Roadmap to success is the foundational course for Business Foundations and Career Success. This course prepares learners for success in the degree program and promotes a journey towards lifelong learning.

You’ll develop skills for communication, studying, digital fluency, academic writing, and self-discovery. At the end of the course, learners have established a baseline of their personal, business, and academic competencies and develop an action plan for business and career success.

The World of Business introduces the domain of business and key elements of the functional areas within the context that an organization operates. You’ll examine a variety of functional areas and types of business in order to understand their interconnectedness. Additional topics include the business cycle, global business practices, and impact on productivity.

The Business Career Branding for Success course engages learners in developing and strengthening the business and personal components of one’s own career brand. The learner takes the role of a “CEO” and uses business tools to analyze competitive strengths and weaknesses, create a competency profile, document high-demand marketable and transferable skills, craft a resume and develop a lifelong learning and career development plan that will be revisited throughout the degree program.

This course is divided into two parts: Part 1 is to establish a competitive benchmark pre-assessment and initial lifelong learning and career development action plan, and Part 2 enables the learner to re-evaluate competitive strengths and weaknesses, finalize the lifelong learning and career development action plan, and create a personal brand and business plan for the individual career path.

As the speed of globalization increases, organizations need to be increasingly focused on an integrated global business and culture; this course focuses on international business and the interconnectedness of a global culture.

Learners examine how an organization operating in the global environment needs to understand and appreciate how to best leverage both global and local cultures for responsible and successful business practices. Topics from the perspective of a global firm are related to management, leadership, the economy, financial reporting and regulatory compliance.

Introduction to Business Law engages learners in understanding how laws, rules, regulations, and ethical standards pervade every area of business. This course provides an overview of U.S. law while considering that nearly all business concerns are global in nature in today’s ever-changing political and economic business environment. This course encourages learners to approach legal scenarios with an eye on international application.

Learners apply several key legal concepts to situations based on real-world legal conundrums and cases. Topics include, but are not limited to: contract law, business organization setup, employment law and intellectual property law. Learners thoroughly review and research legal concepts and apply knowledge to specific sets of legal issues found in the assigned professional scenarios.

Business and Culture in China examines the position of China within the global economy and how it is leapfrogging development in some areas. This course covers China’s history, civic culture, and public, private, and for-profit sectors, providing learners with the unique and complex components of China’s past, present, and potential on the world economic stage.

Through the lens of various stakeholders—those internal and external to business enterprises and those who engage in market-based and non-market-based transactions to influence business—learners acquire a practical literacy which prepares them to engage in business within and among Chinese employers, employees, and business partners. Learners gain an understanding of the specific drivers of economic growth and opportunity in China.

Managing Human Resources is the foundational course for the Human Resource Management Core. This course provides an in-depth survey of concepts, skills and practices in human resource management. Learners are introduced to innovative approaches in human capital management at the local, national, and global levels.

Leadership, Management, and Teams focuses on how to create a personal and shared vision and communicate effectively with teams, as a leader, a manager and a team member. Topics include setting effective goals and expectations, understanding cultures and explaining the differences between management and leadership, team membership and leadership and the global workplace.

Digital Transformation Fundamentals is the foundational course for the Digital Transformation and Innovation specialization. This course provides a survey of three types of capability transformations that enable digital transformation: people, tool, and process. At the people capability level, digital transformation requires the organization to hire and retain customer-centric and service-oriented talent; this talent search demands more collaboration and knowledge sharing while breaking down the silos between business and technology. At the tool capability level, a horizontal digital enabling layer is required to be developed, covering big data analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics, IoT, wearables, augmented and artificial reality, and modular manufacturing. Vertical business applications require digitization by the horizontal digital enablers in vertical business applications such as supply chain management, customer experience, finance and administration, and more. At the process capability level, digital transformation requires the business processes to be automated via the horizontal digital enablers.

Marketing Fundamentals is the foundational course for the Marketing specialization and is an introduction to the role of marketing in advancing the success of a product, service, experience or organization. Learners explore the evolution of marketing to include a review of the key marketing principles relevant in today’s workplace, an overview of the evolution from the traditional to digital marketing platform, and the differentiation between marketing a product or service versus marketing an experience.

You’ll examine functions and trends that are critical to staying competitive in the marketplace. This course introduces the functions of an organization for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers. Designed to meet customers' needs and organizational goals, these functions include marketing and behavioral science research, environmental monitoring, target market selection, product selection, promotion, distribution and pricing.

Digital Marketing Fundamentals provides an understanding of the digital marketing landscape, key trends impacting the industry, the changed customer journey, and the role each channel can play in that journey. The course also examines the advantages and subsequent challenges of this expanding marketing venue.

You’ll explore the tools that currently exist and the potential for future applications of the digital platform for marketing purposes. The course will further explore the digital platform as a tool for businesses in general in order to increase its levels of efficiency, effectiveness, and competitive position in the market space. You’ll also learn how to define and develop a digital strategy to help a business achieve its goals.

Financial Accounting focuses on the foundations of financial accounting concepts and methods used to generate, analyze, and interpret financial statements. Learners perform journal entries and record-keeping of transactions with an understanding of how these accounts are measured and reported in major financial statements.

Financial Management focuses on the foundations of finance concepts required to be capable of managing day to day financial operations and to solve complex financial matters. You’ll examine the elements of financial statements of an entity and impact of changes in one element on the other. Additionally, you’ll learn to plan and control cash flows and make decisions in the microeconomic and macroeconomic environment.

Managerial Accounting and Cost Analysis focuses on the techniques managers use to identify and manage production costs for labor, material, and overhead. Learners engage multiple methods for budgeting and cost reporting, and calculate and interpret variances between budgets and actual results.