Updated by Darrel Millard
Fall, 2004
1.0 Course Title:
Introduction to Business
2.0 Catalog Number:
AD101T
3.0 Semester Credit Hours:
3
3.1 Lecture Hours
3.2 Lab Hours
3
0
4.0 Course Description: Focuses on American and global business and introduces the
student to each primary facet of operating a business. This course will help the student
understand economic, social and political influences that affect business success.
5.0 Prerequisites: None
6.0 General Course Competencies:
The students should be able to:
1. Understand and describe our economic systems.
2. Outline the four types of competition.
3. Identify the types of ethical concerns that arise in the business world.
4. Describe how our current views on the social responsibility of business have evolved.
5. Explain the economic basis for international business
6. Define the methods by which a firm can organize for, and enter, international
markets.
7. Define and explain the meaning of e-business.
8. Identify and explain fundamental models of e-business.
9. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of sole proprietorship, partnership and
corporations.
10. Define what a small business is and recognize the fields in which small businesses are
concentrated.
11. Understand the management process.
12. Describe the four basic forms of organizational structure: bureaucratic, matrix, cluster
and network.
13. Explain the four major areas of operations control: purchasing, inventory control,
scheduling, and quality control.
14. Describe the major components of human resources management.
15. Techniques for increasing employee motivation.
16. Explain how and why labor unions came into being.
17. Building customer relationships through effective marketing.
18. Creating and pricing products that satisfy customers.
19. Identify the various channels of distribution that are used for consumer and industrial
products.
20. Developing integrated marketing communications.
21. Understanding money, banking, and credit.
22. Explain the need for financing and financial management in business.
Updated by Darrel Millard
Fall, 2004
23. Understanding securities markets and investments.
7.0 Major Units of Instruction:
1. Exploring the World of Business
2. Being Ethical and Socially Responsible
3. Exploring Global Business
4. Navigating the World of e-Business
5. Choosing a Form of Business Ownership
6. Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Franchises
7. Understanding the Management Process
8. Creating a Flexible Organization
9. Producing Quality Goods and Services
10. Attracting and Retaining the Best Employees
11. Motivating and Satisfying Employees
12. Enhancing Union-Management Relations
13. Building Customer Relationships Through Effective Marketing
14. Creating and pricing Products that Satisfy Customers
15. Wholesaling, Retailing, and Physical Distribution
16. Developing Integrated Marketing Communications
17. Acquiring, Organizing, and Using Information
18. Understanding Money, Banking, and Credit
19. Mastering Financial Management
20. Understanding Securities Markets and Investments
8.0 Unit Objectives (state all course objectives by unit)
Chapter 1
1. Discuss your future in the world of business.
2. Define business and identify potential risks and rewards.
3. Describe the two types of economic systems: capitalism and command economy.
4. Identify the ways to measure economic performance.
5. Outline the four types of competition.
6. Summarize the development of America’s business system.
7. Discuss the challenges that American businesses will encounter in the future.
Chapter 2
1. Understand what is meant by business ethics.
2. Identify the types of ethical concerns that arise in the business world.
3. Discuss the factors that affect the level of ethical behavior in organizations.
4. Explain how ethical decision making can be encouraged.
5. Describe how our current views on the social responsibility of business have evolved.
6. Explain the two views on social responsibility of business and understand the arguments
for and against increased social responsibility.
7. Discuss the factors that led to the consumer movement and list some of its results.
8. Analyze how present employment practices are being used to counteract past abuses.
9. Describe the major types of pollution, their causes, and their cures.
10. Identify the steps a business must take to implement a program of social responsibility.
Updated by Darrel Millard
Fall, 2004
Chapter 3
1. Explain the economic basis for international business.
2. Discuss the restrictions that nations place on international trade, the objectives of these
restrictions, and their results.
3. Outline the extent of international trade and identify the organizations that are working to
foster it.
4. Define the methods by which a firm can organize for, and enter, international markets.
5. Describe the various sources of export assistance.
6. Identify the institutions that help firms and nations finance international business.
Chapter 4
1. Define and explain the meaning of e-business.
2. Explore the basic framework of e-business.
3. Identify and explain fundamental models of e-business
4. Discuss the social and legal concerns of e-business
5. Explore the growth, future opportunities, and challenges of e-business
Chapter 5
1. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of sole proprietorships.
2. Explain the different types of partners and the importance of partnership agreements.
3. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of partnerships.
4. Summarize how a corporation is formed.
5. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of a corporation.
6. Discuss the purpose of an S-corporation, limited liability company, government owned
corporation, and other special forms of business ownership.
7. Explain how growth from within and growth through mergers can enable a business to
expand.
Chapter 6
1. Define what a small business is and recognize the fields in which small businesses are
contracted.
2. Identify the people who start small businesses and the reasons why some succeed and
many fail.
3. Assess the contributions of small business to our company.
4. Judge the advantages and disadvantages of operating a small business.
5. Explain how the Small Business Administration helps small businesses.
6. Appraise the concept and types of franchising.
7. Analyze the growth of franchising and franchising’s advantages and disadvantages.
Chapter 7
1. Define what management is.
2. Describe the four basic management functions: planning, organizing, leading and
motivating, and controlling.
3. Distinguish among the various kinds of managers, in terms of both level and area of
management.
4. Identify the key management skills and the managerial roles.
Updated by Darrel Millard
Fall, 2004
5.
6.
7.
8.
Explain the different types of leadership.
Discuss the steps in the managerial decision-making process.
Describe how organizations benefit from total quality management.
Summarize what it takes to become a successful manager today.
Chapter 8
1. Understand what an organization is and identify its characteristics.
2. Explain why job specialization is important.
3. Identify the various bases for departmentalization.
4. Explain how decentralization follows from delegation.
5. Understand how the span of management describes an organization.
6. Understand how the chain of command is established by using line and staff
management.
7. Describe the four basic forms of organizational structure: bureaucratic, matrix, cluster,
and network.
8. Summarize how corporate culture, intrapreneurship, committees, coordination
techniques, informal groups, and the grapevine affect an organization.
Chapter 9
1. Explain the nature of production.
2. Outline how the conversion process transforms raw materials, labor, and other resources
into finished products or services.
3. Describe how research and development lead to new products and services.
4. Discuss the components involved in planning the production process.
5. Explain the four major areas of operations control: purchasing, inventory control,
scheduling, and quality control.
6. Discuss the increasing role of computers, robotics, and flexible manufacturing in the
production process.
7. Outline the reasons for recent trends in productivity.
Chapter 10
1. Describe the major components of human resources management.
2. Identify the steps in human resources planning.
3. Describe cultural diversity and understand some of the challenges and opportunities
associated with it.
4. Explain the objectives and uses of job analysis.
5. Describe the processes of recruiting, employee selection, and orientation.
6. Discuss the primary elements of employee compensation and benefits.
7. Explain the purposes and techniques of employee training, development, and
performance appraisal.
8. Outline the major legislation affecting human resources management.
Chapter 11
1. Explain what motivation is.
2. Understand some major historical perspectives on motivation.
Updated by Darrel Millard
Fall, 2004
3. Describe three contemporary views of motivation: equity theory, expectancy theory, and
goal-setting theory.
4. Explain several techniques for increasing employee motivation.
Chapter 12
1. Explain how and why labor unions came into being.
2. Discuss the sources on unions’ negotiating power and trends in union membership.
3. Identify the main focus of several major pieces of labor-management legislation.
4. Enumerate the steps involved in forming a union, and show how the National Labor
Relations Board is involved in the process.
5. Describe the basic elements in the collective bargaining process.
6. Identify the major issues covered in a union-management contract.
7. Explain the primary bargaining tools available to unions and management.
Chapter 13
1. Understand the meaning of marketing, and explain how is creates utility for purchasers of
products.
2. Trace the development of the marketing concept and understand how it is implemented.
3. Understand what markets are and how they are classified.
4. Identify the four elements of the marketing mix, and be aware of their importance in
developing a marketing strategy.
5. Explain how the marketing environment affects strategic market planning.
6. Understand the major components of a marketing plan.
7. Describe how the market measurement and sales forecasting are used.
8. Distinguish between a marketing information system and marketing research.
9. Identify the major steps in the consumer buying decision process and the sets of factors
that may influence this process.
10. Describe three ways of measuring consumer income.
Chapter 14
1. Explain what a product is and how products are classified.
2. Discuss the product life cycle and how it leads to new-product development.
3. Define product line and product mix, and distinguish between the two.
4. Identify the methods available for changing a product mix.
5. Explain the uses and importance of branding, packaging, and labeling.
6. Describe the economic basis of pricing and the means by which sellers can control prices
and buyers’ perceptions of prices.
7. Identify the major pricing objectives used by businesses.
8. Examine the three major pricing methods that firms employ.
9. Explain the different strategies available to companies for setting prices.
10. Describe three major types of pricing associated with business products.
Chapter 15
1. Identify the various channels of distribution that are used for consumer and industrial
products.
2. Explain the concept of market coverage.
Updated by Darrel Millard
Fall, 2004
3. Understand how supply chain management facilitates partnering among channel
members.
4. Describe what a vertical marketing system is, and identify the types of vertical marketing
systems.
5. Discuss the need for wholesalers, and describe the services they provide to retailers and
manufacturers.
6. Identify and describe the major types of wholesalers.
7. Distinguish among the major types of retailers.
8. Explain the wheel of retailing hypothesis.
9. Identify the categories of shopping centers and the factors that determine how shopping
centers are classified.
10. Explain the five most important physical distribution activities.
Chapter 16
1. Describe integrated marketing communications.
2. Understand the role of promotion.
3. Explain the purposes of the three types of advertising.
4. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the major advertising media.
5. Identify the major steps in developing an advertising campaign.
6. Recognize the various kinds of salespersons, the steps in the personal-selling process, and
the major sales management tasks.
7. Describe sales promotion objectives and methods.
8. Understand the types and uses of public relations.
9. Identify the factors that influence the selection of promotion mix ingredients.
Chapter 19
1. Identify the functions and characteristics of money.
2. Summarize how the Federal Reserve System regulates the money supply.
3. Describe the differences between commercial banks and other financial institutions in the
banking industry.
4. Identify the services provided by financial institutions.
5. Understand how financial institutions are changing to meet the needs of domestic and
international customers.
6. Explain the function of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Savings Association
Insurance Fund, Bank Insurance Fund, and National Credit Union Association.
7. Discuss the importance of credit and credit management.
Chapter 20
1. Explain the need for financing and financial management in business.
2. Summarize the process of planning for financial management.
3. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of short-term debt
financing.
4. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of equity financing.
5. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of long-term debt financing.
6. Discuss the importance of using funds effectively.
Updated by Darrel Millard
Fall, 2004
Chapter 21
1. Describe how securities are bought and sold.
2. Develop a personal investment plan.
3. Explain how the factors of safety, risk, income, growth, and liquidity affect your
investment decisions.
4. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of saving accounts, bonds, stocks, mutual
funds, and real estate.
5. Describe high-risk investment techniques.
6. Use financial information to evaluate investment alternatives.
7. Explain how federal and state authorities regulate trading in securities.
9.0 Course Bibliography: Understanding Business, by William G. Nickels, 7th Edition,
McGraw Hill/Irwin
10.0 Primary Instructional Methodologies:
Presentations
Lecture, small group projects, Power Point
11.0 Grading Criteria: Students will be evaluated based on quizzes, Unit Tests and
weekly investment assignment and final project.
GRADING CRITERIA:
91.7% - 100% = A
88.0% - 91.6% = A84.4% - 87.9% = B+
80.7% - 84.3% = B
77.0% - 80.6% = B73.4% - 76.9% = C+
69.7% - 73.3% = C
66.0% - 69.6% = C62.4% - 65.9% = D+
58.7% - 62.3% = D
57.0% - 58.6% = D56.9% - BELOW = F