COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT

National Taiwan University

SYLLABUS
Managing Global Acquisitions & Restructuring
Spring 2016
Instructor: Prof. Hong-Jen Carlos CHIU
Campus Phone: (02) 3366 4985
Class Time: Tuesday 9:10 12:10am
Office Hour: By Appointment

Office: RM 914, the 2nd Mgmt Hall

Campus e-Mail: hongjen@ntu.edu.tw
Classroom: RM 202, the 2nd Mgmt Hall

PRELUDE
Total value of M&A (mergers & acquisitions) deals in 2015 passed US$ 5 trillion!
Among them shown in the following exhibit, Pfizers tax inversion-driven offshore
takeovers included the failed AstraZenecca and later the successful Allergan buyout for
US$ 160 billion. Before being ready for the buyout deal launched by Pfizer, Allergan
sold off its generic drug division to Teva for restructuring its global portfolios of drugs
and patents
Corporate restructuring may be undertaken alone (e.g., eBays spinoff of PayPal, or
Googles organizational restructuring into Alphabet Holdings), or can lay the
groundwork for follow-on M&A, leveraged buyout (LBO) (e.g., Dow Chemical merged
with Du Pont). The strategic roles of the private equity fund and hedge fund become
more important for facilitating either restructuring and M&A. To start a career in
investment banking, consulting services, buyout specialists, you need to get familiar with
domain knowledge and to keep abreast of contemporary global M&A and restructuring
events. This pedagogical vision motivated this course.

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COURSE OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this course is to teach relevant domain knowledge of the acquiring
firms for pursuing synergistic or undervalued targets worldwide. Before or after M&A,
asset restructuring can be a must to achieve strategic renewal and organizational
reinvention for legitimacy and profitability. In addition, effective integration of
merged firms and then restructuring non-core assets also contribute to the
success of post-merger growth and operations.

Teva Pharmaceutical: Global

Leadership in Generic Drugs after
Allergans Reverse Merger in 2015
The TevaAllergan deal is a part of the business
model transformation adopted by Teva to
achieve its profit targets of $4.3 billion in profits
for 2016. Can this target set by the global leader
in generic drugs be realized?

The reasons could be to secure international supply chains of key raw materials, to get
access to large overseas markets, and to reduce competitive threat arising from global
marketplace. We are interested in the motives, planning, decision-making, valuation,
and negotiation of such transnational equity transactions. Moreover, many developedcountry firms have suffered lost market share or innovativeness abroad and
domestically, which opens the strategic window of equity-linked restructuring modes
with emerging-market counterparts.

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In addition, M&As have been used by global players to restructure and even strengthen
their global deployments of resources, capabilities, talents. We are going to study several
latest cases in achieving these strategic objectives e.g., Lenovo acquired Motorola from
Google to strength its patent portfolio and brand equity in mobile devices in 2014, then to
restructure its global supply chain in 2015.
The types of global M&As include stock-based merge, cash-based acquisition, and LBO.
Once completed, cross-border takeover deals need to get approval from the regulators of
both home and host countries. In addition, the acquiring firm entails ownership
rearrangement, asset revitalization, employee redeployment, organizational transformation,
and resource integration. Those restructuring efforts are critical for enhancing economic,
accounting, and social value.

As to the pedagogical approach, we are

going to discuss core theories, best business
practices, inspiring ideas, seamless
implementation, and policy implications in
class. Class participations and Teamwork
involvements are expected, which accounts
for most of your final grade. After
completing this course, you should be
confidently undertaking projects of global
M&A and corporate restructuring.
Finally, Professor Chiu cherishes all feedback from you, either in class, or through e-mail,
or in office hours. If you have any work experiences (including internship) in M&A
and/or restructuring, you are welcome to share your thoughts in class. Your contributions
to the class will be recognized by getting extra credits for your semester grade.

1993 ~ 2016: Academic Services by Professor Chiu

INSTRUCTORS BACKGROUND
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
Senior Faculty in Strategy & Former Director,
Ph.D. Program in International Business (IB),
Department of IB, NTU (since 1993);
Post-Doctoral Fellow in Global Management, Univ.
of Washington, Seattle, USA (1993)
Ph.D. in Strategic Management, School of Business,
Univ. of Washington, Seattle, USA (1992)

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GLOBAL RESEARCH TIES

Co-Director,
Tsinghua Unigroup Platform & Ecosystem
Competition Research Center(CN)(2015 ~)
Chief Researcher,
ADIA Global Private Equity Investment
Institute (UAE) (2014 ~)

ASIA-PACIFIC ACADEMIC RECOGNITIONS

Schwarzman Endowed Chair, Blackstone
Foundation, Tsinghua University @Beijing
(China) (2015 2018)
Founder Group Chair in Strategic Leadership &
Change, Beijing University (China) (2012 2015)
China Putian Group Chair in Global Strategy,
Beijing University (China) (2006 11)
Adjunct Professor, IGSB, University of South
Australia, Australia (2003 2008)

ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL AWARDS

2015

Best Economic Analysis Award, Private Equity Buyout,

Asia-Pacific PE/VC Association, HK.
2015 Best Paper Award, Annual Meeting, Academy of
International Business US West Chapter, Seattle, USA.
2014 Best Paper Proceedings, Annual Meeting, European
Academy of Management, Valencia, Spain.
2013 A Social Network Analysis of Knowledge Flow in the
Semiconductor Industry published in Asia-Pacific Journal
of Management (Impact Factor = 4.12).
2012 Outstanding Economic Research Team, Private Equity
Buyout, Asia Venture Capital Journal, UK.
2010 Excellent Paper Award, Annual Meeting, Academy of
Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Beijing, China.
2009 Best Paper Proceedings, BPS Division, Annual Meeting,
Academy of Management, Washington D.C., USA.
2008 Best Paper Proceedings, Annual Conference, Academy of
International Business, Milan, Italy.

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COURSE FORMAT
3.1 Pre-requisites & Expectations
This is an inter-disciplinary course that lays its groundwork from strategic
management, international business, corporate finance, and organizational
theory. Thus, basic knowledge in these subjects (or equivalent), though
NOT regarded as pre-requisites, contribute to effective learning.

You can expect to learn timely professional knowledge and experience in

global M&A and corporate restructuring. The instructor commits to
enhance your understandings of strategic thinking, decision-making
framework, corporate valuation alternatives, and restructuring/integration
action programs that are working surely.

3.2 Inductive Issue-Guided Case Analysis:

To fulfill such learning objectives, we take an innovative case study
approach as follows. In specific, the group discussion on each case

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will be guided by a set of four (4) related questions. You and team
members need to develop your arguments that can answer these
questions, backed up by the concepts, models, and frameworks
learned from the class lecture, textbook, and class readings. The
instructor will further provide relevant contextual information about
each case in class, in an attempt to generalize firm-specific arguments
made by each group.
3.3 Learning Thru A SURELY-WORKING Case Study Process
One mainstream pedagogical approach in current B-school classroom
learning is the case-study approach. The instructor draws on his 23-year
B-school teaching & real-world consulting experience, which leads to a
Surely-Work case-study innovation. To work surly, the case analysis
that students learned should be applicable to a variety of business setting.
During the semester, we are going to study the following ten (10) sets of
short-case materials:
1. Case on PC/Smartphone M&A and Restructuring Lenovo:
Strategic Renewal for Global Supply Chains from Motorola Buyout
(2014)( revised in 2015)

Discussion Questions:
(1) Why did Google sell off its hardware assets of Motorola? Do you
think that this selloff is a strategic mistake on the Google side?
Stake out your claims.
(2) After acquiring Motorola, Lenovos revenue and operating margin
from the sales of mobile devices seemed to be short-lived only for
Q4 2014. Explain possible reasons and Lenovos strategic
responses.
(3) Comment on the evolution of Lenovos hybrid supply-chain
strategy. What problems have occurred on the efficiency of the
firms supply chain after a series of acquisition? Moreover, can
these problems be fixed after adding the manufacturing capacities
of Motorolas supply chain?

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(4) One year after the Motorolo buyout, to what extent Lenovo has
achieved synergies to attract and retain overseas customers, and to
do both explorative and exploitative learning for strengthening its
global supply chain?

2. Case on Social Media/Mobile Apps M&A and Restructuring

Facebook: Strategic Acquisitions Driven by Cross-Platform
Competition (2014)(revised in 2015)

Discussion Questions:
(1) The motives of Facebook to acquire WhatsApp and Instagram
could be different, which were driven by levels of competition
and types of business models. Comment on the problems that
might occur in the post-buyout integration processes for these two
deals.
(2) Describe the business models of Facebook and WhatsApp,
respectively. What are the revenue sources of Facebook? Give the
reason why WhatsApp is an attractive target, from the standpoint
of Facebook.

(3) Can the US$ 19.1 billion buyout be justified by valuation of

WhatsApp? What synergistic gains could be derived from this
deal?

(4) What are the scale and scope of synergistic gains from either of
the deals? Do you see any potential conflicts resulting from the
post-acquisition organizational integration?

3. Case on Biotech M&A and Restructuring Celgene: Searching for

Biotech Blockbusters Mania or Vision? (2015)

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Discussion Questions:
(1) What has driven the acquisition of Receptos? Is the deal structure
fair for shareholders of both Celgene and Receptos?
(2) How valuable is Celgenes R&D partnerships? To what extent such
inter-firm collaboration may affect the valuation of a biotech firm?
(3) Describe the business model and risk management of Celgene.
Will the Receptoss buyout spell a trouble for Celgenes
blockbuster product business model?

(4) The Receptos deal will add to Celgenes product portfolio a

potential blockbuster drug. However, is this mega deal driven
mainly by biotech mania or strategic vision? What has the buyout
driver (mania vs. vision) based on your assessment affected
Celgenes global expansion and product diversification?

4. Case on eCommerce M&A and Restructuring eBay: PayPals Spinoff

as a Strategic Response to Shareholder Activism (2014) (revised in
2015)

Discussion Questions:
(1) What drives the spinoff decision on eBays Star PayPal?
Whether or not restructuring will make eBay and PayPal as
independent entities, more competitive?

(2) Do you agree on the extent to which spinoff of the fastest growing
business will not distract innovation and execution in eBays C2C
eCommerce core business?

(3) After being spun off, can PayPal maintain its leadership in digital
payment services as a whole, while become more competitive in
mobile payment landscape, why or why not? Stake out your claims.

(4) Assess the likelihood that eBay and spun-off PayPal can create
sustainable value for both firms shareholders over time.

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5. Case on Software M&A and Restructuring Salesforce.coms

Sequential Acquisitions: The Growth Options-Driven Strategic Thrust
(2014)

Discussion Questions:
(1) How significant are acquisitions in Salesforce.coms revenue
growth and competitive advantage in the global cloud-based
services marketplace?
(2) What is the strategic importance of the ExactTarget acquisition?
Can ExactTargets sophisticated marketing automation capabilities
justify the US$ 2.5 billion tag price? Elaborate on the strategic and
organizational fitness of ExactTarget with Salesforce.com.
(3) Why could the buyout of RelateIQ in July 2014 boost
Salesforce.coms presence in the big data market? Also, clarify
the potential strategic benefits and organizational challenges
underlying the partnership between Salesforce.com and Microsoft.
(4) The increased adoption of social, mobile, analytics and cloud (or
SMAC) is rapidly changing the IT environment. Comment on the
relevance of enhanced cloud adoption to the growth of
Salesforce.coms CRM core business, especially after integrating
with acquired SMAC targets in the past.

6. Case on Private Equity M&A and Restructuring KKR Group: A

Hybrid Barbarian at the Gate of Private Markets (2015)

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Discussion Questions:
(1) Discuss the roles of private equity firms
such as KKR Group in global leveraged
buyout, for both pros and cons.
(2) Why does KKR go public, even though its
core skills are for helping clients going
private? After going public, should KKR
restructure its partnership structure, or just
stay put?
(3) How has KKR benefited from both private
and public markets?
(4) How do KKRs professional capabilities
and network help its global expansion and
firm performance?

7. Case on Food & Beverage M&A and Restructuring Life after

Leveraged Buyout: Kraft Heinz and Brail-Based 3G Capital (2015)

Discussion Questions:
(1) While motivated by pursuing operational synergies and efficiency,
the 3G Capital-led Kraft Heinz deal was also criticized to find an
exit from the Brazile-based private equity firms multi-billion
investment in both companies. Which rationale is more likely?
(2) Comment on the strategic intent of 3G Capital for this merger. Is
the valuation of Kraft and Heinz fair, from the standpoints of the
merging firms shareholders, respectively?

(3) As of August 10, 2015, the first post-merger financial results were
released. What was your re-assessment on this merger ex post?

(4) Whether or not the partnership between two institutional

investors 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway will be in danger
after this merger, why or why not? Stake out your claims.

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8. Case on Consumer Products M&A and Restructuring Procter &

Gamble: Tax Efficiency-Driven Brand Portfolio Divestiture (2015)

Discussion Questions:
(1) What drives the sale of a P&Gs brand portfolio containing 43
brands? Is there any supporting strategic rationale behind this
divestiture?
(2) How are the proceeds collected from this sale distributed to P&Gs
shareholders? Alternative, should P&G invest these proceeds to
new ventures or new product lines?

(3) To which extent, the acquisition of P&Gs brand portfolio will

benefit Coty? Is there any concern about the restructuring of
Cotys own brand portfolio?

(4) P&G draws on a Reverse Morris Trust to implement this brand

sale deal. What are the benefits and constraints for employing this
kind of deal structure? Will Cotys shareholders oppose this deal
structure?

9. Case on Pharma & Health Care M&A and Restructuring Pfizer:

Takeover Attempt Driven by Inversion Transaction and Defended
by AstraZeneca (2014) (revised in 2015)

Discussion Questions:

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(1) In addition to walk-away (indeed happened in May, 2014), should

Pfizer sweeten the takeover premium, or restructuring the deal to
meet the expectations of AstraZenecas stakeholders?
(2) Why do M&As seem to be a popular prescription for growth for
pharmaceutical firms? In addition to inversion transaction
concerns, what sensitive areas from the standpoint of host-country
government might derail a cross-border deal?
(3) What resources and capabilities owned by AstraZeneca attract
Pfizers interests? Do you think that the valuation of AstraZeneca
proposed by Pfizer is fair?
(4) Pfizer believes that AstraZeneca lacks sufficient scale to compete
against large national players in emerging markets. Do you agree?
If no, whats wrong with Pfizers claim? If yes, what synergies
could be realize by the merging drug makers who join force to
compete in the emerging markets, especially China & India?

10. Case on Industrial Good (Steel) M&A and Restructuring

ArcelorMittal Global Turnaround Strategy After Failed Merger
(2014)

Discussion Questions:
(1) As a global leader in steel production, how did ArcelorMittal get
into trouble over the past several years, which made the biggest
steel maker a laggard on Wall Street?
(2) Evaluate the impact of steel production process and that of the
ownership of mining assets on the ArcelorMittals revenue stability.
Besides, whats wrong with the global market conditions that
affect negatively on this firms financial results?
(3) Since global steel consumption has been back to upswing trend,

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led by strong automobile and construction markets, is

ArcelorMittal ready for a successful turnaround from its failed
merger?
(4) How likely could ArcelorMittal be as competitive as its
counterparts in US? Moreover, through strategic benchmarking,
what may this global leader learn from the success of AK Steel of
US?

3.4 Textbook
Gaughan, Patrick (2007) eBook on Mergers, Acquisitions & Corporate
Restructurings (4th ed.) UK: John Wiley & Sons.

3.5 Class Readings

(R 1) Allen and Overy (2014) Expanding Global Reach: Japan. PwC.
(R 2) Brueller, et al. (2014) How different types of M&As facilitate
strategic agility. California Management Review, Spring, pp. 39-57.
(R 3) Evans, et al. (2015) Mid-Market Integration and Managing Change.
Mergermarket.
(R 4) Fukasawa, et al. (2015) An Outlook for Turnaround & Restructuring
in Asia Pacific 2015. AlixPartners.
(R 5) Hansell, et al. (2014) Unlocking Acquisitive Growth: Lessens from
Successful Serial Acquirers. Boston Consulting Group.
(R 6) Kengelbach, et al. (2014a) Dont Miss the Exit. Boston Consulting
Group.
(R 7) Kengelbach, et al. (2014b) Investing Wisely, Divesting Strategically.
Boston Consulting Group.
(R 8) MacAuther (2015) Global Private Equity Report 2015. Bain &Co.
(R 9) Meacham et al. (2015) Repeatable M&A in Consumer Goods. Bain
& Co.
(R 10) Reeves, et al. (2013) Turning around the Successful Company.
Boston Consulting Group.

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(R 11) Shah, et al. (2014) IT in M&A: Increasing the Odds of a Successful

Integration. Bain & Co.
(R 12) Smith & Lovallo (2014) Creating more accurate acquisition
valuations. MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall, pp. 63 71.
(R 13) Yang, et al. (2015) M&A in China: Getting Deals Done, Making
Them Work. Boston Consulting Group.
(R 14) White and Case (2015) Changing Faces of International Leveraged
Debt.

CLASS SCHEDULE
Week

Topic(s) for Class Discussion

Readings

Notes

(DATE)

W1

(1) Course Introduction.

(2) Class Administration Matters.

W2

(1) Changing Landscape of Global

M&A, buyout, and restructuring.

Ch 1

Deadline for turning

in Contact
Information of Your
Case/Term Project
Study Group(s); and
setting up your LINE
group(s).

Ch 15
R5

(Introductory Case)
Qualcomm:
Institutional &
Industrial Pressure
on Corporate Split
(2015)

(2) Types of M&A: Stock Swap,

Cash-based Acquisition, Leveraged
Buyout.

W3

(1) Taxation, Legal, and Regulatory

Issues on Global M&A
(2) Introduction of Surely Working
Case Study Method

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W4

(1) How to analyze M&A, buyout, and Ch 2

R6
restructuring cases
(2) Introduction to The Surely-Work
Case Study Method & Alternatives.

W5

Cross-Border Deal-Making for Equity

Transactions

Ch 10
R1

(Case 1) Lenovo:
Strategic Renewal for
Global Supply
Chains from
Motorola Buyout
(2014)

Ch 4
R3

(Case 2) Facebook:
Strategic
Acquisitions Driven
by Cross-Platform
Competition (2014)

Cross-Cultural & Inter-firm

Restructuring

W6

W7

Post-Global-Acquisition Integration:
The Strategic Role of Restructuring
Strategic Planning & Implementation
for Global M&A

Topic: The Impact of Global

Accounting Standard Change on PostAcquisition Revenue The Stress Test
of Goodwill Amortization
Global M&A I: Stock-based Mergers
Ch 5
Accounting Rules for Stock-based
R2
Mergers: Pooling of Interests
The Anti-Takeover Measures of the
Target Firms

W8

Global M&A II: Cash-based

Acquisitions
Accounting Rules for Acquisitions:
Purchase Method

(Case on Warrant
Buffets Investment
Wisdom)
Berkshire Hathaway:
Mega Acquisitions
and Sustainable
Performance (2015)

(Case 3) Celgene:
Searching for
Biotech
Blockbusters
Mania or Vision?
(2015)

Ch 6
R7

(Case 4) eBay:
PayPals Spinoff as a
Strategic Response to
Shareholder Activism
(2014)

Ch 7
R8

(Case 5)
Salesforce.coms
Sequential
Acquisitions: The
Growth Options-

The Roles of Global Syndicated Loans

for Making Cash-based Equity
Transactions
The Mechanism of Tender Offers
W9

Global M&A III: Leveraged Buyout

Power Brokers of Global M&A -(1) Private Equity Fund, (2) Hedge
Fund, (3) Sovereign Wealth Fund

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Driven Strategic
Thrust (2014)

Doing Due Diligence on Offshore

Takeover Targets
W10

Valuation of Cross-Border Equity

Transactions:

Ch 14
R9, R12

(Case 6) KKR Group:

A Hybrid Barbarian
at the Gate of Private
Markets (2015)

Ch 8
R10, R14

(Case 7) Life after

LBO: Kraft Heinz
and Brazil-based 3G
Capital (2015)

Ch 13
R4

TERM PROJECT
PROPOSAL DUE

(1)Publicly-Traded Firms (2)

Privately-Held Companies (3) Joint
Ventures

W11

Alternative Global Financing

Methods:
(1) High Yield Junk Bond
(2)Collateral Loan Obligation (CDO)
Strategies for Raising Equity for
Growth or Going Private

W12

Entry Modes for Global M&A:

(1) Equity-Link Investment & CrossShareholding
(2) Joint Ventures
(3) Wholly-Owned Subsidiaries

(Case 8) P&G: Tax

Efficiency-Driven
Brand Portfolio
Divestiture (2015)

Global Turnaround Management

W13

Post-Global M&A Restructuring

Modes:
(1)Ownership Rearrangement Splitoff, Spin-off, Carve-out, Sell-off, and
Tracking Stocks
(2)Asset Revitalization Outsourcing, Off-sourcing, Leasing-back

Ch 11 & 12
R13

(Case 9) Pfizer:
Takeover Attempt
Driven by Inversion
Transaction and
Defended by
AstraZeneca (2014)

(3)Employee Redepolyment The

Role of Collective Bargaining
(4)Organizational Transformation -Global Business Units, Global Matrix,
Network Structure
(5)Resource Integration.

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W14

Ownership & Governance Change

after Global M&A:
(1)ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership
Plan)
(2) International Holding Company
(3) Exit Mechanisms: Initial Public
Offering (IPO), Secondary-Market
Transactions

W15

Term Project Presentation I

W16

The Wrap-up of the Presentation Part I

Term Project Presentation.II

W17

The Wrap-up of the Presentation Part

II.
Invited Keynote Speech on
Global Buyout, Private Equity Fund,
and Restructuring for Sustainable
Performance

Ch 9
R11

(Case 10)
ArcelorMittals
Global Turnaround
Strategy After Failed
Merger (2014)

(The Concluding
Case & Remarks)

Grand Happy Hours

INSTRUCTORS EXPECTATION
Professor Chiu has taught for 23 years at NTU and others major universities in AsiaPacific. He has also served on the boards of and has made advisory/ consulting services
to a variety of domestic leading firms in Greater China as well as several global firms
such as France-based Kering Group, Italy-based Fiat; India-based Tata Group; Chinabased Putian Group, China Oil & Food, and Citic Group; US-based DLJ (later merged
into CSFB); Spain-based Telefonica; and Indonesia-based Asia Pulp & Paper.
Thus, to facilitate in-class mutual learning and contributions to each other, Professor Chiu
expects you to be present in class on time. Those who arrive at class late should NOT
disturb classmates. You are also expected to notify the class TA in e-mail in advance, if
you will be absent from an upcoming class.

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GRADING
These are four parts of the final grading:
(1) Group Case-Study Written Reports +
Oral presentation
(40%)
(2) Group Term Project +
Oral Presentation
(40%)
(3) Class Participation & Quizzes
(20%)
Extra Credit (up to 20%)
6.1

Group Case Study Report & Presentation (40%)

We will discuss ten (10) cases in global M&A and corporate restructuring.
Each study group consisting of no larger than 5~7 members needs to pick
ONE case to analyze and then to write ONE case study report. The
length of the report should be 2500 words or so (excluding exhibits).
Students are also expected to make ONE in-class oral presentation that
addresses the discussion questions given in the syllabus, based on the
case chosen. If there are more than two groups choose the same case, the
instructor or TA will make the coordination.

6.2

Group Term Project & Presentation (40%)

Dates for In-class Oral Presentation: W15 & W16

Due Date for Term Project PROPOSAL: W12
Due Date for the FINAL version of Term Project: W17

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Each study group should choose an industry to write ONE term project
that aims at addressing issues related to global M&A and/or
restructuring at the firm- or industry-level. Then, each group is
expected to make ONE oral presentation in class.
The choice of the firm for your group term project is at your group
members collective discretion. The max length of the term project is
about 20 pages in Word-format, with 12-font letter size.
The structure of the term project should include the following:
(1) One-page Executive Summary;
(2) Stake out strategic issues on global M&A and/or restructuring for
such issues;
(3) Describe such M&A and/or restructuring events (max. 2 pages);
(4) Apply the analytical tools, frameworks, and concepts that you have
learned from this MGAR course to analyze the drivers or factors
behind these issues, and propose likely alternatives for M&A and/or
restructuring strategies (min. 4 pages);
(5) Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of these
alternatives, and prioritize them in terms of feasibility for
implementation (min. 2 pages);
(6) Recommend the choice of new strategic directions and implementation
action programs, in response to the issues specified in (2).

6.3

Class Participation & Quizzes (20%)

The grading for your participation for class discussions will be recognized
as the sticker-awarding system. The total number of stickers collected
in every class will be counted toward your contributions to class
discussions.
In addition, there are THREE (3) quizzes at maximum throughout this
semester. You can expect ONLY ONE quiz question in the format of
short-essay related to the pre-scheduled class contents stated on the
syllabus. The quiz takes place at the beginning of the 2nd-hour of the
class, and usually lasts 20 minutes.

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