Jesse Brown
10/03/12
Business Quick Start
L01: Inquiry Paper
I decided when I was young that I would follow in my brother’s footsteps and become an
accountant; however, I never quite understood what this meant I would be doing. Therefore, this
research was invaluable to me as it gave me the opportunity to assess my potential careers in the
future.
First and foremost, even though I decided on a degree in ACIS, I also researched the BIT
field before writing the paper, as it was a close second. What I found out was that the majors are
relatively similar, with BIT being a more technology oriented major. Within the major there are
“two options reflecting…career objectives and interests, Decision Support Systems and
Operation and Supply Chain Management” (Pamplin College of Business). The DSS field
specializes in technology based decision making systems while the Operation and Supply Chain
Management field specializes in the physical aspect of decision making and management.
Despite the interesting fields that this degree could lead to, I still decided to stick with my
original choice.
A degree in ACIS (Accounting and Information Systems) is actually very broad and
includes a wide variety of choices in focus and ultimately career direction. The different focuses
of the major are: Accounting, Information Systems Audit, Information Systems, and the 152
hour program. The Accounting option is the basic option in the accounting and audit fields that
“prepare students for careers in the preparation, reporting, audit, analysis and use of financial
information” (Pamplin College of Business). This option, while useful, isn’t exactly what I had
in mind for a career choice when I declared this major, and so I immediately ruled this option
out. The next option, Information Systems Audit, is basically the option that leads straight to the
auditing field of accounting, which my brother told me was very undesirable unless you wanted
to work “at least ten hours a day during busy season”. The final option that did NOT interest me
whatsoever is the 152 hour program, which basically puts accountants on track to their CPA.
Since I never plan on getting this, the point is moot. Therefore, the only viable option for me is
the Information Systems option, which will assist me in getting into the fields I desire, either in
consulting, database management, or network administration.
After narrowing my choice down to not only my degree but my option within it, I
decided to look into the field of accounting to see what impact the profession has/had in the
business world. I found an article dating back to 1982 which said that “the public accountant is a
powerful force” and often a business’ number one adviser (Ketchum, Jr. 81). While the article is
fairly old, there is no evidence to counteract the fact that the accountant is a driving force in
today’s business world, and probably will be far into the future…which is why I want to be right
in the middle of it.
Works Cited
"Accounting and Information Systems." Pamplin College of Business. Virginia Tech, n.d. Web.
2 Oct 2012. <http://www.acis.pamplin.vt.edu/pos/undergrad/ugprograms.htm>.
"Business Information Technology." Pamplin College of Business. Virginia Tech, n.d. Web. 2
Oct 2012. <http://www.bit.vt.edu/>.
Ketchum, Jr., Bradford. "You and Your Accountant." INC. 03 1982: 81. Web. 2 Oct. 2012.
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