Course Syllabus

DB 410: Creative Solutions in Distribution

 

Instructor Contact Information                                               

Instructor Name:	Thomas DeCarlo
Office Location:	BEC 250
Office Hours:	Contact me through Teams Chat or email me to set up a time to meet.
Office Phone:	205-934-8989
Email:	tdecarlo@uab.edu

I will respond to questions within 24 hours.

• Technical issues: address first with required course technologies technical support experts. The Help icon in the navigation menu (far left) is for Canvas specific issues.
  
  
• Course content issues: please post issues/questions with course content to the "Course Questions and Polls" channel in MS Teams. 
  
  
• Personal issues: You can use either the "Chat" feature in MS Teams (preferred) or the Canvas Inbox to email me with any questions or issues you may have. 

Course Purpose

The channel of distribution is undergoing radical change. This course prepares students for a future where distributor and manufacturer problems to be solved are becoming increasingly complex (i.e., “wicked” problems). The primary topics to be covered include creative problem solving processes and skills in the language and logic of business. In doing so, students will be introduced to the core set of process tools used in creative problem solving by working in teams on a semester–long project and/or relevant case studies.

Course Prerequisite

Distribution Management (DB 320) is a prerequisite for this course. 

Course Objectives (CO)

Upon the completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Identify and apply the fundamental processes in a systematic design–based approach to accelerate innovative solutions.
2. Explain the importance of collaborative capabilities in identifying new opportunities for meeting customer needs, creating concept hypotheses, collecting appropriate data and developing a prototype.
3. Translate broadly defined problems into actionable innovation possibilities and recommendations.

Course Technology Requirements: 

Review the required course technologies page for information on downloading and resolving technical issues.

Required Materials

To complete the "Boot Camp" module, you will need the following materials to build your wallet prototype: duct tape, construction paper (various colors), colored markers, tin foil,  string, play dough, stapler, scissors.

Required articles for this class can be downloaded either from the course shell or from UAB's library.

Course Presentation

This is an online course and it is organized into twelve learning modules, each focusing on a specific course and module objective. Objectives, learning materials and activities, assessments, etc. are included. Modules run from Sunday (8:00am) thru the following Sunday at midnight. .

This course is unique because it requires interacting with your team members every week of the semester via Zoom or Teams. To be successful, you should plan to complete the collaborative team activities early in the week so you can complete the assignments and required discussion posts prior to the due dates which are typically on Friday's (midnight). If you wait until the due date to start assignments, you will be doomed for failure. There is an automatic 50% grade reduction for late assignments. Missing a Discussion post, however, will result in a "0" for that assignment (see below for more details).

Online:  This class will be conducted entirely online through the Canvas Learning Management System, Zoom, Teams, and other tools. Students will not attend class on-campus, but as noted above, you will be meeting virtually with one or more of your team members weekly. 

Assessment and Grading

Grading Distribution                                    

Assessment	Percentage
Distributive discussion entries (using MS Teams)	25%
Team project paper	25%
Project worksheets and transcripts	20%
Team project presentation	10%
Module Quizzes	10%
Individual Assignments	10%
Total	100%

 

Grading Scale:

The default grading method for the Spring 2021 semester will be the normal letter grade method, and UAB is encouraging students to continue taking courses for a letter grade where possible.

A = 100-90     B = 80-89     C = 70-79     D = 60-69     F = < 60

 Student Access to Grades:

Quiz grades will be available upon submission of the quiz. Correct answers will be available after the due date. Grades for written assignments will be available no later than one week after the due date. 

Expected turn-around time for grading:

Submit assignments either through Canvas or MS Teams and NOT via email.

• Video or written assignments, presentations, projects, discussions, etc., will be graded within 48 hours of the due date in Speedgrader. 
• Quiz scores will be available immediately upon submission (for multiple choice quizzes).

Assessment Details

For all assignments noted below, there will be an automatic 50% grade deduction for late submissions.

Distributed Discussion Entries: 25% of the final course grade. You will be expected to post your answers to the questions that appear at the end of selected discussion modules by the due dates noted in Canvas Calendar. You will post your answers using MS Teams. If you miss a post, a "0" will be recorded for that module's discussion, unless you have discussed with me, in advance, your reason for missing the post.

The requirement is to complete your discussion post no later than Friday (midnight) and read and grade the assigned number of other classmates posts by Sunday (midnight) (see Canvas Calendar for each module due dates). The ClassCred app will randomly assign the number of posts for you to grade, so sometimes you'll receive 4 posts to grade (the max) and other times less than 4 posts. To receive full credit for the grading portion of the Discussion grade, you will need to grade all of the assigned posts.  

The grading process is is a double blind review process where you will not know who you are grading and the student you grade will not know who graded them, so provide honest evaluations. Reviewing other students' thoughts provides an opportunity to collectively learn more about the creative process from other students' perspectives. It also reinforces the importance of how collaboration enhances the creative process, which is a key course objective. A grading rubric is provided for you to use in each of your student evaluations.  

Team Project Paper: 25% of the final course grade. This class is about solving “wicked” problems, meaning the problem is difficult to even define let alone fully solve. Accordingly, your team will be working on an innovative solution to a (pre-approved) problem and submit a paper documenting the process and outcomes. 

Teams will need to periodically submit project worksheets (as detailed in the course schedule) via the course Canvas site. These worksheets are important as they will help to provide details in developing each section of your paper.  A suggested paper length is no more than 15 double-spaced pages (12-point font, 1-inch margin; title page and exhibits do not count against this page total). All supporting documentation (e.g., Worksheets used to complete stages of the design thinking process, any interview transcripts, other materials, etc.) MUST be included as appendices to your report.

Projects will be graded on application of course concepts, depth of analysis, insight provided by the recommendations, attached completed worksheets, and quality of writing (see the paper grading rubric for more details). I’m not a stickler for any particular footnote style, but be consistent in referencing any cited works.  Each team member will receive the group grade for the project; if needed, these scores may be adjusted based on input from the peer evaluation forms. I reserve the right to drop a person’s grade by up to 2 full letter grades for anyone who did not contribute their fair share to the project

All students are held accountable for individual contributions to team work. Each team member will complete an anonymous evaluation survey at the end of the semester indicating individual member contribution percentages. Members participating below the team norm will earn an individual grade based on contribution percentage multiplied by team grade. 

Project Worksheets and Transcripts: 20% of the final course grade. This course is designed to apply the creative concepts/steps to an actual problem. To assist in applying each concept, your team will be required to upload to Canvas the completed assigned worksheets. In addition, your team will upload the transcribed depth interviews of users, consumers, and others to Canvas. Specific details will be provided within the modules.

Team Project Narrated Project Presentation: 10% of the final course grade. An important aspect of developing creative solutions is the ability to professionally and persuasively present your findings to an audience. Therefore, each team will submit a narrated PowerPoint presentation (or related presentation tool) that pulls everything together (i.e., each stage of the creative process) to document your journey and recommendations. Essentially, the presentation should be a summary of your team paper. Each team member is expected to contribute equally to the narrated presentation, failure to do so will be reflected in your individual grade for this assignment. If your group uses something other than PowerPoint, please upload your narrated presentation as a .mov file to Canvas. 

Quizzes: 10% of the final course grade. These end-of-module quizzes are multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching, etc. Student have two attempts, but results are averaged so take them seriously the first time. 

Individual Assignments: 10% of the final course grade. Students apply concepts individually through a variety of assignments during the semester.

TEAMS 

Teams is the primary means of communication in this course. You must use it.

To get started with Teams:

1. Click on the Microsoft Teams classes page in Canvas
2. Sign in using your @uab.edu email 
3. Download the Teams app on your mobile phone and sign in with your @uab.edu email

Teams is used to facilitate course discussion. If you have a question about an assignment or course topic, post it to Teams in the appropriate channel. Either one of your classmates or one of your professors will answer. Have fun with Teams by encouraging your classmates with emojis and fire (see below). 

Teams is a powerful interactive tool that's used by the majority of larger firms in the US. While we will be using Teams in a more limited way (course discussions and communication), you can learn more about Teams in the Teams How-To Video. 

When you join the Team workspace you will see the following public channels:

Channel	Purpose
General	Ask/discuss any random question.
Announcements	Class announcements. Only instructors can post but you can reply to the announcement with questions or comments.
Course questions and polls	Ask any course-related question. Participate in weekly polls to accumulate extra points so you can "purchase" extra credit such as bonus points to a quiz or discussion score, etc. New store items will be added throughout the semester.
Discussions	Complete discussion board assignments here.
Introductions	A place to introduce yourself to the class.

You're on Fire Bonus

You can earn bonus points for giving and receiving the fire emoji . If someone asks a great question or answers your question, award them with a emoji. To make it count, you must give a fire emoji by typing the following in Teams @nameofperson (fire) 

It is best to give the fire emojis in a thread so that we keep the channel cleaner. You can award up to 5 fire emojis a day.  We will provide you more information later in the semester but as a general rule more fire more bonus.  

UAB Policies and Resources:

Add/Drop and Course Withdrawal

• Drop/Add: Deadlines for adding, dropping, or withdrawing from a course and for paying tuition are published in the Academic Calendar available online. Review the Institutional Refund Policy for information on refunds for dropped courses.
• Withdrawal: To avoid academic penalty, a student must withdraw from a course by the withdrawal deadline shown in the academic calendar and receive a grade of W (withdrawn). Failure to attend class does not constitute a formal drop or withdrawal.

Misconduct:

The University of Alabama at Birmingham expects all members of its academic community to function according to the highest ethical and professional standards. Students, faculty, and the administration of the institution must be involved to ensure this quality of academic conduct. Review the Academic Honor Code and Non-Academic Student Code of Conduct linked below.

• Academic Honor Code
• Non-Academic Student Code of Conduct
  
  

DSS Accessibility Statement:

     Accessible Learning: UAB is committed to providing an accessible learning experience for all students. If you are a student with a disability that qualifies under Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and you require accommodations, please contact Disability Support Services for information on accommodations, registration and procedures. Requests for reasonable accommodations involve an interactive process and consist of a collaborative effort among the student, DSS, faculty and staff. If you are registered with Disability Support Services, please contact DSS to discuss accommodations that may be necessary in this course. If you have a disability but have not contacted Disability Support Services, please call (205) 934-4205, visit their website, or their office located in Hill Student Center Suite 409.

Title IX Statement:

The University of Alabama at Birmingham is committed to providing an environment that is free from sexual misconduct, which includes gender-based assault, harassment, exploitation, dating and domestic violence, stalking, as well as discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you have experienced any of the aforementioned conduct we encourage you to report the incident. UAB provides several avenues for reporting. For more information about Title IX, policy, reporting, protections, resources and supports, please visit UAB Title IX webpage for UAB’s Title IX, UAB’s Equal Opportunity, Anti-Harassment, Duty to Report, and Non-Retaliation policies.                      

COVID Information

Please visit the UAB United site for information about masking, COVID-19 exposure, testing and vaccines. Also, additional information can be found at Student Health Services, which manages all aspects of COVID testing, vaccination and official excuses for COVID-related absences from class.

Intellectual Property Protection Statement

My lectures and course materials, including PowerPoint presentations, quizzes, exams, outlines, and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own use. You may not and may not allow others to reproduce or distribute lecture notes and course materials publicly, whether or not a fee is charged, without my express written consent.

In addition to my course materials, this course also includes the following publicly available learning resources:

IBM Design Thinking Course

TedTalks

 

 

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