2023-2024 BSC Catalog Updated_UG ONLY_FINAL[82]

70 ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
community that nurtures and develops students and which is driven by entrepreneurial
thinking, global and cultural awareness and ethical practice.
The business administration major requires a set of core courses designed to provide a
foundation in the historical, theoretical, critical, and analytical study of business.
Following this core, students individualize their major by choosing one of four tracks:
finance, management, marketing, or international business.
The finance track gives students the opportunity to further their understanding of
financial decision making within an organization. Students not only learn how these
decisions affect individual organizations, but also how they affect society as a whole.
Students study how firms acquire and allocate funds, how financial markets operate, and
how these markets affect economic welfare. The study of finance includes the use of
models to develop analytical approaches to problems.
The management track offers students a deeper knowledge of motivating personnel
within an organization. Students develop strategies for acquiring, developing, and
utilizing talented and skilled individuals. The curriculum also includes solving human
resources problems, evaluating employee performance, and analyzing human behavior
within an organization.
The marketing track prepares students to effectively navigate competitive market forces
and build demand for a product or service through superior writing, analyzing, and
decision-making skills. Students develop the ability to identify, communicate, and deliver
sustaining value to a targeted market. In addition, students build experience
understanding a target market’s needs and how to effectively address those desires.
The international business track allows students to deepen their knowledge of business
within a cross-border context. In addition to studying strategy formulation and
implementation in a global environment and related managerial issues, students will have
the opportunity to study abroad or choose other courses as a means of deepening their
understanding of cross-cultural issues and language appreciation.
Upon completion of the business administration major, students will be able to
• recognize an unmet need in the marketplace and assemble a strategy to fill that
need
• analyze and synthesize the elements of a situation, formulate alternatives, and
recommend an implementable course of action
• recognize differences in domestic and international values and cultures
• demonstrate a breadth of knowledge in the functional areas of business (i.e.,
management, marketing, and finance)
• integrate knowledge of the business functional areas within the context of their
liberal arts education
• demonstrate an ethical foundation and practice professional responsibility
• construct convincing arguments in both oral and written form
Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2023-2024