Exciting, innovative, and always evolving, the business world has plenty to offer. This field encourages ambitious individuals to drive change and fuel economic growth, all while pursuing personally meaningful objectives and enjoying a chance to rapidly climb the career ladder.
There are many paths to success in this realm, and undergraduate degree programs are one step worth considering. Undergraduate programs equip students with fundamental business management skills that will remain relevant for years to come. Read on to discover the value of the Bachelor of Science in Business — along with the competencies that this powerful degree can promote.
What Is a Bachelor’s in Business?
The Bachelor of Science in Business is a comprehensive, career-driven undergraduate program designed to help students succeed in a variety of business-oriented paths. Emphasizing foundational coursework and experiential learning, this program encourages students to apply the fundamentals of accounting, economics, marketing, and management to solve business problems and promote innovation.
Why Choose a Business Degree?
There is no singular path to success in business, and ambitious individuals from many backgrounds can thrive in this dynamic field. However, some struggle to make their mark in a competitive business environment due to considerable skill gaps, which may involve deficits in accounting or analytics or challenges in conveying key insights in a clear and impactful manner. A business program can bring a structured approach to skill development while also offering an abundance of networking opportunities.
Bachelor of Science in Business Structure at Baker College
Baker College’s Bachelor of Science in Business is structured around core coursework (emphasizing fundamentals such as accounting, economics, and finance), as well as business electives that reflect personal interests and career plans (such as forensic accounting, project management, systems development, and beyond).
In addition to business-focused courses, this bachelor’s in business program emphasizes general education, which encourages students to develop soft skills such as empathy, cultural awareness, and collaboration. These are highly valued among today’s employers and can help business program graduates thrive in a range of fields.
Developing Essential Management Skills
Forming the foundation of the business bachelor’s degree, management-focused courses help students understand how to lead effectively while setting and pursuing ambitious organizational objectives.
Courses That Build Business Management Skills
The foundation of the business degree involves introductory courses that delve into the nuances of the modern business environment. Takeaways from these courses are relevant across many specializations and niches, forming a strong basis through which additional, advanced skills can be developed over time. Essentials include:
- Introduction to Business – Revealing the powerful role of business in today’s economy and society, this course sets the tone for a successful experience in the bachelor’s in business program, offering an overview of the many business concepts that will be explored in more detail through follow-up courses.
- Organizational Behavior and Management – Examining how individuals behave within organizations, this course is a must for aspiring leaders. A heavy emphasis is placed on the strategies that promote a positive organizational culture. Class activities bring complex concepts to life, showing how various communication styles can contribute to organizational outcomes.
- Operations Management – As a valuable business elective, this course reveals what it takes to efficiently create and deliver goods, along with the key operational decisions necessary for optimizing supply chain processes.
Mastering Business Communication Skills
A thorough understanding of management principles can take aspiring leaders far, but this must be accompanied by well-developed communication skills. Every business course can promote this to some extent; class discussions, group projects, and presentations help students develop verbal skills, while papers promote strong written communication.
Beyond this, however, targeted courses reveal what exactly constitutes effective business communication and how future leaders can make their messaging resonate with diverse teams and stakeholders.
Enhanced Business Communication
While any business program course can enhance business communication simply through ongoing interactions with industry leaders and completing papers or class projects, the course in advanced business communication is targeted to these skills more specifically:
- Advanced Business Communication – As part of the general education process, this course is valuable for students from all programs, as it reveals the challenges and opportunities of strategic communication in complex situations. Students discover valuable persuasive techniques that can be leveraged across numerous sectors to help leaders achieve strategic objectives.
Acquiring Accounting Skills
Success in management calls for a thorough understanding of financial information. Therein lies the value of accounting coursework, which exposes students to financial statements and strategies for controlling costs. Students should emerge with strong financial literacy, which can prove valuable in both a business context and in their personal lives.
Accounting Courses in a Business Bachelor’s Degree
Every business program incorporates fundamental accounting classes, which are carefully designed to promote financial literacy. Students may also enjoy the opportunity to complete accounting electives, including relevant courses on taxation, managerial accounting, and even forensic accounting.
- Principles of Accounting I – Offering a thorough introduction to financial reporting and the accounting cycle, this foundational course helps students understand the underlying financial drivers of business success. Although it touches on many accounting concepts, this course is most notable for its emphasis on accounting-driven decision-making. Students receive many opportunities to analyze economic events and financial statements — skills that many will proceed to use extensively in their careers.
- Principles of Accounting II – Building upon the concepts covered in the business degree’s initial accounting course, this follow-up continues to reveal the decision-making possibilities associated with core accounting frameworks. While the previous course will have highlighted the needs of external users, however, this course takes a closer look at internal concerns and processes. Key topics include variance analysis, managerial cost measurements, and pricing strategies.
Developing Business Analytics Skills
We have entered a data-driven era in which leaders can draw on a wealth of information to support decision-making initiatives. Within this data-focused environment, analytics skills are not merely useful; they are crucial in technical and leadership roles.
Relevant Courses for Analytics
Business analytics courses prepare leaders to step into a data-oriented economy while infusing data-backed insights into key decision-making strategies. Several courses equip students with the foundational skills needed to analyze and interpret a wealth of data.
- Statistical Methods – As a core part of the general education experience, introductory-level statistics courses reveal the power of statistics across numerous fields. Regression analysis, in particular, is relevant to business students, as this helps future leaders understand the various factors that can influence outcomes. Business students also benefit greatly from exploring inferential statistics, which underscore today’s data-driven decision-making strategies.
- Management Information Systems – In a data-driven economy, leaders need to understand not only how to leverage vast quantities of data but also how to do so efficiently. This is where information systems come into play. Helping businesses optimize data management and decision-making strategies, these systems streamline critical business processes and promote real-time analysis. This course introduces students to today’s most impactful information systems while also addressing security concerns and other relevant challenges.
Learning Strategic Management Skills
Offering much-needed direction to help organizations clarify (and make progress toward) their core business objectives, strategic management brings structure to goal-setting and resource allocation. Otherwise-effective leaders often struggle to grasp the nuances of strategic management or articulate their vision. Thus, strategy-focused courses help aspiring leaders develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in a supportive and inspiring environment.
Courses Focused on Strategy
Strategic thinking is built into many of the courses described above, with projects and real-world learning opportunities encouraging students to think critically about strategic objectives and how various tools or initiatives bring these into reach.
- Strategic Management – Demonstrating the value of a strategic mindset in business management, this course prepares future business leaders to formulate and implement solutions that will grant their organizations a clear competitive advantage.
- Marketing Strategy and Design – Revealing how well-designed marketing initiatives can align with overarching business goals or values, this strategic course combines previous marketing content knowledge with a problem-based learning environment where students design integrated marketing campaigns.
Enhancing HR Management Skills
Many business school graduates pursue compelling careers in human resources, which encourages leaders to shape company culture while ensuring that the workforce remains aligned with organizational goals. However, those who aspire to work in other roles or niches can still benefit from exploring HR, as this has a major impact on entrepreneurial efforts and even influences accounting, marketing, and other practices.
HR-Focused Courses
Providing a thorough overview of the functions served by HR departments and professionals, multiple business courses explore the complexities of recruitment, hiring, and promoting a positive work environment. Although these are business electives, they are strongly recommended:
- Human Resource Management – This course reveals the strategic impact of HR processes, with a focus on training and development, compensation, and retention. Students should also come away understanding why certain companies qualify as employers of choice.
- Employment Law – Exploring many labor and employment issues as they relate to the contemporary work environment, this course highlights the legal framework that underscores HR processes. Students can expect to learn about the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and other relevant statutes.
Building Additional Business Skills
In addition to covering the fundamentals highlighted above, business degree programs delve into other influential concepts that can help students prepare for success in many passion-driven fields. Business electives encourage students to select courses that align with their distinct goals. Examples include:
Marketing Skills
Business leaders strive to create value for customers and clients, but few concepts reveal how this is accomplished quite like marketing. Principles of Marketing, for example, helps students understand consumer needs and preferences — and specifically how these relate to product development, pricing, and, of course, advertising. Aspiring marketing managers are also encouraged to explore electives such as Digital Marketing and Consumer Behavior, while Marketing for Entrepreneurial Ventures appeals to students who hope to launch their own successful businesses.
Entrepreneurship Skills
Many aspiring entrepreneurs seek business degrees in hopes of carving their own unique paths as business owners. Introduction to Entrepreneurship explains the keys to success in a competitive business environment and grants aspiring entrepreneurs the confidence needed to bring their vision to life. Electives should be pursued according to industry-relevant concerns and personal skill gaps, although many future entrepreneurs find value in courses such as Applied Leadership and the previously mentioned Marketing for Entrepreneurial Ventures.
Integration of Business Skills Through Practical Experiences
Theoretical coursework may be valuable, but the application of knowledge is crucial, as future leaders will need to understand how to actually implement research-backed strategies. This is why business bachelor’s degree programs emphasize immersive learning, including fascinating projects or case studies that get students actively involved in decision-making.
Real-world learning experiences are built into this program, with all students encouraged to apply diverse skills during 120-hour placements in relevant work environments. Internships promote additional application and are also valuable from a networking perspective.
The Importance of a Holistic Skill Set in Business Careers
Though there is no denying the value of technical and analytical skills, these should be accompanied by soft skills, which reveal how business professionals convey their vision and work with cross-disciplinary teams to deliver impressive outcomes. Benefits of developing holistic competencies include:
- Competitive advantage – Today’s employers clearly value diverse skill sets, as evidenced in numerous surveys from top recruiters. Employees who can clearly convey their comprehensive abilities (and especially the integration of soft and technical skills) are more likely to attract attention and may also find it easier to advance in their field of choice.
- Adaptability – While certain skills may be more or less relevant depending on technological developments or difficult-to-predict industry trends, adaptability will always prove desirable. This allows talented business professionals to adjust their approach and expand their skill set as demanded by current industry conditions or demands.
- Long-term career growth – Skills such as communication and critical thinking are valuable for every rung of the career ladder and, if anything, become even more important when moving into senior or leadership positions. Holistic skills developed through business bachelor’s programs can prepare students for future challenges and may also prove beneficial when seeking additional educational opportunities, such as graduate-level degrees or advanced certifications.
Start Your Bachelor’s in Business at Baker
Are you eager to enter the fast-paced and opportunity-filled world of business management? Prepare for a bright future as you pursue your Bachelor of Science in Business. This career-focused degree will help you develop a wide range of management skills, which, in turn, positions you for success in your field or niche of choice. Get in touch today to learn more.