model.

There are only two other Executive MBA programs operating in Canada:

University of Toronto and Concordia University. In both cases, these programs

are part-time over two years whereas ours is over three years. The

incorporation of the project into a required course, therefore, is not regarded as

an erosion of the quality of the program. In fact, given the intent to focus the

project on senior management issues, it is intended that the relevancy and, on

balance, the quality of the projects, will improve.

New Graduate Course Proposal 

Form

CALENDAR

INFORMATION: 

Department: 

Faculty of Business Administration 

?

Course Number: 

MBA

696

Title: 

?

Seminar in Strategic Analysis 

Description: Students 

working in teams will undertake a strategic industry analysic 

The teams will write up and presenttheir results to representatives of the particular 

industries. ? 

.MBA 607 

Credit Hours: 5 

?

Vector: 3-2-fl 

?

Prerequisite(s) if any: 

MRA

691

ENROLLMENT AND

SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment 

?

30

?

When will the course first be offered:91-1 

How often will the course be offered:Once per year 

JUSTIFICATION: 

As a follow-up to 

MBA fl7/MRA 691 this 

eminar is to focus on applying strategie 

analysis to an industry. It is to replace one elective in the spring term of the 

3rd year. The written report from the seminar will replace the current project in the 

0

Library. 

1cfl1TPCRS

Which Faculty member will normally teach the course: Vining, 

Richards. Smart, Globerman 

What are the budgetary implications of 

mounting

the course: 

It will replace a current elective course, and therefore the budget impact will be 

minimal 

Are there sufficient Library resources (append details):Yes. The Librar 

y

resources 

currently directed to individual projects are more than adequate for this seminar. 

Appended 

a) Outline 

of the Course 

appended. 

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty member to give 

the

course. 

c)

Library resources 

Approved: 

Departmental Graduate Studies 

Committee:

C.E. 

Love ? 

Date:_&prjJ_J.I.,1-989 

Faculty Graduate StudiesCommittee: 

?

Date:_   

__

Faculty: 

Senate Graduate 

?

Studies 

?

Com^

mittee.

- ?

-Date:

Date 

:4ZLS

j2J/g

Senate: ? 

_Date: 

•

Simon Fraser University

Faculty of Business Administration

Course Outline

COURSE: Business Administration 696-5 (evening)

Semester:

Spring, 1990

TITLE: ?

Seminar in Strategic Analysis

Instructor:

Lecture - Discussion:

Thursdays, 6:30 - 10:30 p.m.

Textbooks: Porter, M.F., Competitive Advantage, The Free Press, 1985.

Vining, A. and D. Weimer, Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practice.

Prentice-Hall, 1988.

Plus journal and newspaper articles.

I.—

1.1J1II•1t1InI*i

To integrate the various fields of study of the M.B.A. program utilizing a Policy Analysis

framework.

[i'iiiiS1!1ltfiT

Students, working in teams of four, will be required to undertake a strategic industry

analysis. Such analysis could, for example, focus on a single firm, a larger corporate

setting, some sector of the economy, an organization involved in major change or the

analysis of a significant government policy initiative. A written report will be submitted

at the end of the seminar. This report will be placed in the Library as partial fulfillment

of the M.B.A. degree. Furthermore, a requirement of the seminar is that the team will

make a presentation of their findings to representatives from the particular industry.

Instructor will give a Pass/Fail grade based on the following:

(a)

Written report (for Library submission)

(b)

Group presentation to representatives from the industry or firm involved.