During this program, students will develop the skills and insight needed to conduct and understand the relationship between business and society and how business practices such as innovation, critical analysis, ethics, sustainability, management, and leadership influence outcomes. Factors that are key to business success will be explored from a number of different perspectives and stakeholder views. 

The program includes fundamental work in entrepreneurship, leadership, management, ethics, quantitative work, corporate finance, accounting, financial statement and ratio analysis, as well as the concept of time value of money.  In the fall, the program includes four credits of basic undergraduate statistics, which will serve as a foundation for further work in advanced social sciences, including graduate programs (e.g., an MBA or MPA) requiring statistics.

Through seminar texts, daily readings from the Wall Street Journal, independent research, movies, speakers, field trips, business simulations, group projects, workshops, and student presentations, students will examine business and finance from a variety of viewpoints. Seminar texts include books representing entrepreneurship, innovation, management science, finance, marketing, ethics, and management. We will read Goldratt and Cox’s The Goal , Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In , and Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers.

During winter quarter, students will work in small groups on formally proposed, extensive independent projects focused on improving their research skills. They will be required to analyze and critique a compelling problem or issue centered on our primary themes of economically successful businesses. The research includes a term paper and will conclude with a multimedia presentation to the rest of the program. Students will also cover forecasting, linear programming, decision analysis using tree diagrams, and queuing theory from the field of management science.

In the spring quarter, student teams will compete in an advanced business simulation.  The simulation will require substantial student research, including analysis of quantitative and qualitative data.  Students will finish the simulation with improved teamwork skills as well as a greater understanding of financial statement analysis, competitive strategy, marketing, operations, and business economics.

Upon successful completion of the program, students will be better equipped to understand how a successful business is operated and to work with financial data and procedures in the conduct of business and public policy. They will also be better prepared for the quantitative requirements of businesses and governments.