This is an introductory level course in Business Fundamentals. Practical areas of knowledge are covered to provide the student with a well-rounded appreciation of the nature and purpose of business in the modern world. Key areas include: Economics, Social Responsibility, the Global Environment, Entrepreneurship, Human Resources, Hospitality, Marketing, Accounting & Personal Finance. The course is intended to be a survey course on which deeper knowledge and understanding will be developed as the student moves on to further course work.

Contemporary managers are witnessing changes in technologies, markets, competition, workforce demographics, employee expectations, and ethical standards. At the heart of these changes is the issue of how to manage people effectively. To attain corporate objectives, each manager must discover how to develop and maintain a workforce that can meet today’s needs while getting ready for tomorrow’s challenges. That is, a good manager must be able to motivate his employees, to lead skillfully, to make appropriate and timely decisions, to communicate effectively, to organize work, to deal with organizational politics, and to work to develop both employees and the organization as a whole. This course will examine the principles of the behavioral sciences that can help managers improve both their own skills and abilities and those of their subordinates in order to enhance organizational performance and effectiveness.

This course introduces the first year student to the importance of proper communication both in business and personal life. Communication is defined as the process of understanding and sharing meaning. Interpersonal communication is any message exchanged between two or more people. Written communication is any message using the written word. Verbal, or oral, communication is any message conveyed through speech. Nonverbal communication is any message inferred through observation of another person. All communication is composed of three parts that make a whole: sharing, understanding, and meaning. The course focuses on creating effective communication with emphasis on group communication, the audience, writing, speaking, persuasion, intercultural communication, and crisis communication.

Critical to the understanding of finance in business is knowing how to consider issues of finance in one’s personal life. With a strong understanding of personal finance a manager can effective run the financial affairs of a business. This course starts with this premise and build upon foundational concepts of finance. Themes addressed include: personal financial planning, basic ideas of finance, financial statement, risk, time and value, financial plans and management, taxes, consumer strategies, buying a home, insurance, retirement planning, investing and stocks.

No marketing strategy is complete if it does not incorporate digital strategy and expression. Understanding digital marketing requires thinking beyond any one tool or channel, and towards an exchange of value. Digital marketing is not just a set of marketing channels – it’s a different way of thinking about how people engage with media, each other and the world around them. Digital marketing enables you to segment your audience and customise messages in a valuable and measurable way. In fact, there is no basic difference between ‘traditional’ marketing and digital marketing. However, digital marketing helps to create consumer demand by using the power of the interconnected, interactive web and make it possible to connect and build long-term relationships with customers.This course will cover the basic concepts behind marketing in a digital way to enhance brand value.

As businesses become more and more digitized the importance of MIS-Management Information Systems continues to grow. At a basic level, MIS concerns itself with the gathering, analysis and distribution of management data and information so that critical decisions may be taken by managers in the administration of the business. Integral to any MIS system are the: people, processes and the role of the management information system in creating competitive advantage. This course introduces topics including: MIS System, concepts and frameworks, hardware, software,  databases, networks and communication, security, business processes, the people involved, e-commerce, social media, globalization, the digital divide, development, ethics and future trends.

The course is designed to examine issues surrounding decision making in an accounting setting. The student is introduced to both financial and managerial accounting with an emphasis on understanding the accounting statements and the benefit of managerial accounting data. In order to make appropriate business decision managers are required to be able to read accounting statements and understand their impact on the firm. Similarly, managers should develop a good understanding of managerial accounting and the various data that may be used to support evidenced-based decision making. Some of the topics covered include: the accounting environment, business decisions, financial reporting, the accounting cycle, accounting theory, control of cash, receivables and payables, plant & equipment, equity, investment and long-term financing, and cost management.

Business and economics must be viewed from a social science standpoint. At the heart of business and economics are people, thus it is a social system, or social science.  Economics in the broad sense addresses human action. Why do people choose certain behaviors over others when presented with a multitude of options. People at the center of the economy, either individually or acting in groups, drive society. Understanding the motivations and methods of economic decision making is critical to understanding business and society. Moreover, as people become more aware of their impact  within the economic system concepts of  sustainability become more  critical. An understanding of Economics must also include an understanding of maintaining the commons for future generations. This course introduces the student to the traditional  concepts within economics along with important thoughts on fostering sustainable economic growth.  Concepts covered include: The Market System, Supply and Demand, Economic Surplus, Consumer Choice, Utility, Market Failure, Externalities, Public Goods and Common, Resources, Production, and Competitive Markets.

Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, techniques and activities to meet a project requirements. Within this definition critical aspects include: costs, scheduling, specifications parameters and naturally the expectations of the client whether internal or external to the firm. Thus, project management is the application of everything a project manager does to meet these parameters. This course introduces the world of project management to the student and discusses key concepts and techniques used within the profession to ensure timely goal achievement for projects of various types. An understanding of basic project management skills and concepts is critical for managers to be able to meet deadlines and perform to expectations.

Entrepreneurship means different things to different people. In essence it speaks to the ability to undertake new business ventures whether those are within a large enterprise setting (intrapreneurship) or the typical individual who unabashedly starts their own business.  It can include: family business, small business owners, creators, innovators, market makers and expanders and scalers. At the heart of entrepreneurship is problem solving, innovation, growth focused on opportunity identifying perspectives. Some would clasify entrepreneurs as arbitrators of market knowledge. They see market competition and opportunity different from others. This course introduces the student to the exciting world of the entrepreneur and discusses topics such as:  the entrepreneurship journey, creativity, innovation and invention, the identification of opportunity, problem solving, growth, business plans and models, networks and business structure.

International business deals with the cross border exchange of products, people and services. An international business is any business that operates in two or more countries. International business studies the effect of multi-country operations on the business. In order to effectively operate a business across borders managers need to have a good understanding of the critical issues internally to the business as well as externally within the international environment. Aspects of international economics, politics and society affect all businesses operating internationally.  Concepts covered include: international trade and FDI-foreign direct investment, culture, global economics, regional economic cooperation, exporting/importing, globalization, strategy, and supply-chain management,

This course builds on the introductory concepts of  sustainability and corporate citizenship covered earlier in the program. Modern business must consider the issues of sustainability, corporate citizenship, CSR-corporate social responsibility, social justice, equity and ethics at the center of all decision making to ensure a more just and equitable society for future generations.  This course provides a landscape of Corporate Citizenship issues and prepares the student for a career in business where the perspectives and concerns of all stakeholders are considered important.  Stakeholders are those people or entities that are affected or have an effect on the business beyond simply the customers, employees and shareholders. Broadening the student’s view of the role of business in society is  a main objective of the course. Topics considered include: the Commons, governance, externalities, social dilemmas,  The course makes use of textbook material, videos and academic journal readings.

Leadership or being a good leader is more than simply being charismatic or being able to motivate individuals. Leading modern business, whether operating locally or internationally, often means leading multi-cultural teams. Cultural awareness is a key driver to successful leadership and is a required skill of all internally operating managers. This course centers around the three pillars of leading with cultural intelligence: 1. cultural strategic thinking, 2. motivation and mindset, and 3. behavior. Based on an examination of these 3 pillars the student develops an understanding of cultural leadership action. By the conclusion of the course the student should have a better understanding of their own strength and weaknesses when considering leading with cultural intelligence and employ the lessons covered to become a more effective leader.

Strategic management deals with all issue to further the competitive advantage of the business. The competitive advantage of a business becomes more complex as it competes internationally. This course covers issues of strategic management for both domestic and internationally operating companies. It covers: leading strategically, evaluation of the external environment, firm resources, business level strategies, corporate level strategies, organizational design, globalization of companies and industries, value creation and value chains, as well as business models. Important business model /concepts covered include: BCG, Porter’s 5 Forces Model, Blue Ocean Strategy, Learning Organizations, Regional Trading Blocs (Triad Power).

The Capstone Project module is where students bring together all the lessons of the program into one coherent project. Groups of 4 to 5 students work together to build a business plan covering all aspects of operational strategy for the roll-out of a business. Business concepts are agreed upon between the teams and the Professor in the first weeks of the module. Business types may be traditional in their scope of operations or of a fully digital nature. Teams will need to address issues of: product development, marketing, financing, human resources allocation, production/sourcing, market penetration strategy, market analysis, competitor analysis and value proposition. The business plan must include a 5-year financial cash flow of the initial operations. The business plan is to be prepared in a format that is acceptable for presentation to the Board of Directors of a Fortune 500 company. While working in teams students will need to employ the lessons of cross cultural leadership and followership covered in the program, being responsible for their own scheduling, sharing and completion of work. The module concludes with a virtual team presentation of the business idea to a panel of two professors via Microsoft Teams. In this fashion the module mimics the environment found working on small business teams in real world business situations and helps to prepare the student for their transition to a professional environment where they are expected to present projects and ideas in a concise and professional manner by way of an enterprise quality level technology platform.