A Detailed Description of the Subjects to Study for a Business Management Career
Career choices are an important decision in an individual’s life. Therefore, choosing the right course of study is critical to the type of career a person wishes to pursue. The paper analyzes the various subjects and skills relevant in the business management career.
For a career in business management, I will need to study various subjects including Quantitative methods, marketing principles, business law, financial accounting, organizational behavior, consumer behavior, marketing strategy, management information systems, computer applications and other various subjects since business management is a wide area.
Introductory business finance provides an introduction to business finance. The subject entails major theories of finance, practical tools and analyses used in major decision-making in finance, including dividend decision, financing decision and investment decision in an organization. Main topics in introductory business finance include dividend policy, capital structure, cost of capital, share and bond valuations, debt and stock markets, the relationship between return and risk, capital budgeting techniques and financial mathematics.
The subject introduces students to financial tools use internationally. The subject covers basic finance techniques which are later related to international financial markets, practice and institutions. Students learn the evaluation of the relation between expected return and risk from investments internationally and develop understandings of equity capital markets and long and short-term international debt.
A clear understanding of the legal processes and the law enables one to participate in the business world and society effectively. The subject of law, business and society introduce students to areas of law that are most relevant to the business sector involvement in the sector of business. The law is focused on the practical implications for the achievement of the objectives of a business and the prevention of the arising of legal problems. As the major case study, it is expected of students to acquire knowledge that contract law is the basis of commercial law and, therefore, is important for people wishing to engage in business. In addition, the subject is aimed at providing students with skills and knowledge to pursue legal courses.
According to Henley, Raffin and Caemmerer (2011 p.700) marketing is a set of processes and activities for the creation, communication and delivery of offerings and the satisfaction of the relationships of exchange in a manner that brings value to the society and consumers. Organizations should understand the definition and segmentation of market problems and opportunities and ways of positioning themselves strongly through the identification of marketing problems or opportunities and the development of ideas, experiences, services and products for the chosen target markets in a manner that is more effective than competitors. Marketing is a core area in all businesses including professional services like architects, accountants and lawyers, not-for-profit organizations like museums and charities and other businesses like retailers and wholesalers. Marketing principles subject examines the fundamental concepts related to the theories and process of marketing relevant to the practice and study of marketing. The subject serves as a foundation for students to further their studies in the business area through the development of an overview of the fit of marketing in companies and the framework provided by marketing for the enhancement and enablement of the conduct of businesses.
Introductory Business Finance
Consumer behavior is involved with acquiring more understanding of consumers as individuals through the study of attitudes and attitude change, lifestyles, personality, motivation and values, learning, memory and perception (Marin, Ruiz & Rubio, 2009 p.65). In addition, the content of the consumer behavior subject is focused on consumers as makers of decisions, which involves examining the entire process of purchasing. Other interesting areas include the influence of culture on consumption, and organizational and household decision making.
The international marketing subject aims at analyzing the marketing environment globally and the development of appropriate strategies for marketing in the international market environment (Berthon, Pitt, Plangger and Shapiro, 2012 p.267). The content of the subject includes cultural, financial, political, legal and socio-economic factors affecting operations of international marketing; and the analysis of the profiles of select regional markets and development of strategies for entry and expansion into the foreign markets. In addition, the topic covers research methods for international marketing and techniques for the analysis of data, global marketing mix decisions and various issues of marketing internationally.
The subject offers students an overview of the main information systems found in a typical business covering systems such as ERP, SCM, CRM, sales, inventory, payroll, HR and finance. Students will be introduced to the processes involved in the management of information systems in a typical business environment. Students get to appreciate the issues that surround the planning and strategizing information systems; the operational, tactic and strategic roles of the Chief Information Officer (CIO); the relationship between business and information systems; ways of accessing the information systems value, major trends impacting the management of information systems; operational management; technology diffusion and practice and policy.
The subject examines the main issues relating to business ethics, covering topics such as the social responsibility concept, corporate and individual values, the multinational and government context, the community, the environment, the customer, employee ethics and models for making ethical decisions.
There is a slight difference in the names of the subjects I will need to study and the subjects offered in the business management course. However, the slight change in the names of the subjects does not bring a big difference since most of the content is similar.
Interpersonal skills are the ability to communicate effectively and fluently with other people. Interpersonal skills exist through verbal and oral communication. .According to Gilley, Dixon, and Gilley 2008 p.153) without highly developed interpersonal skills, it is difficult for an individual to succeed in business. Interpersonal skills include independence, flexibility, perseverance, negotiation skills, motivation, and enhanced clear listening, oral and written communication abilities. If an individual lacks one of the interpersonal skills, it means that a person has not yet developed interpersonal skills although they are developed with time.
Interpersonal skills are essential in a business career as it equips an individual with a better understanding of people they interact and communicate with when compared to individuals with interpersonal skills which are limited or developed. The understanding solves common conflicts that occur in an organization. According to Trenholm and Jensen (2008 p.10) Verbal communication skills helps in promoting the understanding of customers and facilitate customer satisfaction. Through verbal communication, the feedbacks are provided appropriately and customers treated with loyalty. In addition, verbal communication is important to a business management career as it eliminates misunderstandings. Non-verbal communication such like emails and text might be misunderstood by the receiver and lead to denial of opportunity or loss of a customer. Therefore, the business management career requires individual with effective verbal communication skills that can rectify misunderstandings.
International Financial Management
Interpersonal skills are also essential in a business career as they enhance the quality of message reception between staff and client. According to Wilkinson, Perry, Blanchard and Linsell (2008 p.365) better interpersonal skills benefits any individual in an organization as it fosters effective verbal communication. Through interpersonal skills, the relationship in the organization is established which contributes to the mutual exchange of information, ideas and skills. When employees have effective verbal communication, they can speak out their minds openly. In addition, effective interpersonal skills establish mutual respect for one’s opinion and input and enable the completion of tasks, the performance of duties and management of tasks in the business. Therefore, verbal communication is a necessary element of effective operations of an organization.
Chen (2011 p.59) defined oral skills like an ability to express ideas or information by word of mouth. Oral communication skills are important for both organization and individual. Oral communication skills are essential in a business career as it enhances customer service. According to Morreale and Pearson (2008 p.224) customers who have interacted with customer care representative without effective oral communication encounters frustrations. Furthermore, if employees lack insufficient oral communication and cannot speak the right information to the customer, then customers consider seeking for better service somewhere else. Therefore, oral communication is a key determinant of how business attracts and maintains loyal customers.
Business writing skills is an important part of communication and are greatly exercised in a modern collaborative world. In business management career, effective business writing skills are essential in driving sales because proposals and market copies play a key role in the establishment of the sales process. In addition, if the business writings are poor, the material makes the company or organization look incompetent and unprofessional. Therefore, by having a business, writing skills are essential in improving the organizational image and assist in the generation of more leads that converts to higher sales.
In business management career, effective writing boosts brand reputation as most people interact with the organization through written content such as reports, social media, organizational websites and emails. Therefore, through the development of effective writing skills, the organization makes a positive customer experience.
Business writing skills also booster’s productivity, efficiency and innovation as the majority of stakeholders in the organization spends most of the time on writings. With effective business writing skills in the organization, readers are less likely to seek clarifications and waste time on interpretation as employees always communicate through emails and documents which requires excellent writing skills.
Teamwork is defined as an ability of individuals collaborating their personal skills in pursuit of a set objective, target or a goal. In business management career, team-working skills are essential in motivating unity and fostering of creativity and learning within an organization. According to Folkestad and Gonzalez (2010 p.115) creativity and innovation thrive through teamwork because brainstorming of creative ideas prevents inappropriate viewpoints. Furthermore, a combination of unique perspectives creates an effective selling solution. In addition, team-working skills also assist in the Business management career by maximizing shared knowledge in the organization assisting in the development of new skills that are useful in advanced careers.
Law, Business and Society
Teamwork skills are also essential in building trust with other people in the workplace. According to Thomas, Zolin and Hartman (2009 p.287) reliance on other people creates trust and employees are in good position of building a strong relationship with colleagues. Furthermore, an effective team enjoys togetherness and shares a strong bond despite occasional disagreements. A research by Hassan and Semerciöz (2010 p.67) indicated that when an organization puts trust on coworkers, it builds a background of a relationship that endures insignificant conflicts.
Having effective team building skills is also essential in the business management carrier because it blends complementary strengths. Working as a team helps employees to identify and build the talents of their colleagues. For example, if an individual has strength in organizational and building, the teammates can build that individual to have other strengths like creative thinking.
Skills in the analysis and presentation of basic research information is important for employees and more especially to team members who have to research and present findings to the team. Analysis of data is important as it brings results which assist in solving a particular problem. Data analysis and skills in the presentation of basic research information can also bring new ideas to the team which may result to faster decision making processes.
Resume writing and job interview skills are developed when a student has thoroughly developed effective communication skills. The skills are needed in the business management careers as they are determinant of whether a student will get their desired jobs immediately after college or they will tarmac for couple of years. Furthermore, the majority of the managers selects the suitable candidate by basing their conclusion on their resumes. Once an employer notices the resumes are not properly written, it becomes hard for them to trust the concerns candidate with a particular job. In addition, the student might have insufficient skills but gets a job as a business administrator because of properly written resume. On the other hand, job interview skills, are essential for the business carrier as they provide the candidate with a selection chance for a particular job role depending on what he or she answers. Having effective job interview skills indicates that the candidate being interviewed for a role is competent and experienced. A research conducted by Macan (2009) has indicated that many candidates in a job interview fail to be selected because they don’t have appropriately job interview skills as some panic in the process and end up providing mediocre answers. Therefore, the resume writing and job interview skills are essential for business management careers as they help the student to secure their desired roles and also get promoted easily in the organization.
Conclusion
A career in the business management field is a lucrative career since the field is flooded with many job opportunities. Reviewing the subjects and skills in the business career management is therefore important as it will assist students in making the right career decision.
References
Berthon, P.R., Pitt, L.F., Plangger, K. and Shapiro, D., 2012. Marketing meets Web 2.0, social media, and creative consumers: Implications for international marketing strategy. Business horizons, 55(3), pp.261-271.
Chen, H.H.J., 2011. Developing and evaluating an oral skills training website supported by automatic speech recognition technology. ReCALL, 23(1), pp.59-78.
Folkestad, J. and Gonzalez, R., 2010. Teamwork for innovation: A content analysis of the highly read and highly cited literature on innovation. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 12(1), pp.115-136.
Gilley, A., Dixon, P. and Gilley, J.W., 2008. Characteristics of leadership effectiveness: Implementing change and driving innovation in organizations. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 19(2), pp.153-169.
Hassan, M. and Semerciöz, F., 2010. Trust in personal and impersonal forms its antecedents and consequences: A conceptual analysis within organizational context. International Journal of Management and Information Systems, 14(2), pp.67-83.
Henley, N., Raffin, S. and Caemmerer, B., 2011. The application of marketing principles to a social marketing campaign. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 29(7), pp.697-706.
Macan, T. (2009). The employment interview: A review of current studies and directions for future research. Human Resource Management Review, 19(3), 203-218.
Marin, L., Ruiz, S. and Rubio, A., 2009. The role of identity salience in the effects of corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior. Journal of business ethics, 84(1), pp.65-78.
Morreale, S.P. and Pearson, J.C., 2008. Why communication education is important: The centrality of the discipline in the 21st century. Communication Education, 57(2), pp.224-240.
Thomas, G.F., Zolin, R. and Hartman, J.L., 2009. The central role of communication in developing trust and its effect on employee involvement. The Journal of Business Communication (1973), 46(3), pp.287-310.
Trenholm, S. and Jensen, A., 2008. Interpersonal communication (pp. 10-12). New York: Oxford University Press
Wilkinson, S., Perry, R., Blanchard, K. and Linsell, L., 2008. Effectiveness of a three-day communication skills course in changing nurses’ communication skills with cancer/palliative care patients: a randomised controlled trial. Palliative medicine, 22(4), pp.365-375.
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