Readings.
G202 Course Packet. The table of contents is here.
I will rely on regular email rather than Oncourse, but grades will be posted on Oncourse.
Attendance is required. There are midterm and final examinations, numerous small homework assignments, and a 10-page analysis of some specific political problem facing a business.
THEMES OF THE COURSE
1. Business operates in an environment that has both market and non-market elements.
2. The rules of the political system are different from those in the marketplace. Special interest groups manipulate the system to their advantage, but the tools they use are not the same as those a business uses to make and sell its product.
3. Businesses can either react as political events come up or work with foresight to create a world that is to their liking. You need to understand who wins and who loses from government policies, and how to be among the winners.
RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PARTS OF THE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
G202 is related to L201, The Legal Environment of Business, and E201, Introduction to Microeconomics. L201 introduces the basic legal structures needed for markets to function smoothly, as well as some of the ways law attempts to cope with failures of the market system. G202 focuses on how law is made, including laws made by Congress, judges, state legislatures, and regulatory agencies. E201 gives the skeletal economic theory of how competitive markets work, and introduces market failure. G202 goes more in-depth into market failures, considers government responses to market failures, and introduces the possibility of "government failures": that the government cure may be worse than the market disease.
STUDENT CONDUCT
Students should attend every class meeting. Students should participate in all class discussions and all in-class activities. Students are expected to arrive to class on time, to stay in the classroom till class is over (except for emergencies), to refrain from reading outside materials during class, and to refrain from private conversations during class. In the event of a student’s absence, the student is responsible for all class material that is covered during the class time that is missed.
GRADING BREAKDOWN
There are 400 total points possible, and the assignment breakdown is as follows:
Company Political Problem Analysis 125 points
Homeworks 125 points
Midterm Examination 100 points
Final Examination 150 points
In addition to the points above, participation (including attendance) can add or subtract 5% or 10% as one of five levels-- Plus, Double Plus, Neutral, Minus or Double Minus.
Company Political Problem Analysis. During the course of the semester you will need to find a political problem some firm faces-- a problem of government regulation, the passage of a new law, a burden from an old law, or a public-relations problem related to lobbying by interest groups. By October 6 you need to let me know of your topic formally, by email (though you are free to change your topic if it seems not to be working out.) Don't hesitate to ask for input beforehand-- early approval of a topic, or advice on finding one. You will state and analyze the problem, saying what you think the company should do to address it. The length should be no more than 10 double-spaced pages. Stating the problem clearly will be as important as finding a solution. The analysis due on December 17, the date of the final examination.
Homework: I will give you numerous short assignments in class to be done by the next class. If you miss a class, ask a classmate to turn in your assignment, and what the assignment is for the next class. The intent of these assignments is not to test what you know, but to make you think about the material of that class or the next class, so they will be graded pass-fail unless you do exceptionally well or poorly. The homeworks will be essentially pass/fail, with a slight possibility of Pass+ or Pass- if you do unusually well or turn in a passing but sloppy homework.
Midterm Examination: The midterm examination is in the classroom during the normal class period on October 20.
Final Examination: The final examination is in the classroom at the standard University scheduled time, Friday, December 17, 5:00-7:00 p.m. It will be cumulative.
GRADING POLICIES
I will be happy to reconsider grades, but only if the student submits a memo in writing or by email specifically detailing where he thinks a mistake has been made in the grading. Please do check that your test scores are added up correctly, and submit a short memo, (e.g., "I think the points should add up to 89, not 87"). I will deal with all regrades at one time, to ensure consistency across different students, and if there is a grading mistake that is likely to affect students other than those who submitted memos, I will notify the rest of the class.
I will be quite happy to explain where you went wrong on your test during office hours, but any regrading requires a written memo. Do not try to wear me down arguing about grades in person, though you are free to write me as numerous and long memos as you like on the subject.
INTEGRITY AND HONESTY
Undergraduate students in the Kelley School have developed an Honor Code that defines a vision for what it means to be a Kelley undergraduate, and can be found online at http://www.kelley.iu.edu/ugrad/honor.html. You should take time to familiarize yourself with the Honor Code. Plagiarism is, of course, a clear violation of the Honor Code. Any academic dishonesty, defined as a violation of the Honor Code, will not be tolerated at the IU Kelley School of Business and the appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken against any offenders. Your instructor does have experience with the formal disciplinary process and will not hesitate to go to the trouble to go through it, since he views weeding out dishonest future business leaders as an important duty of top business schools.
TOPICS
See the g202.htm for the topics and readings , with lots of weblinks to readings, allusions, diagrams, and so forth.
