CE-22PA1002X - Business Essentials

Course Description

Business Essentials offers a fast track to gaining new skills and insights that you can immediately apply in your work, driving organizational success and advancing your career. We cover a range of business management topics, equipping you to effectively contribute across all organizational functions.

The program is offered by the Carl H. Lindner College of Business and is grounded in three principles. First, the program is highly experiential, ensuring participants gain practical insights and actionable skills that they can immediately apply. Second, the program takes an evidence-based management approach, ensuring that participants focus on scientifically supported frameworks they can apply to the real world. Third, in our program, we make the most of every minute, delivering only clear, concise, and impactful content.

Module Descriptions

Leading and Managing Organizations: This module focuses on concepts and applications related to organizations and the individuals who design and work within them. We will cover micro-level issues (e.g., individual differences and motivation), mid-level issues (e.g., leadership, groups and teams), and macro-level issues (e.g., organizational culture, organizational structure, and organizational change). This course will also help increase your understanding of yourself and others so that you can be more effective in the organizations in which you manage and participate. Taught by Eli Awtrey.

Strategic Management and Competitive Analysis: This module focuses on both the analytical and structural framework for competitive analysis, as well as the formulation of policy and strategic decisions, the balancing of short-term and long-term plans, and the evaluation and control of strategic decisions for the business corporation. The academic basis for the module will be the resource-based view, a framework for industry analysis and competitive positioning. Taught by Chris Sutter.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: This module delves into the dynamics of innovation and entrepreneurship, emphasizing the cultivation of innovative ideas and the development of new business initiatives within existing organizations. Participants explore strategies for identifying market gaps, fostering creativity, and developing disruptive solutions. Participants gain insights into the entrepreneurial mindset, corporate entrepreneurship (intrapreneurship), managing risk, and scaling innovations. Topics include design thinking, lean startup methodologies, and sustainable business models. Taught by Chris Sutter.

Negotiations: In this module, participants delve into the art and science of negotiation. Best practices will be explored, including preparation techniques, effective communication strategies, and the psychology of influence and persuasion. Participants will gain proficiency in various types of negotiations, from competitive, win-lose scenarios to collaborative, win-win strategies. By the end of the module, participants will emerge as more astute, strategic, and confident negotiators, equipped to secure favorable outcomes while maintaining strong business relationships.  Taught by Laurens Steed.

Team Dynamics: This module focuses on team dynamics within complex business environments. It aims to enhance your capacity to build, lead, and participate in teams. The content is structured to address the fundamentals of team composition and development, the importance of diverse roles and psychographics within teams, and strategies for motivating team members toward common goals. We will explore critical factors such as team processes, communication, conflict resolution, and group decision-making processes.  Taught by Scott Dust.

Financial Management: This module is designed to equip participants with the skills to assess the value of capital investments and make informed financial decisions. Participants will learn to select viable investment options, apply various valuation methods, and understand models for determining the cost of future profits. Additionally, the module covers basic risk management and explores how companies finance their operation. Taught by Laura Griscom.

Business Analytics: This module provides a comprehensive overview of qualitative analysis techniques used in business decision-making processes. The focus is on data-driven thinking through statistical analyses. Topics include regression modeling and analysis including simple and multiple regression, decision analysis for making decisions under uncertainty, risk analysis and simulation of complex models in a spreadsheet environment, what-if models and spreadsheet engineering, optimization models and solving them with spreadsheet tools, optimization models in business applications. Taught by Mike Fry.

Operations Management: The module equips participants with an understanding of Operations Management and essential skills to leverage operations for competitive advantage. Through hands-on simulations and in-class exercises, learners will develop critical skills in process improvement, lean thinking, and developing operations capabilities for firms. By the end of the module, participants will sharpen their skills to manage operations productivity, efficiency and effectiveness. Taught by Sachin Modi.

Supply Chain Management: This module equips participants with an understanding of Supply Chain Management and essential skills to navigate global supply chains. Through hands-on simulations and in-class exercises, learners will explore strategies to balance supply and demand while managing globally dispersed operations. By the end of the module, participants will sharpen their decision-making capabilities, gaining insight into how critical managerial choices can either amplify or mitigate supply-demand mismatches. This practical, interactive session prepares participants to effectively tackle real-world supply chain challenges in today’s dynamic global environment. Taught by Sachin Modi.

Marketing for Managers: This module offers an in-depth exploration of marketing principles and strategies essential for driving business growth and enhancing customer engagement. Topics include marketing management, strategic planning, relationship marketing, competitive analysis, the marketing mix, customer satisfaction, consumer behavior, product development, branding, direct marketing, pricing strategy, and marketing communication. Taught by Roseann Hassey.

Learner Outcomes

• Apply leadership, teaming, and organizational strategy principles to enhance organizational competitive advantage. 

• Utilize financial and analytical tools to assess opportunities, manage risk, and optimize business operations. 

Who Should Register?