Delivery: Online
College Credit: 3 credit hours
Estimated Length: 32 seat hours
Price: $890
Introduction to Business focuses on the critical business knowledge needed to succeed in the broadband industry. Combining broadband industry-specific case studies with textbook business theory, this course explores management, marketing, operations, accounting systems and finance. The student will also learn about ethics in the workplace, human resources, labor relations, managerial styles and strategies for improving job satisfaction and work performance. Students completing this course will be uniquely positioned to understand and manage the critical components of a broadband business.
Completion Time:
The estimated completion time for this course is 32 hours. The maximum allotted time is four months from enrollment.
Upon completing students will:
- understand the fundamental principles that drive, affect and shape broadband businesses
- earn three hours of college credit
- receive an industry-recognized NCTI certificate of graduation
Upon completing this course, students will be able to:
- explain the U.S. business system and how business is conducted
- discuss the global context of business
- discuss conducting business responsibly and ethically
- explain how to manage and organize a business
- explain entrepreneurship and the small business
- explain managing human resources and labor relations
- discuss motivating, satisfying and leading employees
- explain marketing processes and consumer behavior
- discuss pricing, promoting, developing and distributing products/services
- discuss quality improvement and production management
- discuss accounting and information systems
- discuss money and banking
- discuss securities and investments
- be better prepared to organize, motivate and lead a business group
Outline:
The U.S. Business Environment
The concept of business and profit, the external environment of business, economic systems, the economics of market systems and economic indicators
Understanding Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
Ethics in the workplace, social responsibility, areas of social responsibility, implementing social responsibility programs and the government and social responsibility
Entrepreneurship, New Ventures and Business Ownership
What is a small business, entrepreneurship, starting and operating a new business, trends, successes and failures in new ventures, non-corporate business ownership and corporations
Understanding the Global Context of Business
The contemporary global economy, international business management, the cultural environment and barriers to international trade
Managing the Business
The management process, types of managers, management roles and skills, strategic management: setting goals, formulating strategy, contingency planning and crisis management, management and the corporate culture
Organizing the Business
What is organizational structure, the building blocks of organizational structure, establishing the decisionmaking hierarchy, basic forms of organizational structure and the informal organization.
Operations Management and Quality
What operations means today, creating value through operations, business strategy as the driver of operations, operations planning, scheduling and control, quality improvement and Total Quality Management and adding value through supply chains
Employee Behavior and Motivation
Forms of employee behavior, individual differences among employees, matching people and jobs, basic motivation concepts and theories, strategies and techniques for enhancing motivation
Leadership and Decision Making
The nature of leadership, early approaches and the situational approach to leadership, leadership through the eyes of followers, special issues in leadership, the changing nature and emerging issues in leadership and leadership, management and decision making
Human Resource Management (HRM) and Labor Relations
The foundations of HRM, staffing the organization, developing the workforce, compensation and benefits, the legal context of HRM, new challenges in the changing workplace, dealing with organized labor and collective bargaining
Marketing Processes and Consumer Behavior
What is marketing, target marketing and market segmentation, understanding consumer behavior, organizational marketing and buying behavior, what is a product, developing new products, identifying products, the international marketing mix, small business and marketing mix
Developing and Pricing Products
Developing new products, product life cycle
Distributing and Promoting Products
Wholesaling, retailing, physical distribution, promotions and personal selling
Information Technology (IT) for Business
A driver of change for business, IT building blocks, harnessing the competitive power of IT, IT risks and threats and IT protection measures
The Role of Accountants and Accounting Information
What is accounting, the accounting equation, financial statements, reporting standards and practices, analyzing financial statements, accounting ethics and internationalizing accounting
Understanding Money and the Role of Banking
The U.S. financial system, how financial institutions create money and are regulated, the federal reserve system and international banking and finance
Managing Business Finances
Maximizing capital growth, investing to fulfill financial objectives, the business of trading securities, the risk-return relationship, financing the business firm, becoming a public corporation and regulating securities markets