I would like you to form teams of three to analyze cases. You should discuss cases with your team prior to class. In particular you should answer the case questions which can found at the end of this syllabus. As you know, there are rarely right answers to cases. In pricing there tend to be a few more wrong answers, but the right answer depends on the assumptions you make about facts not presented the case. You should therefore be clear about your assumptions during case discussions.
Each group will be required to hand in three case write-ups. You may choose any three of the following five cases:
The reports should be (at most) 2 pages long. This space constraint is designed to ensure that you think hard about the most important points to write down.
Your reports must be handed in at the start of the class in which the case will be discussed. These cases will be graded and will determine 36% of your overall grade. For the three written cases you should discuss the cases only within your group.
Questions for each case can be found in the lecture notes section. Use these questions to guide your reports (and to help prepare for our discussion of the other cases). Some additional recommendations:
Each person must hand in two individual assignments. Individual work cannot be the result of joint work or consultation of other students' work. These individual assignments will be distributed in class on Monday and be due at the beginning of class on the next Monday. Late submissions will get a grade of zero. Generally these exercises are numerical and have a right answer.
The benefit that you derive from the course depends upon the extent to which you expose your own viewpoints and conclusions to the critical judgment of the class. You should view class participation both as an opportunity to ask questions to enhance your understanding as well as an opportunity to suggest examples that demonstrate your understanding of the material.
Since participation is 24% of your grade, it is imperative that you read all of the cases and come to class with a series of comments that you think will be interesting to the class.
I want to be able to give you the full credit you deserve for class participation. This requires you to do two things
You can only get credit for class participation if you are actually in the class. Since this semester is a busy time for many of you, I allow each one of you one "get out of class" free pass. This must be arranged with the instructor ahead of time.