Table of Contents - Hartwick College

Business Administration
The world in which we work continues to change. Gone are the comforts
of job security or of predictability in the work place. What were once
permanent skills now turn out to be only the underlying foundations for
ever-evolving application requirements. For our students, who will work
in organizations far different from the ones in which their parents started,
Hartwick’s business administration major proposes to prepare them for
this life-long challenge. The major will help the students internalize the
necessary foundation of knowledge and also will help develop the ability
to adapt to the changes the future work environment will bring.
The Hartwick Virtual Business Program helps students prepare
themselves for life after college in a distinctive manner. Building the skills
and competencies needed in the work place-intellectual, technical and
interpersonal-is the major program’s focus. First, students learn that any
aspect of managing involves multiple elements, in surprising mixtures, at
any moment. A finance problem may well include elements of strategy
and decisions about new business locations-traditionally material covered
in other separate courses. A manufacturing problem may include issues of
human resources, accounting and organizational development.
Second, the Hartwick Virtual Business Program is driven not by our
knowledge and lectures about business and management, but by students’
willingness to work at solving business problems that we present. Our
major depends on simulations, case studies and projects—all of which
require much thought and effort. Successful students will learn how to
face challenges, analyze risky situations and make informed decisions.
Most importantly, they also will learn the implications of living with the
outcomes of their decisions and that decisions made in today’s business
environment often do not turn out as expected. The tool that aids this
process is the computer. This technology provides the vehicle for
simulations, and empowers students to analyze information and make
decisions. Mastering the technological tools is an important part of the
major.
Third, the context of the Hartwick Virtual Business Program occurs in
teams, working interactively with computers. Business administration
trends suggest that teamwork and intense interaction with co-workers is
the future; interpersonal skills, team building, communication, leading
and following help students learn how to work with their colleagues. The
traditional approach to business education, which depends on theories
focused at specific parts of business administration, is not the approach
we take. We believe that students will better understand how business
works if they learn it as it is lived-in an interrelated and unpredictable
way.
The Hartwick Virtual Business Program course work is different. The
major begins with one prerequisite course, Busa 261, that is normally
taken in the sophomore year. Here, students learn elements of
organizational behavior (how businesses compete in a dynamic and
indifferent environment) and theories about how people behave in those
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