Course Syllabus
Course: AGBS 2030
Division: Business and Applied Tech
Department: Business
Title: Managerial Analysis and Decision Making
Semester Approved: Spring 2021
Five-Year Review Semester: Fall 2025
End Semester: Fall 2026
Catalog Description: This course centers on analysis of financial and production records and use of benchmarks to identify strengths and weaknesses of agriculture businesses. Development of a management plan that emphasizes planning, organizing, managing, financial and production analysis and benchmarking, and exploring recommendations for improving benchmarks and sustainability of the business is required. Students will be required to develop and submit a business plan to improve an actual farm or ranch business.
Semesters Offered: Spring
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 3; Lecture: 3; Lab: 0
Justification: This course provides opportunities for students to apply principles, practices, and business planning processes learned in other agriculture and business classes. The course is unique in that students have access to actual business records for analyzing strengths and weaknesses. By working with actual farm business records and evaluating the business's resources and financial and production records and through industry benchmarks, students will apply business skills learned in previous classes to develop a business plan for improving and/or developing revenue centers of the business and improving business benchmarks.
The Business Department Advisory Committee recommends the class be offered for agricultural business students. This course meets course requirements for many USU Agriculture degrees.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will be expected to perform a variety of calculations used in business management, including but not limited to the following: cost of production or break-even, financial statement analysis; profitability, repayment capacity and cash-flow; and long range planning. Students will be assessed through assignments and classroom exercises. Instructor feedback will be given for improvement.
Students will evaluate the ability of an agriculture business to be financially sustainable; perform a financial analysis including benchmarks for comparison to industry benchmarks. Students will be assessed through case study assignments.
As a team, students will organize and effectively present a business purchase plan, using a variety of presentation methods. Students will be assessed through a presentation. Both a peer-review and an instructor review of the presentation will be conducted.
Capstone project: In a team, students will evaluate a farm or ranch business's strengths and weaknesses using industry benchmarks and will apply management tools, strategies, and skills learned in other classes to develop a business plan for strategic improvement of critical benchmarks. Students will prepare a formal presentation outlining the plan to improve benchmarks and revenue-generating opportunities for the agricultural business. Students will be assessed through evaluation of their presentation of the capstone project, with instructor verbal and written feedback given.
Content:
Course objectives will be accomplished by providing students with the following learning experiences: review farm/ranch and agricultural business financial statements, production records, and industry benchmarks; perform a purchase analysis for an agriculture business; review case studies of actual agricultural businesses including beef cattle, dairy, and crops. Students will perform analysis for cost/ benefits for changes in irrigation and its effects on production and business cost, economics of equipment management, and range improvement. Actual agriculture businesses will be analyzed using nationally recognized agricultural business benchmarking, planning, and budgeting software.
Through exposure to diverse farm and ranch businesses, small to large, traditional to non-traditional students will evaluate resources, analyze the businesses, and brainstorm potential revenue centers and/or improvement opportunities in current revenue centers, and create a business plan for improving or adding selected revenue centers to the business.
Key Performance Indicators:
Assignments 20 to 40%
Classroom exercises 20 to 40%
Group project 20 to 40%
Final exam 15 to 30%
Representative Text and/or Supplies:
No text book is required. Instructor will provide materials for this course.
Pedagogy Statement:
Content will be taught through lectures, class discussions, and activities such as case studies of farms and ranches.
Class projects, both individual and group, are designed to align with a variety of student agriculture interests and experiences. Each student’s agriculture experiences and background will be considered, in using business examples throughout the course, and will be drawn upon to add inclusivity and applicability from a variety of agriculture environments, agricultural experiences, and backgrounds.
Instructional Mediums:
Lecture
Maximum Class Size: 24
Optimum Class Size: 20
