7 Topics Your Business Administration Degree Program Should Cover

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Your business administration degree program should cover essential business topics like finance, data-driven decision making, project management, human resources, marketing, and operations. These topics provide an overview of how businesses operate and can teach you important skills that translate across industries. And while you learn about business topics, you also learn important soft skills, such as leadership, time management, organization, and strategic thinking, which can prepare you for an administrative or managerial role across several industries. If you’re considering a business administration degree, make sure yours covers:

1. Business Tactics and Execution

Every business needs to set goals, build strategies to reach them, and execute on those plans. Yours should introduce you to the fundamentals of business and then show you how to translate high-level plans into daily operations and how to manage change in the workplace. Your coursework shows you how to evaluate success and individual performance, how to identify and mitigate risks to the business, and how to foster an action-focused environment.

2. Business Operations

Your business administration program also teaches you about business operations, including supply chain management, quality control, and process improvement. You learn to optimize workflow for greater efficiency and lower costs. You learn how to mitigate risks and allocate resources effectively. And as you learn about operations, you build skills in problem solving, adaptability, and time management, which can be used in a variety of industries such as business, engineering, manufacturing, and construction.

3. Business Finance

Studying finance provides you with the skills to manage money wisely. Your business administration program teaches you the principles of accounting and financial reporting as well as the basics of economics. You learn to draft yearly budgets, manage cash flow, identify and mitigate financial risks, and forecast financial trends. As you learn about finance, you develop practical skills such as strategic thinking, decision making, communication, teamwork, and collaboration.

4. Data-Driven Decision Making in Business

Any decision that you make as a leader should be informed by data. For example, you might use customer surveys to gain feedback on your products. This can help you decide what products you should—and shouldn’t—offer and what you need to keep in inventory. Or, you might use financial data to make decisions about resource allocation and expansion. Your business program teaches you to use tools like budgets, sales numbers, marketing trends, web analytics, and surveys to make educated decisions based on facts and not just intuition.

5. Project Management in Business Administration

Depending on the size of your organization, you might have a few or hundreds of projects to manage every year. That’s why it’s critical to learn about project management while you’re still working toward your degree. You need to understand a project’s lifecycle, including how to implement, execute, and close one. You learn to delegate responsibilities across a team based on strengths, how to estimate and track project expenses, and how to set realistic timelines for completion. Project management blends skills like leadership, collaboration, time management and organization and is used across business, IT, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, construction, engineering, and finance.

6. Learning About HR in Your Business Administration Program

Through your business administration coursework, you learn the principles of people management and how to align Human Resources to business goals. You learn the best practices for recruitment, hiring, training, and onboarding new employees. And you practice writing job descriptions, conducting interviews, and developing training programs. Honing these skills could help you find employment in just about any industry because every organization needs HR professionals who can manage their workforce.

7. Business Marketing

Marketing makes sure that your business stands out in the marketplace. Your business administration program can teach you to build a compelling narrative for audiences and stakeholders. You learn to analyze market trends and data to make informed decisions about your marketing tactics. You also learn to craft copy that catches attention and sells your products or services. By the end of your marketing courses, you should have the tools to create a brand identity and the messaging to support it. You develop skills in decision making, storytelling, analytics, problem solving and customer empathy, which could position you for marketing or communications roles in industries like retail, hospitality, or healthcare.

What kind of business do you want to work in? Charter College has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree completion program that can prepare you for entry-level positions in business operations, HR, project management, finance, and marketing. This online program is right for you if you already have credits in a business-related college program. Call 888-200-9942 or fill out the form for more info.