How to Take This Course
This course consists of text material for you to read and four types of learning activities (the review questions, the first examination, the practice case, and the examination case* or, in some cases, a multiple-choice final examination) for you to complete. Credit will be given only upon successful completion of the examination case or, if applicable, the final examination.
*If you are viewing this book digitally, you cannot send in your response for credit as a course. If you wish to receive credit for taking this course and want to send in a response to this assignment, please purchase a hard copy of the course from www.amaselfstudy.org or you can purchase an online version of the course from www.flexstudy.com.
The various activities are designed to reinforce the concepts brought out in the text portion of the course and to enable you to evaluate your progress. The examination case will be evaluated and graded by an AMA staff instructor so that certain concepts you may otherwise have overlooked or misunderstood in your own study will be brought to your attention and clarified.
We recommend that you work at this course in a systematic way. Only by reading the text and working through the review questions at a regular and steady pace will you get the most out of this course and retain what you have learned.
The Text
The most important component of this course is, obviously, the text, for it is here that the concepts and methods are first presented. Reading each chapter twice will increase the likelihood of your understanding the text fully.
In your first reading, concentrate on getting an overview of the chapter’s contents. Read the learning objectives at the beginning of the chapter first. They will act as guidelines to the major topics of the chapter and enumerate the skills you should master as you study the text. As you read the chapter, pay attention to the headings and subheadings. Find the general theme of each section and see how that theme relates to others. Don’t let yourself get bogged down with details during the first reading; simply concentrate on remembering and understanding the major themes.
In your second reading, look for the details that underlie the themes. Read the entire chapter carefully and methodically, underlining key points, working out the details of the examples, and making marginal notations as you go.
The Review Questions
After reading a chapter and before going on to the next, work through the review questions. Answering the questions and comparing your own answers to those given will assist you in grasping the major ideas of that chapter. If you perform these self-check exercises conscientiously, you will develop a framework in which to place material presented in later chapters. This building of a mental model will help clarify the reading and, most important, will help you to apply what you have learned to your particular work situation.
The First Examination
The first examination is made up of a series of straightforward questions on what you have studied in the text. Answer the questions and mail the exam in one of the return envelopes to:
American Management Association
Educational Services
P.O. Box 133
Florida, NY 10921
The first examination will be graded and returned to you promptly so you may restudy areas in the course with which you had trouble.
The Practice Case
The practice case presents the activities of a person in a fictitious organization. Questions are raised that prompt you to apply the concepts you have just learned in the body of the text. The practice case, as its name implies, prepares you for the written analysis required of you in the final portion of the course, the examination case. There is no one correct answer to the practice case; it is intended to show you the thinking process involved in completing the examination case.
The Examination Case
The examination case, which must be completed for course credit, presents details of a problem or problems for you to solve. Because solutions to even the smallest problems in a real-life situation often have important ramifications, think through your analysis thoroughly before you compose your answers to the questions.
The first step is to read and reread the specific exam questions until you understand exactly what is being asked. Then, go back to the text and the examination case and find the place or places that give applicable information for answering those questions.
When you feel you have thoroughly explored all aspects of the questions, draw your conclusions and write them as clearly and concisely as you can. Although there is no “correct length,” a satisfactory analysis, including recommendations, usually runs between four and six typed double-spaced pages.
When you have completed and typed your examination, mail it to AMA Course Service in the envelope provided or to the above address. It will be read by a staff instructor and will be returned to you with the instructor’s evaluation and comments.
Grades range from A to C–; incompletes are given when the instructor determines that the analysis has not covered all points or has not provided sufficient detail. The instructor will make specific recommendations so that you can revise your exam and resubmit it for grading.
To complete your learning of the course, spend some time reviewing your instructor’s comments. Relate those comments to your own assessment of the case; re-examine those portions of the case with which you had difficulty. This last review will help you to summarize the concepts learned in this course before you move on to another course or program in our curriculum.
If you have any questions regarding the tests, the grading; or the course itself, call AMA Course Service at (617) 926-4600.
Grading Policy
The American Management Association will continue to grade examinations and tests for one year after the course’s out-of-print date.