socially responsible business leadership
The Business Management program prepares students for socially responsible business leadership in careers and volunteer settings. The traditional liberal arts, combined with service-learning, internship and small group and community interactions produce creative, globally aware, articulate and ethical managers.
Students learn the skills they need to succeed in this rapidly changing world: thinking critically, solving problems in creative new ways, communicating clearly and persuasively, and developing sets of values to guide their decisions. Students are exposed to the communication techniques, analytic tools and modes of thinking of other fields of study.
faculty
Requirements for a Major in Business Management Core Courses:
BSA 110 Introduction to Management, 231 Financial Accounting with Spreadsheet Applications, 501 Business Simulation and 502 Business Research; ECO/BSA 241 Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics (or courses in calculus and probability approved by the major advisor); ECO/BSA 313 Corporation Finance; ECO 211 & 212 Principles of Economics and 350 Price Theory; PHL 202 Business Ethics, 241 Ethics or 245 Professional Ethics or BSA 223 Business & Society or 227 Business Law; and an individual focus.
Elective Courses:
An individual focus is an integrated set of at least four elective courses from at least two departments totaling at least 12 credits and satisfying these conditions: No more than one course may be at the 100 level, and no more than two courses may be at the 200 level or below. No more than four credits may be from courses listed in business management, and no more than four credits may be from economics. At least three courses must be taken after declaration of the major and approval by the program director or other business management advisor of a proposal written by the student. The proposal explains how the courses selected serve the student’s business study goals and form a cohesive whole. An appropriate semester of off-campus study may be counted as one course (four credits), and foreign language study also is encouraged. Internships in areas of interest may be included, as approved by the supervising faculty members, and they are strongly encouraged. Subject to the conditions above, students may propose individual focus courses from any discipline. Students who want to focus on a specific area of business (marketing, entrepreneurship, human resources, arts management, etc.) may choose courses appropriate for their interests. Students with other majors may also build their interests in those areas into their business management major.
The years in which courses are listed reflect when they are most suitable for most students; they may be taken in other years.
*The elective courses listed are a sample of those selected by students for the individual focus; many others could be chosen in each year, depending on the student’s interests.
First Year:
BSA 110 Introduction to Management (required); ANT 110 The Human Experience: How to Think Anthropologically; CMM 115 Public Speaking; CSC 101 Introduction to Programming; MTH 120 Elementary Statistics; MUS 112 World Music; POL 112 Global Political Economy; PSC 110 General Psychology; SOC 110 Introduction to Sociological Imagination; WGS 110 Introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (electives).
Second Year:
BSA 231 Financial Accounting with Spreadsheet Applications; ECO 211 & 212 Principles of Economics; ECO/BSA 241 Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics; PHL 202 Business Ethics, 241 Ethics or 245 Professional Ethics, or BSA 223 Business and Society or 227 Business Law (required); BSA 208 Introduction to Marketing or 225 Human Resource Management; ANT 222 Anthropology and Contemporary Global Issues; CMM 236 Communication and the Environment or 248 Media and Society; CSC 236 Data Analysis and Visualization; HIS 270 Modernizing Latin America: Revolution and Reaction Since 1900; POL 212 Introduction to Law or 280 Introduction to International Relations; SOC 204 Sociology of Jobs and Work or 216 Consumer Culture; MTH 220 Data Analysis; MUS 280 Music Technology (electives).
Third Year:
ECO/BSA 313 Corporation Finance (required); ECO 350 Price Theory (required); BSA 309 Social Entrepreneurship, 310 Nonprofit Organization Management, 315 Strategic Management or 322 Managerial Accounting with Spreadsheet Applications; ECO 311 Money and Banking; CMM 352 Political Communication; EXS 353 Sociological Aspects of Physical Activity; FRE 322 Business French; PSC 313 Social Psychology; SOC 302 Sociology of Health and Medicine (electives).
Fourth Year:
BSA 501 Business Simulation and 502 Business Research (required); BSA 413 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management; ECO/BSA 412 Investment Analysis, 446 Game Theory for Business and Economics or 472 Industrial Organization Economics (electives).
Core Courses:
ECO 211 & 212 Principles of Economics, BSA 413 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management
Elective Courses:
Eight elective credits from the following: CMM 115 Public Speaking; PHL 202 Business Ethics; PSC 110 General Psychology; BSA 110 Introduction to Management, 208 Introduction to Marketing, 227 Business Law, 309 Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation or 315 Strategic Management. Up to four credits of internship (BSA 399 or 499) may be substituted for other elective credits by consent of the department chair.
Core Courses:
CO 211 & 212 Principles of Economics, BSA 413 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management
Elective Courses:
Eight elective credits from the following: CMM 115 Public Speaking; PHL 202 Business Ethics; PSC 110 General Psychology; BSA 110 Introduction to Management, 208 Introduction to Marketing, 227 Business Law, 309 Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation or 315 Strategic Management. Up to four credits of internship (BSA 399 or 499) may be substituted for other elective credits by consent of the department chair.
Core Courses:
ECO 211 & 212 Principles of Economics and BSA 309 Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation or 310 Nonprofit Organization Management
Elective Courses:
Eight elective credits from the following: CMM 115 Public Speaking; PHL 202 Business Ethics; PSC 110 General Psychology; SOC 110 Introduction to Sociological Imagination or 201 Social Problems; BSA 110 Introduction to Management, 208 Introduction to Marketing, 223 Business and Society, 309 Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation or 310 Nonprofit Organization Management, or 315 Strategic Management. Up to four credits of internship (BSA 399 or 499) may be substituted for other elective credits by consent of the department chair.
Combinations of Majors and Minors
In the following combinations of majors and minors, choices of elective courses must satisfy these additional conditions:
- No economics major elective course may count toward the business management major.
- No course numbered 300 or above may count toward both the economic minor and a major in business management, but another economics course numbered 300 or above may be substituted for ECO 350 or 352 in the minor.
- No elective course may count toward both: a business management minor and an economics major; a social enterprise or entrepreneurship minor and a finance major; minors in economics and business management; or minors in social enterprise and entrepreneurship.
The following combinations of majors and minors are not permitted:
- majors in both business management and finance;
- a minor in business management and a major in finance; and
- a major or minor in business management and a minor in either entrepreneurship or social enterprise.
Career Tracks
An undergraduate degree in business management can be a path to careers in management, sales and marketing, human resource management, project management, management consulting, and many other roles in a wide range of industries such as retailing, insurance, manufacturing, banking, real estate, temporary staffing, and many others. Alumni also are pursuing a master of business administration or other related graduate degree after gaining work experience to reach the highest levels of business management.
Recent graduates work as a financial associate, business analyst, executive team leader, marketing manager, investment banking financial analyst, lawyer, financial representative, team coordinator for the Defense Department, associate financial representative, account manager, investment management, special agent criminal investigator, operations financial analyst, research coordinator, tax associate, business banker, real estate agent, recruiter and consulting analyst.
Unique Opportunities
- Senior business research provides students with an opportunity to integrate the skills they have developed throughout their course work in the completion of a project that requires research, data analysis, critical thinking, and oral and written presentations of information and ideas. In the senior business simulation, students work in teams to manage a manufacturing business in an in-depth virtual online environment complemented by in-person venture capital pitches and other presentations of their analysis and decision making.
- Every student chooses an individual focus within this major, in consultation with their advisor. Examples include sports marketing, finance, arts management, international business and human resource management, but possibilities are unlimited. Some of the courses within this focus are chosen from other areas of interest to the student that relate to their future business plans, such as communication, international studies, psychology, performing and studio arts and philosophical ethics.
- Creative Enterprise Consultants offer services to existing businesses, entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs and not-for-profits. Services include business planning, feasibility studies, marketing plans, financials and budgets, and market research – anything to assist with the business development process.
ADVISING
Ripon College faculty and professional staff are dedicated to helping you reach your goals, whatever they may be and however often they may change along the way. It’s part of our value statement to you.
As a student at Ripon, you will be assigned a faculty adviser based on your area(s) of interest. You will meet with your faculty adviser throughout your time as a student to discuss your current aspirations, plan your course schedule and plot a future trajectory. We also work collaboratively with Ripon College Career and Professional Development to help match your interests and skills to concrete goals and construct a plan for professional success offering personalized career counseling, off-campus learning opportunities and an online job board with potential to connect with local, national and international employers.
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