BUSINESS POLICY (BP)

For these two, rightly taken, are the gravest of sciences, being the arts of arts; the one for judgment, the other for ornament, Francis Bacon on logic and rhetoric.

BP: BUSINESS POLICY

Each subject of this course is presented as a chapter of this book, each section corresponding to a lecture. The following section of this chapter outlines the structure of the course, the general motivation for it, and notes a few examples of key references for the course, this text being the backbone of the course. To typical sections/lectures of the course students/readers should commit at least an hour of extra study, adding further study in readily accessible and relevant media such as textbooks, newspapers, television etc. Towards the end of some chapters/subjects exercises are suggested. Keep your exercise work and notes for each subject in a separate folder, to which newly acquired material may be added in following years. Some areas, ideas, programs etc. may prove of special interest, however, and these should be worked upon a good deal.

BP1. The DBS/MBS course

This course was developed to meet a need for a more logical approach to business/commerce than is given in the traditional MBA courses that are now so ubiquitous. Bearing in mind that these take their name from the Harvard MBA which began in the 1960s, and that it was Wassily Leontief who introduced a little mathematics such as input-output analysis to the Harvard Business School in 1931, it would seem long overdue that some attempt to bring the MBA up to scratch in modern mathematics in as painless as possible a way is overdue. This course was written with that aim.

This book is based on a course of lectures written and given in 1995+ by the author at the International Arts & Sciences College (IASC) in Melbourne, Australia. The 'A & S' of the name was inspired by Francis Bacon's second book on the Advancement of Learning, where, speaking of logic and rhetoric, subjects which he studied at Cambridge for two years, commencing at the age of twelve, he wrote: For these two, rightly taken, are the gravest of sciences, being the arts of arts; the one for judgment, the other for ornament.

Indeed, it is interesting to note that the Harvard Business School was originally founded as a graduate department of arts and sciences. It is also interesting to reflect, what are arts and sciences? Though few realize it, science, strictly speaking, is study with a view to acquiring new knowledge, whereas art is the business of applying that knowledge. Very often the two overlap, of course, but it would surprise most of us to realize that a carpenter, for example, is an artisan and, therefore, practices an art.

So too, for another example, is an engineer or applied scientist, unless he or she deliberately engage in theoretical research.

The course is a well balanced combination of 'A & S'. It has fourteen subjects and was originally divided into two halves, the first of which was the Diploma of Business Science (DBS) and the second the Bachelor of Business Science (MBS).On completion of both of these and completion of a thesis based on a minimum of six months intensive research, or its equivalent, the Master of Business Science (MBS) degree was to be awarded.

Soon, however, it was decided to simply run the course as a concise, efficient 'business science' course, and the MBS was never, in fact, awarded.

It is hoped that students and readers of this book will get a job in a relevant business or start their own and, using a little science, succeed, over time furthering their studies of 'BizSci' so that, if not at the outset, they will ere long have second to none knowledge of modern business. This unique course in outline is:

The DBS/MBS program

Part I: BP Business Policy {+ Mohr's Laws, new idea development}
BL Business Law (and company law)
MS Maths and Stats - for beginners {including queueing theory}
BF Business Finance {+ forecasting techniques}
MP Management Psychology - including HRM sociology
MR Market Research (& marketing) {+ psychology of attitudes}
IT Information Technology (& computing) {including programming}

Part II: NM Numerical Methods {+ penalty etc. transformation methods}
IE International Economics (Macroeconomics) {+ time stepping models}
ME Managerial Economics (Microeconomic) {+ input-output analysis}
OT Optimization Techniques {+ nonlinear problems made simple}
OR Operations Research {+ direct LP for distribution}
PP Project Planning {+ optimization of planning networks}
FM Finite Methods {+ network models via Mohr's Law & infinity
conditions}

Part III: Follow up study/thesis etc.: 6 months min., 18 months max (EFT)

Examples of material unique to the course are shown in { }. Most of this was developed at IASC and was not available from anywhere else in the world.

Some of the motivations for this course are well stated by F.W. Taylor in his Principles of Scientific Management (Harper, New York NY 1911) where he argues that:

1. The whole country loses daily by inefficiency in everything we do.

2. The remedy? Systematic management based on scientific principles, not some 'super manager(s).'

3. Business science rests on clear laws, rules and principles applicable to individual acts and to large corporations and will yield big results.

Desirable prerequisites for students/readers of this course are

a. Interested and motivated and at least of moderate intelligence.

b. At least a little knowledge of high school mathematics, a willingness to suffer a smallish dose of statistics and a little knowledge of computing with a PC.

For the purposes of the DBS the following assumptions are made:

[check] In BL (Business Law) lectures are based on Australian Law but this has much in common with British Law and, in turn US and international law.

[check] There is no management accounting (MA) subject. An introduction to accounting is given in BL and BF and for most users simple spreadsheet packages should serve their needs. For the nuances of taxation law, however, specialist advice is recommended.

[check] For the purpose of the word science I take mathematics to be a subset of science. The word art I then take to mean application. Then, for example, applied science I take to mean technology. Then engineering and its allied disciplines are a subset of applied science.

Some of the sources of material upon which the DBS is based are given in the reference lists at the end of each subject's chapter, but the author's work underpins the course, as might be hoped, just a couple of examples of the many possible being: Mohr GA, Milner HR,...