Business Administration

This course is designed for both business and non-business majors to develop management skills such as decision making, motivating, communicating, team building, conflict management and empowering others. Students are encouraged to view management quite broadly as it applies to their own social, family, work and school lives. The focus is on managing as an individual, within groups and as the member of some form of organization — including those in which students will pursue their career aspirations, no matter the discipline. Students are engaged in hands-on exercises, case studies and group assignments. This course will begin the preparation for future management or self- employed roles. It is also useful for anyone who will enter the workforce and face the challenges inherent in managing oneself and working with others effectively.

The senior seminar is designed to facilitate the integration of conceptual and practical learning in business and serve as a transition between college and career. The seminar will focus on professionalism, lessons learned from the BUS 485 internship experience and the three previous seminars, career building practices and documentation such as résumés and cover letters and presentation skills. A mock job interview, an internship presentation and various professional writing and reporting assignments are required.

This course focuses on the primary factors that influence behavior in organizations. This includes leadership, inter/intra-group dynamics, organizational structure and design, change management, culture, power and politics. Students view behavior as it occurs as a consequence of, and a reaction to, such macro-environmental changes as globalization, technology, economic factors and demographic evolution. Students study and analyze behavior within specific organizational contexts.

This course covers data-driven theory and practice in management science and operations. Quantitative management theory has a direct impact on the profitability and competitiveness of an organization. This course couples mathematics with the concepts and applications of motivation theory, productivity and work management. Model formulation lies at the heart of quantitative management methodologies. Consequently, the course emphasizes the art of model formulation, the role of a model and the analysis of model results.

In this integrative capstone, students bring together learning from all liberal arts and business courses. This includes integrating the functional elements of a business and exploring the philosophical and theoretical assumptions underlying strategic management. The laboratory component incorporates a computer simulation. The experience culminates in a professional presentation by each group, open to the Colby-Sawyer campus and community. This course must be completed at Colby-Sawyer College.