Eastern Oregon University

College of Business

SYLLABUS


TAO, ZEN, AND BASEBALL: EASTERN INFLUENCES ON MANAGEMENT THOUGHT
BA 410   5 credits
Online course


Business Administration Program Leadership, Management, and Organization Option Elective
Business Administration Program International Business Option Elective

 



THE NOTE SECTION--CHECK HERE REGULARLY FOR CLASS ANNOUNCEMENTS!!


TEXTS:
Texts are best obtained on Amazon.com or another online bookstore as two of the texts are currently out of print. Paperbacks are fine and you should not have to spend very much on them. The first two listed books are available at the EOU bookstore.

other materials you may find useful in the class:


1. Course description. This course is aimed at enhancing the student's appreciation and knowledge of Chinese and Japanese culture and its impact on business practices. We will explore communication, leadership, group behavior and values, baseball, and samurai fighting methods in our search of an enlightened view of the philosophy that guides Eastern business. Students will be expected to thoughtfully complete all readings and actively consider the assignments.

2. Grading. Grades will be based on student performance on the assigned papers. Grades are based on a 90-80-70% breakdown of total points earned during the term. Point values for papers are listed below.

3. Papers. Each student will prepare a series of four papers, a minimum of five pages in length, font size 12, and utilizing the assigned texts as sources along with a minimum of three other sources. All papers will be in proper form (APA or Tarabian) with footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography page. Papers will be emailed to my email address as an attached word document. The topics for the papers can be found at Paper Assignments. Papers will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  1. Production quality-10 pts. This means that you did a professional job preparing the document--grammar, spelling, style (APA etc.), format.

2.      Appropriate use of source material-15 pts. This means that you made good and detailed use of the materials in the texts and your other sources--with lots of specific references to the facts, ideas, concepts, etc. in the text and did not simply make some general statements. You used the right facts to make the right points in your paper. You also cited your source material when appropriate.

3.      Organization and writing style of paper-10 pts. Your papers should be logically organized and flow well from section to section. This makes them more interesting and your logic easier to follow.

4.      Analysis-15 pts. This is the core of the paper. Did you make a logical and complete argument for your position in the paper? Did you complete the assignment or wander off on a tangent?


Point value assignment-

  1. individual papers--50 points each
  2. total points available--200

Grade breakdown

  1. 180+ points A
  2. 160-179 points B
  3. 140-159 points C
  4. 120-139 points D

4. Individual activity. TAO of Leadership text--Each week read ten parables from The Tao of Leadership. These short passages are symbolic and must be considered carefully. Some say it takes a year to read the book...... Your fourth paper will deal specifically with the TAO readings but you may find them of use as you read the other books. This book is Chinese, not Japanese, and may you a different view. The other texts can be read in the order of the paper assignments with the WA book first, 'The Japanese Mind' second, and 'A Book of Five Rings' third. Keeping a set of notes as you read the books is a good idea--record your impressions of what you have discovered.

5. E-mail discussion. Your friendly instructor will provide email addresses of the members of the class so that students can freely discuss/converse about the class and the texts. Feel free to email me and do not be surprised if you receive email from other members of the class or YFI. If we were on campus, we would spend most of our time in discussion.

6. The Note Section. The note section of the syllabus should be checked regularly as it will be used for announcements by YFI that will affect the class.


Last updated 10/8/07 by RDL