Institute For Professional Development

This course is the second of two accounting courses that introduces the student to the basic principles and practices of accounting and the role of daily accounting activities of running a business.  Emphasis is placed on understanding the budgeting process and analyzing the differences in accounting within various business environments.  In addition, this course will introduce elements of managerial accounting that managers engage in daily during the transaction cycle.  Other topics include financial reporting and analysis and an overview of the accounting information systems available within the business world today.

This course is designed to provide the student with an introduction to terms, business concepts, and business activities related to the organization and the operation of a business enterprise as an institution in a global business environment. With particular focus and emphasis on Economics, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Human Resources, and Finance & Accounting functions within a business enterprise.

This course provides the student with an introduction to the basic macroeconomic principles of economics; resource utilization, supply, demand, and elasticity; economic sectors: consumption, investment, government and import/export; gross national product; fiscal policy; money and banking; monetary policy; economic theory; growth and productivity, poverty; and international economics.

The course presents the student with an overview of the importance of leadership in conjunction with various leadership traits, styles, and qualities. The course will also enhance the importance of having a vision, the motivation to lead, social motives in the workplace, levels of morality and values, and the significance of empowerment for effective leadership. Topics include situational leadership, organizational climate, moral dilemmas, personal integrity, servant leadership, participative management, human relations, high-performance teams, diversity, cultural and interpersonal differences, workplace stress, performance management, and organizational change.

This course introduces the student to the basic principles and practices of financial management and the role finance professionals play in running a business.  Financial management is critically important to the success of any business organization and this course will emphasize the key financial concepts central to corporate finance.  Specifically, we will focus on one particular area of finance, financial management, which tends to concentrate on valuing things from the company perspective.  Many of the tools and techniques for handling the financial management of a firm can also be used for personal finance decisions.

This course is designed to provide the students with a real-world global perspective of the basic law with a deep dive into contract law.  The students will learn the similarities and differences in criminal, tort, constitutional, and administrative law.  They will focus their attention to understanding how contracts solidify agreements in the business world and in what ways these agreements may become unenforceable or even terminated.  Additionally, the students will learn how different types of agreements require specific contractual elements. The three key components of the course include an overview and textbook readings related to effective legal contracts, discussion questions and exams to facilitate learning and information retention, and case study exercises to improve analytical and critical thinking skills. The students will gain a thorough understanding of the themes and concepts associated with legal contracts while experiencing firsthand some of the most effective and least effective legal agreements that impacted business decisions over the years.

This course is designed as a research survey class under the general topic of Strategic Marketing and is presented from a real-world global perspective. The student will learn and work through material that ranges from a general introduction of marketing strategies to understanding how different types of audiences require specific strategies. The three key components of the course include an overview and textbook readings related to effective marketing strategies, discussion questions and exams to facilitate learning and information retention, and case study exercises to improve analytical and critical thinking skills. The student will gain a thorough understanding of the themes and concepts associated with marketing strategies while experiencing firsthand some of the most and least effective marketing campaigns that propelled companies to new heights or doomed them to mediocrity.

This course provides the student with an understanding of how financial markets perform the important role of channeling funds from lender-savers to borrower-spenders. The course offers presents the student with an understanding of the theory of financial markets and the strengths, shortcomings, and risks for such financial institutions as securities, banking, insurance, futures, and other derivatives markets.

This course is for business students interested in the practice of organizational theory and behavior. This course is about the study of what people think, feel and do in and around organizations. This course will focus on what makes organizations and people effective and successful.

Ethical business actions are rooted in a series of personal moral standards or ethical principles. This course is a survey of business ethics and examines personal standards as well as the standards and principles of various companies. This course encourages critical thinking about how our moral and ethical compass should guide business and personal decisions.

This course introduces students to the evolving complexities of multicultural workplaces and teams.  As modern organizations and teams become less and less homogenous, both leaders and followers must adapt to meet the changing face of workplace diversity and to interact effectively in what is known today as the global village.  Topics include an overview of culture, strategies for applying cultural knowledge, cross-cultural awareness and communication, leading and motivating multicultural teams, and developing and applying cultural intelligence in an increasingly interconnected global market place.

This course focuses on the challenges and opportunities associated with organizational management and business strategy in the global environment. The International Management course is intended to be a challenging advanced management course for the undergraduate business student.  Students will gain a general overview of the process and effect of internationalization in contemporary business, along with an introduction to theories, concepts and skills relevant to managing effectively in today’s global environment.  Students will be challenged to integrate knowledge they have gained from other business core courses and apply their accumulated knowledge to business case studies.  Students will engage in active research and analytical problem solving related to managing in the international environment and will frequently be called upon to brief their findings to the class.

This course is based on “real operations, real solutions” principle. “Real operations” means that most of the chapters are written from the perspective of a specific company. The text uses a wide variety of companies, small and large, representing services, manufacturing, and retailing. “Real solutions” means that the book doesn’t use only the equations and models, but rather how to apply the models from start to finish in a realistic operational setting. This course looks at organizations as entities that must match the supply of what they produce with the demand for their product. This course represents the essential body of knowledge for and introductory operations management course, including chapters on project management, sustainable operation, and business model innovation.

The course provides the student with information about the most important and current concepts of information technology. This is a survey of current information technology trends and issues that affect today’s businesses. Topics covered are the Internet, the Web, electronic commerce, software, hardware, storage, databases, networking, privacy, security, system analysis and design, and programming languages.

The course provides fundamental understanding of the Agile Scrum software development life cycle.  Students are/will be introduced to how software development is actually executed.  Topics include, Agile Scrum framework, principles, sprints, users stories, product backlog, estimation, velocity, technical debt, product owner, ScrumMaster, development team, team structures, managers, planning, execution, review, retrospective, etc.

This course provides the student with a review of the basics of sentence structure, paragraph construction, and essay composition.  A major focus of the course is on reading analytically and writing clearly and effectively.  The subject matter used for the majority of the writing exercises will be based on the student’s personal experiences and on fundamental research techniques and exercises.

This course provides the student with a foundational knowledge of the earth and the processes, which have and continue to shape it.  Topics of discussion are space & near-earth objects, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanism, rocks & minerals, mountain building, weathering, erosion, streams & floods, oceans, the atmosphere, weather systems, and global change.

The overall purpose of this course is to introduce and survey the concepts of legal and ethical issues in one’s professional life. The course is an analytical exploration of the global, organizational, and personal factors of making legal and ethical decisions. The course will also give you a foundation that will enable you to apply principles to your own decision-making, and evaluate opinions, news reports, and other sources of information critically.

The course provides the students with the tools and techniques to meet the financial and budgeting challenges they will face in the professional environment. The course provides the non-financial student with practical tools and concepts for corporate financial management. Topics include analyzing and interpreting financial statements (including cash flow analysis), overhead allocation and product costing, budgeting, accounting, and capital budgeting. Case studies based on actual management decisions are the central method used in this course to enhance student learning of key financial management concepts.

The course provides the student with a practical understanding of production and operations management concepts and tools and focuses on effective management within today's competitive, global environment. It addresses concepts and methods to support the management of operations in both service and manufacturing environments. Understanding the organizational processes and how production and operations management is embedded into the overall strategy of the organization is paramount to the success of the organization. Some of the concepts and tools studied in the course are: linear programming, queuing theory, PERT/CPM, decision theory, Kaizen, and lean manufacturing.

The course provides the student with an over view of Information Technology (IT)-enabled transformation and the strategic issues associated with the management of an integrated enterprise IT program. Additionally, the course provides an opportunity for the student to develop a well-balanced repository of IT skills that support enterprise wide decision making strategies. Case studies provide students with the opportunity to apply their critical thinking skills and explore the world of IT Management from an enterprise wide strategic management view point.

This course is taken as one of the final courses in the program. It provides the student with the opportunity to consolidate and utilize the knowledge, tools and concepts that the program provides. In this course the student will complete a detailed case analysis while developing a business strategy which includes concepts and tools such as macro environmental scanning, industry and competitive analysis, value chain analysis, SWOT analysis, identification of critical success factors and driving forces, and development of strategic alternatives and recommendations. Throughout the course the student applies these concepts and tools as they develop the strategic profile for the company or industry that is described in the case study. (Prerequisite: Final term in program or permission from the Academic Dean).

The course provides the student with an overview of the paradigms in organizational group dynamics. It will explore the way in which humans act and organize themselves into groups. It will explore the "norms” that are utilized by organizations and the forces leaders exert upon those organizations. The course is designed to create an understanding of the interactive forces that affect and influence organizations.

The course provides student with an overview of the theories found within the study of leadership and management during periods of transition. The course explores and analyzes the attributes found in successful leaders and how the leaders deal with periods of transition. The students explore current theories and strategies for leading an organization through a period of change and the course provides them with the tools to improve their won managerial and leadership skills.

The course provides the student with the background knowledge and guidelines that will enable them to analyze their organizational environment and develop effective management communication strategies. It will provide the skills that will allow the student to analyze their environments, develop their management communications strategy, apply the strategy and formulate alternative approaches. Both oral and written communications are covered at five levels: intra-personal, interpersonal, group, organizational, and intercultural. Concepts from several academic disciplines along with actual managerial examples from a variety of organizations are examined. The course includes current topics of concerns for ethics, increasing diversity, greater job stress, and technological advances and how these topics affect our organizational communications.

This course provides the tools and skills each student needs to examine and fully develop their analytical skills. It explores the skills of the critical thinking and decision-making process and provides the students with concrete skills that can enhance their decision-making abilities. These skills will allow them to identify and solve organizational problems and enhance their strategic thinking abilities. Topics include problem identification, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and ethical implications.

Introduction to Business provides students with a basic understanding of the key concepts and principles in the field of business. This course covers topics such as business organization, management, marketing, finance, and entrepreneurship. Students will explore the fundamental functions of business and gain insight into the role of business in society. This course serves as a foundation for further studies in business and helps students develop essential skills for success in the business world. The course objective is to study the basics and essentials of business including global markets, leadership, human resources and business operations.