Business Administration – Fast Track Courses

Business Administration

This course introduces you to the nature and scope of decision making in business and provides an overview of the functional areas of management, marketing, human resources, finance, and operations. Using a case study approach, you will use business frameworks for defining and analyzing business problems and developing solutions and plans of action.

It is strongly recommended you take this course first in the Certificate in Business Administration and Diploma in Business Administration. 

Business Writing

This course prepares you to become a better workplace communicator. You will focus on ways to strategically plan, format, and send business messages — presentations, letters, e-mails, proposals, and more — leading to better efficiency and efficacy on the job.

Those wishing to assess and add to their business writing skills will find this course a confidence builder. Developing the self-assurance to communicate effectively in the workplace will be the main goal, and you will benefit from the practical approach to building these skills. You will identify the characteristics of effective communication and learn how to successfully critique business documents.

You will also have at least one other goal, and that is to improve your confidence in your ability to communicate effectively. In a business environment, egos and professional reputations are on the line, and people often feel threatened. The result is either poor communication, or no communication at all.  Being an effective business communicator has many advantages and rewards. Some are financial, and others relate to your emotional well being. It is important to recognize that communicating in your job is key to not only your success, but also to your enjoyment and your perception of acceptable self-worth in the workplace.

Delivering messages effectively allows you to share ideas and contribute, and to lead and inspire others.

This course will focus on seven key topics:

• Today's Successful Business Communicator
• Presentations
• Characteristics of Effective Business Writing
• Direct Messages
• Unwelcome Messages
• Persuasive Messages
• Career Messages

View sample course outline (PDF). 

Finance

This course is designed to follow the introduction to finance and continues using material presented in Financial Accounting. You will be introduced to:

• basic financial management theory
• financial and operating leverage
• project planning
• financial statement analysis
• capital structure
• capital investment decisions
• forecasting
• sources of financing

View sample course outline (PDF). 

Financial Accounting

This course is an introduction to financial accounting. You will be introduced to the accounting cycle as well as the preparation of journal entries and financial statements. Other topics covered include the accounting for:

• cash
• accounts receivable
• inventory
• capital assets
• current liabilities
• owner’s equity

A strong knowledge of the principles of accounting gives you the power to make sound business decisions.

International Business

This course examines the global environment in which firms operate and how that environment affects the strategies and choices the companies make. We will examine how businesses are managed across different countries, considering factors both external and internal to the company. For example, while considering international expansion, a firm needs to take into account exchange rates, international taxation, free trade agreements, market conditions, culture, language, politics and many other factors which will affect its operations, but over which it has little control. In the context of these external factors, a firm must then make internal decisions to devise a strategy effective for operations in the global environment. Does the firm choose to export its products or invest in production facilities in a new country? Should the company buy production facilities or businesses already present or build its own? What about a joint venture with a local entrepreneur? How do local culture and language influence domestic and international operations of the firm?  

This course will investigate these and other questions as part of an exploration into how international corporate strategy is shaped and what are the economic factors that influence it. More broadly, the course will offer insights into major topics as well as emerging themes in international business.

Marketing

This course has been designed to introduce you to the fundamentals of marketing. You will learn the
fundamentals of key marketing theories, concepts, and principles as well as their application in making sound marketing management decisions in a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Part of the focus of
this course is to give you two perspectives – that of an aspiring marketer but also to have you be a more astute consumer. When you consider that much of what is marketed are things we don't really need, it makes some sense to pay attention to cues and approaches so that we can make decisions that work for us - both
professionally and personally. We will cover a lot of diverse business concepts such as demographic and psychographic segments, understanding the history of marketing, product life cycles, the four p's, and marketing plan development. 

View sample course outline (PDF). 

Organizational Behaviour

This course will look at the impact that individuals, groups and structures have on human behaviour within any modern organization, from nonprofit to public sector to private sector. Organizations are made up of people who behave and act within certain constructs, and learning about these processes is important to understanding how to make organizations effective and productive.

Strategic Management

This course uses a strategic management approach to provide you with a systematic framework for evaluating the strategies, policies, design, productivity and performance of organizations.

View sample course outline (PDF).