2015-2016 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Department of Business Administration
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 Return to: Programs of Study
Department Chair: Dr. Holmes Miller
Professor: Heitmann
Associate Professor: Bergenstock
Associate Professors: Kushner, London
Senior Lecturer and Internship Director: Eisenberg
Visiting Lecturer: Stehlin
Entrepreneur in Residence: Simonnet
The business program at Muhlenberg is nurtured by the liberal arts tradition of the institution and provides students with an excellent preparation for both a career and graduate school. Business majors have successfully launched their careers in a wide range of fields and activities, including the non-profit, arts, media, healthcare, and financial services industries. Some students combine a business major with accounting and have been especially successful in finding positions with “Big Four” accounting firms. Business is often the major of choice for students who wish to apply for law school. Many students, regardless of major, will eventually pursue a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA). A business major provides an excellent foundation for MBA studies.
The business program offered at Muhlenberg is especially appropriate for liberal arts students who want to understand more fully the international society in which we live and its aspirations. It emphasizes critical thinking, effective communication, and collaborative effort. The international, environmental, and ethical dimensions of business decisions are interwoven throughout the business curriculum, and there is a deep faculty commitment to instilling a love of learning and an appreciation of learning as a lifetime activity. The business program offers students four areas of concentration, plus a study abroad alternative, that build upon a commonly shared combination of foundation and core courses. In addition, all business majors, regardless of their concentration, enroll in BUS 475 - CUE: Business Policy & Strategy . This culminating undergraduate experience, taken in spring of the senior year, integrates all earlier work in the major and exposes students to the interaction between the various functional areas within an organization.
Special Programs
Concentrations are available in the following areas: Arts Administration, Management and Organization Studies, and Marketing. In addition, participation in a department approved study abroad program may be substituted for, or used to complement, a concentration in meeting the requirements of the business major. In consultation with their advisors, students also may “self-design” a concentration. Students who are business majors or minors cannot take accounting, business, economics, or finance courses on a pass/fail basis.
International Business and Study Abroad
For students with international business interests, the Maastricht study abroad program is especially attractive. The program was developed in cooperation with the Maastricht University in The Netherlands and is fully integrated with the business major. Courses are offered by Maastricht University faculty to participating Muhlenberg students during the fall semester of their junior year. Students attend courses in international business, economics, and politics, taught in English. Besides deepening global and cultural awareness, students have opportunities to travel to France, Belgium, and Germany, all of which are less than thirty minutes away, and meet business and political leaders from those countries. The program offers a global perspective and international experience that students will find advantageous in both finding a first job and in subsequent career advancement.
Other department approved study abroad programs are also available for the student with international business interests. Students who wish to participate in the Maastricht program or any other department approved study abroad opportunity should consult with their faculty advisor as soon as such an interest is evidenced.
Areas of Concentration
Business majors receive a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Business Administration. All majors are required to select a concentration, or alternatively, participate in a department approved study abroad program.
Management and organization, some would claim, are what distinguish today’s world from earlier times. Certainly, an appreciative knowledge of organizations, their structure and functions and how they are managed is essential to an understanding of the world in which we live. The concentration in management and organization offers courses in organizational behavior, leadership, non-profit management, arts administration, and small business management. It provides an excellent foundation for those who aspire to positions of high responsibility in the business, government, and nonprofit worlds.
Marketing is a philosophy that guides the entire business organization. Its goal is to create customer satisfaction profitability by building value-laden relationships with customers. The marketing department cannot accomplish this by itself and must therefore team-up with other departments in the company and create partnerships with other organizations worldwide to deliver exceptional value to all customer groups. To prepare students for this challenge, Muhlenberg’s marketing concentration offers an interdisciplinary and global perspective, along with the opportunity to develop research techniques to assist firms with pricing, product distribution, and promotion decisions. Courses include marketing management, globalization and marketing, nonprofit marketing, electronic commerce, and marketing research.
The arts administration concentration allows students to combine an interest in art disciplines such as theatre, dance, music, and the fine arts, with an in-depth study of business. While it is rooted in the business disciplines of management, marketing, finance, and accounting, its focus is on the creative industries, and it is designed specifically to help students who anticipate working in the arts in either for-profit or not-for-profit arts organizations.
Internship Opportunities
The department has an extensive internship program that provides the business major with a wide range of opportunities to gain valuable work experience. Supervised paid and unpaid internships, which can contribute to the degree, are available during the traditional school year. In addition, the department offers assistance in obtaining summer internships that may also contribute to the degree at Muhlenberg.
Career Development and Course Work
In the business administration major, students are encouraged to explore their career interests, develop their skills, and work toward their career goals as part of their work in the Core courses of the program. In BUS 233 Operations & Information Systems students research career opportunities and create a career plan. In BUS 236 Management , they enhance their abilities to write a resume and cover letter and receive feedback in applying for an internship. In BUS 239 Marketing , they learn to do informational interviews, create a Linkedin account and explore the process of getting an internship. And, in BUS 475 CUE: Business Policy & Strategy , students work on their interview skills.
ePortfolios
Students majoring in business administration are required to construct an ePortfolio as part of their course work. The ePortfolio is an important web-based tool in helping students to showcase their skills and think ahead toward their careers. In the process, students demonstrate what they have learned through samples of their work, descriptions of key experiences, and their own thoughtful reflections. The ePortfolio enhances the student’s ability to obtain internships and jobs and provides a developmental forum for advising and planning.
The ePortfolio process begins in Operations & Information Systems, where students get training on how to construct their site and begin to post artifacts of their work, writing reflective statements, and descriptions of their skills and experiences. Students add to their ePortfolio as they learn from courses in the major and elsewhere and engage in extracurricular activities. Work is completed and graded as part of the CUE course, BUS 475 - CUE: Business Policy & Strategy .
Honors Program in Business Administration
An honors program is available on an application basis to students who have completed the business core and have attained a grade point average of 3.70 or higher both in the major program and overall. Interested students should discuss the requirements and rewards of the honors program with their faculty advisor before the end of their junior year. The honors program requires the completion of a one unit senior honors thesis and encourages independent studies.
ProgramsMajorMinorCoursesBusiness Administration
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