Department of Business Administration

Department Chair: Dr. Arthur Raymond, Professor of Economics and Finance
Professor: Miller
Associate Professor and Program Director: Kushner
Associate Professors: Bergenstock, London
Senior Lecturer and Internship Director: Eisenberg
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. Many students combine a business major with a major in economics, accounting, or finance. Business-accounting double majors 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. A Muhlenberg business major provides an excellent foundation for graduate studies in business, and many business students eventually pursue a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA). The business faculty shares a deep committment to instilling a love of learning, and an appreciation of learning as a lifetime activity.

The business program offered at Muhlenberg is especially appropriate for liberal arts students who want to understand more fully the inter-connected society in which we live, and its aspirations. It emphasizes critical thinking, effective communication, and collaborative effort in the conduct of the business enterprise. International, environmental, and ethical dimensions of business decisions are interwoven throughout the business curriculum, as are the interactions between business, accounting, finance, and economics.

The business program offers students four areas of concentration, including a study abroad opportunity, that build upon a commonly shared combination of foundation and core courses.

All business majors, regardless of their concentration, enroll in a culminating undergraduate experience or “CUE.” This culminating undergraduate experience is taken in the senior year and is offered in one of three courses that integrate all earlier work in the major and expose students to the interaction between the various functional areas within an organization and how they are affected by the dynamic external environment.

BUS 470 CUE: Marketing Managment OR
BUS 472 - CUE: Leadership OR
BUS 475 - CUE: Business Policy & Strategy

Special Programs

The Business program offers concentrations available in four areas: Arts Administration, Management and Organization Studies, Marketing, and International Business. The International Business concentration is delivered via the College’s Maastrict program. Students may also propose a “self-designed concentration” in consulation with their advisors. With advisor and department approval, participation in another study abroad program may substitute for, or be used to complement, a concentration in meeting the requirements of the business major.

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 Muhlenberg 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.

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.

The concentration in Management and Organization builds knowledge of organizations, their structure and functions, and how they are managed, providing an excellent foundation for those who aspire to positions of high responsibility in the business, government, and nonprofit worlds. Students are supported to develop their abilities to lead, manage, communicate, strategize, write, make decisions, work in teams and analyze business problems. Courses are offered in organizational behavior, leadership, non-profit management, arts administration, small business management, managing human dynamics, and strategy.

Marketing is a skill set and an approach to service that guides the entire business organization. Its goal is to create customer satisfaction and profitability by building value-laden relationships with customers. In any business, the marketing department cannot accomplish this by itself and must therefore collaborate 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 guide the pricing, product distribution, and promotion decisions that companies make. Courses include marketing management, globalization and marketing, nonprofit marketing, electronic commerce, and marketing research.

The Arts Administration concentration serves the interests of business students who anticipate careers in the creative industries as leaders and managers. It 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 either for-profit or not-for-profit arts organizations.

Students may also propose a “self-designed concentration” in consultation with their advisors.

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 the CUE course, BUS 470 CUE: Marketing Managment , BUS 472 CUE: Leadership , or 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 470 CUE: Marketing Managment , BUS 472 CUE: Leadership , or 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 is an independent study that requires the completion of a one unit senior honors thesis.

Programs

Major

Business Administration, A.B.

Minor

Business Administration Minor

Courses

Business Administration