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Have a question or comment? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with the Department Chair Michael Harvey via email, phone (410-778-7889), or in person (Daly 205).
Courses & Teaching
Small class size. No graduate assistants. Just experienced, dedicated faculty who know you, engage you, and have time for you in and out of the classroom.
Spring 2013 course schedule
Special-Topic Courses
Fall 2012
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294-10. Introduction to Arts Leadership
Cross-listed with Drama and Music. This course focuses on the nature of arts organizations, especially those that are nonprofit. Topics covered include organizational culture and structure, planning, governance, programming, fundraising and marketing, an introduction to financial management and budgeting, economic impact, and other major issues from the field.
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494-10. Leadership Research
This writing-intensive course explores leadership through student research and writing, both individual and collaborative. Students will read classic perspectives on leadership from both scholars and leaders themselves, as well as contemporary sketches of leadership. Each student will conduct and write up three interviews with working leaders, and produce other kinds of formal writing.
Spring 2013
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194-10. Personal Finance
This course enables students to apply personal financial planning skills to manage their financial resources, achieve financial goals, and make sound financial decisions. Topics covered include budgeting, taxes, consumer credit, life insurance, fundamental investments, and house purchase and financing decisions.
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394-10. Business Analytics
Advances in information technology have provided organizations with an explosion of data that can provide valuable insight into strategies that can heighten competitive advantages. Business analytics enable organizations to collect, collate, and organize this data, to access the data in meaningful ways resulting in better-informed decisions, and to take the added step of incorporating analytics into key organizational processes. Topics include data warehousing, user-facing reporting, developer-focused analytics, decision support software, and corporate assessment tools such as the balanced scorecard. Students will use a variety of SAP software tools for experiential learning. Prerequisite: BUS 304 preferred or permission of the instructor.
In the Classroom
About this gallery:
In the Classroom
Regular Courses
100-level Courses
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194. Special Topic
An introductory topic not regularly offered by the Department.
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197. Independent Study
Introductory independent study, guided by a faculty member and approved by the department chair.
Independent study form, to be completed by the student and the instructor.
200-level Courses
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201. Introduction to Financial Accounting
An introduction to the accounting principles and procedures used for collecting, recording, summarizing, and interpreting financial information. Students will learn to read and interpret financial statements. Special emphasis is placed upon the concepts of internal control over resources and transactions. Computerized spreadsheets are integrated into the course.
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202. Marketing
A critical approach to the study of the marketing concept including policies and principles. Emphasis is placed on the identification of variables involved in marketing decision-making and the process by which marketing decisions are made.
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203. Quantitative Methods I
First course in a two-semester sequence in data analysis, modeling, and decision-making. Includes data management, descriptive statistics, correlation, probabilities, discrete and continuous distributions, and sampling methods and distributions. Computer applications are integrated throughout the course.
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204. Quantitative Methods II
Second course in a two-semester sequence in data analysis, modeling, and decision-making. Includes estimation, hypothesis testing, ANOVA, simple and multiple regression, optimization using linear programming, and statistical methods for quality control. Computer applications are integrated throughout the course. Prerequisite: BUS 203.
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212. Introduction to Managerial Accounting
Study of the use of accounting information to plan for, evaluate, and control activities. The course will explore various product and service costing procedures. Other topics include responsibility accounting, budgets, financial analysis, costs control, and the time value of money. Emphasis will be placed upon the use of information for management decisions. Prerequisite: BUS 201. -
294. Special Topic
An intermediate topic not regularly offered by the Department.
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297. Independent Study
Intermediate independent study, guided by a faculty member and approved by the department chair.
Independent study form, to be completed by the student and the instructor.
On the Clock
About this gallery: Pics of our students in campus jobs
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Business Management minor Samantha Gross ’14 working with a young swimming student.
Photo credit:
About this gallery: Pics of our students in campus jobs
300-level Courses
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301. Financial Analysis
Students will learn to analyze accounting statements from a financial manager’s perspective. The major objectives are to apply analytical tools like financial ratios, NPV and IRR; to understand and interpret financial data; and to evaluate the financial condition of the enterprise. The course will also place the use of financial analysis in an industry perspective so that companies are evaluated against competitors. Prerequisite: BUS 201 and statistics (either BUS 203 or MAT 109).
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302. Organizational Behavior
A research-based exploration of how organizations function. Topics include the contemporary workplace, career management, culture, bureaucracy, teams, motivation, emotional intelligence, power, communication, gender, diversity, and leadership. Students prepare and make collaborative presentations and conduct workplace and leadership interviews. A writing-intensive option is available for interested students.
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303. Legal Environment of Business
This course looks at how the law has evolved from English common law to today’s statutory and regulatory legal environment. The course explores recent statutes such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank and how they have impacted the way businesses operate. The course also investigates legal and ethical issues facing businesses today, different types of business associations, and liability issues faced by businesses under current tort law, contract law, and property law.
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304. Management Information Systems
This course introduces Management Information Systems (MIS) and its use in solving business problems, finding new opportunities for organizational improvement, and supporting enterprise strategic and operational objectives. Students learn transactional and analytical database concepts, document and analyze business processes as related to integrated software systems, and use various models to develop ethical approaches to the design and use of information systems. Microsoft Access and SAP enterprise software are used to illustrate concepts. Prerequisite: BUS 201.
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310. International Business
Introduction to the study of global business, including the dynamics of conducting business across national boundaries and the critical roles that culture, technology, politics, and economics play in shaping the global competitive environment.
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311. Global Business Strategy
Acquaints future managers with the tools necessary to understand challenges facing multinational firms. Focuses on the management, strategy, corporate structuring, and functional operations necessary for firms to succeed globally. Includes lectures, cases, guest speakers, and a computer simulation game.
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315. Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
This course provides the student with comprehensive knowledge of an important information technology tool—Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. Using SAP ERP software, students learn the information flow for three fundamental business processes—order fulfillment, procurement, and production—and learn how ERP systems support these business processes in an integrated fashion. The course emphasizes the concept of system configuration, in which organizational structure, policy rules and other corporate information are analyzed and then mapped to the ERP system.. This intensive, hands-on class is taught in a conference-room pilot environment that demands active participation from each student. Prerequisite: BUS 304.
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320. Entrepreneurship
A study of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, the process of identifying opportunities, the marshalling and management of resources, and strategic planning and development of a business plan. An examination of the management process through growth and change, including reasons for the successes and failures of specific companies. Prerequisite: BUS 202 or permission of the instructor.
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327, 328, 329. Washington Center
An integrated three-course unit for students spending a semester at the Washington Center. Students receive 16 elective credits in Business Management. (Details below.)
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327. Washington Center Internship
A full-time, semester-long internship in Washington, DC, with a federal agency, non-profit organization, or private firm. Depending upon interest and internship placement, students may attend hearings, conduct policy research, draft correspondence, monitor legislation, lobby members of Congress, or write analytical reports. Students will create an in-depth portfolio of their internship experience. 12 credits. Prerequisite: BUS 202, 2.8 cumulative GPA, permission of an instructor, and successful application to The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. This course is normally open only to juniors and seniors.
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328. Washington Center Seminar
Washington Center Interns participate in an evening seminar selected from a variety of topics offered during the semester. Students engage in class discussion and may also research seminar topics, prepare written assignments, and take examinations. Required of and limited to students enrolled in BUS 327. Three credits.
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329. Washington Center Forum
Washington Center Interns participate in lectures, site visits, small group discussions, briefings, and other required events designed to help them understand the connection between their academic and professional goals and the special educational opportunities available through living and working in Washington, DC. Evaluations of these experiences are included in the student portfolio. Required of and limited to students enrolled in BUS 327. One credit.
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330. International Business Experience
This summer course, taught by a Washington College Business Management faculty member, takes students abroad for two weeks of intensive study and experiential learning in international business. To maximize learning about international business, the itinerary is intense. Students spend four hours listening to lectures from host university faculty, twenty hours visiting local businesses, ten hours visiting political/economic institutions, and four hours in a seminar experience with the accompanying WC faculty member. The course includes two three-hour sessions at Washington College, one before the course to prepare students academically, and one afterwards to help students reflect on their learning experiences.
In summer 2013, students will visit Germany.
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334. Leadership
What do leaders do? Are they born or made? Why are some leaders effective, and others ineffective? What role do followers play? This seminar explores these and other questions by focusing on leadership in organizations. Topics include vision, power, trust, ethics, communication, gender, and change. Not open to first- or second-year students.
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340. Intermediate Accounting
The study of current and emerging financial accounting theory and techniques. Emphasizes financial statement presentation and the underlying treatment of cash, investments, receivables, inventory, long-lived assets, and intangible assets. Prerequisite: BUS 201.
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341. Income Tax Accounting
Federal taxation of individuals focusing on income, exclusions, deductions, depreciation, credits, and capital transactions. Property coverage includes the tax consequences of sales and dispositions of investment and business assets. Both tax planning and tax compliance issues are covered. Prerequisite: BUS 201.
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342. Auditing
Auditing consists of a set of practical conceptual tools that help a person to find, organize, and evaluate evidence about the assertions of another party. This course will focus on those analytical and logical skills necessary to evaluate the relevance and reliability of systems and processes. Critical thinking and communications skills are developed through a variety of means including case analyses, presentations, discussion, preparation of group and individual case papers, and research of professional and scholarly literature. Recognizing that ethics is an integral part of the entire accounting-related profession and a significant topic in all the College’s accounting courses, this course will contain a section reviewing audit ethics, and will cover lapses of ethical behavior by both auditors and audited firms. Prerequisite: BUS 201.
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355. Corporate Finance
This course provides an in-depth analysis on the financial policies of corporations. Students learn how to use and analyze financial data to make sound managerial decisions. Since successful financial management also depends on effective communication, case studies will be provided throughout the semester to strengthen students’ ability to express clearly in presentation as well as writing. Topics covered include capital budgeting, capital structure, dividends and payout policies, working capital management, mergers and acquisitions, and leasing. In addition, to help students develop an ethical sensitivity in business, topic about ethics in corporate finance will also be included. Prerequisite: BUS 301 or permission of the instructor.
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390. Internship
In Chestertown or around the world, Business Management majors and minors can earn credit for internships during the school year or the summer. Grading is pass-fail only. Prerequisite: BUS 201 and 202 and minimum 2.5 GPA, or approval by the department.
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394. Special Topic
An upper-level topic not regularly offered by the Department.
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397. Independent Study
Upper-level independent study, guided by a faculty member and approved by the department chair.
Independent study form, to be completed by the student and the instructor.
Off the Clock
About this gallery:
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BUS major Lauren Dockrill ’14 with puppy pal during stress-relieving Pet Therapy on the Hodson Green. (November 2012)
Photo credit:
About this gallery:
400-level Courses
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401. Strategic Management
Strategic analysis and implementation. The case study method is used, requiring oral and written presentations. All separate functional areas are integrated in the strategy process in relation to the firms social responsibilities with regard to society, employees, and the larger environment. Prerequisite: BUS 202, 301, and 302.
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440. Investments
A study of financial investments and capital markets. Topics include investment valuation/risk analysis, portfolio policies, financial institutions, and securities markets. Students will also study the theories of efficient markets. Cases demonstrating various concepts will be integrated into the course. Prerequisite: BUS 440 or permission of the instructor.
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451. Advertising
Overview of the advertising industry from client and agency sides. Advertising is placed within the marketing context of consumer behavior and market segmentation. Included is media strategy and selection, creative strategy, print and broadcast advertising from concept through production, advertising research, and international advertising strategy. Prerequisite: BUS 202.
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455. Financial Derivatives
This course introduces financial derivatives and the operation of derivatives market. Coverage includes options, forward contracts, commodity and financial futures, and swaps. Students also learn how to use analytical models to determine the proper value of these financial products. Since the existence of a well-functioning financial market depends a lot on the integrity of its participants, especially the investment professionals, cases regarding financial crisis and business ethics will be provided and discussed. These case studies also allow students to strengthen their oral as well as written communication skills. Prerequisite: BUS 301 or permission of the instructor.
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490. Internship
Students taking a second for-credit internship are enrolled in BUS 490. Grading is pass-fail only. Prerequisite: Completion of BUS 390 and approval by the department.
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494. Special Topic
An advanced topic not regularly offered by the department.
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495. On-campus research
Consists of an individual research project chosen by the student in consultation with a faculty member, involving both design and implementation. Submission of a written report is required. Open only to upper-level business management majors and minors who have acquired a strong foundation in business management, and who have received project approval from a sponsoring faculty member and permission of the department chair.
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496. Off-campus Research
A research project conducted away from campus, chosen by the student in consultation with a faculty member. Submission of a written report is required. Open only to upper-level business management majors and minors who have acquired a strong foundation in business management, and who have received project approval from a sponsoring faculty member and permission of the department chair.
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497. Independent Study
Advanced independent study, guided by a faculty member and approved by the department chair.
Independent study form, to be completed by the student and the instructor.
Terry Scout teaches BUS 202 Marketing, BUS 451 Advertising, and BUS 401 Strategic Management. In summer 2013, he'll take a group of students to Germany in BUS 330, for an intensive exposure to international business and culture.
The Craft of Teaching
Behind the scenes with our faculty
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Team survey project
Stephen Winand | BUS 204 Quantitative Methods II
Statistics can seem dry to students. But businesses use statistical techniques and tools to learn about customer opinions and preferences, and it’s easy to let students experience how powerful statistical tools can be.To help students do that, I use a team project.
Teams of four students choose a topic on which they’ll do opinion research. They develop a working hypothesis, like what factors contribute to a particular opinion, and prepare and conduct a campus survey.
To learn about research ethics and to follow proper research protocol, the team must submit the survey to the college’s Review Board for Research with Human Subjects, and the survey must be approved for use.
Then the team does hypothesis testing and uses regression analysis and other tools to draw conclusions about its findings. As a final step, each student team writes up a report and makes a class presentation.
I think this experience of having to connect the classroom to real opinions and issues helps statistics come alive for students.
One team in BUS 204 is exploring how college students choose between two competing products, Apple’s iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy. I’m looking forward to seeing what my students learn!
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Business Process Analysis
Susan Vowels | BUS 304 Management Information Systems
Understanding Management Information Systems (MIS) means understanding businesses processes such as procurement or order fulfillment. Classroom lecture is helpful, but the key learning moment for my students happens when they are able to explore a ‘real-world,’ live process.To help students do that, student teams in MIS choose a college business process, like student billing or course registration. Teams map the process, interview a key individual, and identify interactions among workers, software, data, and internal and external customers. I meet with teams to help them assess what they’ve learned and identify gaps in their understanding.
Once students have learned a bit about the process, they can begin to identify key performance indicators and look for opportunities for process improvement.
The project culminates with a poster presentation. Teams present findings to their fellow students, and to the college staff they worked with and interviewed. The class votes on best poster, best process improvement suggestion, best process map, and best dashboard. In this way, students learn from and help teach each other, applying the evaluative tools that they’ve acquired over the course of the semester.
From my industry experience, I know that deep learning does not come until one confronts a complex problem with no clear or easy answer. This project comes close. It spurs conversations about nuances in process, about connections between integrated systems and process, and about the importance of being people-centered through listening to and showing respect for users.
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Board of Directors feedback
Al Drischler | BUS 401 Strategic Management
BUS 401 Strategic Management is our senior seminar. Seniors bring together everything they’ve studied over three years to provide an integrated strategic analysis of a company and its competitive situation.It’s not a fill-in-the-numbers exercise! Research, imagination, and clarity are key, both in oral presentation and in the written component.
To help students think more deeply, and to help them learn how to present and defend their ideas effectively, I stress interaction and active, student-generated constructive criticism.
The major strategic analysis, due near the end of the term, is a team project, which includes a presentation and a written report. For each presentation, a second team is designated as the Board of Directors. The Board receives the presentation slides 24 hours in advance. Their charge is to offer constructive criticism aimed at improving the analytical product of the presenting team by offering critiques, challenging assumptions, and raising alternatives. (How well they play their part counts toward their own project grade.)
Each team is given the opportunity to incorporate all the comments from me, the Board, and the other students, in the written report due the last day of class.
